Page 36 of Daddies' Little Troublemaker

She begged. Fucking hell.

Caleb’s green eyes dance with humor. “Yeah, I know you like it when they beg. You should’ve heard her.”

“Fucking shut the fuck up right the fuck now,” I growl.

His grin fades somewhat, but not all the way. “Look, dude, you’re just mad because you still want her, and you’re not letting yourself go for it. Stop getting in your own way.”

“She’s my niece.”

“She’s no such thing. Let yourself be happy, and then maybe you’ll stop being such an asshole. Because guess what: I’m not backing off. I want her, and if she wants me back, then I’m going for it.”

“You’re a prick.”

“A prick who’s about to get laid. You could be one, too.”

“Fuck you.”

“Nah, I got Evelyn for that.”

He dodges before I can punch him, but I didn’t really want the hit to land, anyway. Seems like I’m all about pulling back these days.

11

POOLSIDE PERVERT

Evelyn

After Lincoln finally stopped trying to foist food and water on me, he went to work. Now I’m in this big, empty house on my own, and that’s probably a good thing. I can’t believe I drank so much last night.

When I look at my phone, there are messages from both Maya and Sawyer asking if I made it home safe and wondering if I’m feeling all right today.

Hungover, I text back. Not doing that again, but I would love to hang out soon. Without our toxic friend, Vodka.

We text back and forth for a little while, and my heart feels a bit lighter. All of my friends were Troy’s friends, and none of those were real friendships, anyway. I felt like they tolerated me for him, and although I reached out to them a few times at the start of our relationship, no one ever made an effort to get to know me without him.

Maybe they knew we wouldn’t last.

Maybe they knew about Chloe from the beginning. Actually, that wouldn’t surprise me.

I invite Maya and Sawyer over to swim, but they already have something going on with Maya’s family, so I once again enjoy my own company by the pool. I blast music and read cozy holiday mysteries, secure in the fact that the amateur sleuths will only be solving the murders of very bad people who probably deserved to die, and that nobody will actually stumble across a dead body, and that at the end of each day, there will be cookies to eat and hot cocoa to drink. There’s no family drama, and in fact, these found families show each other oodles of support and unconditional love.

Eventually, I fall asleep in the pleasantly warm shade.

“Evie,” a deep voice says.

My eyes open, revealing a dripping wet Caleb in swim trunks, standing before me.

I didn’t see him without his shirt off when we were at Vice. I’m glad for my sunglasses now because I can ogle his muscular build.

Not too much time has passed since I fell asleep—I’m guessing it’s four or five p.m. Still quite warm…or that could be my body heating at the sight of Caleb wearing only his swim trunks.

He grabs a towel from the lounge chair next to mine and rubs it over his head. “Have a nice nap?”

“Yeah.” But waking up to this is so much better. “You’re already back from the build site?”

“Rushed here. Wanted to see if you were okay after last night,” he says with a grin. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, don’t remind me of last night,” I say, feeling my cheeks flush. “I’m so embarrassed, I probably acted like an idiot.”

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