Chapter Twenty-Nine
Terrance
Thursday
“Do you need anything?” My tone was panicked. I still hadn’t quite recovered from the fact that Braxton was in here. I wasn’t sure I’d be the same again until he was out of the hospital and back home where he belonged. “Water, food, meds, fluffed pillow...”
“Will you give it a rest?” Braxton chuckled as a response – clearly he found my freak out amusing. Once all of this was over, I probably wouldn’t hear the end of it. “I’m fine – let’s always assume that I’m fine unless I say otherwise. I’m looking forward to Emily coming in since I missed her last time she was here. I feel bad, though; what we have is a bit too new to be suffering through this.”
“She’s a good girl,” I replied gravely. “She’s really nice. I like her a lot. She’s a good one, and I think you should keep her.” I had only had to meet her a couple of times to know that she was right for him.
“Oh, trust me, I will.” He moved himself up straighter, wincing less with the pain now, which was a good sign that he was on the way up, and he gave me a slightly bemused look. “Which reminds me, what’s going on with you and Morgan these days?”
I couldn’t stop the big grin from forming on my face at the thought of the wonderful Morgan. My heart flew as her image filled my mind. She was a good girl, too...the best, actually. I was lucky to have her.
“Oh she’s great. I’m going to make her dinner tonight and I’m really looking forward to hanging out with her again. It’ll be even better without this whole mess hanging over my head.” As time rolled on, my paranoia was beginning to subside. It was done now. The nightmare was over. Now it was time to finally start living again.
Braxton grabbed hold of my hand and stared so intensely into my eyes that it actually took me back for a second. I didn’t know how to take the gaze he was giving me; it made me feel all cold and weird inside.
“You know, Morgan has stuck with you through all of this. She’s gone above and beyond. She’s sat with me for hours on end. She really in wonderful. Don’t you forget that.”
“No, I... I won’t.” This had to be the meds talking, he was acting so strange. I knew how amazing Morgan was. I thought that I’d made it obvious that I had no intention of wrecking things with her.
“It’s okay, I know how good she is. I’ll be a good boy, I promise. There’s no need to worry about me screwing around – ever since I met her I’ve been like a changed man.” I didn’t need to spell it out for Braxton to know that my player days were over. I just didn’t have any interest for any other women, and I couldn’t see that desire coming back any time soon.
He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say more, before snapping it shut again. I considered pursuing it to see what it was, but something stopped me.
Despite the fact that he looked a lot better, it was obvious he was still suffering. His pale skin, the sickly green tinge to his cheeks, the way he just looked drained... It didn’t spell anything good. I hated seeing him that way knowing that it was all because of me, so guilt silenced me.
“Knock, knock.” I spun around to see Emily standing there with shining eyes, staring down at my best friend with utter adoration. “Oh my God, Braxton, I can’t believe you’re okay. I’ve been so worried about you. I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, too, babe.” Braxton’s eyes welled up, which instantly excluded me. Not that I minded – he needed and seriously deserved this.
As Emily raced to his side to embrace him wholly, I backed my way out of the room. I’d had my emotional time with him, now it was Emily’s turn. She really did care for him, and they had something great going on. It was wonderful to see, and I was grateful to her for caring enough.
Braxton was right, it was new between them. She could easily have turned her back on him, especially since I hadn’t exactly told her the whole truth about everything. When she found out, I really hoped that she understood and forgave me.
As I walked out of the hospital, I felt much more content about things. Despite all the horribleness that had happened, at least we’d both survived it; at least were both going to be okay in the end. Braxton had Emily now, and I had a great night ahead of me with Morgan to look forward to.
I tugged out my phone, too keen to wait. I had to send her just one message to confirm our plans. I typed with a massive smile on my face.
‘Looking forward to later, I’ll pick you up at eight. We can have dinner at my place, if that’s okay?’
The phone pinged back, almost a second later with a message returned. The speed of the reply made me think that Morgan was waiting for it.
‘I’m looking forward to it, and that’s absolutely fine. I will see you then.’
Tonight was the start of a brand new, amazing era in my life...
***
“Did you actually cook this?” Morgan was astonished as I took her inside my apartment to see the food already on plates. To be honest, I’d been hoping to trick her into believing that I’d made this all by myself, but of course there was no getting past her sharp mind.
“No,” I admitted with a sly smirk. I shrugged as I spoke. I would’ve confessed anyway. “I ordered in. I just hoped you wouldn’t notice.”
“Well, it looks great anyway.”
At least she wasn’t annoyed by my trickery – if anything she looked amused by the whole thing, which was the perfect reaction as far as I was concerned. After all I’d been through recently, what I needed was a fun night to help me get over everything properly. “Take a seat, ma’am, and I will bring your food over to you. What would you like to drink?”
“Oh...” she started to look a little awkward and I wasn’t sure why. “Could I have a soda again? I’m just a little tired and I don’t want to pass out on you.”
“Of course.” I wasn’t up for alcohol myself, anyway, so that made things much easier. Ever since Braxton was injured, I wanted to keep a steady head. I just hated any sense of being out of control, however small that was. Hopefully, that would subside sooner or later. “That sounds great to me. I have cola, is that okay?”
“That sounds perfect, thank you.”
We ate in a comfortable silence for a few moments, both giving one another loving looks. I could tell that things were different between us; it wasn’t just lust in our gazes now, there was something so much deeper. I enjoyed having something new and exciting to explore, and these feeling were the most thrilling of them all. I wanted to work out just how deep they ran.
Maybe with all the drama behind me, I could actually see a future ahead of me. Before, I had roadblocks around me. I wouldn’t let anyone in because I didn’t ever want to love anyone else. All the family members that I’d ever loved before had left me – even if it wasn’t necessarily their fault – and I couldn’t stand that to happen again.
Now, bad things had happened. Braxton had been harmed, and he was still here. I’d been distant with Morgan, unintentionally of course, and she was still around. Maybe now my luck was about to change.
“This is nice, isn’t it?” I announced smilingly as the happiness flooded me. “It’s so much better to finally be able to relax. I couldn’t tell you before, but I was always a little afraid something bad might happen when you were with me.”
“Yeah, I could tell something was up... I just assumed that you were in the Mafia.”
She said that with such a deadpan expression that I actually burst out into unexpected laughter. “Oh my God, you did not. You’re lying – you have to be.”
“I did. I really did. But now I can see that was stupid. There’s no chance that you’re tough enough.” She smirked under her eyelashes, giving me a cheeky look that melted my heart.
“Hey! I could be in the Mafia... Actually, why am I arguing this? Of course I couldn’t be; you’re right. I am tough enough, but I couldn’t be bothered to actually go out there and commit crimes.”
“Oh well, that’s fair enough! A wannabe criminal who can’t be bothered. Perfect.”
As we both burst into laughter, I felt my chest swell with Braxton’s words. He might have said them under the influence of medication, but he was right. There weren’t many women who would’ve stuck around with everything that had happened. She really was special. There was a chance that she was the one.
God, I never thought I’d be the guy with “the one,” but ever since Morgan had crashed into my life, everything had changed. All I wanted was to be around her, I felt protective and possessive of her, and she made my life brighter and better.
Maybe I was deeper into this that I thought I was. Maybe I was in the hole so deep that there was no clawing my way back out.
By the time we’d finished eating, I could see that something had changed in Morgan’s mood. Her face looked a little defeated, like she was tired of life, like she had a heavy weight hanging over her shoulders. I didn’t like that. I wanted to fun Morgan back. I felt utterly terrified that she might be thinking twice about us, after all. If she went home now, I had the horrible feeling that things would be done for good between us.
“Shall we put some music on?” I jumped up from my chair, my heart racing in my chest. I needed to pull this night back from the brink – I couldn’t realize how important Morgan was to me, just to lose her.
“Sure, sounds nice.”
I flicked the CD on, and smooth jazz burst from the speakers. I grabbed Morgan and tugged her over to the couch. She still looked a little sad, so without thinking anymore, I pulled her towards me and ran kisses all over her neck. I needed the mood to come back into the room. I wanted that chemistry. Morgan didn’t seem too into it at first, but she quickly relented, and her head lolled to one side. Her eyes fell closed and she groaned a little with excitement.
“I really think you’re incredible,” I whispered, letting my breath fall over her skin. “You’re so amazing.”
“Yeah, I think the same about you,” she gasped, desire getting the better of her. Morgan’s passion affected me, and I began to feel excited, too. There was something about this woman that would always have me turned on. “I’m so glad that everything worked out okay and you’re still here.”
Yeah, me, too. So, so much.