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The girl nodded happily "Since April"

Ah, he got it Blake was doing his secretary And if he wasn't ular basis

Ty'd heard enough shrinks talk to the team to know that when the people you trusted most cheated and lied, you learned not to trust any Julie's initial aloofness to hih school with her, but the way she'd held herself back from him went further than that

Looking at her father and his newest "assistant" definitely clarified things

Susie turned back to Julie "Janie, you endary Ty Calhoun"

Julie's flinch was imperceptible to everyone except him, and he wished to hell they were anywhere but here If only she'd told him that her father sucked balls, they could have blown off the party and had a good time somewhere, just the two of them

"Julie's a her name to Blake's little bimbo "And I'm the lucky one"

He looked up and saw a faded, older version of Julie teetering down the wide, curving staircase Everyone followed Ty's gaze, watching the wohtly with each step Her hair fell around her face like Julie's, and the shape of her mouth was similar as well

Sheup A waiter appeared with a tray of cha it quickly before exchanging it for a full glass and weaving her way into the living room

All at once it hit him: Julie's mom was an alcoholic

Julie could feel herself shriveling up into a tight wad of shaht in front of Ty

Which, she supposed, was exactly what they were doing

Her father had another new girlfriend posing as his assistant, and herher shame with booze

Julie hadn't wanted Ty to see this side of her She felt raw, exposed, and sick to her stomach

"Excusefor the kitchen, which would be full of caterers ouldn't pay any attention to her Ty was going to have to float tonight on his own She couldn't handle it

She could only think of one place to find refuge, the place she'd always gone and hid as a child Her bedroom She took the back stairs two at a time and the years fell away

She was three all over again, running away froly faces

She was six, wondering why herup her words at the dinner table

She was ten, hating her father fordinner again, and hating herit

She was fourteen, running up the stairs to dream about the new boy at school, a football player who didn't even notice she was alive

She was eighteen, co after the ht of her life, where she lost her virginity to the school's superstar football player, the same boy who hadn't looked or spoken to her for four years

And now she was nearly thirty, still running up these stairs, still hiding fro for someone to love ould love her back

She turned right at the top of the stairs and for a split second she wondered what she was going to find behind her closed childhood bedroom door

Holding her breath, she turned the

gold knob Everything was just as she'd left it The Ralph Lauren floral bedspread, the Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis posters

All the things she'd left behind were still here, gathering dust, waiting for her to return to them

Heraway That would have been too big a project for Carol

Suddenly, Julie wondered if they were ht After all, she hadn't been anythan her ered in this room

Maybe coood idea, after all Maybe she could sneak back downstairs and wait out the party in the limo Her parents wouldn't notice her absence, not with her father focused on how i herself into oblivion

A knock sounded on the door, then Ty's gorgeous frame filled the doorway

"Mind if I join you?"

A h her She was glad that she didn't have to pretend to be the happy daughter of the h that in a heartbeat But now he knew her secrets

He knehere she came from

He knehat she'd been hiding