Bully Me (Bully Me #1) (7 page)

"Sure," he said reluctantly. "What do you want to talk about?"

Kaine hated that question.

"What are your plans after high school?" She asked.

"I'm going to go to law school," he bragged. "My dad is a lawyer, so I want to follow in his footsteps.

"That's great," she said, waiting for him to ask what her college plans were. He didn't.

"Yeah, I've been working at my dad's law firm this summer. It's going pretty good." He spent the rest of dinner trying unsuccessfully to impress her with stories about himself. She was bored to death. By the time the bill came, she couldn't wait to get out of there.

"Want to go for coffee or something?" He asked hopefully.

"You know what? I'm pretty tired. Maybe you should just take me home."

They drove home in an awkward silence. Kaine couldn't believe that she had liked Camden for so long. He wasn't a bad guy. She just had nothing in common with him. He pulled into her driveway. "I had a really nice time tonight, Kaine."

She forced a smile. "Me too."

He leaned forward to kiss her and she moved her face to the side, letting him kiss her cheek.

"Thanks for tonight," she said, opening the door.

"It's him, isn't it?"

She turned back, confused. "What's who?"

"The reason you won't kiss me. It's because of Shane. Do you like him?"

Kaine burst out laughing. "You can't be serious."

His face didn't change and she stopped laughing. "Cam," she sighed, "it's not him. It has nothing to do with him. I do like you a lot. Just...not in that way."

"Oh," Camden said, looking away awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, Cam."

He shrugged and smiled at her. "It's ok, Kaine. I can't make you feel things that you don't feel. Can we still be friends?"

"Of course," she smiled. "Goodnight, Cam." She left his car and walked slowly inside, disappointed. She wanted things to work out with Camden so badly. She just didn't feel anything romantic towards him at all.

She opened her door to Shane sitting at the kitchen table, eating a plate of nachos with tons of crap on it. The sight was almost enough to make Kaine sick. Two months ago, she would have eaten the whole plate in 2 minutes.

"Want some?" Shane mumbled through a mouthful of chips. Kaine shook her head.

"How was your date?" He asked, swallowing. She shrugged. "It was ok."

"So is he your boyfriend now?"

Kaine sat down. "No. We're just friends."

Shane snorted. "Good luck with that."

"What's that mean?" She asked, confused.

"It means that he's obsessed with you. He looks at you like you used to look at Twinkies."

Kaine shot up. "Goodnight, Shane."

"Oh, Jesus Christ Kaine. It was just a joke."

She ignored him and stormed up the stairs. She wasn't in the mood for it.

The next day, she continued weeding the yard. A few hours later, Shane came out to help her. They worked silently for awhile, continuing the routine they had started yesterday. Finally he broke the silence. "Are you bringing a date to the wedding?"

She shrugged. "Probably not. I haven't really thought about it. Are you?"

"Maybe."

They continued working for a few minutes.

"Just, ah...don't bring Camden, ok?"

Kaine chuckled. "Don't worry. I'd end up spending the whole day babysitting you two. Why do you hate each other so much anyway?"

"I don't hate him. I even understood why he jumped me. He's just so damn easy to fuck with. The way he gets mad and clenches his fists like a monkey. It’s hilarious."

Kaine had to agree. He did seem to get mad a lot, but usually only when Shane was involved. Then again, all of her interactions with Camden seemed to revolve around Shane.

Kaine groaned in frustration, throwing her gloves on the ground. "We're never going to get this done. We've been at this for three whole days and we've barely made a dent."

Shane sat down next to her. "Jay said he would help after work. Plus he has the weekend off. And I can get some guys from the wrestling team to help. We'll figure it out."

Kaine looked around, dejected. "Why did I offer to do this again? If a landscaper didn't think they could do it in time, there's no way that we can."

Shane pulled out his phone. "I'll call in some reinforcements. Calm down, drama queen."

Kaine ignored him and continued working.

Half an hour later, she heard a car pull in the driveway. Shane jumped up and ran to greet his friends.

He came back with two boys that Kaine recognized but had never really spoken to, along with Greg and Kelsey.

"Kelsey!" She cried, jumping up to give her friend a hug. "I'm so glad you're here. Are you going to help?"

"Sure," Kelsey replied unenthusiastically. Manual labor wasn't really her thing.

"You can help me wash the fence. It's less gross and sweaty than pulling the weeds."

Kaine and Kelsey went inside to grab supplies while the boys got started on the yard.

"So how's it going with Shane?"

"Ok I guess. He's been pretty decent so far. I still don't trust him."

Kelsey nodded. "That's probably smart. How'd it go with Camden?"

Kaine shrugged, filling up the bucket with water. "He's a nice guy. But he acts like I'm his property or something. Like I'm a glass doll that he has to protect. At first it was sweet, but now it's kind of annoying. I don't know. We just didn't click, I guess."

"That sucks," Kelsey responded. "Are you going to go out with him again?"

"Probably not," Kaine said, carrying their cleaning supplies outside.

"Oh, come on," Kelsey complained, staring at the boys.

Kaine turned and laughed. All of the boys, including Greg, had taken their shirts off.

"How am I supposed to concentrate with that going on?" Kelsey complained.

"Ugh, I know. I don't think I've seen Shane with his shirt on since he moved in."

Kelsey raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean, not like I care really," Kaine quickly replied. "But you have to admit that it's distracting."

Kelsey nodded, watching the boys work for a minute before reluctantly turning around and starting on the fence.

They worked solidly for about an hour, and Kaine was starting to feel optimistic about the progress they were making.

"Cam!" Greg yelled.

Kaine spun around to see Camden strolling up the yard. She gave Shane a dirty look and he held up his hands and shrugged. She sighed, forcing a smile. "Hey, Cam," she said, greeting him. "What's up?"

"Hi Kaine. I thought you might need some help."

"Grab a sponge," she said, tossing him the sponge and a rag. "How'd you know we were here?"

"Greg's Facebook," he replied. "He said you were all here. I thought you might need rescuing from all the raging testosterone over there," he said, nodding to the group of furiously working wrestlers.

Kaine tried to hide her sigh. Camden was trying to "rescue" her again.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," she lied. Camden beamed.

"Why don't you start over there?" She said, pointing to the other side of the fence. "Hopefully we'll meet in the middle. Assuming we can get it all done today."

Camden looked disappointed to be exiled to the other corner away from Kaine, but he reluctantly headed over.

"See what I mean?" Kaine said to Kelsey once he was out of earshot. "He's always trying to be my Prince Charming."

"I think it's sweet," Kelsey said. "He really likes you."

"Yeah, I know he does. But don't you think it's sort of stalkerish, the way he found out where we were and just invited himself over?"

Kelsey shrugged and dropped the subject.

"Who the hell invited that ass clown?" Shane asked, gesturing to Camden.

Mark shrugged. "No one. He just showed up. Unless Kaine invited him. Are they going out or something?"

Shane laughed. "No, I don't think so. Not if you ask her, at least. He follows her around like a lost puppy dog. It would be cute if it wasn't so fucking pathetic."

Mark watched as Kaine gave Camden a sponge and sent him to the other side of the yard. The look on her face didn't seem like she really wanted him to be here. "So he won't mind if I ask her out then?"

Shane glanced at him. "You want to go out with Kaine Spencer?"

"Why not?" Mark asked. "She looks pretty hot. And if Camden wants her that badly, she's probably a hell of a lay."

Shane ignored the flash of anger that coursed through his body. "Go for it," he said. "I'd love to see Cam do his angry monkey dance when you ask her."

Kaine felt a presence behind her and turned around. "Mark, right?" She asked the tall, lanky boy standing behind her. For a wrestler, he didn't look like he had much upper body strength.

"Yeah. Do you need any help over here?"

Kaine glanced around. Camden had stopped working and was staring at Mark and her. "No, we're ok. Thanks though."

"Oh," Mark said, not moving. Kaine raised her eyebrow at him. "Is that it?"

Camden walked over made a big production of washing out his sponge in the bucket. Kaine rolled her eyes at his lack of subtlety.

"Well, not exactly. What are you doing later tonight?"

Kaine glanced at Camden, who was furiously wringing out the sponge as if trying to choke the life out of it. She sighed. The last thing she wanted was to start a fight.

"Kelsey and I have plans."

Kelsey nodded in agreement, seeing Kaine's predicament.

"Oh," Mark said, shuffling his feet. "Well, maybe some other time, ok?"

Kaine smiled and nodded as Mark walked away with his bruised ego. She turned around and glared at Camden, who purposely avoided her gaze and went back to his corner.

"I see what you mean," Kelsey whispered. "He looked like he was ready to kill somebody."

Kaine thought about when Shane had told her that Camden was on steroids. She hadn't believed him at the time, but it was starting to look more likely. He clearly had an anger problem.

Jay came out to help after he got home. They worked until it was almost dark, exhausted. Kaine, Kelsey and Camden ended up finishing the fence and meeting in the middle.

"What are you doing later?" He asked. "Want to grab a bite to eat?"

Was he serious? "Didn't you hear me before? I have plans with Kelsey."

"Oh," he said, glancing at Kelsey. "I thought that was just an excuse to get Mark away from you."

"Well, it wasn't," Kaine snapped. "Come on, Kelsey. Let's clean this up." She grabbed the sponge and bucket without waiting for a response.

Kaine dumped the water in the sink. "Sorry to put you on the spot like that, Kels. I should have just told him to fuck off. But I'm not good at rejecting people. I've never had to do it before," she said, chuckling.

Kelsey grinned at her. "You get used to it. So do you actually want to do something? You look like you can use a girls night."

Kaine smiled gratefully. "Hell yeah. Let me shower and change. Meet back here in an hour?"

Kelsey agreed and left to find Greg. Kaine hung out in the kitchen for a few more minutes, then reluctantly made her way back outside, hoping that Camden had left.

"Is Camden gone?" She asked Jay, who was standing with Shane.

"Captain Roid? Yeah, he left," said Shane. "Or maybe I should call him Captain cock block," he laughed.

"Watch it," Jay growled.

"Sorry," Shane immediately apologized. "But you should have seen it. Mark tried to ask Kaine out, and Camden just stood there glaring at him, shaking with rage. It was hilarious."

"It wasn't funny," Kaine snapped. "It was obnoxious. Anyway, I'm going out with Kelsey. See you guys later. Make sure you thank the guys for helping."

Kaine showered and put on her royal blue hi low dress, letting her hair fall softly down her shoulders. She put on her silver flat sandals, in case they decided to go out dancing. Kaine was always a decent dancer, but too shy to ever dance in public.

She skipped downstairs and waited for Kelsey to pick her up. She grabbed a banana and scarfed it down in about two bites.

"You're pretty good at that."

She turned around and flipped Shane off as he laughed. "I'm just kidding, little sister."

"Don't call me that," she said, swallowing. "One, I'm not your sister. And two, I'm the same age as you."

"Yeah, but I'm bigger than you," he said, flexing his muscles. Kaine rolled her eyes. "Very impressive," she said dryly.

Shane swooped down and picked her up with one arm, throwing her over his shoulder. "Shane!" She gasped, laughing as he ran through the kitchen, spinning her around.

"Are you impressed now?"

"Put me down!" She cried. "I'm gonna throw up!"

He carried her through the living room and dumped her on the couch, laughing. He plopped down next to her, out of breath.

"So are you going to go out with Mark?" He asked.

"I don't know. Should I?"

"No," he immediately responded.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "No? Why?"

He shrugged, avoiding her gaze. "I mean, you can if you want. If you're willing to either put out or spend the whole night rejecting his advances."

"Oh," she said quietly. "Well thanks for telling me."

"Yeah. You know, if you want, I can set you up with one of my friends. A good guy, not an asshole."

"You have friends that aren't assholes?" She teased.

Shane didn't answer. He was staring at her lips. "You look really pretty tonight, Kaine," he said quietly.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Thanks."

A horn beeped outside.

"That's Kelsey," she said, jumping up, thankful for the interruption of their awkward moment. "See you later. Tell dad and Nancy that I'll be back later." She hurried out of the house and jumped into Kelsey's car. "What a weird day," she muttered.

"Weird how?" Kelsey asked.

"Nevermind. What are we doing? Dinner? Dancing?"

"I've got a better idea," Kelsey grinned, holding up a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Where did you get that?" Kaine asked, laughing. She wasn't a big drinker, but after the day she had the bottle looked pretty inviting.