Kane(87)

 

Kane lifted a hand off the steering wheel and scratched his neck before returning it to the wheel. “I gave her a budget of twenty-five hundred a month.”

 

I must have heard that wrong.

 

“Twenty-five hundred,” I repeated.

 

“Well, yeah.”

 

“Twenty-five fuckin’ hundred?”

 

“Don’t hit me, I’m driving!” Kane quickly said and glanced at me—well, at my hands.

 

I wasn’t planning on hitting the idiot, but it was nice to see he thought I was some crazy lady who would smack him going eight kilometres an hour down the bypass.

 

Dickhead.

 

“You’re lucky you’re drivin’!” I angrily spat. “Why on earth would you say twenty-five hundred? That is me monthly salary, Kane! How can I afford me utility bills, food, and all the things I’ll need for the baby if me entire paycheque goes on fuckin’ rent?”

 

Kane sighed, “Because I’m paying half of your rent.”

 

Come again?

 

I stared at him. “Excuse me?”

 

“I knew you wouldn’t let me pay for it all, so I decided I would pay half.”

 

“You decided, huh?” I hissed. “You just decided that you would pay half me rent without even askin’ me?”

 

“Consider it half of my monthly child support payment, the other half will be to help you buy things the baby needs.”

 

I placed my fingers against my temples as a profound pounding began to pulse away.

 

“Come on, Aideen,” Kane sighed. “A two bedroom apartment for anything less that twenty-five hundred around our area will be shitty and we both know it. You said you wanted to be close by, and since I live in Upton, we needed to up the price.”

 

I knew what he was saying was true, but I was deeply bothered that he just decided something that directly involved my life without even consulting me. It wasn’t okay.

 

“Fine,” I muttered and looked out the window once more.

 

Kane’s sigh was deep, and long.

 

“You’re mad.”

 

“You’re a genius.”

 

Kane grunted and closed his mouth for the remaining ten-minute journey to the first apartment location. It was fifteen minutes away from Upton in a bigger estate area called Ballycash. It was a rough area and I already knew it would be a no from me when I stepped out of Kane’s Jeep.

 

There was a dead cat on the path across from us and it turned my stomach. I glared at Kane as he walked around the car to me. “This estate, really?”

 

Kane held up his hands. “With the notice I gave her, Cala said she could round up five apartments to show us. I just told her I wanted it to be close to Upton. I didn’t pick this area.”

 

Ballycash was the complete opposite of Upton so I didn’t doubt Kane had involvement with the location. He wouldn’t live here even if you paid him to, so no way in hell would he want his child living here.

 

“Who is Cala?” I asked as I kept my eyes averted from the cat.

 

“The realtor.”

 

I raised my eyebrow. “You’re on first name basis with the realtor?”

 

Kane shrugged. “I called her Miss Harding, but she told me to call her Cala... so I did.

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“Uh huh, what?”

 

“Nothin’.”

 

Kane stood in front of me. “Nothing is something. I don’t need the Man Bible to know that.”

 

I scoffed, “I’m fine.”

 

“No, you aren’t. Just tell me now what’s bothering you. I don’t want you giving me the silent treatment for the next ten hours.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “I could explain what you did wrong, but you still wouldn’t understand.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

I was going to have to spell it out for him.

 

“You’re the reason there are instructions on shampoo bottles.”

 

“Are you insinuating I’m stupid?”

 

“No, I’m flat out sayin’ you’re stupid.”

 

“Rude!” Kane snapped. “You’re so rude!”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Sorry, flower.”

 

“Dealing with you and your stupid hormones would drive a man to drink,” Kane grumbled, not even trying to muffle his words.

 

I snorted. “Told you we shouldn’t have had sex. Totally your fault for kissin’ me in Darkness.”

 

“My fault? You’re the one who was dressed in that barely-there dress and sent me fuck-me-now glares. You wanted my cock, babydoll, you just didn’t want to accept that you wanted it.”