Page 111 of Messy Strokes (Wrecked Roommates)

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Maddie

“You look exhausted,” I note, creeping down the stairs. I woke up to Penny’s quiet cries without Milo beside me. After feeding her and tucking her back into bed, I couldn’t fall asleep, so I decided to find a certain someone instead.

With a laptop resting on his thighs, and a half-empty beer sitting on the coffee table in front of him, Milo scrubs his hand over his face. “I hate math.”

I round the edge of the couch and sit next to him. “Why are you doing math at three in the morning?”

“Jos has me handling the books now.”

“And you figured doing them at this time in the morning would be a great time to start?” I tease.

“Procrastination’s a bitch.”

With a soft laugh, I peck his cheek and tuck my feet beneath my butt, getting comfortable on the cushion beside him. “Apparently. Anything I can do to help?”

“Not unless you can balance these books for me. I’m four hundred and fifty-three dollars short for yesterday.”

“Hmm…” I grab the computer from his lap and set it on mine. I can feel him studying me curiously as I scan the numbers, but I’m too distracted to make him stop. He’s right. Something isn’t adding up. I click on a few cells to check the equations. “Did you create this spreadsheet?”

“Yeah. The numbers are all there, but it’s showing we’re still off.”

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I click a few more buttons, and a triumphant smile spreads across my face. “Here. You were grabbing the cells from the line above the one you were wanting. Therefore, it was grabbing an empty cell for the last equation, which is why it was showing you were in the red.” Highlighting a few more cells, I type in the correct equation and click enter one more time. “That should do it.”

He leans forward and scans the spreadsheet again before turning to me. “Since when are you good at math?”

Head cocked, I quip, “You’re surprised?”

“I thought you hated school and shit.”

“I did hate school and shit, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“You said you barely graduated––”

“Because I wanted to stick it to my parents.” I lean forward and set the computer on the coffee table. “Besides, math is fun. Hell, it’s black and white. I’m surprised you aren’t a master at it.”

“Didn’t need to be. I had Jake to help me with this shit. But now…”

“Now he’s a jerk face who’s avoiding you?”

“Something like that,” Milo grunts. “I guess I was avoiding the books for nothing, though. Thank you.”

I smile back at him, my cheeks heating from the awe in his warm gaze. It’s like he’s proud of me. And I’m not used to anyone being proud of me.

“You’re welcome,” I return softly.

“You should go to school for accounting. If you’re good at numbers, and you like doing it––”

“I barely graduated high school, remember? And college? Feels like a pretty big commitment for a girl who’s crappy at following through with anything. It’s not like I could afford tuition, anyway. Especially after my parents cut me off. And why try at something I’ll likely get bored of?”

“Who says you’ll get bored?”

“I dunno.” I yawn and stretch my arms over my head. “I guess it’s just my M.O.”

“Did it feel good to fix my problem?”

“Well, yeah,” I hedge. “Why?”

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