Page 11 of Claiming Tessa

Jared scanned her, as if trying to take in the changes that time had wrought.Since her second year in college in the States, she hadn’t seen him when he’d stopped because she never came home.There was no point.The meeting had been awkward and painful.

“Hi, Honey.You look really good.”

She snorted.She had on old clothes and no makeup.

“No, I’m serious,” Jared insisted.“I’ve thought about you a lot over the years.I could never get your phone number from the university, and when I went there to find you again, you’d gone to Europe.”

Tessa gnawed her lip.“Yes.”

“You were trying to get as far away from the family as you could?”he guessed.

She heard his rough tone and was surprised.“At the time, I didn’t think I had any.Mother told me to leave and never come back, so I did.I never knew you tried to find me.We ran into each other in Pennsylvania, and it didn’t go well, remember?”She sighed and ran a hand through her hair awkwardly.“Why do you want to see me now?Did you have business you needed to talk about?”

Jared sighed.“No, it was about being your brother and finding out after I got home from college what had been happening.It bothers me that you didn’t tell me when I came home to visit when you were younger.You just stayed in your room.”

“Because she always said you were her child, and I was an accident.”

Jared glared at her.“Are you fucking kidding me?”

She was shocked at his anger.“No.It was bad before Dad died, but after it became hellish.”

Jared sighed.“God, I wish I had known.”

She shrugged.“You wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.”

“You wanna bet?There’s so much we have to talk about.”

“Can it wait?”

Jared sighed and nodded.“Can I have a hug, though?”

Damn, she felt the tears fill her eyes, and she hated showing so much emotion.She walked into his arms when he opened them and waited for her.

She closed her eyes and soaked up the feeling of family.She’d gone so long without it and never thought she’d have it, so the hug was even more special to her.

Chapter Five

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