Replace Me (8 page)

Another thing I hadn’t considered was that my parents would expect me to get a place with Ashley. They were out of their minds if they assumed I was going to have a relationship with someone like her.

Still, I had to remember that I was doing this as a favor for my brother. As crazy as it seemed, I was giving him the opportunity to get his life together. When the time was right, I would step aside and let him do what he needed to do. For the time being, the baby would be welcomed into our family, as he or she should. Whether he was mine or Parker’s he was still our blood.

I drove around for a while, thinking about everything that had taken place after I’d sat them all down and made my announcement. After the initial shock, my father just started yelling at me. I think he expected Ford, who was the only person that knew the real truth, to haul off and hit me. Instead, he and Sky stayed in the kitchen and out of the drama. Maybe they would have been easier on me if he’d given his opinion, but I expected nothing from my cousin, after I’d put him through hell, even if I had come clean in the end.

Then there was Lacey. After she ripped out my heart by showing me that she had moved on, I didn’t care about the ramifications of my decision. The destruction was done and now damage control was all I could do to salvage my reputation, especially with her.

I pulled back down the road to the apartment a little later. I needed to apologize and tell her the truth; that the baby wasn’t mine, like I wanted everyone to believe. Thinking that Sky and Ford telling her the truth was a bad idea, I set out to clear the air. Sure, she’d still be pissed about what I was doing, but it beat her thinking that I’d lied to her again.

It was becoming more obvious that my chances of ever being with her were in the past. Lacey had moved on, even before she’d heard that I’d slept with someone else. How could I blame her for wanting something new? My only problem was that I didn’t want it to be Joey.

Maybe my problem was more than him having a reputation. It was possible that my biggest hurdle was the fact that every time Ford and Sky would have a get-together, we’d both be invited. The last thing I wanted was to have to see the two of them swooning over each other.

I knew the party was over when I pulled into the driveway and the cars were all gone. Lacey’s was still parked on the side, so I knew she was around. I walked up and knocked on Ford’s door, hoping he wasn’t going to punch me in the face. Instead, Sky answered. “Shayne. What are you doing here?”

I cleared my voice and leaned on the doorframe. “I need to talk to Lace. Can you get her for me?”

Ford walked to the door. He’d changed his clothes and looked like he’d just got up off of the couch, after fooling around. “She ain’t here, man. We haven’t seen her for a while. I think she left after your argument.”

“Her car is still here, though.”

The couple looked at each other and I could tell they were thinking the same thing.

“What?”

“She’s at Joey’s,” Sky replied.

There was nothing more I could say, so I walked away from them.

Sky came running after me. “Shayne, wait! Why do you care where Lacey is? Forgive me for being blunt, but she’s not someone that I want to see hurt. Everything you’ve done here lately has been hard on her. Now you are trying to pass off a child as being yours, when it would mean you conceived it while with Lacey. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to her? Her heart is broken. I’ve been where she’s at and it sucks.”

“You act like none of this is botherin’ me. I care about Lacey.”

“She was in love with you, Shayne.”

I could sense that I wasn’t going to get anywhere. “We never talked about bein’ exclusive. How was I to know that she felt that way? She never told me.”

Sky threw her hands up like talking to me was hopeless. “Never mind. Do us all a favor and leave Lace alone. Let her get over you so she can be happy. If you care about her at all, you’ll at least be decent and give her that.” She walked back into her apartment and closed the door, before I could say anything else.

While walking back out to my car, I saw the light on at Joey’s. I’d like to say that I tried not to look, but when I saw Lacey sitting with that asshole, and him touching her face, it was like a kick in the balls. I stood there for a few minutes, watching him console her. Anger filled me and all I wanted to do was break down his door and hurt him.

Then I saw him lean over and kiss the top of her head. That tender moment made me feel like maybe she wasn’t just sex for Joey. If he cared enough to comfort her, maybe it was enough for her to get over me and actually be happy.

As heart wrenching as it was, I knew I had to walk away from Lacey. Our time together was over and I needed to learn to be a better person, who was responsible for his actions and decisions. I needed to be able to stand by something or someone and feel what it was like to have them trust me again.

As bad as I felt, I knew I was all alone.

For the first time, not even my family had my back.

This was what I deserved.

Lacey

I couldn’t believe that this was all happening to me. Why I’d thought that Shayne and I could work things out made no sense now. He clearly had no idea how to be in a committed relationship.

Joey was the last person that I thought would comfort me, but that’s exactly what he was doing. After the crowd of people cleared out, he sat with me in his living room. As rough as his appearance seemed, he had decorated his apartment in style. Joey had painted the walls a gray color. His furniture was black leather and he had pictures on his wall with red gray and black hues. His electronics were organized and the place looked spotless all of the time. I couldn’t get over it.

Even his bedroom, that I never expected to walk in, was decorated in the same colors. There weren’t any clothes laying on the floor and his bed was made. Of course, maybe it was because he was expecting company, but Sky had commented about it before, too.

Joey sat down next to me and wiped another set of tears off of my cheeks. “Do you want my opinion?”

I sniffled. “Not really.”

“Fair enough.”

He handed me a bottle of beer and pointed to a coaster. I took a sip and sat it down. “Thanks for saving me.”

“Which time?”

“Don’t be a dick, Joey. I can’t take anymore sarcasm tonight.”

Joey picked up his phone, looked at the time, and sat it back down. “Listen, I have somewhere I need to be. I think everyone’s gone, but you’re welcome to stay here. I won’t be back until later.”

I don’t know what made me ask, but the words blurted out of my mouth. “Are you coming home alone?”

A smiled formed in the crease of his lips. “Why do you want to know?”

I shrugged. “I…I don’t want to mess up your opportunity to get laid.”

He laughed at me. “You could always wait for me in my bed, but that’s up to you, of course.”

When he got up, started walking in the bedroom, and pulled off his shirt, I couldn’t help but stare at him. Joey had a tattoo of a dragon on his back. It looked sexy as hell and for just a second, I wasn’t thinking about my broken heart. He turned and looked at me. I pretended to be offended that he was shirtless. “No thanks. I’ll probably just go back upstairs, once I know Sky and Ford are in bed.”

He tapped on the door. “My door is always open if you change your mind.”

When he walked into the bathroom and shut the door, I covered my face and let the real tears pour out. His mind games were not what I needed. I wanted the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach to go away.

A few minutes later, he came out wearing only a towel. Our eyes met and he smiled before going into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him. I wasn’t used to Joey being so nice. In all of the times that we’d been around each other, he’d only tried to get me in his bed. This new side of him scared me, because I found myself becoming curious. Curiosity meant that I was interested and I couldn’t want someone like Joey. He had nothing to offer me but the same fate I was under at the moment.

I was so sick of meaningless relationships and longed to have something real, except I always fell for the wrong guys.

He came out smelling fantastic and looking even better than earlier. I tried to hide the attraction that I felt toward him, albeit I’m certain he could see me blushing. “So, I’ll be back later. Like I said before, you’re welcome to stay. I’ve got ways to take your mind off of him, you know.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be gone when you get back. Don’t worry, I will lock up.”

“Suit yourself, Lace.” He leaned over and kissed me on the top of the head. “I bet you’re awesome to wake up next to.”

“Too bad you won’t ever find out,” I said as he walked out the door.

I waited until I heard him pull out to get up and head back to Sky’s. The one thing I hadn’t considered was that they’d already be in bed, with the doors locked. Because of the fight, I’d left without grabbing any of my things, including my keys. I couldn’t get into their house to get my phone or anything else. I knocked twice on the door, but knew they couldn’t hear me from their room, especially if they had the television on. Knowing that I was stuck, I went out to the back porch and sat in the dark.

I have no idea how long I’d been outside, or when exactly that I’d fallen asleep, but I felt someone picking me up. I recognized the smell of his cologne and knew it was Joey. From crying, I was too tired to fight him. I was cold and had to use the bathroom. He led me inside of the house, but carried me to his bedroom. When he sat me down, I sat up quickly. “I’m not sleeping in here with you.”

Joey kicked off his shoes and closed his closet door. “I’ll sleep on the couch.” He grabbed a pillow and walked out of the room.

“What about the spare bedroom?”

“The mattress sucks. I prefer the couch.”

Since I had to use the bathroom, I walked out into the hallway and saw him trying to get comfortable . He didn’t have a blanket and his legs hung off the arm of the couch.

When I came back out, he was flipping through the television channels. “Can I borrow a t-shirt?”

He stood up and walked into the bedroom. “First my bed and now my clothes. For someone that won’t get naked with me, you sure do expect a lot,” he joked.

“I got locked out. Don’t worry, though. I won’t make this a habit.”

“I don’t mind.” He handed me a shirt and a pair of boxers. “Is this good?”

I smiled. “Thanks for bringing me inside. How did you know I was out back?”

“Ford text me and asked if you were staying with me. When I got back and you weren’t here, I text him. He said you weren’t there either, so I checked out back. I figured you’d locked yourself out of both places, bein’ as you were so upset earlier.”

“You’ve been a good fake boyfriend today. Thanks for that.”

He stood there, looking right at me, smiling. “How about I keep up the lie and sleep in here with you?”

I crossed my arms. “I’m not sleeping with you, Joey.”

“I didn’t want to sleep.”

I tossed another pillow at him. “Stop!”

He walked out of the room again, leaving me alone. I climbed in under the covers and got comfortable, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him being out on the couch. He’d been so nice to me, and jokes aside, we were both adults. It wasn’t like he was going to force me to do anything. Besides, I didn’t want to be alone, because I couldn’t stop thinking about losing Shayne.

I yelled his name. “JOEY.”

He came running in the room. “What’s wrong?”

I patted the side of the bed next to me. “If you promise not to try anything, we can share.”

“So glad you get to make the rules in my apartment.” He climbed in beside me and tried to get comfortable. I rolled to face the opposite direction and tried to close my eyes.

Just as I was falling asleep I felt his hand wrapping around me and pulling me close. He brought his lips down to the back of my shoulders and kissed me tenderly. “Goodnight Lace.”

I reached my hand up and intertwined it with his. “Don’t let go.”

And he didn’t.

This soft side of Joey was his deep dark secret and it was helping me cope. I didn’t want some kind of revenge sex to try to make me feel better. I wanted a friend to help me see that I was going to get through this. Unbeknownst to me, Joey was being that friend.

Chapter 9

Shayne

The bridges were burned and I had to keep moving forward, no matter how bad I felt about it. After sleeping in a hotel, I couldn’t get my mind off of Lacey. It was like nothing else mattered; not finding a place to live or figuring out what I was going to do until all of this blew over.

Parker called me first thing in the morning and when I saw his name displayed on the caller I.D., I almost didn’t want to answer.

“Are you callin’ to say you’re sorry?”

“I feel real bad about what you did, Shayne. It’s wrong. They need to know the truth.”

“It’s fine. I’d rather them be disappointed in me than you.”

“I can’t focus on school while my brother is takin’ Hell from the whole family. It ain’t right.”

I appreciated that he understood the ramifications of what I was doing for him, but he didn’t need to worry. I had things under control. “Listen, Park, I need you to stay focused. Dad is being a dick as usual, but he’ll come around. Just keep your cool and let me handle it.”

“Peyton told me Lacey was there last night. How did she take it?”

“She’s with someone else, so apparently she didn’t care much. She already thinks I’m a lyin’ cheater, so it’s nothin’ new.”

“Dude, I can tell you like her. If there’s a chance to get back with her, you should do it. I can handle my own messes, you know.”

“She’s done with me.”

“Thanks for havin’ my back, Shayne. I owe you my life.”

“If you say you owe me your first born child I might need to reach through the phone and kick your ass.”

“I wasn’t goin’ to say that. Damn. I better go. I don’t want to be late for class.”

“See ya.”

It sucked that I had nobody to talk to about my predicament. In the time that I’d been seeing Lacey, she’d become my go-to. My attempts at rebuilding a relationship with Ford had blown up in my face, so I couldn’t count on him to have my back either.