Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Morgan
Curled up on the couch, Morgan was already feeling better, other than having Mitch and Brian hovering over her.
“Don’t you need to go?” she asked Brian. His hour was more than up.
Brian looked at Mitch. Mitch looked back at Brian.
Despite the difference in their appearances—Brian with his brown hair and hazel eyes, dressed in a suit, Mitch with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a tank top and sweatpants—they looked remarkably similar in that moment. Morgan frowned at both of them.
“I can’t stay. I have to get back to pick up Ana,” Mitch said apologetically. Ana was his soon-to-be stepdaughter once he and Domi got married. Morgan had never met the little girl, but she’d heard about her.
“Fuck,” Brian muttered under his breath.
“I’m fine,” Morgan repeated for the eleventh time. “You can go. I’m feeling much better. My throat doesn’t hurt as much, and my fever has gone down.”
“That’s because Mitch gave you stuff to help with both. That doesn’t mean it’s going to last. I don’t want to leave you here on your own while you’re feeling like this,” Brian huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, which was what he often did when he was thinking hard.
That meant he would be missing work, or very late, because of Morgan. As touched as she was by their dedication to taking care of her, she also felt like an unwanted burden. She was making life harder for him, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
She also needed both of them to leave because she doubted they’d let her go on her date with Asad when they were convinced she was in no shape to be moving from the couch.
She’d done a lot more while feeling much worse.
She’d taken care of herself while feeling much worse.
Richard hadn’t tolerated sickness, and whenever she’d gotten really sick, he’d put her in another room until she was better.
All this hovering was making her uncomfortable.
“Kincaid’s out. He’s got too much going on. Maybe Zach?” Mitch scrubbed his hand against the back of his neck.
Morgan sighed again.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ve got it,” Brian said as she sat up straight, pointing a threatening finger at her. “Don’t you dare move.”
If he had his way, she’d be stuck on the couch forever, but she didn’t move.
She was already making things harder for him.
She didn’t want to make him mad on top of that.
Hands on his hips, Mitch was looking down at her, but not as if he was really seeing her, more like he was doing some kind of calculation in his head.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Brian asked in surprise from the doorway, causing Morgan and Mitch to look up. She peered over the back of the couch, but the door was blocking her view of whoever was there.
“You texted me that Morgan was sick… where else would I be?” Asad pushed past Brian, his arms filled with grocery bags. Morgan’s mouth dropped open as her heart sank.
Dammit! Brian had told on her.
Now she’d made his life harder, and Asad was going to be disappointed. Morgan moaned and dropped her head against her knees.
Suddenly, she had three Doms crowding around her, asking what was wrong. She hugged her legs, hiding her face and trying to stifle her sniffle because she didn’t know how to tell them that they were what was wrong.
“Just go!” Those were the only two words she could get out, directed at Brian.
“Is she talking to me?” Asad sounded bewildered and hurt, and Morgan’s breath caught in her throat. Thankfully, Brian knew exactly who she’d been talking to.
“No, she’s talking to me, I’m supposed to be headed out on a work trip, and I was supposed to leave about fifteen minutes ago, but…”
“Then go. I’ve got this.” Strong arms suddenly wrapped around her, pulling her back onto a lap. She recognized the smell of Asad’s cologne the moment he pulled her against him, subtle but spicy and incredibly comforting at that moment. “I’ll text you updates.”
“I… okay.” Brian took a deep breath. “Okay. Mitch can’t stay either.”
“That’s fine. Like I said, I’ve got this.” Asad stroked her arm, tucking her head under his chin as a little shiver went through her. She wasn’t sure if it was from the fever or because she was trying so hard not to cry. She’d ruined their night, and he was being so nice about it.
“Alright. Keep me updated. Bye, Morgan. I hope you’re feeling better soon. Listen to Master Asad.”
She felt herself being shifted on Asad’s lap so Brian could drop a kiss on the top of her head.
“Bye,” she managed to choke out, though she didn’t lift her head. She wanted to crawl under the blanket and never come out. Unfortunately, she doubted that was an option. She would call Brian later and talk to him and apologize for making him so late. And then chew him out for texting Asad.
She heard the front door opening and closing again because Brian was in such a rush now that he was so late.
Closing her eyes, she did her best not to cry while Mitch updated Asad on her symptoms, what he’d already done, and when she could have more medicine.
Asad asked some questions, stroking her arm the whole time.
At least he didn’t seem angry that she was sick and had ruined their night… but maybe he figured she’d be feeling better with the medicine, and they could still go do it.
“I didn’t see any spots in her throat, so I’m not too worried about strep, but keep an eye on it, especially if her fever keeps coming back,” Mitch instructed.
Most of the time he was a fun, funny guy who never stopped smiling, a lot like Asad, but right now, he was in Nurse Mitch mode and was all business.
“If she’s still running a fever over 101 degrees tomorrow morning, without the fever reducer, take her in to the doctor. ”
“Got it. Thank you.” Asad’s arms tightened around her.
“No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.” Another soft kiss on her head. “Bye, Morgan.”
“Bye.”
Then it was just her and Asad. Morgan slumped in his arms, everything that had been holding her together draining away in a moment.
“Hey, Red, how are you feeling?” he asked, shifting her on his lap again, pushing her away enough that she could tell he was trying to get a good look at her.
“I’m sorry!” she blurted out as he met her gaze. He was wearing his work clothes, and she was in one of his t-shirts and a pair of yoga pants.
“Sorry?”
“I’m sorry Brian texted you. I’m fine, I really am. I just need to take it easy this afternoon, then we can go to Marquis and—”
“Baby, I already canceled our reservation tonight.” He was shaking his head as he cut her off. “We’re not going anywhere until you feel better.”
She was the worst girlfriend ever. Morgan couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
Asad
Things he’d always thought would make him run:
Commitment
Taking care of someone who wasn’t feeling well
Crying
Yet here he was, holding his sick girlfriend on his lap while she cried, and he didn’t feel like running.
All he wanted to do was make her feel better.
She wasn’t some vague idea in his head or some made-up placeholder with no real personality—she was Morgan.
He didn’t want to be anywhere but here, holding her and taking care of her.
Something settled inside him with that realization.
This was where he belonged. No matter what happened with her or if she was only a little sick or really sick, this was where he was choosing to be because this was where he wanted to be.
He wanted her to rely on him, and he wanted to be there for her.
He wanted everything he’d rejected for so long… as long as it was with her.
“Baby, Red, what’s wrong?” he asked, smoothing her hair back and cuddling her close again. He’d noticed she was calmer when she was against his chest, being held tightly. He could feel how warm she was, warmer than usual, which must be the remnants of the fever.
She might just be crying because she was tired, sick, and a little overwhelmed, but after talking to Julie, he thought it might also be a bit more than that.
From the looks of it, she’d been struggling with having Mitch and Brian take care of her.
She definitely hadn’t expected him to show up, any more than Mitch and Brian had, even though Brian had been the one to text him.
Asad would be insulted if he hadn’t spent years carefully cultivating his reputation as someone who wouldn’t be there.
Once he’d appeared, neither Mitch nor Brian had balked at leaving Morgan in his care.
Brian had looked relieved and grateful as he’d done the handoff, which was more than Asad had expected.
There had been no warning looks, just the request to be kept updated, which is what they would have done from anyone.
“I’m sorry I ruined our night! And made you leave work! And made Brian late! And—”
“Hey, hey, this is not your fault, got it?” He hugged her tighter, rocking her slightly.
“You can’t help when you get sick. Brian didn’t mind delaying leaving any more than I minded leaving work—those are things we both chose to do, nobody made us.
We’re still going to celebrate our one-monthversary, we’re just going to celebrate it a little differently than we planned. ”
“We are?” She sniffled, though thankfully, her tears had slowed.
“Yes, we’re going to celebrate it here. I’ll make us dinner, we’ll watch some movies, and snuggle on the couch, then I’ll reschedule our night at Marquis for when you’re feeling better. It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not?”
“I mean, it is, but it isn’t.” One of the reasons he’d wanted to do the one-monthversary thing, even though it was very high school, was because he knew it was the kind of experience Morgan hadn’t had during her teenage years.
His high school experience hadn’t been entirely typical, either, but at least he’d had some of those milestones.
He’d been excited about doing it for her, but they’d just move it.
“I think it’s a big deal because a month is a great start, but having to cancel or move the Marquis night isn’t a big deal because the important thing is that we’re acknowledging that we’re together and we want to keep being together. Right?”
“Right.”
“Good. So, I need to put away the stuff I brought over, some of it needs to be refrigerated, then we’ll figure out what movie we’re going to watch first. We can celebrate this being the first time I get to take care of you being sick, and we’ll celebrate again the first time I get sick and you take care of me. ”
That got a little giggle from her, and Asad smiled.
Come to think of it, being taken care of the next time he was sick definitely didn’t sound bad.
He hadn’t had that since he was much younger.
One thing about his parents, the slightest hint of illness on his part had meant a lot of care and pampering until he was feeling better.
He’d always tried to get better as soon as possible and sometimes downplayed how he was feeling, so they didn’t have to worry about him and Cyrus, but that hadn’t stopped his mom from going overboard every time he was sick.
“Does that mean we’re going to celebrate the first time we do everything?” she asked, moving on his lap so she could look at him. Her eyes were still puffy, and her nose was pink and a little swollen, but she looked beautiful to him.
“Absolutely.” He tapped his finger against her nose. “Now, I’m going to go get this party started.”
“I’ll help.”
“No.” He put some authority into his voice, pulling her back down onto his lap as she started to get up and shifting her to the side instead, so her butt was firmly planted on the couch. “You will sit right there, rest, and work on feeling better. Think about what movie you want to watch.”
Morgan huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking so miserable at being denied, he almost wanted to give in, but she was going to need to get used to being taken care of. He was good at it, even if he’d been out of practice for a while. It was time to tap back into that side of himself.
“I’m going to choose a chick flick,” she said, glaring up at him.
It was hard not to smile when she looked like an angry little doll.
Especially since he had a feeling she was getting her threat from the stereotypes she’d bought into.
All the movies they’d watched together so far had been his choice, movies from pop culture she’d never seen, and there had been a distinctly nerdy bent to the choices, so she probably thought she was making an effective threat.
“You do that.”
Joke would be on her. Asad loved chick flicks.