Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Asad
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Mm-hmm.” The sleepy murmur didn’t reassure him that she was truly awake, much less processing what he was telling her. Maybe he should write it down. That wasn’t a bad idea.
“And take your temperature every two hours and text me a picture of it.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Yeah, he was definitely writing the instructions down. Quickly finding a pad of paper and a pen, he did that and left it on her nightstand, dropping a kiss on her forehead before leaving. She sighed happily in her sleep.
She would be fine.
It was still hard walking out the door. He made himself feel a little better by texting Brian and Mitch an update.
Even though it was hard to leave, he knew Morgan would be happy to know she was trusted to be on her own.
It was a delicate balance, making sure she was taken care of while also making sure she didn’t feel like a burden or like she was disappointing anyone.
They’d talked through some of that last night, between the movies, but she would probably need reassurance again, eventually.
So would he. Once she was feeling better, they would be making an appointment to see Mistress Julie together, and he would do a few on his own. He was feeling more even-keeled now, but he knew he still had work to do. He wasn’t magically fixed just because he’d gotten over this one hurdle.
As he got into his car, his phone rang. His mom. Sighing, he started the car and turned on the Bluetooth.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, honey. How is Morgan?”
When his mom had called yesterday before dinner, he’d told her that he couldn’t talk because Morgan was sick. After a few minutes of advice, which he’d already gotten from Mitch, she’d finally gotten off the phone with him. It didn’t surprise him that she wanted a morning update.
“Good, she’s much better,” he said, pulling out of the driveway. “Her fever is down. I don’t know if her throat is any better yet because she was still mostly asleep when I left.”
“Oh, that’s good. You two had a restful night?”
“Yeah, watched some movies and fed her soup for dinner. It wasn’t the one-monthversary that she wanted, but she seemed happy.”
“The what?”
His brain stalled out.
Rewound.
Ah, fuck.
This is what he got for talking to his mom when he was distracted by driving. Things just slipped out.
“Um. Well.” He sighed. Might as well confess. It was easier than trying to come up with a lie. “Yesterday was our one-month anniversary.”
“But…” His mom’s voice trailed off and he could practically hear her doing the math in her head and coming up with a negative number.
“Yeah, we weren’t really together when I brought her to the wedding. She was a friend who came with me and pretended to be my girlfriend.”
Asad braced himself for the full blast of his mother’s reaction.
What he got was a long sigh.
“Your father is going to be so upset. He just lost a hundred dollars to Mason.”
Wait, what?
“What?” The first part of that sentence had made sense to him, then it took a sharp left turn in the second half. “What do you mean he lost a hundred dollars to Mason?”
“Mason told us that Morgan was your fake girlfriend. Your father and I thought that was ridiculous. It was obvious you had real feelings for her. Which, I guess we were right about that, so maybe the bet was really a draw since she’s your real girlfriend now…” his mother mused.
He shook his head, trying to make it make sense.
“Mason told you that he thought my relationship with Morgan was fake, and you made a bet on it?”
“Yes.” Her amused tone was nearly as disconcerting as the revelation itself.
Though his relationship with his parents had improved by leaps and bounds over the past couple weeks, he hadn’t realized she’d actually find him lying to her and bringing a fake girlfriend to his brother’s wedding funny.
He sure as hell thought he’d done a better job fooling Mason than he apparently had.
He couldn’t believe they’d made a bet about it. He was so getting Mason back for that. Mason didn’t know that he knew Mason belonged to the Outlands. He wasn’t sure what he could do with that information yet, but he’d figure something out.
“Does Cyrus know about the bet?”
“Of course not, honey. He’s been on his honeymoon.” The amusement hadn’t left his mother’s voice. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”
“I’ll tell him,” Asad said gruffly. He didn’t need his mom playing telephone between him and Cyrus.
Especially since he really was trying to have a better relationship with both his parents and his brother.
Cyrus would want to hear it from him. Plus, he probably owed his brother an apology for bringing a fake girlfriend to his wedding, even if Morgan was his real girlfriend now. He pulled into the parking lot.
“I’m at work now, Mom. I’ve got to go.”
“Okay, sweetie. Well, I’m glad to hear that Morgan’s doing better this morning. Keep me updated.”
“Will do. Love you, Mom, bye.”
“Love you, too. Tell Morgan we’re so happy she’s your real girlfriend. Bye, honey.”
Shaking his head, Asad hung up the phone. Sometimes, he felt like his entire world had turned upside down the week of Cyrus’ wedding. In a good way, overall, even if it was a little weird at times.
Morgan
It took a whole day before she was feeling better enough to record more content and another three days before she convinced Asad she could eat something other than soup. Her fever was gone, and so was her sore throat. She was back to recording content.
Everything was back to normal… except that she still wasn’t getting laid.
“You should tell him it’s bothering you,” Sam advised.
She and Amy had come over to hang out with Morgan for some girl time.
Marisa was traveling, Carolyn had plans with her husband, and Noelle had a date with Master Damian, who had apparently broken up with Rae a few weeks ago.
Some juicy gossip that she’d missed because she’d been preoccupied with getting ready for the trip with Asad.
It did explain why Brian had been so cheerful right before she’d left for Pittsburgh, though she didn’t know why he hadn’t shared the gossip with her.
“Or just seduce him,” Amy suggested from her perch next to Sam. They were sitting on the opposite side of the counter, each sipping a glass of wine while Morgan made dinner. “Holy crap, Morgan, that smells so good. Are you sure that’s healthy?”
Morgan laughed. “Absolutely.”
She was making them salmon with quinoa with red lentil dahl and a spinach salad on the side.
It was delicious and fit right into Amy’s diet, though a little time-consuming to make since she was making the dahl from scratch.
Even though Amy’s new medication had halted her weight gain, and she’d dropped a few pounds back toward where she had been, she didn’t seem to be able to lose any more than that.
She’d come asking Morgan for recipes, and Morgan had been happy to help out, though she worried about what would happen if they didn’t help the way Amy hoped.
“Amy has a point. You could just be naked when he gets home. I mean, obviously not right now since we’re here, but maybe tomorrow. Or… are you two going to Stronghold?” Sam took a sip of her wine, tilting her head as she watched Morgan turn to stir the pot.
“I don’t think so. He hasn’t mentioned going anywhere.” Morgan sighed. “Well, other than rescheduling our night at Marquis for our two-monthversary.” Which was almost an entire month from now.
“Okay, but that’s really freaking cute,” Amy said, grinning. “Not only that he wants to celebrate your monthversaries, but it’s a good sign that he’s already planning a month ahead. He went from being totally uncommitted to one hundred percent on board and planning for the future.”
“Magic vagina,” Sam whispered, furtively glancing over her shoulder as if making sure Asad wasn’t there to pop up and yell at her. They all cracked up.
That was a good point, though. Morgan hadn’t thought about it that way. She’d mostly been disappointed that he’d moved it so far away, but really it wasn’t that far away in the grand scheme of things, and it did show he was planning for a future with her. She did have one question, though.
“So, the month anniversary thing isn’t silly? Noelle thought it was weird.” She’d liked it right up until last night when Noelle had called, and they’d chatted for a bit. She’d told her about the move, and Noelle’s scorn had been so obvious, Morgan couldn’t miss it, even over the phone.
“No, it’s adorable. Don’t listen to Noelle.” Sam scowled, and something about what she said had Amy sitting up straight and looking at her with surprise.
“Did something happen between you and Noelle,” she asked.
“No, I mean, not really. Sort of.” Sam sighed, tapping her fingers on the counter next to her wine glass.
Morgan just kept focusing on the food, although she was listening, because she didn’t know what to say.
“We were hanging out yesterday afternoon just talking about, like, stuff. Q and me. Things going on at the club. Her date tonight. And then out of nowhere, she asks me if I’ve been talking behind her back with Iris. ”
“What?” Amy let out a small gasp.
“Yeah, exactly. It was in the middle of a totally normal conversation, and she asked it really aggressively. I was so stunned, I couldn’t say anything back right away.
I just sat there, trying to process the change in topic, then she got mad at me and said she knew it.
And I was like, knew what? She said the fact I couldn’t answer that I hadn’t done anything like that right away meant that I had.
” Sam threw her hands up in the air. “I told her I was just caught completely off guard, and obviously, I hadn’t been talking about her with Iris—her name has only come up once or twice because I mention I’ve hung out with her, and Iris doesn’t say a thing when she’s mentioned. I’m not sure she believed me, though.”