Page 91 of Tangled

“Oh, my God,” I whisper as I turn around and replay the evening in my mind, reaching for the food on the floor as I attempt to clean up.

That was definitely not how I saw the evening going and now my stomach is in knots as desperation fills my body to get Kane to talk to me. I call him over and over, each time the call goes to voicemail—he must have turned his phone off.

“Kane, please pick up,” I cry into the speaker, leaving yet another voicemail that racks up a total of ten over the last hour. “Please don’t let this ruin us. I need to talk to you. Please, Kane…” I croak as I end the call and throw myself into my bed, sobbing at the thought that I almost had everything I wanted, and then Trevor fucked it up again.

Chapter 38

Olivia

I spent yesterday concealed in my apartment while I desperately tried to reach Kane. I considered driving to his house, but then my mom talked me out of it. Obviously if Kane wasn’t answering my attempts at contact, he wanted to be left alone. But it killed me.

I was a problem solver by nature. Hell, that’s what I did for a living. I solved math problems as a job. But the problem between me and Kane wasn’t a simple equation with one clear-cut answer. That’s the main reason I love math. It’s black and white, a yes or no, a right or wrong that could rarely be disputed.

The issue with Kane was far more complex. Emotions were involved, people were connected, and suddenly I was in a state of panic looking at a problem that I couldn’t solve, no matter what tool I tried to use.

My mom came over and I told her what happened while she held me as I cried. Even at thirty-one, the comfort of having my mother to cry with gave me some solace. But as soon as she left, I felt just as alone as I did before. As promised, I called Clara to fill her in, and true to her nature, she threatened to hunt down Trevor to unleash a world of hurt, and track down Kane to put me out of my misery. I declined both offers, praying that everything would work itself out eventually.

“What the hell happened, Olivia?” Drew whispers at me when I see him back at work on Monday in the teacher’s lounge. He’s standing at my side while I fill my coffee mug with decaf coffee, resentful of the caffeine I now have to sacrifice.

The moment I meet Drew’s eyes with my own, the moisture waiting on the edge of my lashes falls over.

“Drew,” I breathe out as his arms encase me in a hug, consoling me through my despair.

“Olivia… Kane is a mess. I’ve never seen him like this.”

My head pops up. “You’ve seen him?”

“Yeah, he came by my house yesterday to return a tool he borrowed and when I looked at him, I asked him why he looked like shit.”

I wipe the tears from my cheeks, my voice hopeful that Drew has some morsel of promise I can cling on to. “What did he look like?”

Drew huffs. “Hungover as fuck. His eyes were bloodshot, he smelled like whiskey, and he looked like he didn’t even sleep. I sensed it had to involve you, so when I asked, he told me to mind my own fucking business. I mean, I know we’re men, but Kane has opened up to me before, so I was hoping he would this time too. But he threw my saw at me—which was hard to dodge, by the way—and then took off. And judging by the way you’re crying right now, I think my intuition was correct.”

I sigh as moisture clouds my eyes and falls repeatedly. Drew ushers me over to a chair so we can sit.

“Things were going so well, Drew. Well, except for…” I catch myself before I tell another person of our baby before Kane knows. I’ve accepted the life-changing development, but I still don’t know how Kane will react—and the last thing I want is for him to find out from someone other than me. I already feel guilty that Clara and my mom know before him.

“Except for what?”

I wave my hand to push that little slip to the side. “Nothing. Anyway, I asked Kane to come over Saturday night so we could spend time together and when there was a knock at my door, I answered it expecting Kane, but it turned out to be my ex.”

“Oh shit. Why was he there?”

I look down at my hands while gathering my strength to continue. “He drove all the way from California to apologize to me for being unfaithful. He was trying to clear his conscience, which I understood to an extent—but Kane showed up while he was still there.”

Drew sits up as his eyes widen with fury. “Did he think you were cheating on him? If that’s the case, I’ll drive to his house and kick his ass right now.”

“Wait, he’s not here?”

Drew shakes his head. “No, he called out. Kane never gets a substitute to cover his classes, so I know something is seriously wrong.”

“Shit, this is worse than I thought then,” I tremble as tears continue to fall.

“Liv, what happened?”

I take a deep breath and fill him in. “When Kane walked in and saw my ex-boyfriend he flipped out…because my ex is his ex-best friend, T.J.”

Drew’s eyes bug out and his jaw becomes slack before he starts blinking repeatedly. “How the hell? Wait… I’m…. I don’t even know what to say!”

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