Twenty-Two

Patrick

There were a million things I wanted to say. A thousand defenses. A hundred arguments. More than a dozen cuss words. But not a single apology.

I wasn’t here to apologize for Morgan.

And I never would.

That didn’t mean that the last hour had been any better though. After having it out with Austin, he’d stormed out of the building. Jensen and Landon had come in at the tail end of that, and Jensen had immediately gone off to find Julia. Landon had given me a short laugh and crossed his arms over his chest, as if to say, You’re in it now.

Currently, I was in the conference room with Landon, Jensen, and Sutton seated around the table. I couldn’t sit. I was too nervous. I was too pissed that Austin hadn’t come back yet. Too worried that Morgan wasn’t here either.

The last thing I wanted was for this to be a repeat of what had happened when Austin and Steph hooked up. I deserved a chance to explain that this wasn’t the same situation. At the time, Steph had only recently turned eighteen. She had still been in high school. Austin had been drunk and an idiot with no intention of ever seeing her again.

Morgan and I had been together for weeks. We might have hidden our relationship, but it wasn’t for the reason that Austin thought.

I could still hear his accusation before he’d stormed out of the office.

“You lied to me. To me. And, worse, you’ve been lying to my sister. Hiding whatever the fuck this is and trying to act like you’re not just going to toss her aside the second you get bored, like you did with all the others.”

I closed my eyes against the pain of those words. Of course that was what he thought. I’d never given any indication that I was interested in a relationship. Not with anyone. Certainly not with Morgan. Not Morgan, who he’d always been protective of. They all had.

It was his unsaid implication that kicked me where it hurt. I wasn’t good enough for her.

That part might have been true. Morgan Wright was out of my league. Still, I wasn’t going to back down. Not when she’d chosen me. I might not be good enough for her, but I’d damn well keep trying to deserve her.

A noise broke me from my thoughts, and I whirled around to see Morgan standing in the doorway. Our eyes locked. Everything clicked into place. I smiled at the sight of her, and she returned it. We might not have intended to be here tonight, but we were. And we’d work it out.

“Where’s Austin?” Morgan asked.

Jensen sighed. “He’s with Julia.”

“Is he coming up here?”

“Yeah. She said he’d be up in a minute.”

Morgan frowned and then bypassed her family to come stand next to me. “How are you?” she asked, concern etched into every feature.

“Oh, you know, walk in the park,” I said with a strained smile.

“Yeah. Pretty much, right?”

I reached out and threaded our fingers together. “How about you?”

“Ready to just get this over with. My head is killing me, and this day has been a disaster.”

A knock sounded on the door, and we both tensed as Austin entered the room. He crashed into the seat next to Sutton. She arched her eyebrow at him.

“Took you long enough, jerk,” Sutton said.

He shrugged. “I needed to meditate and shit.”

“Did it help?”

“Are you being snotty?” he asked.

She poked him. “I actually wasn’t.”

“Can we convene this family meeting?” Landon asked. “We totally missed the party for this.”

“Yes, I believe we should. It’s been a long night for everyone already. I’d like to go home,” Jensen said.

“Can I just ask a question?” Landon said.

“You just did,” Austin grumbled.

“What happened to Joe?”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Joe is Patrick.”

“Patrick is Joe?”

“Yes. Joe doesn’t exist. I made him up.”

“Huh,” Landon said and sat back.

“I liked Joe better,” Austin muttered under his breath.

Morgan looked like she was about to tear into him, so I cut in. “Before we say anything else, I’d like to say a few words.”

All eyes turned to stare at me. This was definitely Morgan’s domain. I wasn’t the leader, but I wanted to say the things that I hadn’t been able to say to Austin. I’d been on the defensive, and I should have just tried to explain.

“Morgan and I started seeing each other a couple weeks ago. It was unexpected. Neither of us were ready to tell you what happened. I worried about your reactions to our relationship, especially Austin’s,” I said in a rush. “Obviously, that fear was warranted. However, I don’t intend to break up with her just because you don’t approve of us being together. We’ve all known each other a long time. I know this must be strange, but Morgan and I are together. And that’s not going to change.”

Everyone stared at me, speechless. Even Morgan.

“Uh, yeah. What he said. Though, to be completely honest, I wasn’t too keen on having all of you in my business,” she spat. “Considering how you’re reacting right now.”

Sutton held up her hand. “I was perfectly happy for you two when I found out.”

“When did you find out?” Austin demanded.

“Morgan told me on our girls’ night.”

“You told Sutton and not us?” Landon asked with his hand over his chest. “I’m wounded.”

Jensen rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Dear God, we’re not upset with you two. Can you sit down, so it doesn’t feel like you’re addressing the class?”

“You’re not upset?” Morgan asked, surprise laced in every word.

“I’m not upset because I guessed,” Landon volunteered.

“You didn’t guess!” Morgan cried. “You were just asking about imaginary Joe!”

“I’m observant.”

“You’re not that observant,” I said.

“Hey, you’re on the chopping block,” Landon said. “Sit your ass down.”

I grinned at him, relief flooding my system. Morgan and I took our seats across from the rest of her family. The only one who still looked pissy was Austin. He was my best friend and entirely unpredictable. I didn’t know if he was about to relapse and go on a bender or laugh it off like the whole thing was a joke.

“The most important question that I have to lead with is,” Jensen said, ignoring Austin’s sullen behavior, “did this happen when you were still an employee? Especially since she’s become CEO.”

We glanced at each other. Technically, yes. It had started while I worked here. But it hadn’t been serious…and I’d already put in my notice.

“Trust me when I say that you do not want another situation like what I went through,” Landon said. “Heidi still kicks me for that sometimes.”

“Yes,” Morgan finally said with a sigh. “But it didn’t get serious until afterward.”

“Wait,” Jensen said, holding up his hand, “is this the real reason you two went to San Francisco?”

“Uh,” I muttered.

Morgan looked guilty. “Yeah.”

“I was already going. It was to see Steph about wedding stuff. But…it was also because we were together.”

Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose. “No wonder you didn’t do any work.”

“Hey! I did work,” Morgan muttered.

“Okay, okay,” Landon said. “So, they went away together before they told anyone. Heidi and I did that. You and Emery did that! And it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns.”

“Oh, Waffle,” Austin muttered under his breath, naming the stuffed unicorn that he and Julia had gotten on their first date.

“I don’t want this to come back and bite you in the ass,” Jensen said. “I don’t actually care that you went or that you’re together. It’s not my business.”

“Yeah. As long as Patrick treats you right, I won’t have to beat his ass,” Landon said.

Austin pushed back his chair. “So, we’re just going to ignore the fact that they lied?”

“And you’ve never lied?” Morgan shot back.

“Sure, I’ve fucking lied. But, fuck,” Austin said. His eyes shifted back to me. “After what happened to Steph, you expect me to be cool with this?”

“This is a different situation, and you know it,” I said.

Austin pushed out of his chair and leaned forward with his hands on the conference table. “You didn’t speak to me for a year after that. I’ve only had an hour to deal!”

“You’re right,” I said. “But Morgan and I are together. That doesn’t change because you’re upset. You hooked up with Steph and ditched her. I have no intention of doing that. In fact, I have no intention of going back to the way things were. You of all people should know what it’s like to have a woman change you. So, hear me when I say, Morgan is it.”

“Really?” Austin asked in disbelief. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

He plopped back down in his seat and then glanced between me and Morgan. “Huh.”

“What?” Morgan asked.

“I always joked about you dating Patrick for so long. I mean, we all knew how you felt about him. It was obvious to everyone but him.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” I muttered under my breath.

“I never thought it’d actually happen. Like, it was a joke for so long that, now that it’s a reality, it’s not really funny. Maybe I’m just an asshole.”

Sutton snorted. “Maybe?”

“Hey!”

“Why did you even go bother them?” Sutton asked.

“I…” Austin paused. “Owen told me to go get them.”

“What?” Morgan shrieked, jumping out of her chair. “Owen sent you?”

“Yeah. Dude said that I should get you for the speech.”

“He knew,” she growled.

“He knew what?” I asked.

“He already knew about us. He must have. That’s why he sent Austin downstairs. He’s out to get me.”

“Morgan,” Jensen said with a sigh, “are we really doing this again?”

“I don’t understand why no one believes me. Owen is trying to sabotage me. He might charm everyone else, but he hasn’t charmed me. He doesn’t want to charm me. He wants me to suffer.”

“Uh, are you talking about Uncle Owen?” Landon asked. “He doesn’t really seem like the type to want people to suffer.”

“Oh, yeah? Well then, why was he sent to Vancouver? You don’t exile someone out of the country for no reason. How come we’ve never met him before? How come Dad never talked about him, and he never had pictures of him? Doesn’t anyone else think this is fishy?”

“I do,” I said.

“You don’t count,” Austin said. “You’re not part of the family.”

“Never mattered before.”

“Y’all!” Morgan snapped. “He’s manipulating you. He did this on purpose to derail me. Just like he’s been doing with everything since he arrived.”

“I really think you’re over—” Jensen began.

“I swear to God,” Morgan growled like a feral animal, “if you say I’m overreacting…”

Jensen held his hands up. “Okay.”

No one could go toe-to-toe with Jensen, except Morgan. Seeing his miniature give him hell was actually pretty satisfying.

“I don’t know about all of you, but I’m just happy I could be here to watch that showdown. Morgan has the biggest balls of us all,” Landon said.

I grinned like a fool and tried not to say aloud the dirty comment flitting through my head.

Austin groaned. “I was on my way to forgiving this shit, and then you made that face. About my sister. I know what that face means.”

I laughed. “Guilty.”

“Guy! Back on topic,” Morgan muttered. “Something is going on here. I can feel it in my gut. And it has to do with Owen.”

“Say it does,” Sutton cut in. “What does he want? Why is he doing it?”

“I don’t know. But I intend to find out.”

And I was certain that she wouldn’t rest until she figured it out. That was just who Morgan was. But, by the looks on the rest of her family’s faces, she wasn’t the only one contemplating what Owen was up to.

“Okay. Let’s look into it,” Jensen said finally, breaking the tension.

“Can we talk?” Austin asked, nodding his head toward the door.

“Yeah.”

I kissed the top of Morgan’s head before leaving her alone with the rest of her family. Austin and I needed to have this out anyway. We stepped outside and closed the conference room door behind us.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Austin asked.

“Why the hell do you think?”

“She was the girl at your place that night I came over, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You were still working at Wright then.”

“Yeah.”

“She could get in trouble for it. Especially if what she’s saying about Owen is true.”

“I’d already put in my notice, and it was my last real day at work. Nothing happened before that.”

“God,” Austin said, running a hand back through his hair, “do you know how many times I made fun of her for liking you? And you didn’t even notice. Like, that night we got her wasted at First Friday Art Trail. You brushed my comment off like she was your little sister.”

“I know,” I said, remembering that night. “I don’t want to cause a rift in our relationship, but I didn’t intend to fall for Morgan. Once it happened, there was no going back. I know I’ve been a dick with women in the past. I know that I’m not relationship material, and she is. I know all of that. But I can’t walk away.”

“Do you love her?” Austin asked point-blank.

I balked at the question. Love. Shit. Did I love Morgan? It was so soon. I’d never said those words to a woman before. I’d never even considered it. But it was becoming clearer and clearer to me that there was no other woman in this world, let alone the universe, that was like Morgan Wright. She was the deal-breaker.

“Yeah,” I finally said. “Yeah, I do.”

Austin held his hand out. “All right.”

I took his hand in mine, and we shook. “You’re cool with this?”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to be with her. My shock came out as anger when, really, my anger was just shock. And then I was pissed that you’d lied to me. Plus, I know the kind of women you gravitate to.”

“Crazy women.”

“I mean, Mor is crazy but not your flavor of crazy.”

“I’ve come to realize that she’s the only flavor I ever want to taste again.”

“Dude, stop. That’s my sister,” Austin said.

“I just mean—”

“No, I know. It’s fine. If you love her and treat her right, then we’re good. I was a shit and overreacted.”

“Did Julia tell you to say that?” I asked with a laugh.

“Maybe.”

“She’s good for you.”

“Yeah. What is it with these women?” Austin asked.

“They drive us crazy and pull us along on one hell of a ride, but it’s all worth it in the end.”