Page 125 of Peaks and Promises

He was right. Zachary had texted a picture of his daughter with purple streaks all over her face.

Zachary: Do you guys know how to get Sharpie off a one-year-old?

Luke chuckled. “Marigold is gonna be pissed.”

“Tell him hand sanitizer,” I said.

“What?” Luke and Theo asked simultaneously.

“Hand sanitizer. It’ll get off most of the ink. Rubbing alcohol works, too, but that’s probably kind of harsh for a baby.”

“How do you know that?” Luke asked.

“When I was about nine, I drew all over my arms, trying to make it look like I had tattoos. It wasn’t until I tried to wash it off that I realized I couldn’t get rid of it with soap and water. I ended up admitting it to Mom. She helped me get it off.”

Our phones buzzed again.

Garrett: Hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol.

“Well, there you go.” Luke set his phone down. “Of course Garrett would know.”

“Are you sure you’re not actually a dad?” Theo asked, smirking at me again.

I shot him a glare.

“You do have a dad quality,” Luke said. “Not a dad-joke kind of dad. More like a tear-your-arms-off-if-you-mess-with-my-kid kind.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Good thing, mostly,” Luke said.

“If Nate plays sports, just don’t be the asshole dad,” Theo said. “Let the coaches do their job, and remember they’re only kids.”

“I’m not actually his dad,” I said. “You guys get that, right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Theo said, but his tone dripped with skepticism.

“Right. And you don’t have a thing for his mom, either,” Luke said.

My back stiffened. “I don’t have a thing for his mom.”

Luke and Theo exchanged a look.

“Sure you don’t,” Theo said.

“Yeah, we can all tell it’s totally fake,” Luke added. “Like the way you were fake glaring at those guys at the bar.”

“And the way you were fake checking out her ass when she got up to use the restroom,” Theo said.

“I wasn’t checking out her ass,” I said. That was a lie. I’d absolutely checked it out.

“It’s like we all go through this,” Luke said, shaking his head at Theo. “Why do we do that? Is it a Haven thing, or just a guy thing?”

“Go through what?” I asked.

“Denial,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s a Haven thing or what, but I was a straight-up idiot for a while,” Theo admitted.