Free Replace Me by Jennifer Foor

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