Off the Cuff - K.I. Lynn Page 0,2

getting it with me, who was he getting it from? By the pink mark on his neck, it was his coworker, Jennifer. I’d watched them flirting at the holiday party his work had the year before. He denied it then, but things had definitely cooled off between us after that.

“I’m selfish? You didn’t even talk to me about this. And you don’t know what you’re talking about as far as my fucking dick is concerned.”

“Would it have changed anything?” I asked, my teeth gritted.

“It still would have been fucking no.”

Again, there it was. The truth. We’d become too comfortable, and our relationship was stagnant. No longer growing or evolving.

It was still difficult to process that it had come to this. That he wanted to throw our relationship away because of a baby. Though I knew that wasn’t true. We’d been building to this, but he was too much of a fucking coward to break up. The baby was an excuse he was taking full advantage of.

“Then I think it’s time for you to go,” I said through clenched teeth.

“You’re making a mistake, picking that over me,” he sneered.

Another harsh laugh escaped. “I think my mistake was thinking we ever had a future.”

He stood there fuming before he turned and stormed into the bedroom. After quickly packing a suitcase, he hit up the bathroom, then came back into the room and picked up his laptop. I never moved from where I was standing as my relationship crumbled around my feet.

“I’ll be back for the rest,” he said as he walked to the door and threw on his coat. He turned back and stared at me. “Last chance.”

My eyes locked with his. “Get out.”

He turned and walked out, the door slamming behind him. As soon as he was gone, I let loose a sob as the silence soaked in.

The baby started to cry with me, and I pulled her close and pressed my lips to her forehead.

“It’s okay,” I whispered to the tiny baby in my arms as tears slipped down my cheeks. “We don’t need him. We’ll be okay.”

Pete’s decision hurt. Badly. Regardless of whether I held part of myself back from him or not, we’d spent so many years together. His response to the precious newborn was the last straw. It forced us both to see our relationship for what it had become.

I should have known I couldn’t trust him. Looking back at our relationship, I knew he’d let me down in so many ways—from failing to pick me up after I had my wisdom teeth removed, to small things like using all the towels and not washing them.

None of that mattered now.

Still, I mourned the loss.

It was going to be hard, but once I had her in my arms, I knew I was never letting her go.

10 months later…

“Craaaap,” I whined as I glanced at my watch—late again.

I was still wiping formula spit-up off my shirt as I stepped onto the elevator. Why did I decide to wear white today? After only three or four hours of inconsistent sleep, I was lucky to be standing.

Thank you, espresso machine.

Kinsey had kept me up half the night—more teething, but hopefully it was the last of it for a while.

When I took on the guardianship of my niece, it was sink or swim. This was a sink kind of day, and to top it off, it was Monday.

It could only get better, right?

Oh, the lies I told myself. Even as I thought about it, I laughed.

It was fifteen minutes after eight when I flew out of the elevator toward my desk. I flashed a glance at Matt’s office as I ran by, but he wasn’t there.

Shit.

The moment I hit my cube, my bag was on the ground and I was waking my computer up.

“Late again, I see,” Matt said from behind me.

I jumped and cursed as I turned to look at my boss. “I’m sorry.”

He waved me off. “You know the drill by now.”

I nodded and smiled at him. “Short lunch for me today!”

I had an arrangement due to my situation—as long as I got my hours in each day, I was good. However, that often led to working through my lunch breaks.

“Maybe I could use you later to pick up my lunch for me?”

I nodded and let out a sigh of relief. Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Picking up Matt’s lunch wasn’t a punishment like many in the office thought it was. I wasn’t reduced to acting assistant