Make Me (Bully Me #2) (7 page)

He shrugged and looked away.

"Oh my god, really Shane? Really?"

"Kainie, I’m not spying on you, ok? I’m just making sure you’re safe from him. What if…"

"Not in front of Adam," she snapped. "Haven’t you scared him enough?"

He flinched, and Kaine knew it was a low blow, but she didn’t care. She was furious. "I better not see you sneaking around here again," she threatened him. "Do you have any idea how scared I was?"

"I didn’t mean…"

"No, of course you didn’t mean it. That’s not good enough, Shane. I can’t believe this."

Officer Colton cleared his throat. "Do you want to press charges?"

She snorted. "No. I want him to leave."

"I’m leaving. Don’t worry. Bye, buddy," he said, kissing Adam on the head.

"NO!" Adam screamed, holding Shane tighter. "I want daddy!"

Kaine shook her head, looking away. "Great. That’s just great. Thanks, Shane. Now he’s not going to eat or go to sleep. Thanks a lot."

He ignored her and gently lowered Adam to the ground. "I have a surprise for you when I see you tomorrow. But you only get it if you’re good for mommy and eat your dinner, ok?"

Adam shook his head. "I want you."

Shane glanced up at her. "I can help you feed him. Then I’ll go. I promise."

Kaine bit her lip, looking back at him. She didn’t want to give in to him after what he had done, but it wasn’t fair to Adam to have his father disappear right now. "Fine," she finally said. "You can give him dinner, then you can go." She smiled apologetically at officer Colton. "I’m sorry you had to waste your time with this. We’re fine."

Colton gave Shane a not so friendly look that Kaine couldn’t quite read, then shrugged. "Any more problems, you call me," he said, handing Kaine his card. She thanked him and closed the door after him.

"Chicken nugget time!" Shane yelled as Adam laughed. "How many do you want? One billion?"

Kaine put her hands on her hips and glared at Shane. He ignored her, taking the nuggets out of the freezer. "One billion nuggets coming right up!" He put four nuggets on a plate and popped it in the microwave. Kaine shook her head. "I’m taking a bath. Make sure he has carrot sticks too." She spun and walked out before he could say anything.

Kaine got out of the bath, feeling better. She had to admit it was nice having some time to herself during the week. Even when Adam was in bed, she could never fully relax. It was weird sleeping in this big house without Shane. Every noise scared her, and his spectacle tonight didn’t make her feel much better. She dried off and put on her bathrobe, opening the door to the bathroom. She frowned, looking around. She tiptoed upstairs to Adam’s room and saw Shane lying in bed with him. She had to smile at Shane’s massive frame hanging off the bed. She quietly went back to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She may as well try to enjoy herself while Shane put Adam to sleep. She sat down on the couch and opened her book, sipping her wine. A few minutes later, Shane came back downstairs. "He’s asleep."

"Thanks," she said, not looking up from her book. He took the book out of her hand and she looked at him, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Let me come home."

She shook her head. "No."

He sat down next to her. "What if I say I’m not leaving until you say yes?"

"Well if I say yes then you wouldn’t have to leave, would you?" She countered.

"So I guess I’m not leaving then. That was easy."

She looked around. "Officer Colton left his card here somewhere. Where did I put it?"

He laughed. "Come on, Kainie. Don’t you miss me? I miss you."

She looked away. She did miss him. She missed him so much it hurt. But she couldn’t trust him anymore. Especially after tonight. "Shane, I can’t," she said quietly. He moved closer to her. "Is there someone else?"

Her head snapped back. "What? No. Of course not. Not that it's any of your business anyway. Why would you think that?"

He grinned at her, slowly pulling on the tie of her bathrobe. "Just trying to figure out if you need to be punished."

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, ignoring the twinge of excitement she felt. "Really, Shane? You think I’m going to role play with you right now? You do remember that we're divorced, right?"

"It was worth a try," he said, still grinning at her. She stood up. "You need to go."

He stood up reluctantly. "Listen, I promise I won’t come back here unless you ask me to. But be careful. I really don’t trust him."

"Shane, he hasn’t even really tried to talk to me since you left, let alone make any moves on me. You’re worried about nothing."

He took her hand. "You’re wrong, Kainie. I know that I didn’t cheat on you and he was the one who set me up. I know you don’t believe me, but just be careful, ok?"

She nodded, walking with him to the door. He turned and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Kaine."

She closed her eyes and hugged him back. "I love you too," she said quietly. She wanted to tell him not to go. That she loved him and forgave him. She wanted him to take her upstairs and have insane make up sex. Then she remembered Jessica telling her that she was pregnant, and she stiffened. "I’ll see you tomorrow when I drop Adam off," she said. "Goodnight."

"Night, babe," he said. She shut and locked the door after him, resting her head on the door. "God damn it," she muttered. She dumped the rest of her wine and headed upstairs to bed.

"You ready to go to daddy’s?" Kaine asked. Adam shook his head. "I want daddy to come here."

Kaine smiled sympathetically at him. "I know, baby. But daddy doesn’t live here anymore, remember?" She strapped Adam in the car seat when her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi pumpkin."

"Hi, dad," she smiled. "What's up?"

"Are you coming to our Memorial Day party tomorrow? I haven't heard from you."

She bit her lip. "Is Shane going to be there?"

"Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be?"

She sighed. "I don’t know. It's just hard to see him."

"Well honey, I told you that something like this might happen when you two got together. You have to be able to get along with him for Adam's sake."

"I know. You're right. I'll be there. Who else is coming?"

"Too many people to count."

Great.

"Can you do me a favor and tell everyone that Shane and I are divorced but don't want to talk about it? I can't spend the entire time explaining what happened."

"Of course, honey. The only one you'll have to worry about is your aunt Teri, and I'll have a talk with her beforehand. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, dad. I love you."

"Love you too, pumpkin. See you tomorrow."

Kaine hung up the phone. "Dammit," she muttered. She had been doing a good job in keeping her interactions with Shane as minimal as possible. Spending an entire day with him was going to be hell. She drove to Bryce's condo, trying to calm her nerves. This was the worst part of her week. She hated being forced to interact with Shane, even for a few minutes. She was still mad at him from when she had caught him spying on her last week, and wasn’t looking forward to seeing him. Looking into his eyes was a reminder of how horribly he had hurt her, and the fact that he still wouldn’t admit it was infuriating.

She pulled into the driveway, her heart pounding. "Come on, sweetie," she said as she unstrapped Adam. He sprinted toward the door as Kaine grabbed his bag and followed slowly behind. She heard Shane’s voice before she saw him. "Hey, buddy. Look how big you got!" She sighed and headed inside. Might as well get it over with. "Hey," she said quietly to Shane.

"Hi," he said, staring at her.

She avoided his gaze. "Is Bryce here?"

"He's in the living room. Listen, Kaine..."

"Thanks," she said, brushing by him. She walked quickly to the living room. "Hi, Bryce."

He stood up and kissed her cheek. "Hi Kaine. How's it going?"

She smiled. "I'm hanging in there. Listen, I wanted to thank you for letting Adam come here for the weekends. I know it's not your ideal situation."

"Please, it's no problem. I love that little guy."

"How's Shane doing?" She asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Not great, honestly. He's devastated. I've never seen him like this. He just works and spends most of his free time at the gym."

Kaine's heart sank. "You don't think he's using steroids again, do you?"

"No, not at all," he quickly assured her. "He's just angry. He keeps saying he didn't do anything wrong."

"Do you believe him?"

He blew out a breath. "I want to. I mean, he's my best friend. But what reason would Jessica have to make something like that up?"

"I wish I knew. Listen, just try to keep him in line, ok? I'm afraid he's going to get drunk and go out looking for fights again."

"Don't worry. He's in good hands." He hugged her tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow at your parents' party?"

"See you then. Thanks again, Bryce." She went to the kitchen and crouched down, hugging Adam. "I’ll see you in a few days. Be good for daddy, ok?"

"Kay, mommy. Love you."

"Love you too, peanut. Bye, Shane."

"Bye, babe."

Kaine winced at his nickname for her. Somehow, it seemed inappropriate now. She ignored it and drove home. She pulled into her driveway and trudged inside, flopping on the couch. Weekends were the worst. She had no motivation to do anything, so she usually ordered a pizza and laid on the couch watching movies. Sometimes Lucy came over, but she had her own family now. Layla had come over once, and as much as Kaine loved her, they were two very different people. All Layla wanted was for Kaine to put on some hooker heels and go to bars and try to meet guys. That was the last thing Kaine wanted to do. Laying around and wallowing in self pity was working out just fine for her, besides the fact that she was starting to gain weight. She had put on about ten pounds in the past month. She wasn’t fat, just a little curvier. She wanted to exercise, but had no ambition anymore. It was like her mental exhaustion was turning into physical exhaustion. She yawned and closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep.

On Saturday, Kaine pulled into her dad's massive driveway, glancing around. Cars were lined up the street. She took a deep breath and got out of her car, smoothing her dress. She had taken her time getting ready, curling her hair and pinning it back. She was wearing more makeup than usual, and she had bought herself a new pink dress for the party. It had been a long time since she put effort into her appearance, but despite her trepidation at seeing Shane, she felt better than she had in awhile.

She walked up the driveway with her head held high. There were about 60 people in the yard, and Kaine recognized most of them. She spotted her aunt Teri and uncle Kevin talking to her father.

May as well get this over with.

"Hi, aunt Teri. Hi, uncle Kevin!" She exclaimed, giving both of them a hug.

"Kaine! Hi, sweetie! How are you?" Teri cried.

"I'm good, aunt Teri. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I heard you and Shane got a divorce. That must be so horrible for you."

Seriously?

"I'm ok, aunt Teri. I don't really want to get into it."

"Oh, no, of course you don't. You just let me know if you need anything, ok sweetie?"

"Sure. Thanks," Kaine said, walking away quickly. Hopefully, that was the worst part of the day. She broke into a smile when she spotted her father holding Adam. "Hi, peanut!" She exclaimed, holding out her arms.

"Mommy!" He cried, holding out his little arms to her. She took him from her father and squeezed him. "I missed you. What did you and daddy do this weekend?"

"They helped me and Nancy decorate the yard," Tom said proudly. "He was a great helper."

"It's he here?" Kaine asked, looking around nervously.

"He's around somewhere. You're going to have to deal with him, Kainie. You can't avoid him forever."

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard. Maybe over time it'll be better, but right now it's really rough." Adam rubbed his eyes and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm gonna put him in his room for an N-A-P. I'll be back in a bit." She carried him inside and up the stairs, almost gasping for breath when she reached the top. She couldn't believe how big he was getting. She gently lowered him to the bed.

"I don't want to take a nap," he protested.

"You don't have to," she assured him. "Can I just read you a book?"

"Ok, mommy," he said sleepily. She grabbed a particularly boring book and started reading. He was asleep before she finished reading it once. She turned on the baby monitor and quietly closed the door. She jogged down the stairs and froze when she saw Shane standing in the kitchen, drinking a beer.

"Hey," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Hi babe," he said, leaning against the counter. "Do you want a drink?"

She shrugged and he opened the refrigerator, pulling out a beer. He twisted off the cap and handed it to her. "So how've you been?"

"Fine," she said softly. "How are you?"

"Fine."

She took a sip of her beer and studied her nails. Being around Shane was awkward. She had no idea what to say to him.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

She laughed. "What, you mean since you asked me that question last week? No, still not seeing anyone. We've only been divorced for a month."

He visibly relaxed and smirked at her. "Good."

She rolled her eyes. As if it were any of his business anyway. "Are you seeing anyone?" She countered.

He shook his head. "Bryce set me up on a blind date, but it was a disaster. She was a short brunette and dumb as a post. I'm not sure what he was thinking."

She burst out laughing. "Layla set me up too. He was a typical 'I have money so I don't need a personality' guy. He got so drunk that I had to drive him home. I'd say I don't know what she was thinking either, but I'm actually not surprised, considering her history with men. I don't know what I was thinking, letting her set me up. It was the worst date I've ever been on."