by L. A. Casey
For the time being anyway.
It was Friday afternoon, and I had just arrived at the Slater residence after coming straight from work. Keela let me into the house. She came over to check on Kane, but he was in his room behind his locked door so she was leaving. She stopped to talk to me since I was there and I used the time to vent to her.
“I came here this mornin’ on me way to work and do you know what he did?” I asked Keela.
She shook her head.
“He wouldn’t let me into his room to give him his injection. I have no idea what is up his arse, but he needs to get rid of it so I can give him his damn insulin,” I stated and pushed loose strands of hair that escaped my hair clips back from my face. “I’m gettin’ grey hairs stressin’ out about him and worryin’ about his injections. It’s not even funny how childish he is being.”
Keela shook her head but said nothing.
“I thought since he agreed to let me give him his injections that he would be reasonable, but he isn’t. He has been nothing but difficult,” I said to Keela. “He is rude, mean, and a complete arsehole to me. I’m this close,” I held my index finger and thumb a hair away from one another, “to stabbin’ him in the fuckin’ eye with his insulin pen.”
Keela’s lip twitched. “If anyone can get him to take his medicine, it’s you, Ado.”
I groaned. “I don’t know why, all we do is argue. Literally. It’s all we do. It’s all we’ve ever done.”
Keela giggled, “Maybe he gets off on your bickerin’. Have you ever thought of that?”
No, because that was a stupid idea.
“Please, he can’t stand me just as much as I can’t stand him. We’re happily in hate, Keela.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You’re both crazy.”
“I know I’m crazy,” I stated. “Only a crazy woman would put up with his hormonal arse. I’m tellin’ you the woman who ends up with him will have to have the patience of a bloody saint.”
“I can fucking hear you, big mouth!” Kane roared down the stairs as he descended them.
I growled and in a low voice, I said to Keela, “I’ll kill him before his diabetes does.”
She silently laughed and looked at Kane when he stepped off the last step of the stairs.
“What’s so funny?” Kane asked her.
“Nothin’,” she replied and wiped tears from her eyes.
I narrowed my eyes at Kane. “What time do you call this?”
He glanced at the clock on the wall behind me and said, “Two thirty in the afternoon.”
“I call it lazy bastard o’clock,” I hissed.
Keela reached out and held onto me as her silent laughter upgraded to audible wheezing.
“Sorry, Mom. Was I supposed to be up before noon for something?” Kane asked, snickering.
I glared. “You know good and well I had to give you your injection at eight this mornin’. I stopped in on my way to work and you wouldn’t open the door. Don’t feed me your bullshit about not hearin’ me either. I heard you laugh when I was threatenin’ you.”
He smirked but didn’t deny the charges.
“You’re unbelievable,” I growled. “Do you want to fall ill? Because not takin’ your insulin will result in you being unwell—no one else—just you.”
Kane continued to smirk. “Maybe I enjoy self-inflicted pain.”
“Keep talkin’,” I warned him, “and I’ll inflict all kinds of fuckin’ pain on you.”
“Is that a promise, babydoll?” he asked and made kiss noises.
I screeched and slapped at Keela’s shoulder. “Do you see? Do you see what I’ve to put up with? A fuckin’ man-child!”
“I’m all man, baby. You see my cock enough to know that,” Kane snickered, again.
Keela paused mid-way through her fit of laughter to stare at me with a what-the-fuck wide-eyed stare.
I growled, “By that, he means he mostly goes commando when I have to give him his injection on his thigh and forces me to look at his penis.”
Keela walked over to Kane and high-fived the arsehole. “That’s brilliant.”
Brilliant?
“Whose bloody side are you on?” I demanded of Keela.
“The side of love.”
Of love?
“What?” I snapped.
She was still laughing as she turned and walked towards the hall door, not answering me or even saying goodbye. I turned and stared at her back.
“Where the hell are you off to?” I angrily asked.
Keela lifted her hand and waved without turning around. “Me first therapist appointment is in half an hour. I need to leave here; otherwise, I’ll pass out from laughin’. Laters.”
I huffed, “Right. Good luck, you’ll do great.”
“I second that,” Kane said from behind me. “See you later, darling.”
“Be good. Both of you,” Keela shouted, then laughed as she closed the front door behind her.
“No promises,” Kane answered.
I turned to face him and glared so hard I hurt my face.
“Kitchen. Now,” I snarled and brushed past his large body as I walked down the hallway and into the empty kitchen. I glanced around the room and frowned. I knew Branna was at work because she had horribly long shifts from Monday to Friday this month, but I had no clue where Ryder was.
“Where is Ryder?” I asked.
Kane shrugged his shoulders. “I just walked down the stairs, how should I know where he is?”
The attitude!
“You need to perk up and stop being such a cheeky prick. I’m gettin’ fed up with you being so rude and snippy with me. I’m here to help you, not receive your dick tantrums,” I said as I stretched up and grabbed his insulin kit from the middle shelf in the cabinet above the toaster. I also grabbed the pouch that contained his glucose meter. I needed that to check his blood sugar levels before I injected any insulin.
“Take the damn pregnancy test and I won’t act like such a fucking dick to you.”
I froze then turned around.
I managed to go the entire day without thinking about that situation.
“Is that what this is about?” I asked. “You make it hell for me to get your insulin into you, you act like the mother of all fuckers, and all because I haven’t taken a pregnancy test yet. Are you bloody serious?”
Kane shot forward and got in my personal space. He glared down at me as I pressed back into the kitchen counter. I held his stare, but my nerve was slipping with each passing second because when Kane was mad, he looked terrifying.
“Yes,” he growled. “That is exactly why I’m behaving this way. I want to know if you’re pregnant. I’m done waiting.”
I was done waiting too, but fear stopped me from taking a test. I put it off every chance I got. I barely plucked up the courage to check Ryder and Branna’s bathroom for the test I previously took, but it was gone, and I was too scared to ask if someone found it.
I groaned, “I told you that me, Bronagh, and Branna made a deal to do it together tomorrow. It’s Saturday, Branna and I have no work so it’s the best time.”
“Why? Why can’t you do this without them?” Kane asked, exasperated.
I shrugged my shoulders. “We started this together, seems only right to end it together.”
Kane’s jaw set. “If you’re pregnant then we started it together, not the girls.”
Thanks for the reminder.
I swallowed. “We’ll find out tomorrow, okay? Stop puttin’ so much pressure on me. I’m scared out of me mind. If I am pregnant then me life as I know it is about to change forever.”
“If you are then mine will too,” Kane growled and lowered his head to mine. “Me and you, remember? We’re in this together.”
Damn him.
“Why do you do that? You enrage me one minute then melt me the next.”
Kane smiled, and as usual, it transformed his beautiful face.
“I make you melt? Like the panty soaking ki
nd of melting?”
He was disgusting.
I grunted. “No. You make me melt, as in you erase the bad and replace it with good when you’re nice—which isn’t often.”
Kane frowned then and gave me his finger so I could test his blood sugar. “I’m sorry, okay?”
I checked the results on the meter then regarded him for a moment before I nodded my head. “Apology accepted, now pull down your trousers.”
Kane waggled his eyebrows at me. “Damn. You wanna fuck? Babydoll, I am so game.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Watch it.”
Kane winked. “A blowjob then? I’d rather fuck that pretty pussy, but your mouth will do just—”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll cut it off. I swear.”
Kane laughed to himself as he gripped the band of his trousers and pushed them down. Thankfully, he left his boxers in place this time. He reached down and pulled up his boxers until his full thigh was showing. I turned and got his insulin pen from the kit, set the number of units he would be receiving then turned around and kneeled before him.
“You know something? I’ve never had the same woman on her knees so often in front of me and not have her suck my cock,” Kane mused as he reached over and ran his fingers through my hair.
I shook my head. “There’s a first time for everythin’, germinator.”
Kane tugged on my hair and it made me hiss. “Lose that stupid nickname.”
I smirked. “Lose babydoll.”
“Not a chance, babydoll,” Kane teased.
I glared at him then looked down as I uncapped the lid of his insulin pen and inserted a fresh needle. “Close your eyes,” I said when the device was ready.
When I glanced up and saw his eyes were closed, I reached in, pinched a fatty part of his inner thigh, and inserted the needle into his skin. I scrunched my face up when the needle broke through the layers of Kane’s skin because I could feel the moment it entered his body. I injected the insulin, then after a few seconds, I removed the needle and held my thumb over the area I jabbed for a moment. When I pulled away, there was no blood or any insulin seeping out of the tiny pricked area.
I was getting good at it and had cut a second or two off my time since Kane came home from the hospital.
“All done,” I said then got to my feet.
Kane pulled his trousers up and gazed at me the entire time. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why do you always look at me like that after I give you your injection?” I asked, curiously.
Kane shrugged. “I guess I’m a little awed that you do it at all.”
“Well, someone has got to do it.”
Kane frowned. “I’m never going to let anyone else do it for me, you know that right?”
I did.
I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did.
“Yeah, I’ll be on me knees before you for the rest of me life. I’m aware of that.”
Kane burst into laughter. “Your future husband will hate me.”
I giggled. “He’ll just have to accept you’re now part of me daily routine. In the mornin’ and afternoon to be exact.”
Kane grinned as he turned and opened up the fridge. “Are you here on your lunch?”
“Nope,” I said to his back. “It’s Friday. Half day. “
“So what are you doing now?”
I shrugged my shoulders even though he couldn’t see me. “I was gonna hang with Keela, but she has her therapist appointment so I’ll probably just go home. I’ll come back this evenin’ for your second injection though.”
“You could hang out with me if you want to?” Kane mumbled as he made himself a sandwich.
I laughed but stopped when I saw his body tense.
He was serious.
I didn’t want to hurt his feelings since he was actually being nice to me. I mean, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. He never offered to hang out with me. Ever.
“Okay, what do you want to do?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Doctor’s orders are to take things easy for a few more days until my body grows accustomed to the injected insulin. So whatever we do, it has to be indoors.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If you suggest sex, I’m whackin’ you over the head.”
Kane chortled. “No offence, but I don’t have the energy for you.”
I rolled my eyes and asked, “You have Netflix, right? We could watch the Sons of Anarchy if you want? I need to re-watch all the seasons again in preparation for the final season because it starts soon.”
Kane turned to me and bit into his large sandwich. “What is the Sons of Anarchy?”
I felt my jaw drop open. “Please tell me you’re jokin’.”
Kane shook his head.
I shook my head in disappointment and turned and walked out of the kitchen. I snapped my fingers and looked over my shoulder at Kane. “Come with me.”
Kane followed and said around the food in his mouth, “It better not be some sappy love show.”
Sappy? Sons of Anarchy?
Hell no.
“Just follow me,” I said as I stepped onto the stairs, “and let me introduce you to Jax Teller.”
I smiled as season one of Sons of Anarchy ended.
“So,” I asked as I grinned and turned my head in Kane’s direction, a little surprised when I found his body so close to mine. “What did you think?”
Kane turned his head and looked at me. “I hate that I want to watch the second season right away.”
I burst into laughter. “You won’t ever escape now; the Sons have hold of you.”
Kane smirked. “You have a hold on me.”
Me?
“What do you mean—Oh, sorry.” I flushed with embarrassment when I realised I was lying on his arm and he wouldn’t be able to move unless I got up—which I did.
We were both lying on Kane’s bed watching his television. Just lying on his bed. We both started out watching the show sitting up, but I think by the third episode our bodies leaned further and further back until we were lying down. I had no idea how I came to lie on his arm though. None.
“Don’t be sorry, it was nice,” Kane teased.
I swallowed and tried to make a joke out of it. “Me pinnin’ you to the bed is nice?”
“Pin me down and I’ll let you know,” he quickly replied.
I flushed crimson and hated it.
“Does everythin’ have to be made into a sexual joke with you?” I asked, slightly irritated.
He thought on it for a moment then replied, “Yes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Typical.”
I gasped when hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back down to my laid down position. “Relax, I’m not about to jump you.”
I scrunched my face up in distaste. “Like I’d let you.”
“You let me before. Three times, in fact,” Kane murmured.
He didn’t!
“That is not ever discussin’ it again, Kane,” I stated.
He sighed. “Right. Sorry.”
It got awkward then.
I sat up again and cleared my throat. “Come on, you’re due your second injection, it’s already nearin’ seven.”
He groaned so I pinched his side making him yelp.
“None of that,” I said, “let’s go and get this done.”
“After you, Mother,” Kane growled.
I smiled to myself as I climbed off his bed, slipped my shoes back on, and walked out of Kane’s room with him lazily following behind me. We made it to the bottom of the stairs but instantly slowed our pace down as we approached the kitchen door. I could hear raised voices from inside the kitchen and it made me a little nervous.
“Is that—”
“Bran and Ry?” Kane sighed. “Yeah.”
“Wow,” I whispered. “I didn’t think Branna and Ryder argued—not like this anyway.”
Kane quietly grunted. “The last few months it’s been getting worse and worse. They argue over the smallest things. It’s dif
ferent than when the others argue because you can feel the anger between them.”
I frowned. “That sucks.”
Kane nodded his head and frowned when the yelling from the kitchen intensified.
“I can’t stand the sight of you anymore. I just have to look at you to get annoyed!” Branna’s voice bellowed.
“You think the sight of you makes me happy?” Ryder asked then humourlessly laughed.
I widened my eyes.
“Why are they being so hurtful?” I asked. “I don’t like this.”
“Couples fight,” Kane said and shrugged like it was nothing.
I knew it was something more than that though. Ryder and Branna fighting wasn’t shocking. But screaming horrible things at one another? That was extremely shocking.
“I can’t even stand being in here with you. You’re a fucking liar!” Ryder snapped.
“How am I a liar?” Branna screamed. “What the fuck have I kept from you?”
Kane and I stood idly by the kitchen door. I felt too awkward to do anything. I didn’t want to leave because it would have been obvious we were listening if they heard us walk away, but I also didn’t want to hang around and listen to my friends fight with one another.
I couldn’t even intervene to help calm things down because Branna and Ryder were in a relationship. They have been together for years and seeing them treat one another so badly was a little bit of a shock to my system. It just went to show that even people who were clearly meant to be together didn’t have it easy.
“How about the fucking positive pregnancy test I found in the bathroom last week?” Ryder snarled. “I found it the day Kane came home, but I decided to wait until he was settled in before I brought it up. Then I figured I’d wait until you were ready to tell me you were pregnant. But. You. Never. Did.”
I widened my eyes and felt my heart jump.
“Pregnant? Pregnancy test? What the hell are you talkin’ about, Ryder?” Branna snapped.
“Don’t bullshit me. I found the test and I want to know the truth from you. We haven’t had sex in months, so it’s not my fucking kid.”
“You… You think I would cheat on you?” Branna asked, her voice filled with hurt.
I gripped onto Kane’s hand and pulled him down the hallway. “We need to give them privacy,” I breathed.