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The anger Ryan experienced that day returned when he recalled the incident Ashley’s shocked look followed by her fucked up excuses made for a very surreal moment

Jess’ eyes widened and she uncurled her legs “Holy shit Are you serious?”

’Fraid so You’ve been around uy, but yeah, lost ht Anyway, after that she called and texted me like crazy for like weeks then stopped all of a sudden, ht she’d finally taken the hint ’til she showed up” He uy”

The grin she tried to hide earlier freely spread across her face then dropped “Wait, does thatwithin touching distance

He placed his hand over hers “Are you worried I’ve been trapped into fatherhood?”

“Well, yeah We’refriends, and that would be a shitty thing to have happen to a friend” She re a totally fucked up thing to do in general”

The way she stumbled over friends wasn’t lost on Ryan He pressed his lips together to suppress his smile

“No need to worry, Peaches My DNA is still all my own”

Her face again contorted “Why? I reat and allbut if you two had only been hooking up”

There was an i in the drop off of her question

Try as he ainst reat?”

Her eyes rolled in response and he knew he needed to coia Peach deserved full disclosure

“The onna workthat’s my site I’m foreman, but the companyit’s a family business” He rubbed the back of his neck “BB Construction, one of the largest commercial companies in the state, is my family’s business”

The reaction he’d expected, the one he’d seen ti in her eyes—never came

Instead, she nodded and stood, pulling the plastic shower cap free Her dark hair sat twisted atop her head, streaked hite “I have to rinse the conditioner out now U these”