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I let go of her and went back to the dinner she’d prepared. Because she was amazing.
But I was scared too.
My career was at stake, and while I’d always been good at staying calm and even-keeled, inside, I didn’t feel so composed. I’d hired Kennedy to help settle my home life so I could focus on my work, but I was once again making excuses because my home life was affecting my work. Kennedy was good and kind, and life with her would be wonderful. It would also come with occasional surprises.
I wasn’t great with surprises.
But we would figure it out. Or, at least, I hoped we could figure it out.
I finished my beer and made sure to polish off my dinner as my mind spun with defensive arguments and possible tenure board questions. I couldn’t go into the meeting flat-footed.
After I got Finn down, I found Kennedy in bed, her hair up in a bun and one of my zip-up sweatshirts on. I bent, accepting yet another apology with a kiss from her, but when she lifted the covers for me, I shook my head.
“I’m going to go box.”
“Oh.” She swallowed noticeably. “Okay.”
I changed into shorts and a T-shirt and stepped into sneakers, feeling Kennedy’s gaze on me the whole time. I offered her another kiss, and when she begged me with her eyes to explain, I held her chin between my fingers. “We’re okay.”
“Promise?” she whispered.
“Promise.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
KENNEDY
We were not okay.
It had been a very weird week. Liam was standoffish, boxing every single night, and even though he still kissed and hugged and cuddled with me, his smile very rarely made it to both sides of his mouth, and he was quieter than usual. I knew Liam was worried about his job, and no matter how many times he reassured me that it was fine, I could tell what I’d done was weighing on him.
Which made me feel awful.
Not to mention, Finn had caught another germ from school, and the poor kid was a snot factory. A sick kid made everything more difficult, especially figuring out a time to have an I-love-you-please-love-me-back-even-though-I-know-I-messed-up-and-you-could-have-anyone-else conversation.
But I didn’t know if I wanted to cross that bridge just yet. Not until Liam’s review, which was only three weeks away. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere.
Not when I was already trapped on the sofa.
I held my fingers out to Finn, counting down. “Three…two…one! The floor is lava!”
Finn erupted into giggles as he took off, leaping from one pillow to another, avoiding touching the floor. Lately, he’d become obsessed with the television show and game, constantly asking to play, and with the freezing rain outside, we didn’t have much else to do.
“C’mon!” He scooped up the stuffed pterodactyl and plastic rhino from the floor. “Floor is avaaaa!”
I laughed, waving him toward me. “Hurry! The lava’s rising! Hurry up, Finnie!”
He skirted the coffee table and jumped up onto the sofa, tackling me in the process. I hugged him tight, smacking kisses all over his head, plying more giggles out of him. “I love you, babes.”
“Love you, Ken-dee.”
I kissed him once more then righted us, catching my breath. “What do you say we clean all this up and have a snack? Daddy’ll be home soon.”
He held up three fingers, pouting. “More minutes.”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Fine! A few more minutes then we’re cleaning up. Got it?”
He stood up on the couch, wobbling a bit on the cushion, so I held on to his legs. “Careful. Careful.”
