Page 115 of As The Shifter World Turns

I shoved the phone in my pocket and ran towards the front door nearly colliding with Daire holding pizzas.

“Watch where you're going,” he barked at me. Great. Now even Daire was pissed at me.

“Sorry. Let me help you with those.” I held out my hands.

“No. Just go wherever you were headed. Ivor’s home and you know it. You can’t use me to get to him. Shit, I shouldn’t even let you near me.” He started to walk and I stepped in front of him. It was a dick move, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. I was desperate.

“Let me see him. I sent him a message and I called him.”

“He blocked your ass and before you think to ask me to have him unblock you, just know it was my idea. He doesn’t need your toxic bullshit in his life. For whatever reason you prioritize the fuck out of Kellan—always have and Ivor deserves better than that.” He stepped around me.

“I need him and it’s not what he—what anyone thinks. I just need to explain,” I was at the point I was willing to beg.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Is this about work?” How the heck did he get there?

“No. Of course that’s not it.” I did need him there. The office was a fucking disaster, but that was far from the reason I wanted him. I could replace Ivor at work. The same could not be said for my heart.

“Hire someone else. Fuck it, hire Kellan. He could use the money with the new baby coming.” He stomped off and I wanted to run after him, beg him to let me in, tell him he got it all wrong, but my body was frozen there, the reality of just how horrific things were setting into me.

The entire building believed that I was the father of Kellan's baby… that I had cheated on Ivor after promising him Kellan was in my past. That I was the evil one.

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. I turned on my heel and went back to my apartment, not wanting to see anyone.

The next day was a blur and after getting nothing done in the office, I drove home and decided to take the walk I’d postponed yesterday.

I walked into the cool evening air. Not that I had a destination in mind. I just needed to get away. I tried to push everything out of my mind to buy myself a moment’s reprieve and failed miserably. Forty-five minutes later, I took out my phone and tried Ivor’s number again. Same response.

I needed to do something—needed to fix this.

“Kellan, please answer.” I pulled up his name and hit send. I had to convince him to fix it or to give me the tools to fix it.

It sucked that he was pregnant and alone. Of course it did. But that didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t that poor baby’s father. It was impossible. I hadn't been with him at all since we broke up for good. He’d be far past the point of overdue if our last time together resulted in a pregnancy.

No, he was lying or maybe purposefully misleading Ivor. I still didn’t know which and in the end it didn’t matter as far as the end result went.

The phone rang and rang and rang and rang, not even going to voicemail. Not that I had a message to leave. One couldn’t call up and say, “Hey, this is the person everyone thinks is your baby daddy so call me, maybe?” I’d driven to his apartment the day before but he’d moved out.

I turned around and headed back to Sunshine Manor. It was later than I liked for the neighborhood I’d wandered into and based on the weather report, the skies would eventually be opening up. The whole walking aimlessly had been a shitty plan to begin with. Plan wasn’t the best word. Planning meant I had put thought into it and at the time the only thought was to walk. Hardly a plan.

My feet hurt and my heart was still broken as I reached Sunshine Manor. I needed to just go to my place, take a long shower and climb in bed and possibly cry. But I was starving and needing greasy fast food, so I got in the car and ten minutes later pulled up in front of Sunshine Manor.

The last person I expected to see as I stepped into the front entrance was Kellan with the new guy, Seb, I thought his name was. Daire had mentioned it a while back.

“You!”

Kellan recoiled.

“You lying piece of shit,” I seethed. “Why the fuck are you such a fucking asshole?”

Kellan’s hands went straight to his midsection. Like I could ever hit him, much less hit him in his pregnant belly. It wasn’t that poor babe’s fault he was growing inside a huge dishonest turd.

“I didn’t.” His voice cracked and had I not known him as well as I did, I might have believed his performance. But I did and it was grade A bullcrap.

“Fuck you. You are fucking Pinocchio. I can’t believe I ever liked you much less loved you. You are trash, Kellan. Pure fucking?—”

I barely caught the movement out of my left eye and even as I did, I didn't decipher what the motion was in time. No, I had no idea what was happening until Seb’s fist collided with my face.

I wanted to fight back, shout some more, but that would get none of us anywhere. If Seb got that hot tempered by me calling his friend out on his lying bullshit—assuming he knew Kellan had lied to Ivor—staying at the front entrance of Sunshine Manor was only going to escalate things.

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