Oneshots - Kayce Dutton Book 2

Healing over coffee

Request - I feel like we always have Kacey doing something wrong, but maybe have the female character do or say something that was way over the line and she has to work on earning his forgiveness.

"Hey, Y/N!" Your favorite barista said as you walked up to order. "Let me guess, a mocha for you and plain black for Kayce?"

"Oh...just the mocha today, please," You bit the inside of your cheek.

"Where's your cowboy?" She asked, making your drink. "He's usually not more than two steps behind you."

"He's...at the ranch," You sighed.

The barista paused her movements and looked at you.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "You look...not in a mean way, but you look sad."

"It's okay," You tried to brush it off. "We're just..."

"Fighting?" She asked, continuing making your drink. "What happened? What'd he do?"

"Well...he didn't do anything," You leaned your elbows on the counter. "I'm the one who fucked up."

She slid your drink across the counter to you. Now that you were looking at it, you didn't think you had the stomach to drink it anymore.

"Seriously?" She asked you. "But you're so nice...what could you have possibly done?"

You looked up at her and took a deep breath. You had been battling this inside your head for a week now, ever since that Thursday night when you and Kayce had been at each other's necks. The two of you were both stubborn, Kayce had a temper like no one else and you would plant your feet in concrete until proven right with anyone. It sometimes led to some powerful fights, but they always had the undertone of love between the two of you. Most of the time it ended with you in Kayce's bed, naked and spent too...but not this time.

"We got into a fight," You sighed. "A bad one...like a really bad one."

"What about?" She asked, cleaning off the steamer.

You glanced around the store and noticed there was only one other person in there, a man in the corner. Not that you didn't care about people knowing things, but this was rural Montana, and Kayce Dutton had name recognition second only to his father.

"You know he took over as Livestock Commissioner?" You asked.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Saw that cute picture of you two in the paper at whatever that was."

"Right," Your mind conjured up the picture the paper used of you and Kayce at his swearing in and your chest felt a little tight.

That had been such a good night and you had been so proud of Kayce for taking over from his father. While you knew he wouldn't have chosen that path, you were ready to support him in whatever he needed to represent the cattlemen of Montana and beyond.

"About a week ago he came home...late," You sighed.

"Smelling like perfume?" The barista frowned.

"No," You sighed. "He was uh...covered in blood...he went out on a call and missed dinner with his family, so it was just me."

"Don't you get along with his family though?" She asked.

"I do, but usually when he's with me," You said. "When you're not at the table with the Duttons, you're on the menu and that night, Kayce was on the menu with his father."

"I've heard John Dutton has a...well, to put it frankly, he's a son of a bitch," The barista frowned. "But why did Kayce come home in blood?"

"A raid went bad at one of those trailer parks near the reservation border," You ran a hand over your hair. "But that's not his jurisdiction."

"So then why was he there?" She asked.

"Because the mother of his son asked him to be there," You could feel your face tense at the thought of Monica.

"Oh...awkward," She winced. "But I thought she was at least decent now? You've been with Kayce for a few years, right?"

"Two," You nodded. "And I thought so...but then Kayce told me he spent the night with her the night before, so he'd be out there."

"Oh," The barista glanced around. "Do you want some Bailey's for that drink?"

"No, thanks," You shook your head. "Alcohol isn't good when I'm angry."

"Did something happen between them?" She asked.

"I don't know," You shrugged. "I do know there's only one bedroom in her trailer...I didn't ask Kayce though at first because he was covered in blood. And he was so angry...so I let him take a shower and waited."

"Hmm," She nodded. "I'm still not seeing how this was you who fucked up though."

"When he came out and told me again what had happened, that's when things started to click with me," You said. "Or so I thought."

"Walk me through it," She nodded, reassuringly.

"I think I let my mind wonder away from me," You licked your lips. "Instead of just asking Kayce to tell me...I wrote the story in my head. I wrote that he made up the raid, went to Monica's...probably slept with her...and then got caught in trouble on the reservation, that part's not completely out of the box for Kayce, and came back and lied to me."

"Yikes," The barista frowned.

"He then asked if two years meant nothing to me," You closed your eyes. "I called him a lying piece of shit...and then accused him again of cheating on me so clearly it didn't mean anything to him. Then I slapped him when he tried to grab my arm."

"Oh, Y/N..." She stood in front of you. "How did it end?"

"He told me to leave," You felt your voice break.

The barista reached across the counter and held your arm.

"He's never..." You closed your mouth and shook your head. "I deserved it for not letting him explain it to me and jumping to conclusions...but there's something about her I can't let slide, I always go from zero to a hundred and I see red."

"She triggers you?" She asked.

"Something," You nodded. "He hasn't called me though...not a text, nothing."

"You've always said he's got a temper...maybe he just needs a little more time to cool off?" She asked.

"It's never taken this long," You sighed. "What I hate the most is I feel like she won again with me."

"What do you mean?"

"I let her get the best of me, under my skin," You frowned. "She once again made me not trust Kayce and question the best thing that's happened to me. Kayce wouldn't cheat on me, he's not that kind of man...he's a good man with a heart and feelings and it's rare to find that to being with...I'm sure he slept on the couch, or maybe Monica wasn't even there? And to top it all off, he was doing his job because an article in the paper came out a few days ago about how Kayce and his team helped save a family during the raid...and now I just feel like the biggest asshole who doesn't even deserve someone like Kayce."

You placed your head in both your hands and groaned out loud.

"I'm an idiot," You looked up but saw the barista wasn't in front of you anymore.

"Yeah, you are," Came a voice to the side of you.

Looking over you saw Kayce leaning against the counter next to you. He was dressed in a brown button-down with his wranglers and boots. His old cowboy hat sat on his head as he offered you a very small smile. You blinked back at him, shocked he'd be there. Kayce only ever came to get coffee because of you.

"Hi," He said, breaking the silence.

"Hi..." You whispered. "Wh-What're you doing here?"

"Figured this is where you might be," Kayce glanced around. "You're a repetitive creature, if nothing else."

You looked over Kayce's face. He looked tired, but he always was tired.

"Kayce," You turned more toward him, finding your words again. "I'm so sorry."

"I know," Kayce nodded.

"You didn't deserve that," You frowned. "I was...well, I don't know what I was, but it wasn't good."

"No," Kayce shook his head. "But I don't know how to help you when your mind starts writing out the story without see the reality of things."

"I..." You sighed and looked down at your drink which was probably now cold. "I don't know why I do that."

"You can't let her, or anyone, dictate your own comfort like that," Kayce told you. "I don't know what else to do to prove that you're it for me."

A small, tiny piece of the ice you had felt around your heart the past week chipped away at Kayce's words. So, there was something still inside him that wanted you.

"I think, I was scared seeing you come home," You stepped closer so you could lower your voice even though there wasn't anyone around. "I just spiraled and then hearing you had stayed the night at her house just...I guess did it in for me. And I know I shouldn't...I hated myself the second those words left my mouth, but I said them. I'll own that and that they were wrong, I was wrong."

Kayce was watching you closely.

"I'm sorry, Kayce," You let out a long breath. "I should have let you tell me what happened...I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions...and I shouldn't have called you any of those horrible things you aren't."

Kayce stood back up from where he was leaning. He looked over, behind you and nodded to the barista.

"Can she get a new one and I'll take a coffee?" He asked.

"You bet," The barista started on your new drink.

You gave an embarrassed smile to Kayce, feeling slightly warmer now with how things were progressing.

"Y/N," Kayce said. "I love you. My past is my past, but I just want you moving forward. I'm not gonna do something to fuck that up."

"I believe you," You nodded. "Now."

"Alright," Kayce offered you a smile. "You gonna be okay?"

"A little wounded still, but I will be," You nodded. "Are you?"

"I can handle it," Kayce reached up and tucked some of your hair behind your ear. "But let's not do this again, okay?"

"Deal," You felt better, but still raw as your drinks were placed in front of you. "Thank you."

Kayce shook his head as if to say it wasn't a big deal for him to get you another drink.

"No, for...forgiving me," You looked up at him.

You leaned up on your toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. Kayce wrapped his arm around your back and pulled you against his side. His other hand picked up his coffee cup. The two of you stayed close in the corner of the coffee bar while you finished your drinks and healed a little more.