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“I don’t know. It’s just a prank call or something. They’ve been coming all morning.”

His eyes widen before he walks back over to me and crosses his big arms over his chest. “That doesn’t sound like a prank call.”

“Okay, so it may be… my boss from the gas station.”

His jaw ticks. “And why would he be calling you like that?”

“Because I quit?” I suggest and his eyes narrow. “After, I pulled a knife on him.”

“Jesus Christ,” he breathes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Any particular reason that you pulled a knife on him?”

I shrug. “He tried to blackmail me into giving him head and when I said no, he grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.”

“Motherfucker,” he snarls, looking toward the machine as the message finally cuts off. He clenches his jaw and he balls his fists, looking ready to murder someone.

“Hey, it’s okay because I took care of it.”

“Yeah?” he asks, turning back to me. “And what if he decides to take this further and shows up here?”

I laugh, picturing just how that would go down. Reed wouldn’t even know what hit him. “Oh, I wish he would.”

“You’re terrifying,” he tells me, a smile teasing his lips and I grin.

“Only if you cross me so, you know… don’t do that.”

He nods, grabbing his coffee out of my hand and turning toward the dining room table. “Noted. You ready to talk?”

“Yeah,” I answer, sucking in a breath and grabbing a fresh cup of coffee for myself. “Let’s do this.”

We sit across from each other at the table and I pull the gun out of my waistband, setting it down between us. He arches a brow and I shrug, smiling at him.

“So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” he asks and my stomach does a little flip.

“Uh… you know how I told you about the pregnancy scare in high school?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Well, that was really only the start of it. I moved out right after graduation because I was rebellious and wanted to be on my own but it was way harder than I ever thought it would be. I was struggling to make ends meet when I met Beth. She was working as an escort and told me all about how much money I could make…”

“Are you saying you were a hooker?” he asks, shock filling his voice and I glance down at the table, twisting my fingers together. Why do I even care so much what he thinks of me?

“Not exactly. I never had sex with anyone but I did get paid to go out on dates with them.”

“So, in the coffee shop, when you told me that you’d been waiting for someone special, was that a lie?”

I shake my head. “No. Those dates, they weren’t real. I was there for companionship and they could talk to me about anything they needed to get off their chests but that was it. As soon as the date was over, I didn’t speak to them again unless they booked another date and I never even kissed anyone.”

“Why did you quit?”

“One day, Beth showed up at my apartment, beat to shit. Apparently, her date didn’t get the memo about the no sex thing and when she told him, he lost it. I rushed her to the hospital and she was there for three days. By the time she was discharged it just wasn’t worth it to me anymore.”

He stares at me as he lifts his coffee cup to his mouth and I wring my hands together under the table, fighting my urge to get up and run into the kitchen. “Did your mom know? Does your brother?”

“No and I would prefer that Theo never finds out. It’s not a time in my life that I’m proud of but I was too determined to make it on my own without my mother’s help. Please tell me you don’t think I’m a terrible person?”

With a quick shake of his head, he reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “No, Tate. I think you are one of, if not the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life and I certainly can’t judge you for your past when you haven’t judged me for mine.”

“Why haven’t you been in a relationship in six years?” I ask and he sighs, scrubbing his face with his free hand.