The Neighbor's Son 2: Mind Games (The Forbidden Love Series Book 2) (5 page)

“
I’m glad you could make
it, Sidney,” she said before turning her attention to Kevin and
extending her hand to him. “Hello. I’m Celia Fisher. You must be
Mr. MacDougal.”

Kevin's mouth hung open and
his eyes shifted nervously between Celia and I. "No.
I'
m not Mr. MacDougal," he said with a
laugh. "I'm actually Sidney's..." He paused and stared at me as if
he was asking for permission to finish that sentence. That's when I
realized he still wasn't sure how to introduce himself to people. I
couldn’t blame him. I had given him so many mixed signals, it was
understandable why he was hesitant to call himself my
boyfriend.

“
He’s not my husband," I
interjected. "He’s my boyfriend, Kevin
Reese.” Being introduced as my boyfriend for the first time
since we started going out put a huge smile on Kevin’s face and
filled his eyes with hope.

After some mindless chit chat at the door,
we all stepped inside the house. Walking through Celia's living
room, it was obvious to me that Cade was her pride and joy. The
place was like a little Cade museum. There were pictures of him
everywhere-baby pictures, graduation pictures, pictures of Cade
playing just about every sport ever invented.

I felt a strong pang of
guilt in my stomach as the reality of what I had done smacked me
over the head. Even though Cade looked and behaved like a grown
man, in reality, he was still a kid. He was this nice woman’s kid
and I went and got in bed with him. I also humiliated him, broke
his heart,
and messed with his head. I was
a terrible person and had no business being at that party. If I had
any sense, I would've stayed home thinking about what I'd
done.

On the way to the backyard, Celia and Kevin
walked in front of me. They were chatting and joking with each
other as if they were old friends. They tried to get me involved in
the conversation, but I was too consumed with guilt to pay any
attention to anything they were saying. I couldn’t even look Celia
in the eye. It was an awkward situation that was about to get even
more awkward the moment Cade and I inevitably crossed paths. Why
didn't I bail out of that party when I had the chance?

Outside in the backyard,
the
mouth-watering smell of smoked steak
and grilled hot dogs filled the air. Rowdy children of all ages
chased one another around while their mothers pleaded with them to
slow down and their fathers guzzled endless amounts of beer. Just
as I had suspected, everyone who lived on our street was there. I
spotted all the gossip queens huddled together by the grill doing
the one thing they do best. When I walked by them, they all went
silent and gave me curt nods. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but
I got the feeling that they all knew about Cade and me and were
judging me behind my back while being polite to my face. My stomach
was knotting up from all the guilt and shame and I hadn't even seen
Cade yet. It was going to be a very long day for me.

Breathe.

“
Sidney!” someone yelled
from the other sid
e of the yard. I snapped
my head in the direction of the voice and spotted my friend Dana
waving me over. She was sitting at a wooden picnic bench with her
entire brood and was holding her baby girl on her lap. Seeing at
least one friendly face in that crowd helped me calm down a bit. I
grabbed Kevin’s hands and we waded through the crowd to get to Dana
and her rambunctious kids.

"Than
k God you're here," Dana exclaimed when Kevin and I reached
her bench.

"I'm sorry I didn’t get here sooner," I
said, standing over her and patting the baby's head. "But it looks
like you have everything under control."

Dana scoffed. "Yeah, right. You should've
been here fifteen minutes ago. It was pure mayhem."

"I'm sorry, honey," I said
with a chuckle while rubbing her back.
"But look. I brought an extra pair of hands to help," I
added, gesturing toward Kevin. "And unlike me, he is really good
with kids."

"I a
m," Kevin quipped, reaching over the bench to shake Dana's
hand. "Nice seeing you again, Dana."

"H
ey, Kevin. Nice to see you too," Dana said before snapping at
one of her nieces sitting across from her. The little girl had just
spilled apple juice on her dress and looked like she was about to
cry.

"
Relax. I got it," I said, squeezing between the red-headed
cutie and her twin sister and helping her clean up. Kevin settled
at the end of the bench on my side.

While Kevin gushed to
Dan
a about her precious baby daughter and
exchanged parenting tips with her, my eyes swept the area looking
for Cade. I spotted him leading a bunch of teen boys from the
street in what looked like a very intense game of touch football. I
know I shouldn’t have stared, but he looked absolutely scrumptious
in a pair of basketball shorts that hung dangerously low around his
hips and no shirt. His sweat-coated, impossibly-ripped, bare torso
glowed under the scorching sun as he ran up and down the recently
mowed grass. A backward Dodgers baseball cap covered his thick,
gorgeous hair and he had the most adorable smile plastered on his
face.

He looked like he was
having a blast horsing around and trash talking with the other
players. I couldn’t te
ar my eyes away from
him. I glanced around me and realized I was not the only one ogling
the new neighbor's hot son. Women, young and old, couldn’t stop
leering at him. I wondered if I was being as obvious as they
were.

I think Cade must have felt
the intensity of my gaze on him because
it
didn't take long for his eyes to find me in the crowded yard. He
was in the middle of a play when it happened. He just froze with
the football in his hands, unable to tear his baby blues away from
me. The other players kept yelling at him for stopping the game but
Cade ignored them. The smile on his face vanished and his jaw
tightened. He seemed surprised to see me there. Perhaps he thought
I wouldn't have the guts to show my face there given the history
between him and me. I saw a mixture of sadness and longing in his
eyes. But that somber expression quickly morphed into one of
seething anger when Kevin leaned in to whisper sweet nothings in my
ear and kissed my neck.

Whe
n I saw Cade drop the football on the ground and charge
toward us, I knew I should've stayed away from that party. He
looked really pissed and I was afraid he’d say things he shouldn’t.
My heart thumped faster with every long stride he took toward us.
It didn't take long for him to reach our bench. He stood at the end
of it, hovering over Kevin, legs apart, hands on his hips. He
couldn’t hide his disdain for my date nor his resentment toward me
as he stared down at us.

“
Hello, Sidney. Glad you
could make it,” Cade said with
a cheery,
sarcastic tone.

“
Hey, I know you. You’re
the guy fro
m the movie, right?” Kevin
remarked while reaching to touch the nape of my neck.

“
Yeah. T
hat’s me,” Cade replied after huffing out a breath, his words
dripping with restrained rage while his eyes zeroed in on Kevin's
hand gently massaging my neck.

“
Where’s your girlfriend?
Is she here?” Kevin asked Cade.

“
No. She couldn’t make it,”
Cade replied, his fiery gaze now on me, burning a hole
in my flesh.

Dana,
sens
ing the tension building among Kevin,
Cade and myself, chimed in. “Hey, Kevin. Why don't we go get some
burgers and ice cream for everyone?” Dana handed her daughter to me
and she and Kevin stepped away from the bench to go get the
food.

Cade took Dana's spot on
the bench
. “What are you doing here,
Sidney?” he asked dryly, leaning forward, his folded arms resting
on the table.

“
Your mother invited me," I
breathed, kissing the top of little Eliza's head and wishing I
didn't sound as defensive as I did. "I didn't want to come but Dana
begged me to.”

“
Bullshit,
” Cade blurted.

All the kids at the
tab
le let out dramatic gasps while
snapping their heads toward Cade. I made a shushing sound at Cade
and lowered my voice to a whisper. "Hey! Mind your language and
lower your voice."

Cade ignored the children
and
my request for him to keep his voice
down. "Why are you really here, Sidney?"

Eliza started to fuzz and I
bounced her on my knee. "I already told you. I
'm only here because Dana needed my help."

"I don't believe you."

I scoffed. “What? You think
I’m here
because I wanted to see you?
Don’t flatter yourself, Cade.”

“
Why is he here?” Cade
asked
, flicking his gaze to Kevin who was
still across the yard putting together a tray of burgers and
drinks.

“
What wouldn’t he
be?
" I asked, sticking my chin out. "He’s
my boyfriend.”

Cade shook his head and a
bitter chuckle tumbled from
his lips.
“You’re unbelievable, Sidney MacDougal. First, you use me and toss
me aside. Now you bring your boyfriend into my house and rub him in
my face.”

“
You want to talk about
rubbing it in the face?
" I blurted a
little too loudly. The children all stared at me. After drawing a
deep breath and letting it out, I spoke in a softer tone. "What
about you shamelessly fondling your piece of arm candy the other
night at the movies, huh?” At this point baby Eliza started to cry
hysterically, making the conversation even tenser. I started
bouncing her on my knee again to get her to calm down but she just
wailed louder.

I glanced over to where
Kevin and Dana were and noticed the
y were
heading back to our bench. “Kevin’s coming back. Please go, Cade. I
don’t want any trouble.”

"This
conversation is not over," Cade said through gritted teeth
and rose to his feet. After shooting me his most cutting glare yet,
and without saying another word, he strolled away from the bench. I
let out a sharp breath as I watched him return to his football game
and silently prayed that he’d stay away. He was right. I shouldn’t
have gone to that party. What the hell was I thinking?

Seconds later, Dana and
Kevin arrived with two trays full of food, juice
, and beer. Dana got Eliza to calm down and we all enjoyed a
nice round of burgers and hot dogs. After we were done eating, the
kids begged Dana to let them go play in the inflatable bounce house
Celia had rented for the day. Seeing that Dana had her hands full
with baby Eliza, Kevin volunteered to take them and keep an eye on
them.

"What the hell was that about with Cade?"
Dana remarked once Kevin was out of earshot.

I shrugged
while taking another sip of beer. "He's pissed
that I came to his mother's party with Kevin. He thinks I did it to
spite him."

"That's
ridiculous
. You didn't even want to come.
I had to beg to get you here. Did you tell him that?"

"You know
what? It doesn't matter. After today, I'm never
setting foot in this house again. Let him think whatever he
wants."

"And why does he care that
you'
re with Kevin? Isn't he dating that
slutty student of yours anyway?"

"Exactly. It's okay for him to move on but
not for me." By now, Cade had stopped playing football and had
moved on to flirt with a group of young females who had gathered
around him. I wanted to ignore him. I wanted to pretend that it
didn't bother me that girls half my age were pawing at him and
hanging on his every word. But it did. A lot. I couldn’t tear my
eyes away from him and his little fan club. They were right in
front of me.

After a
whi
le, it all got to be too much. My eyes
needed a break so I excused myself and walked away. I was seething
with jealousy but I wasn’t going to give Cade the satisfaction of
seeing how pissed I was. I wasn't going to leave the party either.
Instead, I did the most adult thing I could think of. I grabbed two
iced cold beers out of a cooler and joined my age-appropriate
boyfriend by the bounce house. After handing him one of the cans, I
snaked my arms around his waist, rested my head against his chest,
and watched the kids bounce around the inflatable house. Cade could
fuck all those girls right there in the middle of the party for all
I cared. I was over him and his petty little games. I decided that
for the rest of the party, I was going to give the man standing
next to me my undivided attention.

CHAPTER V

After a
while, the kids got tired of bouncing around and we all went
back to the bench. I glanced around and didn't see Cade or his
fangirls anywhere. I was convinced they were all somewhere having a
good old fashioned orgy and laughing at me. I felt so silly for
caring so much about what that petulant child did or didn't do but
I couldn't help it. He had gotten under my skin. Shaking him off
was going to be harder than I thought.