Chapter 21 – Morgan
21
I THINK I LIKE YOU JUST FINE
MORGAN
Every muscle in my body ached in the best possible way. Lance had been thorough – so thorough that he'd only let me out of bed when I'd mumbled something about needing water. Though the blowjob I'd given him probably helped convince him too. I could still hear my name on his lips, over and over again.
I grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, downing it quickly before pouring another. Realizing I hadn't eaten since my 4:30 snack before the co-op, I opened the cabinet searching for food. I stopped short. There, next to his usual healthy cereals and muesli, sat a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. My favorite.
I pulled it down, frowning. This morning I'd eaten plain cornflakes and his signature fruit bowl, so this had appeared sometime between yesterday and now. I turned to find Lance wearing nothing but boxers, his toned body on full display like some Italian fashion ad – all eight-pack abs and low-slung briefs that left little to the imagination.
"Stop eye-fucking me," he said, catching my wandering gaze.
"I was just getting hungry." The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Lance burst into genuine laughter – head thrown back, whole body shaking. "You are going to kill me."
I shook the box. "When did you get these?"
"That's your favorite, right? Got them yesterday after work."
Something in my chest tightened. "But you don't eat sugary stuff."
"I know. But you like it," he said with a shrug, though I caught a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
I stared at the box, fighting back unexpected tears. It was a small gesture, but so damn sweet.
Lance was behind me instantly, bracketing me against the counter. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I get the wrong thing?"
"No, it's just..." I sniffled, hating how emotional I was getting. "You've been taking care of me. Teaching me to drive, rescuing me from the penthouse construction, and now this. All the while, I've been a brat."
He chuckled, his chest rumbling against my back. "So you're upset because you've been a brat?"
"We don't even like each other!" But even as I said it, I felt the lie. We'd always had this crackling tension between us, different from his golden retriever energy with my sister.
His hips shifted, bringing his impressive erection against my stomach. "I don't know, Morgan. I think I like you just fine."
"Last night was different, though. You were different."
He sighed, dropping his forehead to mine. "Do you remember that night a year ago? When you called Atticus for help and I came along?"
I nodded, hyper-aware of how his voice had dropped, roughened.
"I haven't been able to get you out of my head since. Every time you say something outrageous, I just want to kiss you."
His words sent butterflies rioting in my stomach.
"Something locked in that day. When I saw that idiot put his hands on you, I lost it. Something about you makes me lose control and it’s terrifying.”
My heart was racing, and I wanted to kiss him but barely held in the urge. "Then why did you kick me out that night?" I whispered the words, afraid of the answer.
His breath shuddered, and his hands tightened on the counter. For a moment, I saw something dark flash across his face – a glimpse of whoever he'd been before.
"Before you..." He stopped and swallowed hard. “I was a different person a long time ago Before this life, I was someone else entirely. I had the kind of family that was beyond toxic. They were dangerous.” His voice roughened, grew distant. “When I left for college, it was my chance to leave it all behind. Become a different person. The kind of person I could be proud of. There are things I've spent years trying to leave behind. That night, after the wedding, when I kicked you out, someone from my past life showed up. Someone who knew that other version of me."
His body went rigid against mine, and I could feel the tension radiating from him in waves. "What? How?”
“Apparently, I made a mistake." He ran a hand through his hair. "And that night, seeing you in my bed, knowing who was in the other room…” He shook his head. "I panicked. All I could think about was getting you as far away from him as soon as possible."
The careful way he spoke, measuring each word, made my skin prickle. There were layers here he wasn't sharing, depths he was trying to keep hidden. Every sentence felt like a carefully constructed wall, designed to give just enough information while hiding something much darker. It made my chest tighten.
"And you couldn't just tell me that?"
His jaw worked. "If you knew who I was before..."
Lance’s voice trailed off, and his hands came up to frame my face, thumbs stroking my cheeks with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the tension in his body.
"The things I've done, Morgan – they're not the kind of things you come back from. Not really. I spent years running, trying to become someone else. Someone better."
His eyes searched mine, almost desperate.
"I don't want that old life ever to return or expose anyone I care about to that side of me. Especially not you."
The words hung between us, heavy with unspoken secrets. I could feel them in the tension of his body, see them in the shadows behind his eyes. Something about the way he spoke of his past sent chills down my spine – not fear of him, exactly, but fear of what he wasn't saying. Instead of pushing, I asked, "You really want me?"
He pinched my chin gently, tilting my head up. "More than I should. More than I've ever wanted anything. Now that I've had you, there's no getting you out of my system."
"Hey, Lance?"
"Yeah, Morgan?"
"Maybe kiss me instead of holding back more secrets."
His eyes widened slightly – caught – before he smiled. "I thought you'd never ask." Then his mouth was on mine, gentle at first before growing more insistent. But even as I melted into him, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was so much more he wasn't telling me. And it scared me.