This one question ran through my mind the rest of that day. It didn’t matter that my parents were blowing my phone up trying to reach me. I knew they would be angry, but their anger held no weight to this one question.
Was it even worth it to love Cane, only to lose everything I loved and cared for in the end?
Thirty-Six
CANE
I landed back in Atlanta well over six hours ago and had just wrapped up on a conference call when my cell phone buzzed on the desk. Kelly had been calling nonstop, but I ignored every single one of them. This time it was a call from Kandy.
“How’s it going, Kandy Cane?” I answered.
“Not good,” she said, voice thick. She sounded winded, like she was working out or something.
I walked toward the windows that overlooked the city. “What’s wrong?”
“I…um…well, you’re not going to believe this, but I just had my scholarship revoked.”
“What?” I snapped, frowning. “How? What the hell happened?”
She sniffled. “Remember that guy you saw me with after the seminar?”
“Yeah?” My fist clenched, grip tightening around the phone just thinking about it. “What about him? Did he do something to you?”
“I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to worry, but he saw us together the night you dropped me off. He confronted me about it and called me a slut, then the next thing I know he sends the pictures to one of my teammates and my teammate told my coach.”
“What the fuck,” I grumbled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I’m not Cane. And that isn’t the worst of it.”
“What the hell could be worse than that? You worked hard for that scholarship, Kandy.”
“I know I did, but I had a hearing a short while ago. They said they’ve already made arrangements to tell my parents about the pictures. My parents have been calling me nonstop and I don’t want to answer because I don’t know what to say!”
She was panicking now—I could hear it in the shortness of her breaths and the gasps bubbling out of her.
“Fuck, Kandy. Just calm down, all right. Calm down.”
“How can I calm down, Cane? My life is fucking ruined! Softball was all I had! I actually made friends and was looking forward to starting the season, and now all of that is gone because of wanting to be with you!”
Well, shit.
I stepped away from the window and turned, pressing the phone harder to my ear. “Kandy, I didn’t mean for this to happen to you. I’m sorry that it did, but we both knew the consequences! Shit, I never should have visited the school. This is all my fucking fault.”
She whimpered and my heart fucking broke for her even more. I hated hearing my girl cry. “This scholarship was all I had, Cane. I didn’t think I would lose it.”
“No. That’s where you’re wrong, Kandy.”
“How? What are you even talking about? Do you hear what I’m telling you? My parents know, Cane! They’re calling me and I don’t know how to explain it or even go back home and look them in the eye!”
“You didn’t let me finish, Kandy!” I barked. “Calm down. I mean it! Find somewhere to sit right now and take a second!”
She sniffled harder, letting out an exasperated breath.
“What are you doing right now?”
“I’m packing. They want me off of campus by Wednesday.”
“Damn. Not much of a notice.” I sighed. “Look, you don’t have to face your parents right away. If you need time or think they’ll need time to digest this before talking about it, take it. I’ll book you a flight, you can fly back to Georgia, and I’ll pick you up from the airport myself. Just say the word.”
“I—I don’t know. I just feel like I’m back at square one again. I feel like I’m ruining everything,” she whined. “What am I going to do without a degree? I can’t afford to pay for college myself and now my parents are going to come out of pocket instead! They’re going to be pissed!
“I understand your frustrations. I do. I get them. I know it feels like you’re in a glass case and the roof has shattered. I know you feel like life is fucking you over, but you need to realize that I am here for you. Whatever you go through, I’m going through it with you. And when it comes to college, I know plenty of people who would take you just from my recommendation alone and I have plenty of money to take care of loans and fees and whatever the hell else you’ll need. Money is not a problem. Getting you into another school is not a problem. We can fix this, so suck it up, finish packing your shit, and come home. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“I’ll have to face my parents eventually, Cane,” she sobbed. “I don’t want them to look at me like they did before. I don’t want anything else bad to happen to you.”
“You can talk to them when you’re ready. You’re old enough to make your own decisions. Ignoring them will only piss them off though, so be honest and tell them where you’ll be if you don’t want to go home right away. They’ll be mad, but they’ll be glad you told them and should respect your privacy enough not to push for more until you’re ready to give it.”
Her sobs weakened, and the sniffling died down. “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you too.” I slouched down in my chair. “Come home, Kandy,” I said, hoping it would sooth her. “Let’s figure this out together.”
Thirty-Seven
KANDY
My parents had called twenty-one times, left six voice messages, and sent fourteen text messages combined within eight hours. I know because I’d counted.
I felt horrible for ignoring them, but at this point, I didn’t know what else to do. Plus, Dad’s voicemails didn’t make the situation any easier. He kept threatening how he was going to go to Cane and pick a bone with him. Mom on the other hand was more concerned about me losing my scholarship and wondering what I was going to do for school in the long run.
I decided to take Cane up on the offer he’d given me, so the next morning I sent a text to Mom and told her not to come for me—that I had it handled and would see them soon. She called a million times after that one message, but I didn’t answer the calls. I couldn’t at the moment. I needed time to think.
I didn’t have a place to put all my belongings, but luckily Gina had relatives that lived near the campus and agreed to drive me there to let me store my things at their place. I wasn’t allowed to leave anything in the dorm. If I did, it was going to be thrown away. Morgan kept some of it, like the comforter and a few of my softball gloves.
I hugged Morgan and Gina goodbye for good and we all shared a few tears. Afterwards, I caught the flight Cane had booked for me and flew back to Georgia.
Like he’d promised, he was waiting for me up front. He was standing in front of the exit with his hands tucked in his pockets and a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, like he’d just arrived. I spotted him before he could see me, and my heart sped up several notches the closer I got.
Seeing him, reminded me of when I was a little girl and was looking at him for the first time. Though I was hopeless, the sunglasses shielding his eyes and his bad boy demeanor did something to me—whirled me up inside and drove me crazy.
He looked around for a moment like he could feel someone watching him, and when he was facing my direction, he put on a warm, welcoming smile, pulling the sunglasses off. He opened his arms and I dragged my suitcase on it’s wheels, rushing into them.
I hugged him hard and squeezed so tight. This hug was exactly what I needed. No questions, just outpouring love. My parents would have hounded me first, questioned me later, and maybe hug me after making the same “mistake” twice. And that was a big maybe.
But Cane was no mistake. He couldn’t be. Why would he have been brought into my life, if we weren’t meant to be something? It didn’t make any sense. There had to be a reason for this. There had to be happiness at the end of our story.
“Ready to go?” he asked after kissing the top of my head.
<
br /> “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Cane grabbed my suitcase and carried it in one hand, using his free arm to hook it around me and walk with me out of the airport. I clung to him, and though I felt low and like the world was against me, I was comforted and whole being right next to him.
He took me to lunch at a quiet restaurant. I’d ordered a chicken salad but with so much anxiety coursing through me, I only picked at it. I wasn’t very hungry and he noticed, I’m sure, but didn’t say anything.
After lunch, we were on the way to his house. A part of me panicked, thinking maybe my parents would know where I was and would be waiting there, but the driveway was empty.
We got out of the car and unloaded in the house. A spur of relief struck me, being back here again.
I noticed Cane didn’t really say much. He would ask little questions here and there about what I wanted to do, or if I was thirsty, or if I’d talked to my parents since the hearing, to which I’d answered yes, but he wouldn’t push beyond that. That was one thing I loved about him. He knew when to give me space.
After I’d taken a shower and changed into comfortable clothes, he let me stay upstairs to curl up in his bed while he worked downstairs. It was probably the wrong thing to do though, because being alone made me think too much, and all I could think about was how miserable my life was and how maybe being with Cane wasn’t the right thing for me. The signs pointed to it. Everything bad that was happening to me was happening because of my attachment to Cane and my unwillingness to let go.
I wished in that moment I had answers. I wished a psychic could just come up and tell me whether I should stick it out with him for ultimate bliss and happiness, or if I was wasting my time.
When I looked into Cane’s eyes, I felt safe and whole, and I didn’t feel like what we had was time wasted. But when we were apart, everything was being ripped to shreds and I was drowning, and I don’t think that’s how I was supposed to feel.
I cried that night.
Cried over losing my scholarship.
Cried over Brody and Sophie tarnishing me.
Cried over losing my good friends Gina and Morgan. I would never see them again and even though we promised to keep in touch, it wasn’t going to be the same as being there.
I cried mostly because for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t rush to my parents and let them take care of my troubles. I couldn’t because they would make me choose. They wouldn’t understand, nor would they let me be free…and in that very moment, I needed freedom to decide what I wanted to do, not their chains of negativity.
Thirty-Eight
KANDY
The next morning, someone nudged me awake.
“Kandy,” Cane murmured on my lips. He kissed me on the mouth and I groaned, twisting over so my back was facing him. “Kandy…you’ve been sleeping all morning,” he chuckled.
“Sleeping is the only thing I can do. I don’t have a job and I don’t go to school anymore. Might as well stay in bed,” I muttered.
“Ha. Funny, but no.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I shrieked a bit and he stepped closer to the edge of the bed, tipping my chin. “I’m not going to let you sit around and mope. Get dressed. Today is going to be our day for a little fun.”
“Our day? What do you mean?”
“Let’s go shopping. Buy some things. Get some food to cook together.”
I bit a smile. As badly as I wanted to wallow in my own pity, that did sound nice. “As long as you promise that we get to eat spaghetti. Gah—I didn’t think I’d miss spaghetti so much but I do.”
“We’ll make it with extra sauce and extra parmesan, just the way you like it. Now come on,” he insisted, grinning as he clapped his hands. “Get dressed and meet me down stairs.”
“Okay, okay. Fine.” I shooed him off playfully and climbed out of bed. I went for my suitcase in the corner and decided on a sky blue maxi dress. I didn’t want to keep him waiting long so I freshened up and then tied my hair up, letting a few stray tendrils hang at the nape of my neck and around my face. When I was done, I met him downstairs.
Cane took me to the mall first, and there I grabbed a cinnamon pretzel and devoured it. To my surprise, he walked with me hand-in-hand in public, and it made butterflies flutter in my belly. Like he noticed my glee, he smiled down at me and squeezed my hand.
We walked through the entire mall, making stops here and there, especially when I saw a cute pair of purple Chucks. Of course he bought them, even though I insisted that he didn’t have to.
Then I saw a store that caught me by total surprise.
“Oh my gosh,” I gasped.
Cane stepped beside me as I gawked. “I wanted to show you instead of telling you.”
“Oh my gosh, Cane! You have a store in the mall?” The store had a neon red sign above the entrance, the word Tempt in a bold, fat font. The store was playing dance music, and Cane grabbed my hand, leading the way.
When we got inside, it was somewhat darker than the rest of the stores. There was a section that had various chocolates and red boxes lined up, and on the other was a line of lingerie. A tall woman with blond hair stood behind the counter and smiled way too hard when she saw us coming in.
“Oh my goodness. How do I have the honor of serving the Quinton Cane?” she squealed, and Cane put on a smug smile.
“Just doing some shopping, Elizabeth.”
“Well, that’s always fun!” Her eyes swooped over to mine. “And are you shopping for lingerie or chocolate?”
Cane smirked then, dropping his gaze to lock it with mine. I shook my head.
No! He’d better not!
“Lingerie,” he answered, and I wanted the floor to swallow me whole. I blushed way too hard when Elizabeth beamed her perfect smile at me.
“Lingerie for the young lady. Yes, let’s see what we have!”
Elizabeth turned and I pulled my hand out of Cane’s to give him a light slap across the arm. “Are you insane?” I whisper-hissed.
He got a kick out of that, laughing as he gestured in the direction Elizabeth had gone in. “It put a smile on your face, didn’t it?”
As much as I was blushing and my face felt like it’d caught fire, I was smiling, and I wanted to slap him silly for embarrassing me, but wanted to hug him even more for giving a damn.
“So, do you like red or black?” Elizabeth asked, picking up two sets and weighing them up and down in her hands.
“Um…black,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Black,” she sang. “Good choice. Black compliments all skin tones. This is our bestselling set. The women love it, and I think it would look great on you.” Elizabeth looked at Cane. “Mr. Cane, will this suit you?”
Cane slid his hands into his front pockets. “I think its perfect. Then again, she looks good in anything.”
Of course he approved. And of course he was still getting a kick out of this embarrassing situation. He was such a goof.
Elizabeth took me to a dressing room to measure me, which was equally embarrassing, and then we were back out, meeting Cane at the register. He’d ordered the same set of lingerie in three different colors—red, black, and navy blue. I had no idea why he was wasting his money. I loved nice panties, especially lace ones, but G-strings were on a whole other level.
When we left the store, Cane carrying the paper Tempt bag proudly, I hooked my arm through his and said, “You did that on purpose.”
“Of course I did. I need my Kandy back—the one who loves being teased.” He grabbed my chin and pinched it lightly between his forefinger and thumb.
“I’m here, I promise. Just have to get used to it I guess. When did the store open?”
“Two weeks ago. Believe it or not, it was Lora’s idea to have a store built into a local mall.”
“Really?” I looked up at him. “I’m glad she’s back. She’s been helping you out with a lot of things.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m glad she’s back too. Truthfully,
I think she’s just trying to find things to do to occupy herself, which I don’t mind at all. I’d rather her be here and in my hair, than somewhere else.”
“That’s good.”
“What do you say we head to the grocery store? Grab the ingredients for the spaghetti?”
I beamed up at him, just thinking about the yummy spaghetti. “Sounds like a plan.”
At the store, we’d grabbed all the ingredients needed to make my mom’s favorite spaghetti recipe. As we walked out of the store, Cane put his visors on and said, “I hope you know what you’re doing with this stuff.”
I laughed and started to respond, but a voice called my name from a distance. It was familiar and scared the living shit out of me.
“Kandy?” the deep voice called again and I looked to my left. I knew the voice before I saw the person it belonged to, and my heart dropped to my stomach. I stopped walking as my dad crossed the parking lot in his police uniform, brows narrowed and eyes locked right on me.
Cane stopped walking too, pulling off his sunglasses.
“Kandy, what the hell?” Dad yelled. “Your mother and I have been calling you! Why haven’t you been answering the phone?”
“I—I was going to call back when I was ready—“
Dad looked at Cane and grimaced. “I am so sick of you manipulating her, Cane! I swear to God, every time some shit goes down you’re in the fucking picture!”
“Dad, stop!” I shouted, rushing between them. “It was my choice to go with him! I knew how you would react after the school called you so I called Cane and he booked a flight for me to come back here!”
“Why?” Dad barked. “Why couldn’t you just call me and ask me to schedule the flight? Why the hell did it have to be Cane? You told me you weren’t talking to him anymore, but then I get a call from school saying your scholarship was revoked because you were with him? Just doesn’t make any fucking sense, Kandy! Don’t you see he’s ruining your fucking life?”
The Cane Series: A Complete Forbidden Romance Series (4-Book Set) Page 49
