Page 12 of Irredeemable

Tanner steps towards me, and I match his movement backward. Clicking my tongue, I point a finger for him to stop. “You started it, Tanner. Don’t get mad at me if you can’t handle the truth.”

Giving him a fake pout with a head tilt, I can’t stop the laugh that slips out before I make my way down the hallway. I pause at the end of it and look back. He had watched me the whole way.

“And in case you were wondering. He had no problem coming in my used pussy.”

I tuck away into the far corner of the pre-ceremony cocktail hour. No one loved standing around aimlessly while drinking bitter alcohol as much as the filthy rich did. Shifting on my heels, I double-check that my dress and hair are back in place as Dean comes to stand beside me.

“Whereor whodid you get up to?” He asks, amused.

Rolling my eyes, I take the mimosa from him and sip it. “Don’t worry about it.”

“That tells me you were really naughty,” He grins, his green eyes glinting with excitement as if I set up a challenge he was eager to complete.

I took in his dress slacks and jacket, raising a brow. “No suit?”

He shrugs, confiscating his drink. “I’m not in the wedding party.”

“But Tanner is?”

Dean tilts his head curiously. “Sadie is Madeline’s cousin. They’re both in the wedding party.”

“Great,” I mutter, not wanting to see either of them again. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and get me a drink?”

He laughs, handing his back over instead. “Why don’t you suck my dick first?”

Pouring the entire flute down my throat, I smirk. “That’s not my specialty, and you’re not my type.”

“It’s illegal.”

I throw the heavy-weight ball back at him. “Since when does that matter.”

My brother grunts as he does a sit-up and throws it back toward me. “Since she would havedue causeif I were caught.”

“Give me a break. The woman barely remembers what month it is; she’s not going to notice someone digging around in her bank accounts.” My arms quake as I struggle to keep them straight for the exercise before I toss the ball back to him.

“Have you tried to legally get control of the accounts? It sounds like you could easily apply for a conservatorship if she’s incapable of managing the fortune herself.” He sets the ball down, standing and peeling the sweat-drenched shirt from his body.

Frowning, I take a sip of water and reach a hand out for him to help me up. “I don’t actually want to be in control of whatever she does, nor do I want to touch his money. I just want her to stop hitting me up every month, and I need proof she has some.”

“Proof for who, though? Yourself? You had no problem cutting off our siblings when they treated you like a cash cow.”

I push away from him, grabbing my towel and wiping off my face. “She’s my mom. She wasn’t a great one, but she never left me.”

“Sam,” he sighs, and I know I am about to get one of his many lectures. “You can set boundaries and still be involved in their life. It’s not all or nothing.”

Swallowing more water to help the sudden burn in my throat, I shake my head. “You don’t understand. She sat there for weeks at a time, waiting for him to come home, and the minute he did. It was as if we were supposed to act like this big happy family and ignore the papers for child support he got almost yearly. I don’t want to pretend.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand. And none of us will ever know why he stayed with your mother or you when he ignored the majority of us. But you have to stop comparing everyone to them.”

Shrugging, I grabbed my keys, making it a point that I was done with this conversation. “I don’t. Because if I did, I would never speak to them to begin with. Thanks for nothing, per usual.”

Tanner

“Don’tyouloveweddings?”Madeline sighs, swirling into the foray of my apartment. The pink dress she had worn swooshed around her. She looked like one of those girls who trapeze through magical forests, looking for mythical creatures.

Shrugging out of my jacket, I give her an unamused look. “Depends on the couple. That one wasn’t bad.”

“Rob and Sadie are perfect together. You could see how much they loved each other.” She gushes, setting her purse on the counter as we continue further into my home.

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