After You (Because of You 2)

“Give me his name and address, I’ll go kick him in the face for you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but he’s twice your size, so I’m not sure how well that would work out.”

“Don’t let my limited height fool you. I do cardio kickboxing to make up for sitting in a chair 80 hours a day. I can kick pretty high.”

“I am very interested in a demonstration,” he tells me.

I smile and lean in to give him a kiss. “Maybe later.”

“I can’t believe you came,” he adds once I pull back.

“Of course I came. If you can’t move, how are you going to take care of Cassidy?”

“But what about work?”

“I brought my laptop and my manuscript. I’ll set it up at the kitchen table. I printed off some coloring pages for Cassidy to keep her busy. It’s a working plan, but I’ll figure it out.” His lips look so kissable and he’s literally wounded right now, so I’m feeling extra tenderness toward him. I bend down to steal another kiss.

As I brush my lips against Derek’s, I hear someone clearing their voice behind me. When I pull back, Derek’s grimace tells me I’m going to be annoyed when I turn around.

Sure enough, when I look over my shoulder, Mike Noble is standing there.

“Oh.” I stand and shift my weight awkwardly.

Mike nods his head, offering a thin attempt at a smile. “Nikki.”

Derek clears his throat, and Mike looks at his son instead of me. “Nikki’s gonna stay, so I won’t need your help after all,” Derek tells his dad.

It makes me feel icky that he called Mike. It shouldn’t since he’s his dad, but ugh, it does. Did he even know we were in touch again? The first time he sees me in over six years, and I’m kneeling on the ground kissing Derek. I want to rewind so his first sight of me is something less vulnerable—something like me glaring him half to death with open hostility.

The discomfort level in the room is at an all-time high, so it’s perfect timing for Cassidy to come crashing in, holding her unicorn in the air.

“Look, Grandpa, she can fly!”

Grandpa. Double yuck. It occurs to me first the first time literally ever, if I procreated with Derek, Mike would be my kid’s grandpa, too. If he and my mom would have worked out… well, I guess that would have been a little weird. Our family has always been weird, so it wouldn’t have been a dealbreaker, but still.

That this dickhead gets to be in Cassidy’s life while my mom will never meet my hypothetical children makes me extra salty, so I can’t help smiling and asking, “How’s the wife?”

“We divorced,” he says.

“How shocking.”

Derek swiftly interrupts. “Thanks for stopping by, Dad.”

With a knowing smile and a faint nod, Mike says, “All right. Come over here and give me a hug,” he tells Cassidy. Then he oomphs as she flies into his body and squeezes him. Before he leaves, he tells Derek to give him a shout if he needs anything and offers me a wordless nod.

“That was fun,” Derek says once he’s gone.

Cassidy already bounded down the hall to her bedroom once Mike left, so I don’t hold back. “I loathe that man.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” he says lightly.

“I don’t pretend to like people I hate,” I add.

“I never asked you to,” he assures me. “Come on, shake it off. Come back down here. I’m at an unfair disadvantage today. When I move, it causes so much pain I want to die, so you’re gonna have to work with me here.”

r /> I sigh, but drop down to my knees anyway. “Don’t move on my account. I don’t want you to make it worse. Have you taken something for the pain?”

“I have. Still hurts though.” He pouts, just in case I’m still annoyed. I can’t resist kissing his stupid lips, so his evil plan works.