Page 133 of Messy Strokes (Wrecked Roommates)

Placing my hand on his leg, I give it a soft squeeze, though it does nothing to ease the rage pulsing through him.

Milo clenches his hand into a fist and lowers his voice. “I’m done playing your game, Jos.”

“I know. I’m done playing games too.” Jos reaches into his suit and retrieves a worn piece of white paper folded into thirds. “Here.” He offers it to Milo.

“What’s this?”

“It’s me breaking the rules again.”

Milo’s brows furrow as he unfolds the paper. His eyes shift from left to right, scanning the words. He looks back at Jos. “Whatisthis?”

“You know what it is.”

His gaze drops to the paper again. “This real?”

“It’s real, son.”

Milo’s entire body vibrates with a fresh wave of energy as he wipes beneath his nose and scans the paper again.

What is it?I want to shout, but I bite my tongue.

“You fired me,” Milo reminds him.

“Only on paper. You know you’re welcome at the shop whenever you want. Keep your favorite clients happy. Use the tattoo machine as your outlet when you need it. But I want you to give yourotherdream a real shot before you let it go to pursue this one.” He motions to the paper in Milo’s hands. “But it’s yours. Whenever you want. Already signed and everything. We clear?”

“It’s half of what we agreed on,” Milo mutters.

Jos smiles and picks up his glass. “I figured you could use the other half to put some money down on a place.”

Milo looks up at his boss and mentor again. “Jos…”

“You earned it.”

“What is it?” I blurt out, unable to keep my curiosity in check for a second longer.

“It’s the contract for Etch 'N Ink.” Milo’s hands shake as he folds up the piece of paper. Then he looks at me. “And it’s for half the price we’d initially agreed on.”

I can tell he’s close to losing it, and I squeeze his thigh again beneath the table, turning to Jos. “Are you serious?”

“Hell, yeah, I’m serious. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”

“But you fired him.”

“Like I said, only on paper. I needed to get rid of his excuse to throw his entire life into the shop until he’s ready. I’ll handle running it, you can handle the books, and he can focus on what he was meant to do until he’s ready to retire and become the boss man. As I said, he’s earned it. And you helped him, little lady. I’m proud of you both. For finding each other. For making lemonade out of lemons. For balancing home and work life. For living your dreams. For all of it. You’ve, uh…” Jos sniffs and takes another quick swig of his whiskey. “You’ve made me a proud man. I’ve never had my own kids, but”––another swallow––“I’m glad I can claim you two as my mine.”

“Aww, man. Now you’re gonna make me cry,” I pout, dabbing at the corner of my eye. “Thank you so much, Jos. You’ve been the most incredible boss and friend a girl could ever ask for.”

And I mean it. No one has ever gone out of their way for someone I love like this. My eyes burn with unshed tears, but I hold them back as Milo clears his throat and stands up, yanking Jos to his feet.

He smacks his hand against Jos’s back and pulls him into a long hug. “Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.”

“Anytime, son. I knew you could have it all, but you had to want it. To reach out and grab it. And I’m so proud of you for doing so. You’ve earned this.”

Milo lets him go and waves down our waitress.

“Drinks all around,” he calls. “Jos is right. We gotta celebrate.”

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