Repair Me (Kin #1)(70)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“You better call me back. Don’t make me drive out there to bum-fuck and find him. I will rip off his balls if he’s lied to me about this.”

“Okay, I promise I will call. Hang tight and let me get to the bottom of things.”

When I hung up the phone I felt more convinced than ever that Shayne and Ashley were messing around behind Ford’s back. Shayne clearly didn’t want to mess things up with Lacey, so maybe the two of them devised a plan together. Ashley thought she had a chance with Ford if she was carrying his child. The only problem with that was the fact that it changed nothing. Ford still didn’t want her and now she was caught up in some secret that seemed a lot bigger than any of us could have imagined.

Ford

My dad had to end up helping Shayne carry the sofa bed outside, since I couldn’t use my broken arm to lift the thing. Once outside, they put it on a dolly and pushed it out to where we burned trash.

I was surprised to see Sky walking in my direction and threw out my cigarette before she could scold me. I knew it was a habit that I needed to kick, but things were still too stressful for that to happen. Besides, I’d cut back a lot since Sky had been a part of my life. “What’s up, darlin’.”

I got the surprise of my life when she ignored me and pointed to Shayne. It didn’t stop there, though. Sky walked up to him and shoved him. “You son of a bitch!”

I figured that it had to do something with her friend and shrugged it off until Sky started saying my name.

“How could you lie to Ford? How could you be with someone like her?”

Shayne threw his hands up in the air. “Sky, please. It ain’t what you think. I swear!”

I walked toward him and got my girlfriend to stop pushing him backwards. “What’s she talkin’ about?”

Shayne shook his head and covered his face. “Damn! I knew this was goin’ to happen.” He looked up at Sky and then to me. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”

I pushed him this time. “What the f**k are you talkin’ about?”

At this point, my father put his hands in his pockets and stood there; we were waiting to hear what Shayne had to say. Sky stood next to him with her arms folded across her chest. “I heard you in the bathroom at the hospital, Shayne. Tell the damn truth, or I will tell him what I think is going on.”

I looked from one of them to the other. “Someone better start talkin’.”

“It’s not what you think! I’m not the father of her baby.” Shayne looked down at the ground. “But neither are you.”

I can’t explain the emotions that ran through me. As relieved as I was, I also wanted to kill my cousin. I pounced on him, sending us both falling onto the gravel. My anger outweighed the pain that I’d just inflicted on myself. “You f**kin’ asshole! Do you have any idea what that shit has cost us?”

My dad separated us. “Cut this shit out!”

Shayne stood up and brushed off his pants. “I know, Ford. Remember that I was the one that hooked you back up with Sky.”

“Did you do it because you felt guilty for f**kin’ her? We’re family, dude. How could you even go there?”

“I didn’t!” Shayne pleaded. “I swear! I never touched Ashley.”

“You practically banged the whole beach, why should I believe you?” He was a player and we both knew it.

“Dude, just listen. Please.” Shayne paced around like a crazy person. “Fuck!”

“Take this inside, boys.” My dad pointed toward the house. “I ain’t havin’ this in my front yard!” He walked toward the shop and didn’t look back. Leave it to my dad to stay away from the drama.

When we got up into the apartment, Shayne stood on the other side of the kitchen. “If the baby ain’t mine, and it’s not yours, who is the father?”

“Man, this is so f**ked up. My parents are goin’ to f**kin’ kill me for this.” Shayne looked up at me and Sky. “Remember when you first met Sky and you came to the beach? You stayed in that motel.”

“Yeah, why?”

“I ran into Ash on the boardwalk. She’d just run into you the night before. You were with a pretty blonde and she was flippin’ out about it. Anyway, after you’d rejected her for the second time, she came to a party at my house. I had a house full that weekend. My parents were away and I had the twins with me. I promised that I wouldn’t let them get into any trouble, but come on. It wasn’t like I could control two eighteen year olds.” Shayne rubbed his face and then continued. “Anyway, I was startin’ to talk to Lace again and left for a bit. When I came back, I couldn’t find Parker anywhere. I went outside and found him and Ash on the beach. They were both trashed and had clearly had sex.”

My stomach dropped. Right away, I knew why he’d kept it a secret. Had it been my sister, I would have done anything to protect her. “Damn! Does Parker know?”

Shayne shook his head. “No. He just left for college and I didn’t want to ruin it for him. When Ashley announced that she was havin’ your kid, I called her out on it. She swore up and down that it was your kid, until I threatened to tell you the truth. She knew you’d have a paternity test and find out you weren’t the father. It took her one day to call me cryin’. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Thanks for screwin’ me over, Shayne. Do you have any idea what you did to me, to Sky? We’ve been ripped apart and almost lost everything, because of this piece of shit lie. Get the f**k out of my face, before I beat the living shit out of you!” I pointed toward the door, but Shayne didn’t move.

“For what it’s worth, when I hooked you guys up, I wanted you to be happy. The secret was killin’ me inside and I told her I wasn’t keepin’ it any longer.”

“He’s telling the truth, Ford. That’s what I heard him telling Ash at the hospital,” Sky added.

“It don’t matter. He lied. I’m done with him!”

Shayne sighed and walked out of the apartment without saying anything else. There was one thing I needed to know before he left. “Wait! Tell me somethin’, Shayne. That night, did I even sleep with Ash?”

“She said you couldn’t stay hard because you were too drunk. Since it was all an attempt to get you back, she made it seem like you had, going as far as to stage it to look like you’d been with her willingly. You’re off the hook, man. It’s my brother’s problem now.” Shayne waved goodbye and ran down the stairs.