"Because sometimes I think of how you used to bully me, and I’m terrified that one day you’ll wake up and realize that you could have done better than me."
Shane burst out laughing, then immediately stopped when he saw the look on her face. "Baby, no. You can’t seriously think that."
"Just forget it," she mumbled, looking away. He gently grabbed her chin and pulled her toward him. "No. I won’t ‘forget it,’ Kaine. Do you even realize how amazing you are? You and Adam are my entire universe. Why on earth would you ever think that I would leave you?"
"I know you love me, but what if I get fat again? What if you realize I’m the same as I was before I lost weight in high school and you fell in love with me?"
"Jesus, Kaine. Are you serious? Is that what you think? That I fell in love with you because you lost weight?"
She sniffed. "Didn’t you?"
"No! I can’t believe you’ve thought that this whole time. I’ve loved you for years before you loved me. I loved you when you hated me. I loved you when you were heavier. I’d love you if you were 300 pounds. Don’t you understand? Do you even know how I felt when you kicked me out? Why do you think I wouldn’t sign the divorce papers for so long? I can’t live without you. You, Kaine Ellery, are my everything."
She jumped up and buried her face in his neck. "I’m sorry," she sobbed. "I love you."
"I love you too, Kainie. Don’t ever worry about not having me. You’re stuck with me forever."
She choked out a laugh. "Promise?"
"I promise," he said. "When we’re old and senile and Adam has to take care of us, I still won’t be able to keep my hands off of you."
Kaine pulled back and sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Let’s go get Adam and take him home. He’ll be so excited to hear that daddy’s coming back."
"Not quite yet. I told our parents to keep him for dinner. I need you to myself for awhile."
Kaine grinned at him. "Awhile, huh?"
"I intend to take my time with you."
She shivered in anticipation. "I think…"
She was interrupted by Steve coming back into the room. He handed Kaine the papers with the results.
"I don’t want them," she said, thrusting them back at him. Shane took them and glanced at the page. "You need to see this, Kaine."
"No, I don’t want to."
"I want you to," he said firmly. "I’m glad you believe me. But do this for me. I can’t stand that there might be any doubt in your mind of the way I feel about you."
"There’s not," she protested.
"Please, Kainie. Do it for me. I love that you don’t want to, but just read it. Please."
Kaine sighed and took the paper, unable to keep the smile from spreading over her face. "You didn’t lie at all."
He grinned at her. "Told you. Now will you be able to eat a hamburger without worrying that it will go straight to your ass?"
She giggled. "I’ll work on that."
He took her hand and led her out of the room.
13
Shane followed Kaine up the stairs to their bedroom. He laughed as she started pulling off her clothes before she reached the top of the stairs. She pulled off her bra and stepped out of her panties, laying back on the bed. "How do you want me?" She asked, laying her hands over her head.
"Get on your knees," he ordered. She turned over and leaned back.
"Don't move," he said as he took his clothes off. He climbed on the bed behind her and grabbed her hips, pulling her back towards him. "You think it's ok to call me a liar?"
"I'm sorry," she gasped.
"Do I need to spank you?"
"Yes," she moaned. He smirked at her and brought his hand back, smacking her hard. She moaned loudly as he slid inside her. "Fuck," he groaned, slamming into her. He smacked her ass even harder as she cried out. He grabbed her hips and frantically pumped in and out of her. "You want it in your mouth?" He muttered. "Yes," she rasped. He pulled out of her and sat back, watching her take him into her mouth. He loved the sight of her going down in him. "Fuck, Kainie, I'm gonna come," he grunted. She took him deeper in her mouth as he let go.
"God, I love you," he said as she pulled away. She smiled at him. "I love you too, Shane."
"You know it doesn't have to be like this, right?"
She frowned. "Like what?"
"Spanking, oral, toys...I don't want you to think that we have to do that for me to be happy, because we don't. I'm happy just being with you. You know you can tell me if you don't want to do something, right?"
She smiled softly at him. "I love you for saying that. But I love our sex life. I love being spanked and manhandled in bed. I'd be sad if we stopped."
"Good," he smiled.
Kaine stood up on shaky legs and started toward the bathroom. "Where do you think you’re going?" Shane asked, stretching out on the bed. "To get cleaned up," she replied. "I’m disgusting."
"You didn’t think that was it, did you? I told you I was going to take my time with you."
She grinned at him. "Are you ready for round two already?"
His eyes softened and he held out his arms to her. "Come here."
Kaine climbed on the bed and snuggled into his arms. "You got bigger," she said, squeezing his bicep.
"Does that bother you?"
"No," she said as she admired his body. "Does it bother you that I did?"
"Yes," he answered. Kaine flinched.
"It bothers me that I didn’t think you could possibly get any sexier than you already were, and I was wrong. I hate being wrong. You are so fucking beautiful, Kainie. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I thank God every day for you and Adam." He wiped the tears from her eyes. "I love you."
She laid back and pulled him on top of her. "I love you too." She gasped as he pushed into her and made love to her.
Layla stared at the wall, wide awake. Camden slept soundly in her bed next to her. She quietly crawled out of bed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. She quickly texted Kaine.
Need to talk. Call me.
She wanted to wake up Camden and kick him out of her apartment. It was almost one in the afternoon, and they had been up most of the night. Layla hadn't been able to sleep at all. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table, exhausted. Camden stumbled into the kitchen, shirtless and yawning. "Morning, Layla," he mumbled.
"Oh, you know my name today?" she snapped.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
She shook her head, looking away. "You know what? Nevermind."
"No, tell me. What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about last night. You called me Kaine, like, three times while you were fucking me. You refused to even look at my face. You were pretending I was her."
He scoffed and looked away. "No I wasn't. You're crazy."
"You should probably go," she said quietly.
"Layla, I'm sorry. Don't tell Kaine about this, ok? It would just upset her."
"I won't," she lied.
"Let me make you breakfast."
She smiled and shrugged. "I guess, if you insist. There's not a lot to work with here."
"Well I'm kind of awesome at cooking. I'll figure something out."
"Ok. I'm going to go shower," she said, heading for the bathroom.
Camden rolled his eyes and opened the refrigerator. He wanted to leave, but couldn't leave big mouthed Layla until he made nice with her. He had worked too hard for her to ruin everything for him. He shouldn’t have even bothered with her. Their few hours of fun wasn’t worth the damage control he would have to deal with. Her phone vibrated and he glanced down at it.
Guess what! Shane and I are getting back together! Call me
His eyes widened. What the fuck? Was she serious? He quickly texted her back.
I thought he cheated on you. What happened?
He ran to Layla's bedroom and grabbed his shirt and shoes. That asshole Shane had somehow convinced Kaine that he was worth half an ounce.
He ran back to the kitchen and grabbed Layla's phone, reading Kaine's text.
Jessica lied. About to go over and make her tell the truth.
Camden dropped her phone and ran out the door.
14
"Do I look ok?" Kaine asked as Shane pulled into their parents’ driveway. "You look great, babe," Shane said. "They’ll have no idea that I just fucked you senseless."
She burst out laughing. "God, I missed you. Adam's going to be so happy."
"My mom is going to cry when we tell her I’m moving back in with you. I think she likes you more than she likes me."
Kaine laughed and started to open the car door. "Wait," Shane said. "We need to talk before we go in."
"About what?"
"About Camden. They’re going to ask questions, babe. We have to tell them what’s going on."
"You didn’t tell them anything?" She asked, surprised.
He shook his head. "I told them that somebody was trying to ruin our marriage. Honestly, I don’t know if your father even believed me. But I knew that as soon as I mentioned the name Camden Lawson, he would try to interfere. I didn’t want you to lose your job or be put in that position. I was afraid you’d never forgive me if that happened."
She sat back, thinking. "So what do we do?"
"Talk to them together. We’ll figure something out. Come on."
Kaine’s happy mood faltered as she followed Shane to the front door, but immediately returned as she stepped inside and saw Adam standing on a chair, stirring a bowl of cake batter. "Mommy!" He cried, jumping down and hurling himself into her arms. "Grandma said I could make a cake for daddy because he loves cake so much. Right daddy?"
"I do love cake," Shane agreed as he dipped his finger in the bowl and licked it. "This is delicious. Did you make this all by yourself?"
"Yep. You can’t eat it yet. Dessert is after dinner, right mommy?"
"That’s right, baby. What do you think about daddy coming back home?"
"Yes!" He screamed, wiggling out of her arms and into Shane’s. "I want daddy home."
"Me too," Kaine said, smiling fondly at him.
"Thank God," Nancy said as Tom came into the kitchen. "What’s going on?" He asked.
"I’m moving back in with Kaine," Shane said. Tom grinned at him. "About time. What made you come around, sweetie?" He asked Kaine. She looked at Shane nervously. "We need to talk," she said. "Let’s go in the living room. You can put Yo Gabba Gabba on for Adam."
"I’ll be in in a minute," Nancy said as she poured the batter into the cake pans. Tom, Kaine and Shane sat down in the living room. Kaine had a strange sense of deja vu when she remembered sitting next to Shane in the same seat after her father had found out that Shane and her were having sex. "What’s going on?" Tom asked. Kaine looked down. "Someone tried to make me think that Shane had cheated on me."
"I know about that. Did you figure out who it was?"
Kaine glanced at Shane. "It was Camden Lawson," he finally said.
Tom stood up, his nostrils flaring. "Are you kidding me? What the hell is that kid doing back here? Did he hurt you?"
"No," Kaine quickly said as Nancy came into the room with Adam. "He got a teaching job next to me. It’s just temporary. He said his mom was sick and he needed the money."
"No. No way is that boy going anywhere near you. Is he still working there? I’ll call the police."
"Dad, calm down. He works there, yes. He’s subbing because Josh got mugged." Her eyes filled with tears as she wondered if Camden really did have anything to do with Josh getting hurt. Shane took her hand and had the same thought. "Do you think it was him?" He asked quietly. She shook her head. "I don’t know. Oh God, what if he had killed him because of me?"
"He didn’t, baby," Shane soothed her. "And it wasn’t because of you. We don’t even know that he did it. Let’s stick to what we do know and what we can do. Ok?"
She nodded tearfully. Tom sat back down and put his head in his hands. "We need a restraining order. Do you have any evidence that it was him?"
"Not yet," Shane said. "But I know it was him. We can find the girl that said I got her pregnant and get her to confess. Given Kaine’s past with Camden, that might be enough."
"Good," Tom said. "You two work on that while I make a few phone calls. Kainie, you need to tell someone at the school what’s going on."
"I will," she said, standing up. "First thing tomorrow." Shane scooped up Adam and followed Kaine out the door.
"I want to go with you," Shane said as Kaine put her jacket on. "I want to see the look on her lying face when you get her to confess."
"No, baby," she said, kissing him on the head. "I don’t want Adam there. And if she sees both of us she might get scared. No offense, but I’m a lot less scary looking than you. I’ll be back soon. I promise. I love you."
"Love you too," he sighed, closing the door after her
Kaine pulled in front of the small, rundown house and peered out the window. She wondered how much money Camden had offered her to tell such a horrible lie. She walked to the door and rang the bell. Jessica opened the door and her eyes narrowed. "What do you want? I already told you that I don’t want anything from you or your husband."
"I appreciate that," Kaine said calmly. "But I need to talk to you. It’ll just take a minute. Can I come in?"
Jessica rolled her eyes and stepped back. "Just one minute. Then I never want to hear from you again."
"Deal," Kaine said as she stepped inside. The inside of the house was surprisingly well kept compared to the outside. "You live here alone?"
"None of your business," Jessica snapped. Kaine shrugged. "I mean, your wedding ring tells me that you don’t live here alone. I think it’s great that your husband forgave you for cheating on him. Either that or you didn’t tell him. Either way, he’s a keeper."
"Get out, you judgmental bitch," Jessica said. "You can’t come in my house and insult me."
"Well here’s the thing," Kaine said, helping herself to a kitchen chair. "I know that you lied about my husband. I know somebody paid you off to tell me that he got you pregnant. You just need to tell me who, and you’ll never hear from either of us again."
"I don’t have to tell you anything."
"You don’t," Kaine agreed. "But my father and husband are lawyers. I’ve seen cases like this get out of hand really fast. Bribery is really frowned upon."
"Look, I don’t want any trouble, ok?"
"Then I suggest you tell me what happened."
Jessica sighed and sat down. "I didn’t mean to ruin your marriage. I didn’t have a choice. I’m having trouble paying my bills, and I’m behind on my mortgage. I needed the money."
Kaine waited impatiently for her continue.
"I do work with your husband, but not in the same department. I don’t think I’ve ever even talked to him before that day at your house."
"Ok. So why did you tell me that you were pregnant?"
"I am pregnant," she said softly. "It’s not Shane’s, though. It’s my husband, Jake’s. I told Bryce that I was pregnant. I was so excited. He asked me how I was going to pay for a baby on my salary. I realized that he was right. I couldn’t afford to have a baby. My husband works at the Save Mart as a cashier. We can barely support ourselves."
Kaine’s heart started to pound. "Bryce? Bryce Atwood?"
Jessica nodded tearfully. "I was so upset. He told me that he would help me if I just did him one favor."
Kaine stared at her, shocked.
"He offered me $1,000 to text Shane and tell him to get rid of the condom in hopes that you’d see it. I guess that didn’t work, and he offered me another $9000 to tell you that I was pregnant with Shane’s baby. I didn’t want to. I felt horrible about the text. But I did it. On the condition that I quit. Which was fine with me. I didn’t want to ever see him again. And I definitely didn’t want to see Shane after what I did."
Kaine shook her head. "I can’t...I can’t believe it. Why would he do something li
ke that?"
She shrugged. "I asked him why. He told me to mind my own business. Maybe he wanted Shane to leave so he could have you to himself."
Kaine shook her head. "That doesn’t make any sense. He’s never even tried to hit on me."
Jessica stood up. "Look, it’s not my problem. I told you everything I know. I’m sorry for what I did, but I can’t help you anymore. Can you please just leave? My husband will be home soon, and I don’t want him to see you here. I told him I got the money as a severance."
Kaine snorted. "A ten thousand dollar severance for a three month job, huh?"
"I didn’t say he was smart," Jessica muttered. She walked to the door and held it open, staring at Kaine expectantly. Kaine rolled her eyes and left, not bothering to say anything else. She sat in her car and took a deep breath. She desperately wanted to call Shane but needed to tell him this in person. He would be crushed. And furious. She thought about her interactions with Bryce as she drove home. He had always been friendly with her, but not really flirty. He had never made her feel uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and prepared to tell Shane the news.
How’d it go?" Shane asked as she walked in the door. "Did she confess? Did you get it on tape?"
"Sit down," she said softly. Shane frowned at her but sat down. "You’re scaring me, babe. What happened?"
"I asked her to tell me what happened. She said no at first, but when I threatened her with lawyers she told me that someone offered her $10,000 to tell me you got her pregnant."
Shane let out a breath. "Son of a bitch. I’m gonna kill him."
"Shane, it wasn’t Camden."
"What? Are you sure?"
She nodded slowly. "It was Bryce."
Shane shot up. "No fucking way. No way he would do something like that. She’s lying."
"Why would she lie, Shane? I told her I’d never bother her again if she just told me. What would she have to gain by lying?"
Shane rubbed his hand down his face. "Has Bryce ever hit on you?"
Make Me (Bully Me Book 2) Page 8
