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Tate let out a se to pull hi through as he was forced to face a past that clearly had been hard for hi with the signs I’d seen that he’d been physically abused were likely just the tip of the iceberg Not to mention the fact that he’d taken Matty with him when he’d run…I hadn’t wanted to knowme, because I wouldn’t have been able to even voice the threat

But now?

Noanted to knoanted to understand everything that made this man tick I wanted to kno someone who’d been raised by aand so fucking strong

“Will you tell ht you left?” I asked as I forced myself to release my hold on Tate’s neck

“I didn’t leave, I ran,” Tate said with a slight laugh that held no humor whatsoever He looked around the quiet rest stop There were no other cars and the only sound besides the wind blowing through the leaves above us was the din of the Interstate traffic

“I’d been saving up for almost a year,” Tate said “I knew I’d need at least a few thousand in the bank to pay for a bus ticket and to get an apartured soood place to start over”

Tate had started rocking his upper body back and forth slightly as he spoke “I worked at a dry cleaning store so I planned to leave on the day I got paid I cashed my paycheck on the way home – it was only a few hundred dollars but it felt like ame my freedom”

“How old were you?” I interrupted

“Twenty-two,” Tate said “I’d ht Denny usually passed out after spending hts hatever woo horab o”

“It didn’t happen that way”

Tate laughed and shook his head “Not even close Buck wasn’t hoot there, but Denny was Only he wasn’t alone”