Replace Me (27 page)

“I have a good idea of exactly how you are.”

I pointed to her. “I’m goin’ to prove you wrong.”

“Fat chance.”

“Can we please enjoy our meal? I didn’t ask you to dinner to rehash your hate for me. I’m tryin’ to make peace here. I’m tryin’ to show you that I’m not the asshole you think I am.”

She went to open her mouth when my phone started ringing. I grabbed it, preparing to ignore the call, until I saw who it was.

“Lacey?”

She was crying hysterically. “Shayne, can you come and get me?”

“Where are you? What’s goin’ on? What did he do to you?” I was freaking out and I think Megan was embarrassed at how loud I had become.

“I’m at the airport. My flight just got in.” She sobbed harder and I knew that it wasn’t worth asking her for details when she was in this sort of condition. Something bad had to have happened for her to come home so upset.

“I’m leaving now. It’s goin’ to take me a few hours. Can you hang tight until then?”

“Yeah.”

“See you soon, Lace. I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but it will be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

I hung up the phone and looked at Megan, who obviously wanted an explanation. “Megan, I know I basically forced you to come here, but Lacey’s in trouble and I have to help her. You should stay and enjoy your meal. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I pulled out my wallet and tossed money on the table before starting to walk away. My mind was on Lacey and hearing her so upset had me worried.

Megan grabbed my arm. “Wait! Do you want some company?”

“She’s at Dulles. It’s a far ass drive.”

“I don’t have plans. Besides, she may need to talk to a woman about whatever’s going on. I can take my car so we all fit. Unless, you want to be alone?”

I didn’t have time to consider if this was some kind of female test. There was always one happening and I was forever failing them. Still, I knew that whatever was going with Lacey wasn’t going to end in the two of us sleeping together, plus the ride was long and boring alone. “Yeah, it would be cool if you came. I’d like the company.”

We grabbed our things and headed toward the airport. Joey messed with the wrong girl this time. He was going to pay for hurting her, even if I had to fly to Italy to do it.

Megan and I talked about a lot of things before we reached the airport. Traffic was moderate and it took us an extra half hour. After over three hours of being stuck in the same vehicle, I felt like we’d made progress. Megan was starting to ask me personal questions. She wanted to know me, which was the first step.

As we approached the terminal for arrivals, I saw Lacey sitting on the curb. She had her hands up to her face and was clearly emotional. I threw Megan’s car into park and went running over to her.

After scooping her up in my arms, I held her tight and let her cry. “Shh, it’s goin’ to be alright, baby. You’re safe now.”

Seeing her so upset made my blood boil. More than ever, I needed to settle a score with Joey. If Lacey wouldn’t tell me what was going on, I’d call him and find out. He wasn’t getting away with breaking her heart. She didn’t deserve it yet again, from another man she loved.

Lacey

I’d spent four hours stuck in an airport, after an even longer flight. I was exhausted and lost. My heart, soul and everything that kept me together had shattered into pieces. I’d walked away from Joey, without giving him a chance to fight me. I knew myself better than that and it was clear that I couldn’t allow myself to trust him, not when he was so far away.

Shayne ran toward me, before I even noticed a car sitting there waiting. He threw his arms around me and for the first time since I watched Joey walk out of that bedroom, I felt safe. I wasn’t using him, asking him to come and pick me up. I may not have trusted Shayne with my heart, but I trusted him with my life and I knew he cared enough to help.

I didn’t expect him to have been on a date and for him to have brought her along. I watched a familiar girl get out of the front passenger seat and climb in the driver’s side. She said nothing and neither did Shayne about her being there. Honestly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to go home and lock myself inside where nobody could get to me. We both got into the backseat and pulled away from the parking spot.

Shayne continued asking me what was wrong as we drove away from the busy airport. I stared out the window, until I couldn’t take him asking anymore. “I left him there.”

“You what? What do you mean?”

“He was so happy to see me,” I cried while I tried to explain. “We were so happy, all consumed in each other. I thought he was coming home with me, so that we could be together. It’s what we both wanted. We were finally on the same page.” I cried even more. “So I thought.”

“I’m not followin’ you, Lace.”

I knew I wasn’t making sense, but it was difficult to explain when I didn’t want to talk about it in the first place. “Joey wanted me to stay there with him. He said he couldn’t leave until his job was complete and that his future was at stake.”

“Babe, you need to get to the part where he broke your heart.”

I faked a smile. “He didn’t. I left him.” I shook my head and covered my face again. “After much consideration, I decided to come home, where my life is. It wasn’t like I could just move there and be with him. My parents would disown me.”

“He’ll be back, right? He isn’t stayin’ there forever?”

I thought about why Shayne would ask that. A part of me wondered if he wished that Joey never came back. It was no secret that he hated me being with the guy. “He’ll be there six months to a year. I don’t know all the details, because I got too upset when he started to tell me.” I was fighting back the tears again, while thinking about him being that far away. He’d have gotten my letter by now and I knew it would hurt him. In my experiences, when a man gives his heart to a woman and she breaks it, he’s kind of broken from opening up ever again. It hurt me knowing that I was hurting him. “Look, I left Joey because it’s impossible for me to trust a man who is living half way around the world. I can’t even trust a guy that lives thirty minutes away.”

Shayne disregarded my comment and chose to ignore the fact that he was the reason for my distrust. “So, he just let you go? He just let you walk away and hop back on a plane, all hurt and messed up like you are?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. I waited for him to go to work and then I left him a note. He’s probably just finding out.”

“Jesus Christ. Are you fuckin’ with me right now?”

“No. I’m not kidding. We outweighed our options and it was clear that it wasn’t going to work out, so I took it upon myself to find a resolution. Joey needs to focus on his career, because it’s all he’s ever wanted. I can’t ask him to give that up for me. I also know that I wouldn’t be able to handle him living so far away. Since he’s never been one to settle down, a long-distance relationship is out of the question. I made things easier for him. He didn’t have to watch me walk away. He didn’t have to hear me telling him that we weren’t going to work out. It’s for the best.”

Shayne and I were both in the backseat and he was giving me the most concerned look that I’d ever seen him give. “Lacey, don’t you see what you’ve done? You raced on a plane to get to him and then you just come home, giving up. I’m not buyin’ it. I’m not buyin’ how you’re okay with this decision. It’s not for the best. It’s fuckin’ bullshit. Look at you.” He motioned toward me. “You look like Hell and I’ve never seen you so upset, not even when we broke up. Don’t sit there and tell me it’s for the best, when clearly, it’s not what you want.”

I cried even more and felt him pulling me into his arms. He said something to the girl who was driving, albeit I was too caught up in my own sobbing to hear him. “It hurts so much.”

I sniffled, sobbed and then bawled some more. By the time we’d made it back to my parent’s house, I was done talking and just wanted to go to sleep. Shayne walked me to the door and said hello to my mom, before he started to walk away. I stopped him halfway down the sidewalk. “Shayne wait!”

He turned and faced me. “You good, Lace?”

“I’m not good, but I wanted to say thank you. Tell your friend thanks as well. I didn’t mean to cock block you on a date, if that’s what it was.”

“It wasn’t a date, not really. She offered to come. Look, no matter what I’m doin’, you will always be more important. Remember that.” He kissed the top of my head before walking to the car.

My parents wanted an explanation, even though I knew they assumed I’d been at Sky’s the whole time. Instead of worrying them, for now, I lied and said that’s where I was and I’d forgotten my cell phone charger. When my mother saw my eyes, she asked if Shayne and I had been fighting. They were so out of the loop that they thought I was still seeing him. It reminded me how against it they would be about me moving to Italy to be with a man they knew nothing of.

I found my way to my room and locked the door behind me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. All I wanted to do was cry myself to sleep.

I’d never felt so depressed and alone. My heart had been so full of love and excitement just days ago. Being in Joey’s arms felt like Heaven. Now, I was left vulnerable, wishing I could turn back time.

I had a chance at happiness and I threw it away.

Was I making the biggest mistake of my life?

Chapter 28

Shayne

“Maybe I was wrong about you, Shayne.” Megan’s comment caught me off guard. We were pulling out of Lacey’s driveway and I figured she’d had enough of me after being ignored for the whole drive.

“I’m really sorry things were so weird. I’ve never seen her like that.”

“You really care about her, don’t you?”

“I’ll always care about Lacey. After she broke things off with me, I thought I wanted to do whatever it took to get her back. The thing is, we aren’t good together. She wanted a forever kind of love and I don’t know what that feels like yet. It wouldn’t have been fair for me to lead her on. She deserves happiness.”

We pulled onto the main highway and she was quiet for a few minutes before she replied. “I am guessing you hate the Joey guy?”

“Me and Joy share a cousin. It’s complicated. I’ve got to see him on holidays and him bein’ with Lace is difficult. You think my track record is ridiculous, well, you’ve never met Joey. The guy is a gigolo. He fucks for amusement and nothin’ else. I don’t get how Lacey fell for him, but she did.”

“If he’s such a player, why would she want him?”

“Because, apparently, he’s in love with her.” I shook my head and looked out the window. “It figures right? The one girl I care about and she falls for someone I loathe. I suppose I deserve the torture, in some ways.”

Megan kept watching the road as she spoke. I wasn’t sure if she was just conversing with me because she was curious or because it was helping with the drive. “So, she got on a plane and went to Italy, then broke up with him and came home? It makes no sense.”

She had a point. Why was Lacey willing to give up so much? Had I really messed with her head that bad that she wasn’t willing to wait for what she wanted. Did she really think it would be better if she walked away and tried to move on? “I’m not one to root for the other guy, but you’re right. The only person that can make Lacey happy is herself. The sooner she realizes it, the sooner she can follow her heart.”

I don’t know if I’d made her feel uncomfortable, but for the rest of the ride Megan talked about other things. We discussed her job and the twins. I didn’t get into details about who the real father was. It was irrelevant to our friendship anyway.

After the long ride, we decided to grab some fast food and call it a night. We sat in Megan’s car eating. “I’m sorry our dinner got ruined. I swear I wanted something other than a drive-thru.”

Megan laughed. “I think I got to know you more this way. It certainly showed me that you care deeply about your friends. Look at the way you take care of your pregnant friend. It’s insane that you would put yourself out there like that. I was wrong about the person you are. I mean, I’m not saying that I want to sleep with you, but I think we could be friends.”

She held out her hand and I shook it. “Deal.”

We both laughed. Then Megan did something that shocked me. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

Instead of pushing my luck, I simply smiled and got out of the car.

On the drive back to my apartment, I tried to call Lacey, but she didn’t answer. It was late and I knew she probably wanted to be alone. I just wanted her to know I was there if she needed me, as a friend of course.

When I walked in the door, I found Ashley asleep on the couch. She had a bag of chips in one hand, the remote stuck in her cleavage, and a jar of pickles in the other hand. I snapped a quick picture from my phone before cleaning up and carrying her to her bed. Halfway there, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. Her eyes were still closed and I didn’t think she even knew what she was doing. She mumbled something as I put her on the bed and rolled over, as if it had never happened.

I watched her sleeping for a minute, taking in her growing belly. It wouldn’t be long before the twins were here. I still had a bunch to do to prepare, as well as have a heart to heart with my brother regarding plans. I needed to know how long he expected me to play daddy. The more time I spent with Ashley, the more attached I was to the twins. They weren’t even here yet and I already loved them. Feeling them moving did me in. I was starting to wonder if making this decision was going to end up ripping out my heart. It was important to talk to Parker, before I let that happen.

Lacey

I was under the assumption that when I got to my own bed, in my home, I’d feel safe enough to get some rest. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I spent countless hours tossing and turning, thinking about the man that I’d left behind.

Out of habit and curiosity, I checked my social media pages.

Joey had messaged me and I was petrified to open them.

I stared at the notification for a while, before I could bring myself to do it. My hands were shaking and I imagined the worst. I scrolled down to the oldest one and started from there.