Page 168 of Messy Strokes (Wrecked Roommates)

My attention catches on the dimples etched into his cheeks, the ones matching Penny’s perfectly, and gives me hope. Maybe Karma won’t bite me in the ass this time. Maybe I won’t have to take the hard road. Maybe, after everything we’ve been through, we really will be okay.

Zeroing in on the tiny bit of evidence etched into his cheek, I whisper into the phone, “Yes. I’m ready to hear the results.”

“Well…there is a ninety-nine-point-two-percent chance Mr. Milo Anders is the father.”

My breath hitches, and I cover my mouth with my free hand, barely able to hold in my sob of relief as I look at Milo. The bastard doesn’t even bother to hide the tears rolling down his cheeks. He hugs Penny to his chest and runs his giant, tattooed hand across her soft strawberry blonde hair as she coos up at him, her tiny dimples on full display.

And even though I knew deep in my gut Milo was Penny’s father, that he wouldalwaysbe her father despite the blood running through her veins, a newfound peace settles over me. One making me feel whole and rejuvenated.

It’s official.

She belongs to him.

And so do I.

The End

Chapter One

Evie

I can feelhim behind me. His eyes following my shadow as I turn the corner and head into SeaBird, the bar everyone in this town loves to be at. And tonight isn’t any different. The bass is pounding, and the lights are streaming from the cracked door, lighting up the sidewalk. But I can’t appreciate any of it right now. Because a certain someone is following me.

A certain someones, actually.

I knew it was a bad idea to date my older brother’s best friend. But when our dads are best friends, and we were practically betrothed since we were little kids, I’m not sure I could’ve prevented it anyway.

Regardless, I’ll never be able to get rid of him, no matter how much he hurt me, and how much I hate that I still care about him.

Keeping my head down, I listen for their footsteps, and find them closing in as I beeline it toward SeaBird’s entrance.

I know why he’s following me. He wants totalk. He wants to justify the fact that I saw him with a girl last night. One who wasn’t me. I know that he’s going to say we were on a break. That I’m overreacting.

And he’s right.

We were on a break.

Weareon a break.

We have been for weeks.

Hell,months.

But it doesn’t take away the sting. The betrayal. The fact that I wanted to put things on hold so I could clear my head and think straight. So I could weigh the pros and cons of getting married at a young age without ever being with anyone else. So I could analyze our relationship with a bit of distance and decide whether or not my standards are too high, or if I’m being unrealistic in expecting him to treat me a certain way, or if I’m settling, when I know he’s quite the catch. Which was made obvious when I caught him with another girl last night.

I bite the inside of my cheek, and yank open the bar’s door, my ex’s voice echoing behind me, along with his and my brother’s footsteps as they quicken their pace to catch up to me.

“Eve, wait up!”

The door swings closed behind me, and I scan the open bar for a proverbial life raft that can keep me from drowning. Honestly, even a place to hide will work. Anything to keep me from facing my ex or the consequences of telling him I wanted to take a break when I’d give anything to take it back.

Right now, I need help, and I’m not exactly picky.

When I spot Jake freaking Jensen sitting at the bar, my breath hitches, and my palms grow sweaty before I wipe them on my jeans and glance behind me again. The door is still blissfully closed. For now.

That doesn’t mean he’s not coming. That he didn’t see me come in here.

He’s coming.

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