The Right One - Felice Stevens Page 0,51

in my place, so I’ll go there a couple of times a week and we’ll have sparring sessions.”

“You were telling me about it. Sounded cool.” Morgan sipped his wine.

“Yeah. I remember.” Leo added casually, “You can come sometimes. Might be good to learn some of the basics. We can teach you.”

“Ooh, you should, Morgan. Boxing is great exercise, plus it will teach you self-defense.” Chris sobered. “You could’ve used it.”

Leo froze. What the fuck?

“Great idea. Maybe I will,” Morgan cut in. “Want more wine?”

Leo set his glass on the counter carefully. “Why could you have used it?” Thoughts ran rampant in his head, and none of them were good.

Morgan’s fingers tightened around the glass stem. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Babe, it’s okay. It would be good for you to learn to protect yourself. I’m sure Leo will help.” Chris directed a friendly smile to him, but Leo was too focused on the pain etched on Morgan’s face. Dark clouds shrouded his eyes, sending Leo into a tailspin.

“He hurt you?” Leo asked softly, finally guessing Morgan’s secret while black rage built up inside his head. “What did he do?”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Morgan shouted. “Can we please change the subject?”

Chris put his arm around Morgan and steered him to the sofa, where Morgan huddled against Chris’s chest. “I’m sorry I brought it up. I’ll drop it.”

“Thanks.”

Sean took the seat on the opposite side of Morgan and kissed his cheek. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“I just want to forget about it, okay?” Morgan said in an agonized whisper that ripped into Leo.

“Okay, then. Let’s talk about something much more fun. Like the new school year.”

Chris’s false cheer didn’t fool anyone. Leo promised himself to go along with it so as not to upset Morgan, but he was damn well determined to find out what the hell happened to Morgan Cantrell before he busted into his life.

“I have to start planning for that.” Morgan rubbed his face. “With the move and everything, I haven’t even thought about it, but September is getting close.”

“It’ll be good to see you again every day.” Chris hugged him.

“Yeah. Same.” Morgan’s smile was faint, and his gaze clashed with Leo’s for a second.

Leo recalled him mentioning him working with his friend, but he didn’t know anything else. Then again, he didn’t know much about Morgan at all, it seemed. Looked like the man was as good as him at hiding.

Chris added, “Although I’m not sure I’m looking forward to the September sniffles. Sean keeps his distance and disinfects everything I touch. Kid germs get everywhere, especially little-kid ones. Sometimes I wonder why I chose to be a teacher.”

“Because you love them, and they love you.” Sean reached over Morgan and squeezed Chris’s hand. “One day you’re going to make a wonderful dad.”

Morgan rose to refill his glass. “I’ve been thinking about moving up to first grade instead of kindergarten. Maybe I’ll talk to Ana about it. I have the credentials and would like the challenge.”

“Good idea, although the kids love you.”

“Does a year really make much of a difference?” Leo couldn’t remember one grade from the next that early on.

“Every year in a child’s life, especially at that young age, does. It’s critical to build a solid foundation of learning even when they’re in kindergarten.”

“Kindergarten? That’s got to be the easiest job in the world.” Leo drained his glass.

“Oh, yeah?” Morgan’s eyes sparked fire. “You think so?”

Pleased that he could get Morgan all riled up, distracting him from their earlier conversation, he decided to push it. “Come on,” he scoffed, “what do they learn, how to take naps? Color inside the lines?”

“God, you’re a Neanderthal. Children learn at a very early age how to count and spell and…urghhhh, why am I bothering to explain anything to you?” Morgan splashed more wine in his glass and drank it down.

Leo grinned to himself. This was more like it. Poking Morgan was fast becoming one of his favorite pastimes.

“All I’m saying is, they’re little. Throw them some toys, put on a movie, and that’s that.” He knew better from Marla, but he wanted to annoy Morgan some more.

“A movie? Are you nuts? Kindergarten is when children learn to explore social relationships on their own for the first time. It can set the tone for their whole life as to how they deal with people.” Morgan’s lips twitched. “It’s obvious from your social interactions. You must’ve failed kindergarten.”

Leo’s lips curved