The Right One - Felice Stevens Page 0,69

but the longer he studied Leo’s face, the less he liked what he saw.

“I’d like that because we should talk. We have to. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Leo answered softly, and hung his head.

Morgan picked his phone off the coffee table and slipped it into his pocket, then gave Marla a hug. “I checked the kids, and they’re both in Evan’s room, sleeping away.”

“I didn’t worry for a minute.” She held him close and whispered in his ear, “What’s going on with Leo? He looks like he’s been through hell.”

“Don’t know, but I plan on finding out.”

Leo stood listening to Peter, but when their eyes met, he walked away from his friend in midsentence. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Leo stopped by the front door. “You have a helmet for Morgan? I don’t have an extra with me.” Without waiting for an answer, he walked out on the porch.

“Sure. Hold on a sec.” Peter bounced over to the closet, took one out, and handed it to him. “Here you go. I have a ton of them, so keep it as long as you need it.”

“Thanks.”

Peter held on to it for a moment, speaking quickly. “He’s going through some shit he won’t talk to me about, so see what you can do, please? I know he cares about you.”

Managing only a smile and a nod, Morgan didn’t trust his voice to answer Peter so he left, meeting Leo at the curb. His dark figure sat on the bike, helmet in place. It was a moonless night, but Leo’s strong profile stood out to him.

“Everything okay?”

Morgan hopped on. “I think that’s my line, but it’ll wait until we get home.” He put his hands around Leo’s solid waist, holding on as Leo started the motorcycle and took off. With traffic relatively light, they reached the apartment building quickly, and Morgan slid off the motorcycle and waited for Leo to lock it up.

“Mine or yours?” Leo held open the door.

“Whichever you prefer.”

Leading the way, Leo didn’t take the turn to his apartment but mounted the steps. Morgan wanted to believe it was because Leo felt comfortable with him, trusted him enough to share in Morgan’s space whatever had happened that evening. Because Morgan had no doubt something had changed Leo—that high, well-guarded wall still existed around him, but Morgan had seen the light peeking through the chinks and was ready to tear it all down.

Once inside his apartment, Morgan kicked off his sneakers and went to the refrigerator. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, thanks.”

“Well, I think I’m going to have a glass of wine.”

He poured a glass of Chardonnay and sat on the couch, and to his surprise, Leo joined him.

“What happened tonight? The last I saw, you were storming out of my apartment, slamming my door.”

Leo’s cheeks reddened. “Yeah. About that. Sorry. It was stupid.”

“Why?” Morgan prodded. He wanted Leo to talk and tell him, not to have to speculate.

His dark head bent, Leo spoke to his clasped hands. “I heard you making a date with that guy and knew once you went out with him, I’d never see you again. You’d find another place to live, and that would be it.”

“Seems like you had my whole life planned.”

Still not meeting his eyes, Leo shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. You want someone steady—a boyfriend, and maybe eventually a husband.”

“Says you. The expert on me.”

“I’m not the expert on anything, that’s for damn sure, least of all myself. I just know…” He clenched and unclenched his hands into fists, but Morgan wasn’t afraid and held his breath.

Waiting.

“I thought about seeing you bring that guy over and knowing you two were up here.” Leo’s voice dropped. “Together. In bed. And it…it fucking killed me. I didn’t want to think about him touching you. Kissing you. Doing everything we did together. That belonged to me. To us.”

As painful as it was for him to breathe right then, at hearing Leo unwrapping his heart, joy poured through Morgan.

“I was being stupid, you know? Because I never wanted that shit. Boyfriends…relationships…none of it. I didn’t want it because I never thought I was good enough. So I took a ride to get it out of my head, and somehow I ended up at my mother’s place.”

At the pain in Leo’s face, Morgan took his hand, breaking the promise he’d made to himself not to touch him.

“How did that go?”

Leo stared into his eyes without seeing him. “She was asleep, but I feel like she’s slipping away.”

Morgan tightened his grip. “I’m so