Page 42 of Bonus Daddy
“I’m here to support Kit and Jess.” Brian stepped in front of me, only an inch or two, in a protective way before looking to make sure the kids weren’t listening.
He leaned close to Kenneth and whispered, “I can see why you’d be confused, since you had to be forced to show up for your own child. Seems like being a deadbeat dad really suits you.”
The moment hung like a gavel strike. And I checked to make sure none of the kids had overheard that verbal smackdown.
Kenneth, his face now beet red, grabbed the woman at his sidewith a shaking hand and walked away without even saying goodbye to the girls, who’d migrated to the area set up for pictures and were taking selfies with my phone.
“You okay?” Brian’s voice startled me.
Peering up at him, I nodded woodenly. He’d stood up for me. And more importantly, he’d stood up for my kids.
As he led me out of the lobby, it dawned on me that no one had ever done that for me before.
Chapter 15
Brian
“You are so talented,” Cal gushed.
Kit lit up, the joy on her face making her look uncannily like her mother.
“Someday,” Cal went on, “we’ll be buying tickets to see you at Lincoln Center.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Jess, who had her arm around her daughter, beaming with pride.
I’d known the kid was good, but she’d blown my socks off, playing with passion and precision beyond her age.
And fuck if I hadn’t almost teared up when the guys and the boys insisted on coming. Even T.J. and Murphy had enjoyed it. Though Murphy was rarely effusive, he’d been grinning all night, and a few feet down the sidewalk, T. J. was waving wildly, surely telling a tale.
“We need to celebrate this monumental achievement,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “How about ice cream?”
The four kids shrieked so loudly it probably woke up half of Park Slope.
I grinned. “I know a very special place.”
We walked along Sackett Street, the kids bouncing around ahead of us, with Cal acting just as rowdy and Sully policing the situation. Jess and I hung back a little, walking side by side. Every minute or so, Istole a look at her. I so desperately wanted to focus on the excitement of the night and how good this all felt. But instead, I kept going back to Kenneth’s smug face and his cruelty. How long had he treated her like this? If I could, I’d reverse time and go back just so I could represent her in their divorce. I would have made that man bleed in court. We would have sucked every penny from him and the marrow from his bones for good measure.
My jaw was tight as I mentally cataloged all the ways I could destroy him in court, and I was deep in a legal-based revenge fantasy when Jess bumped my arm.
“You okay over there?” she asked.
I looked down at her concerned face and forced my shoulders to lower from my ears. “I am now.”
She threaded her arm through my elbow, instantly scaring away another layer of tension. “Good, because you need to know. I really love ice cream, so this place better deliver.”
“Oh, it will,” I replied, eyeing Kit and Greta, who were now pirouetting down the sidewalk. “He doesn’t deserve them,” I blurted out.
Her body stiffened beside me, and she stumbled a step.
“Sorry.” I winced. “It’s not my place.”
Squeezing my arm, Jess pulled me to a stop. “You’re right. He doesn’t deserve them. And it helps to hear you say that.”
I gave her a soft smile and brushed a strand of hair from her face. For a moment, I was lost in her, her fathomless brown eyes making it hard for me to find my way out.
Ahead, T. J. screeched, and finally, I took a step back and huffed a breath. Then I grasped Jess’s hand, and the two of us jogged to catch up with the group.
“What is this place?” Greta gushed, looking in the window.
