Page 76 of I Don't Want You Back

“Why does that matter? How long were you and Kane together before he started cheating?” Makena asked, making Ava flush with embarrassment.

“Not today! It’s my birthday and y’all will not ruin my dinner with no bullshit,” Ella warned. “Where is Kane at anyway?” Ella asked.

“He’s at work, but he’ll be here a little later,” Ava replied.

“How is he always at work, but Landon does most of his work at home from the computer? They still do the same job, right?” Makena asked.

“Chill out Makena,” her husband warned with a stern look.

“Okay baby, but it was just a question,” Makena replied innocently.

A few hours later, everyone had arrived, and the dinner was in full swing. Ella only wanted her immediate family there, so two of her sisters and one of her brothers were in attendance as well. Faryn was meeting most of them for the first time, but they gave her a warm welcome. Landon’s mother passed through briefly to drop off a gift. She fixed herself and her man a plate to go and left soon after. Landon invited Clarence and his girlfriend, but they were coming after they attended another party.

“I’m so full,” Faryn said as she sat back in her chair and sighed. She was happy that she’d worn her Adidas leggings and matching shirt. She would have had to unbutton her pants if she hadn’t.

“I guess you don’t want no cake then,” Landon replied.

“Yes, I do. I saved room for that,” she said, making him laugh.

Landon had been outside most of the time talking to his brother-in-law. Ross was happy about the offer and he couldn’t wait to stop leaving his family for days at a time. Raheem was playing the game with the kids and Aiden barely came out of his room. He was nursing a hangover from the night before. He came out to get food and talk for a minute before going right back to bed.

“Makena is taking them home with her, so just let me know whenever you’re ready,” Landon said as he pushed his chair close to Faryn’s and kissed her.

“I’m not in a hurry. Besides, I thought you were waiting for Clarence,” Faryn pointed out.

“I was, but he’s taking too damn long. I’m tired as hell.” Landon yawned.

“I should have known that I was pregnant. You sleep more than I do,” Faryn laughed, right as Ella’s front door opened.

Landon was about to reply to her comment until he saw Kane walking in. His lying ass claimed to be at work, but Landon knew for a fact that he was off that day.

“Look at this sneaky ass nigga,” Landon said, making Faryn look up to see who he was talking about.

The twilight zone was real and Faryn felt like she was in it. Her breathing increased and so did her heart rate when she saw him. Landon must have felt the change in her mood because he looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

“How do you know him?” Faryn asked as she locked eyes with Kane.

“That’s Ava’s husband, Kane. The one that I told you I work with,” Landon replied.

“I… I gotta go to the bathroom. We can leave when I’m done,” Faryn said as she jumped up and rushed off.

Landon was about to go after her until Kane walked over and started talking.

“That was wifey?” he asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Landon replied, feeling funny for some reason.

“Landon, come get some candles from this top self for me! We’re about to sing happy birthday and cut the cake!” Makena yelled to him.

He abandoned his idea to go check on Faryn for a minute and went to help his sister. Faryn was in the bathroom down the hall shaking like a leaf on a tree. Her life was just starting to look up, but something always had to go wrong. There was no way that she was going back out there. Ella had a side and a back door, and she was about to use one of them. She would just have to explain her actions to Landon once they got home. Once she got herself together, she walked out of the bathroom and ran right into the one person that she didn’t want to see.

“You hit the jackpot, huh? Not only did you manage to snag a nigga with money, but you got pregnant by him too. You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

“Fuck you, Redd. Please do me a favor and act like you don’t know me,” Faryn begged.

“I guess that’s why you never wanted to hook up with me when I asked. Who would have thought that you were the chick that my boy has been talking about all this time? Faryn, right?” Redd questioned with a smirk, calling her by her real name, a name that he never had the pleasure of knowing. Even when Landon talked about her, he wouldn’t have known that it was the same person. He knew her by Candy Girl at the club and she wanted to keep it that way. No real names and nothing personal was the rules that she lived by.

“You have a wife. You shouldn’t have been trying to hook up with me anyway,” Faryn said as she tried to walk away.

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