Replace Me (Kin #2)(13)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Whatever, man. This is your life you’re f**kin’ up.”

“Wait, you think I have a chance at bein’ with Lacey again? You think she’d take me back?”

“I think that when you’re ready to admit your mistakes and grow a set of balls, she’ll consider it. Although, I’m goin’ to warn ya, she’s been gettin’ to know Joey. I can’t say for sure, but you may have lost your opportunity, while you were dickin’ around your convoluted ideas to save Parker.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about? Joey is a dog. Why would she want to be with him?”

“I need to go.”

He hung up before I could ask him anything else. Immediately, my blood began to boil, just imagining her being cozy with that douche. She thought I was bad, but this guy cared about nobody except for himself.

Right away, my priorities changed as I considered ways to get Lacey back in my good graces. Even if she didn’t want me, I had to save her from being with him.

Then I thought about the baby.

I felt sick again. Ford may not have argued with me, but he didn’t have a choice either. After all, the baby was a part of our family. Like it or not, we were all going to have to live with the result of that one drunken night, no matter which one of us donated the sperm.

My drive to his new place was difficult. There were so many times that I wanted to turn around, instead of having to look into Lacey’s eyes.

Lacey

“Your cousin is the biggest dick I’ve ever met.” My comment made Ford smile.

“What did he do now, and are we talkin’ about Joey or Shayne?”

I leaned my elbows on the counter. “Joey, of course. He thinks he can just get me to drop my pants and bend over. Who does that?”

Ford laughed as he placed small items on a baking sheet and then shoved them in the oven. “I hate to burst your bubble, but Joey usually gets what he wants. I’m just tellin’ it like it is, though. Maybe you’ll be the first person to set him straight with the world.”

I rubbed my temple, unable to take yet another man driving me bonkers. “I’m going to just write off men in general. If they aren’t out cheating, they are thinking about who they can bang next.”

Ford gave me a funny look. “Lace, not all men are like that. I certainly don’t go lookin’ for a piece of ass every time I walk out the door.”

“Obviously, because you have someone spreading her legs every chance she gets.” I said it as a joke, but Sky came in the room with her hands on her hips.

She looked from me to Ford. “I’ll have you know that I don’t lay around waiting with my legs spread.”

I rolled my eyes and decided not to argue with them. They took offense to something that wasn’t meant to be. “Forget it. All I was saying is that Joey needs to back off. I don’t want him now and I’m not going to want him in the future. In fact, I am steering clear of anyone that Ford is related to, from now on.”

Ford pulled Sky into his arms and kissed her neck before adding his two-cents. “I have a lot of cousins, Lace. I wouldn’t go makin’ promises that you won’t be able to keep.”

I tossed a washrag at him. “This isn’t the dating game. I’m not interested. End of story.”

They both started to laugh at my comment and I decided that it was best to walk out of the room. I’d gotten to be so bitter towards anyone that was in a happy and stable relationship. It wasn’t fair for me to pull them into my miserable existence. They deserved to be happy and in love.

If I could stop picking ass**les, my life would be a lot better as well. Just thinking about Joey and his lame attempts at getting me to bend over made me cringe. He knew how to push my buttons, that’s for sure.

After people started arriving, it was easier to be able to avoid Joey. The two apartments weren’t combined from the inside, so the guest would walk around and probably congregate on the back patio. As long as I stayed at Sky and Ford’s place, it was unlikely I’d run into him at all.

For the most part, I kept myself busy. Like Sky, I’d been around Ford’s family enough to know most of them. I’d met several at Ford’s mother’s party, except for Joey. I was so hung up on Shayne that I didn’t even know if he’d been there. I suppose he could have been working at the diner for his mother, since it was the weekend. Here lately, he only worked in the mornings, since he was doing so well at his other job.

I realized that while trying to stay occupied, my mind kept going back to Joey. Unconsciously, I was thinking about him and I hated it.

Then Shayne walked through the door. He had a card in his hand and walked right over to Ford. I could sense the animosity between them, but they shook hands anyway. Ford said something that I couldn’t make out, before Shayne walked away disappointed. He spotted me immediately. Maybe I should have ran out the door as fast as I could, but I just stood there watching him approach me.

“Hi, Lace.” He placed his hands in his pockets and gave me a half smile. He was so handsome and I imagined myself being in his arms, for only a brief second.

“Hi.” I tried to avoid eye contact. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”

“I’m not stayin’. I came to talk to you.”

“So talk.” Right away I felt like it was going to be bad.

“I’m about to do something and I know you won’t understand. I just want you to know that I was wrong to hurt you. I don’t expect you to forgive me for this, but I hope one day you’ll be able to.”

I shoved him away from me. “Save me the details. I don’t care anymore. Shayne, you’re not the guy that I waited forever to be with. Do you have any idea how long I waited for you to be able to settle down? I thought you’d changed.”

“I have. I’m tryin’ to make things right.” Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Joey walk into the room. He was carrying a case of beer and handing it to Ford to put in his refrigerator. He winked when our eyes met and when I looked back at Shayne he was aware of what had caught my gaze. “You’ve got a lot of room to talk about me not bein’ what you thought, seein’ as you’re f**kin’ someone that’s worse than I’ve ever been.”

Hearing him accuse me of being with Joey added fuel to the fire. It didn’t even matter that I wasn’t with him, or had no intention to be. “I can see who I want.”