Thorn (Carmichael Series #5)✔️

Spilling The Beans

What got me the most was that she hadn't noticed the ring, either. I mean, I was right handed but come on.

"Two unrelated questions." Evan suddenly interrupted Tanner while he was mid sentence. I could tell by his body language that he was confused by Evan's odd behavior as well.

"Yes?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"One, why did you leave Scar for eight years with no contact whatsoever? Two, when did you and Tansy start having sex on a regular basis?" She asked. I felt my face heat up in seconds at the crude way she said it while Tanner just opened and closed his mouth, glancing at me every so often.

"We're not, well I mean not really - it's...it's not regular." I shot back quickly,

Yeah, it's not regular right now at least, this back pain is a bitch my subconscious added.

"Bullshit. He's rubbing your thigh under the table and snuck a bite of your food a couple minutes ago. When did you two start...whatever this is?" She motioned between me and Tanner. "And don't think I forgot that you haven't answered my first question yet either," she said while giving Tanner a warning glare.

"Well, it all really started when you and Scar broke up. Everyone was so stressed and worried about you. Tanner said Scar wasn't any better. He called me to come over so we could both...relieve some tension and then our sleeping arrangements just, I don't know, became an unspoken agreement of me sleeping over all the time," I squeaked out, giving a very brief and only partially true answer to the question, not wanting to get into all the logistics of our relationship in a very public area when I wasn't sure what the hell was wrong with Evan's brain just yet.

"And how about my first question?" She asked Tanner once again with a raised eyebrow. I watched as his expression turned solemn and he crossed his arms and looked away from the three of us.

"Tanner?" Scar prodded, clearly wanting to know the answer as well.

"I left to find my mom. I don't know why, but I just felt I needed to ask her why. Why she abandoned me. I took me four years to find her. I was contacted by a guy I know who lives where my mom had been hiding out. That's how I found out I had a sister. He said he'd had his suspicions because one second my mom was pregnant, and the next she wasn't - just back on the streets all day and night without a single trace of a baby with her. Can you fuckin' believe that shit? My mom was dumb enough to get knocked up again by another random dude. Anyway, problem was that she was in foster care by the time I got up there to see what was going on. Turns out my mom had dropped her off on the fire stations doorstep and then they immediately put her into the system. It took me a four more years to get the court to let me have custody of her. That's why I was gone so long," Tanner explained. I rubbed up and down the side of his arm, providing all the comfort I could.

"Wait, where the fuck is she now?" Scar asked with bewilderment.

"Living with me at my apartment..." He trailed off, looking apprehensive for Scar's reaction.

"Is that why you never let me come over? What the fuck dude! I can't believe you kept this from me! I could've fucking helped you all these years!" He yelled, outraged. Tanner glanced around us as people began staring, but Scar didn't seem to care.

"Chill man. I was looking out for the both of us. I knew for a fact if I came to you with a little baby who happened to be my sister you would've bent over backwards to help me and that would've killed you. We were both already struggling so much. At least at first I was getting help from the government to make sure she had everything she needed. I did some off and on manual labor work here and there to help support us until I could finally get enough money to move back and have a suitable place to stay," He explained. That seemed to sooth Scar's ruffled feathers enough for now.