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Charley couldn’t wrap her head around everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. Her life had gone from almost twenty-nine years of boring to a non-stop rollercoaster ride. I want off! And finally, she’d gotten her wish.

Nash had done as she asked and brought her home.

His home. It wasn’t what she’d had in mind with her request. She thought he’d bring her back to the apartment.

But Charley had no complaints as long as they were together.

Her exhaustion kicked in halfway into the drive, and she fell asleep in the car.

She had a brief recollection of Nash carrying her up to the bed, changing her into a T-shirt, and tucking her into bed.

The second she heard the door latch click in place, her eyes shot open.

It was the worst time to take a power nap.

Her body needed the rest, and she should’ve been sleeping for days.

Instead, she lay in bed, thoughts running wild in her mind.

She was completely wired. Charley got out of bed and left the room, walking down the steps and searching for Nash.

The main living space was an open floor plan with the kitchen, living room, and dining area.

Just off the stairs was a small hall leading to a half bathroom and another door.

It had always been closed every time she’d been at his place. Tonight, it was cracked open.

She slowly pushed the door open. She hadn’t realized he’d had a home office.

It was smaller than the one at the club but shared the same décor, including a couch on one of the walls.

The clinking of glass had her veering her gaze to him standing in the corner of the office and the small rolling bar cart.

He was making himself a drink. A clear colored liquid. Vodka?

“Can’t sleep?” Nash hadn’t even turned around, but it was as if he’d sensed her.

“No.” She eyed the liquor. “Can I have one of those?”

His hand stilled over the bottle. She expected an array of questions.

A few seconds later, Nash grabbed a clean glass, poured a hefty amount, and capped the bottle.

He walked over to the seating area a few feet from his desk.

He sat and put her glass on the table. Unlike her, he was the epitome of calm. How did he do that?

Charley was tempted to take the seat next to him on the couch.

It’s where she wanted to be. But is it where I’m supposed to be?

If this night proved anything, it was that Charley had no idea of her surroundings.

She needed answers. She moved to the chair across from Nash and separated by a small coffee table.

It was a bold move on her end. Or so she thought. His lips twitched as he eyed her. She grabbed the glass, taking a sip. She fought against the burn in her throat and pressed her lips together, feigning indifference.

“Would you like something else?” Nash asked.

She cleared her throat in hopes her voice didn’t crack. “I can handle vodka.”

“It’s Scotch.”

And God, it’s awful. Why on earth would anyone drink this willingly?

“If sipped slowly, it’ll warm your belly and settle your nerves.”

Charley snorted. “Then maybe you should bring over the bottle if you’re hoping for that outcome.”

Nash brought the glass to his lips, a small smile peeking from beyond the glass as he stared at her over the rim.

“So.” She cleared her throat, taking another sip. Liquid courage, though it backfired, and she choked a bit. Before she could stop herself, her lips twisted, showing all her disgust for Scotch.

“Charley.” His voice was smooth and inviting, but she wasn’t going to play into it. They had things they needed to work out, and she wouldn’t let a little Scotch railroad her agenda. She wiped her lips and cupped the glass in her hands, settling them on her lap.

“Who’s going to start?” Charley asked.

Nash took a sip of his drink, and squared his jaw. “You ask, I’ll answer.”

“Everything?”

“As best I can. There are things I can’t share, and I’m sure you won’t tell me everything about your life.”

Charley knitted her brows. “I would.”

The corner of his mouth hiked. “Then tell me.”

Baring her soul and her past. For some who’d always been and would always be uber private, he was asking for a lot. Maybe I am too.

Charley sighed, slouching in the chair and hiking her feet up on the coffee table. Nash mimicked her move and for some reason, it made her smile. He was so different with her, calm, easy, and laid-back.

“Where should I start?”

His lips twitched. “How’d you get your name?”

Charley snickered, shaking her head. That was what he wanted to know? I see what you’re doing, Nash. He innocently shrugged, but she saw through it. Nash was smart, but he wasn’t fooling her. Inevitably, the history of how she got her name would start her story with her family.

“My mom and dad didn’t think they could have kids.

They tried a few years after they got married, but it never happened.

They went to a specialist and were told her chances of getting pregnant were less than fifteen percent.

They hadn’t had so much as a pregnancy scare.

My mom said they considered invitro for a little while, but ultimately decided against it.

According to her it took two years to finally be okay with never having kids.

” Charley snickered. “A month later, she found out she was pregnant with me.”

I love that story.

“That’s the reason they named me Charley. After my dad. He wanted a namesake. My mother tried to talk him into naming me Charlotte and call me Charley. He didn’t like that. If he was only having one child, he wanted me named after him.” She shrugged.

“Their miracle.”

Charley glanced over at Nash. “Yes, until my brother showed up two years later. My mom loved to tease my dad. If he’d just gone along with Charlotte, they could’ve named my brother Charles.”

The amusement in his eyes was suspicious, and she was about to ask, but he interrupted. “Did that bother him?”

Charley grinned and shook her head. “No. He embraced girl Charley. He used to say the girl version was better than the guy. And prettier.”

Nash’s gaze softened as he scanned her face. “Were you close with him?”

“Very,” she whispered.

“Close to your mother?”

She hesitated. Nash was hitting on a very sensitive topic and the root of where her story was present day.

“Not always.”

“Daddy’s girl?”

She blinked. “Not really. I mean, we were always really close as a family. Things changed after my dad died.”

“Why’s that?”

Charley peered down at the floor. She’d always kept her relationship with her brother and his issues secret.

It was her way of protecting him. Seeing how it all turned out, Charley was reevaluating her decision.

She had no regrets in standing by her brother and helping him.

But all the secrets had become their undoing.

“Tell me.”

“Are you going to open up to me and tell me about your past?” Charley asked.

“If you want to know? Yes.”

She peeked up, and whispered. “You promise?”

His gaze softened, and he slowly nodded. “Yes.”

“We were fractured when we lost him. We went from the core-four to a party of three. It changed all of us.” She drew in a breath.

“And then my brother was in a really bad car accident his junior year of high school. He almost died, had to be revived twice.” She paused.

“He survived, but we came close to losing him. He was out for the second half of the year because of his injuries. And as you can imagine he was in a lot of pain, so naturally he was prescribed painkillers. It’s the normal treatment, so no one really had any concerns.

People take painkillers all the time and never form an addiction. ”

“But he did?”

Charley nodded, sliding her finger over the rim of the glass.

“By that time, my mom was recently remarried and had other things going on. I think she missed my father so much, she was blinded by her new-found happiness. Her husband had two younger kids who moved into the house with them. She was just really happy. I hadn’t seen her that way in years. ”

“Then it changed?” Nash’s voice was so soft, she almost didn’t hear him.

“Yes,” she muttered, inhaling a deep breath.

“None of us knew it, but once he fully recovered, Cody was still taking the pills to the point where he’d steal prescriptions.

He’d gone to a bunch of different doctors trying to get the pills from anyone and everyone who’d give them to him.

Then one night, after exhausting all his options and getting nowhere, he started to crash and go into withdrawals.

He got into a huge fight with her husband and it actually got pretty violent.

My mom agreed not to press charges if he went to rehab. ”

“Did he go?”

“Yeah, I convinced him. He did a three-month stay, and when he got out, he was the same as he’d been before the accident.” Charley glanced up at Nash. “He was happy, fun, and positive. The same Cody I remembered.”

“He got better.”

But it didn’t last.

“For a little while. And then he relapsed. At that point, my mom and her husband had enough. They kicked him out.” Charley sighed.

“I tried to get her to send him to rehab again, but she said it had been a waste of money the first time around. She basically cut him out of her life. He couch-surfed for two weeks before I could find him at a friend’s.

He was so high, he didn’t even recognize me. ”

“That’s when you took him in?”