Page 115 of I Don't Want You Back

Chapter 34

Things had gone from bad to worse with Ava and Kane ever since the fight at Landon’s wedding. Ava was used to calling the shots, but Kane had been on one lately. He had been working a lot more than usual and he seemed to be avoiding her as much as he could. Ava was basically estranged from her family thanks to him, and she was regretting it. She hadn’t seen her family since the day Landon got married and she missed her mother more than anything. Ella was the glue that held them all together, and Ava felt lost without her. She didn’t want to hear the backlash from what Kane had done and she was sure that Ella was going to bring it up. She felt stupid about it all and her husband didn’t make things any better. Her daughter missed her grandmother and cousins, but Ava’s pride wouldn’t allow her to give in. Kylie had been spending a lot of time with Kane’s parents lately, but it wasn’t the same. She was the only grandchild on her father’s side and she didn’t have anyone else to play with over there.

“Stop fucking nagging me all the time man!” Kane yelled as he walked out of his and Ava’s bedroom.

“Who the fuck are you yelling at?” Ava yelled back as she followed him into the living room.

“I’m going to work Ava, damn. I’m tired of being interrogated every time I leave the house,” Kane argued.

“Some shit just ain’t adding up Kane. You’ve never worked this much overtime since we’ve been married. Why now? It’s like you hate being home.”

“That’s because you won’t let me breathe. I’m stressed the fuck out and you’re not helping,” Kane replied.

“Where’s all the extra money going? I damn sure don’t see it.”

“Maybe if you stayed out of the mall, then you would. I have to put in extra hours just to afford the lifestyle that you want to live,” he replied.

Ava regretted letting him handle all the finances and important details when they got married. As long as Kane gave her whatever she wanted, she didn’t care about what was in their account. When it was time for them to buy a house, she picked out what she wanted, and Kane wrote the check. That’s the way it had been from the very beginning and that’s the way she wanted it to stay. Ella told her that she was fool for doing that, but she didn’t care what anyone had to say.

“Cut the bullshit Kane. Nothing about the way we live has changed, so come again,” Ava said.

“You go get a job then, Ava. If you want me to stop working so much, then you get a job and take up the slack around here,” Kane suggested.

Ava had a degree in communications, but she had never done anything with it.

“Bye Kane,” Ava mumbled as she flopped down on the sofa and grabbed the remote.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he replied as he grabbed his keys and walked out of the house.

Ava felt like crying as she absentmindedly flipped through the channels on the tv. Her marriage seemed to be falling apart and she didn’t know how to fix it. Her woman’s intuition was telling her that something wasn’t right, but she was too afraid to find out. Her husband had been her world for years and she was scared to start all over. Ava appeared to be confident on the surface, but her insecurities ran deep.

“Hey sis,” Ava said when she answered the phone for her sister-in-law, Kya.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kya asked, picking up on how down she sounded.

“Your brother makes me so damn sick,” Ava replied.

“What else is new? You and Kane have argued more this past month than you did for your entire marriage,” Kya pointed out.

“Something is wrong Kya. I can just feel it. Kane has never worked this much before in his life. If I catch him cheating again, I’m done. I’m not gonna continue to be his fool just because he provides well.”

“You say that all the time, but a pair of red bottoms will always change your mind. He got caught with his pants down a few months ago and a new car swept that under the rug,” Kya said, calling her out.

She lost count of how many times Ava had called her and her mother crying about something that Kane had done. Ava never took their advice, so they stopped giving it. Kane had always been sneaky since he was a little boy and not much had changed. He was still Kya’s only brother, so she always had his back.

“Fuck this shit. I’m about to do some investigating for myself. Even if I have to track that nigga’s phone, I’m about to get some answers,” Ava said as she stood to her feet.

“Don’t go looking for shit Ava. You might not like what you find,” Kya warned.

“It sounds like you already know something,” Ava replied.

“I don’t know anything. I just don’t want you to get your feelings hurt again like the last time. You went searching and didn’t like what you found,” Kya reminded her.

“You wanna come take a ride with me?” Ava asked, ignoring what she had just said.

“Take a ride with you where?” Kya asked.

“I don’t know. I need a drink or something,” Ava replied.

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