by Elle Keating
“To ensure that assholes like him,” he nodded to the guy who had tried to dry hump her on the dance floor from behind, “don’t take advantage of one of my friends.” He knew it was a dick move. But in all fairness, friendship is what she wanted.
Her eyes narrowed but for once she didn’t tell him off. Instead, Morgan pushed past him and headed toward the side entrance. She stumbled once and then steadied herself. She was definitely on her way to being drunk off her ass. Morgan was a few feet from the door when some douchebag stepped in her path.
“She’s with me,” Jake said, grabbing her hand from behind.
The prick eyed Jake up and his eyes widened. “Shit! You’re Jake...you’re Jake McGi… ” Jake leveled the guy with a stare that shut him up and he moved past him. Morgan didn’t wiggle her hand free, which he half-expected from this stubborn, opinionated woman, and he led her out the door to his car. She tripped over nothing and would have tasted pavement if it wasn’t for him keeping her vertical. But it was when she allowed him to lower her into the passenger seat without a smartass remark that his hunch that she was sloshed was confirmed.
Jake was halfway to her townhome when he looked over and found her in a deep sleep. She looked like an angel, a drunken angel, but gorgeous nonetheless. Jake refocused on the road ahead and drove in silence. When he reached her home, he fished her keys out of her purse and picked her up as gently as he could. As if by instinct, she wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled into him. She smelled so fucking good. His cock hardened instantly. He held his breath in hopes of cutting off her scent.
Once inside her home, he flung the keys onto the kitchen counter and searched for her bedroom. She moaned a bit and then uttered something he couldn’t understand. But whatever it was, whatever she was experiencing as she dreamt in his arms must have been pleasant because she smiled and buried her face in his chest. Jake ascended the stairs and found her bedroom at the end of a long hallway. It wasn’t that much of a challenge to figure out which bedroom was the master since it was the only furnished room on the second floor. He switched on the light with his elbow and allowed the soft glow of her nightstand light to lead him farther into the room. Again words escaped her lips, actually one word, but this time she made sense. She spoke his name and he exhaled. He allowed her scent to overtake him and her beauty to strip him down to the boy who had loved her in secret for far too long.
Jake laid her on the bed and he watched her turn on her side and pull her legs close to her chest as if she was cold. He couldn’t leave her like that, in her barely-there dress and heels. In a dress that had functioned like a fucking magnet to way too many shitheads at the club. He still couldn’t believe Morgan would have gone to an eighties theme club willingly. Though she would binge watch eighties movies as a kid, she despised eighties music, which didn’t make any sense to him. Those Molly Ringwald movies she used to watch with Carina were filled with that God-forsaken music, and yet she had watched them religiously.
Jake walked over to her bureau and after pulling out the third drawer he found a plain gray t-shirt. When he returned to the bed, he noticed she was almost completely in the fetal position. She was definitely cold. He debated on whether he should just put the shirt on over her dress, but he decided that he was being an idiot. He could handle this.
Just do it quick and don’t stare.
Jake removed her strappy three-inch heels and dropped them on the floor. She unraveled herself and stretched before shifting to her other side. That fucking dress was next to go. He swallowed… hard. It wasn’t like he had never seen her naked before. But that was eight years ago and things had changed. She had changed. Self-doubt was replaced with anger and he couldn’t help envisioning her giving herself to the man she had married. With that unpleasant thought in his mind he sat her up, unzipped her dress, and removed it cleanly off her body. Seeing her lying back on the bed in a black silky thong and nothing else his anger receded, and he struggled to breathe. He wrangled that gray t-shirt over her head as fast as he could. But the sight of her tight ass peeking out beneath her shirt made him crazed and he covered her with the down comforter he had retrieved from the end of the bed.
Jake stood over her and watched her sleep. He was still so angry at her. But the person he was becoming increasingly pissed off with by the second was himself. Why the hell did he still give a shit? Why hadn’t time, all those years without her, all those years of fucking and pleasuring other women erased Morgan from his mind?
Frustrated, Jake kicked off his shoes and lay in bed next to her. He purposefully situated himself on top of the blanket in fear that she would unintentionally curl into him while wearing so little. Jake rolled onto his side. Morgan’s back was to him, which meant her long flowing hair was in wafting distance. Though it was highly unlikely that she still used Strawberry Shortcake shampoo, Jake swore he detected a hint of strawberry with each subtle move she made. In her unconscious state Morgan wiggled closer to him, to his warmth. Morgan had always hated being cold. Even on comfortable spring days the girl usually had worn a sweatshirt or hoodie, at least until she worked up a sweat playing with Carina in his backyard. Jake imagined that her distaste for being chilly stemmed from the fact that her childhood home was frequently frigid in the wintertime. Aunt Day had worked her fingers to the bone to make ends meet. But luxuries such as a well-insulated home and a thermostat that registered above sixty-five were just two things Morgan and her mother could not indulge in.
With her body now pressed against him, he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for exhaustion to overtake him. After a full day of practice he should be fucking beat. But as her scent invaded his nostrils, he realized that sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. Morgan murmured something and then let out a soft whimper, which aroused the shit out of him. He was instantly reminded of that morning and the incident that had put an abrupt but necessary end to their sleepovers…
She had fallen asleep within seconds after crawling into bed with him. Although the thunderstorm raging outside should have kept him awake, he had followed her and drifted off. It was hours later when the first rays of sunlight peeked through his blinds that he jolted awake. Cradled in his arms, Morgan nestled into him. Her bottom brushed against his cock and he gasped.
At fourteen years old, Jake had been experiencing morning wood and hard-ons for a few months now. He remembered going to Luke and asking why his cock stood up like it did, especially in the morning after he woke up. Although Luke teased him, he told him that it was normal and that he should be prepared for it to get hard often and not just after he woke up.
He quickly gathered the blankets around his cock so she wouldn’t be able to see the outline of his full-blown erection.
“Hey,” she said, her voice groggy.
“Um… it’s almost morning. You should head back to Carina’s room.”
“Okay,” she said, slipping out of his bed. But she didn’t leave right away like he hoped. She stood over him and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
Like a fool he glanced at her. Fresh from sleep, her hair was a tangled mess. His eyes perused her body and found her in her typical sleep attire, a t-shirt and way too thin cotton pajama pants. “I don’t think you should come in here anymore when it storms.”
She folded her arms over her chest and asked, “Why?”
“Just… because.”
“But I get scared when it thunders,” she said, her voice cracking. She was killing him.
“Stay in Carina’s room, Morgan. If you get scared, wake up Carina,” he said briskly.
Tears formed in her eyes as she hugged herself. “But… but you’re the only one who knows. You’re the only one I want to… ” She didn’t finish her sentence because she had started to cry. He was just about to tell her that he was sorry when she turned around and darted out of his room. Jake knew it had to be done. Their sleepovers couldn’t go on forever. Especially after discovering what she could do to him even as she slept.
C
hapter Ten
Morgan
Bacon?
She swore she smelled bacon cooking. How hung over was she?
Morgan reached for her phone, but it wasn’t in its usual place on her nightstand. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Her head pounded as she remembered the events of last night. She didn’t want to know how many shots she’d had. It must have been a significant amount because she remembered dancing to Wham and that would not have happened if she wasn’t shitfaced.
Morgan got out of bed and was halfway to the bathroom when she took notice of her sleeping attire. She was wearing a gray t-shirt she hadn’t worn in months and underwear. Everything hit her at once and she suddenly remembered how she had gotten home, who had apparently put her to bed… and who was in her kitchen right now cooking breakfast.
Morgan quickly went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and threw on a pair of sweatpants. She crept downstairs and rounded the corner… and stared at the beautiful man in her kitchen. His back was to her as he stirred something on the stove. He was wearing jeans and a white cotton t-shirt that showed off his bulging biceps. She had always loved his body. Even during those awkward teenage years, she had thought he was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. He didn’t turn around. Jake continued to stir whatever was in the pot.
“I’ve been better,” she said. Morgan spotted her purse on the kitchen counter and immediately dug through it and found the last of her Advil. She popped two pills and chased them with a glass of water. Though her head throbbed, her stomach was surprisingly ready for whatever Jake was making for breakfast. But before she could take a single bite, she needed to ask Jake a few questions.
“Where did you sleep?”
Jake tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot. Morgan watched a few teaspoons’ worth of creamed chipped beef fall back into the pot. He then opened the oven door and produced at least a dozen fresh-baked biscuits. Her stomach rumbled at the sight of one of her favorite meals of all time.
“In your bed,” he said, plating their breakfasts. With her biscuit covered in creamed chipped beef, he handed her the plate and a fork and flashed her a smile that left her uneasy. Morgan wasn’t worried that Jake had taken advantage of her in her drunken state. He would never do that to her or any woman. No, what she was fucking scared of was what she may have said while she was three sheets to the wind. Morgan placed her plate on the breakfast bar and took a seat on one of the stools.
“Did we… I mean, did I… ”
“No.” His tone was absolute and for a foolish moment she breathed a sigh of relief. But her relief was short-lived. The heat in his eyes shook her and she looked down.
Start eating. Do something. Just don’t look at him again.
“I slept next to you just in case you needed my assistance in the middle of the night.”
Morgan winced. “I was that bad, huh?”
“You don’t remember me carrying you up the stairs?” he asked. She fought the urge to look at him as she shook her head. “Or putting you to bed?”
She closed her eyes. Morgan wasn’t a lush on a regular basis, but hell if he didn’t make her feel like a teenager drinking on a fake ID. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
“Just being a good friend,” he said.
Morgan could hear Jake round the breakfast bar. With her eyes closed her other senses were magnified, and she soon felt him behind her. “So you’re okay with being friends again?” she asked.
Jake spun her around on the stool and she was instantly face-to-face with the only man she had ever loved. “Maybe you should ask yourself that question.” Jake placed his hand over her heart. “Tell me, do your friends make your heart race like this?” Jake trailed two fingers to her bottom lip. “Or make your lip tremble like it is right now?” He leaned in close. His own intoxicating scent mingled with her shampoo, and she realized that he had made himself at home and had taken a shower. His lips curled to form a grin. He knew he had her. That strength she had gathered over the past two weeks, that shield of resistance she had carried in front of her like some silly badge of honor had been stripped away.
Jake released her quivering lip and reached behind her. Morgan heard keys scraping against her granite countertop. Just inches from her mouth he said, “Eat your breakfast, Morgan.” He looked at her beneath his long silky lashes for a moment and then left her townhome.
Alone in her kitchen, Morgan finally let go and she sobbed into her hands. Jake had seen her, the real her, and not the imposter who had been just existing for the past eight years. And it scared the shit out of her. Before she could punish herself for being a fool for moving to his city, her cell phone buzzed. Morgan grabbed it from the counter and read the incoming text. Her message may have been short, but it was clear that Carina, her very best friend in the world, was no longer going to remain silent.
Morgan responded to Carina’s “Want to talk?” with “Yeah. I think it’s time. Can you come over for breakfast?”
Carina’s message came through within seconds:
“Leaving now. Better put a pot of coffee on.”
Morgan had no idea what was racing through Carina’s mind right now. Would she be pissed off when she told her best friend the secrets she had been carrying all these years? Morgan started to panic. What if Carina became so angry that she walked out of Morgan’s life? The thought of Carina cutting her off was like a shot to the gut. Morgan couldn’t lose her, the sister she had loved since they were five years old. But withholding her past and her current emotional state from Carina was selfish. Carina deserved to know why her best friend had felt like she had no choice but to break her brother’s heart all those years ago.
Chapter Eleven
Morgan
Broken hearts don’t heal. They may scar over, be patched up just enough to give someone else a try at loving you, but that pain never truly goes away…
“Carina, Morgan, go get Jake. Tell him we’re here.”
Morgan stifled a groan as she slid out of Aunt Lu’s backseat. Morgan didn’t mind being carted around on Aunt Lu’s errands when she was younger, but now at twelve she was growing sick of it. Just one more month, when she hit the magic one three, she would be able to stay home alone while her mom went to work. Her mom had promised her, and Morgan was going to make her stick to it. Morgan would still need to sleep at the McGinnis’ on those nights her mom worked late, but she didn’t mind those. She and Carina had so much fun during those sleepovers that it never felt like Aunt Lu was babysitting her.
“Ugh,” Carina said. “You told him to be waiting for you at the door.”
“I know. I’ll talk to him. Go and grab him for me, girls,” Aunt Lu said with a tired smile.
Morgan looked at her from the sidewalk. Aunt Lu appeared exhausted. For the first time Morgan understood, maybe not completely, how much Aunt Lu did for her kids and her. In the eight years she had known Aunt Lu Morgan had never heard her yell, complain, or talk about sad things. Aunt Lu was a great mom and Morgan wondered if she ever told her that.
Carina grabbed Morgan by the hand and dragged her into Sal’s Pizza Parlor. A boy Carina had been crushing on spotted her and waved her over. “Hey, I’m going to say hi to him. Go get Jake, okay?” She squeezed Morgan’s hand and ran over to Matt Forman, one of the cutest guys in the seventh grade. Carina wasn’t the go-getter type, so it shocked Morgan when her friend had trotted off.
Now alone, Morgan looked around the restaurant but her attention was snagged by the table of boys to her right. Still a bit sweaty and fresh from football practice, they were being loud and obnoxious. And they were also eating like a bunch of animals. Disgusted, Morgan looked away and spotted Jake at the counter. At first, she thought he was waiting for his order or something. But then a girl to his left stood on her tippy toes and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Glued to the floor, Morgan stared at the pretty blonde. She was definitely older than Morgan was. This girl ha
d hips and boobs. Morgan scanned the girl’s body further and discovered that she didn’t have skinned knees or bruises from playing too hard in someone’s backyard. Dressed neatly in her plaid skirt and sweater, she looked perfect… especially next to Jake. The girl entwined her fingers through Jake’s. Morgan’s heart was racing and she suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. But she had to know who this girl was, a girl who Jake had never spoken of, at least not to her. Morgan was thankful that the anger took over and not the tears. The tears would have to wait.
“Aunt Lu is waiting for you.”
Morgan watched Jake drop the girl’s hand as he turned around.
Stay angry. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. Just wait until you’re alone in your room and then you can cry all night.
“Hey, is this your little sister, Carina?” the girl asked, staring at Jake. The blonde was even more beautiful up close. She had perfect, freckle-free skin and teeth so straight that it made Morgan want to knock each one out.
Jake’s face turned red. “No. This is Morgan… my sister’s best friend.”
Her heart sank. And the puke she had kept down started to rise in her throat. This is how he thought of her. She would only ever be his sister’s best friend and his pseudo little sister. Morgan didn’t look at Jake. She couldn’t without bursting into tears. Instead, she looked the girl in the eye and asked, “Who are you?”
Morgan expected a bitchy response but instead the girl smiled, looked at Jake with stars in her eyes and said, “I’m Emma. Jake’s girlfriend.”
Morgan did the worst thing possible and stared at Jake. He smiled at Emma and told her that he had to get going. Perky Emma grabbed Jake by his hoodie strings and planted a kiss right on his lips. Morgan turned and bolted toward the door, but unfortunately she was close enough to hear Emma yell, “Nice to meet you, Morgan!”