The Right One - Felice Stevens Page 0,80
take away your pain.
“Will my being there help?”
The dark gaze shifted away, and he shrugged. “I mean, yeah, but I don’t want you to waste your time.”
To hell with it. He could afford to be a few minutes late, so he left the bathroom to wrap his arms around an unresisting Leo. “Being with you is never a waste of time. I’ll see you when I get home, okay?”
Leo nodded, squeezed his hand for a second, and spoke in a rush.
“You know, I have room here…in the closet, so…if you want to bring some of your stuff…”
Every layer Leo unwrapped brought him more happiness, and Morgan pressed a kiss to his heated cheek. “I’d love that.”
Leo kissed him hard and left, and Morgan went to take a cold shower.
Two hours later, Morgan stood in front of his classroom, watching the children stream down the hallway. He’d decorated the room before school started, with a giant poster board that took up the front wall, proclaiming: Welcome to Morgan’s Kindergarten Class! Rainbows, unicorns, letters of the alphabet, and numbers were scattered around the giant green sign, surrounding the children’s names. Fresh watercolor paints, crayons, and notepaper had awaited each child at drawing tables, and he’d assigned a cubby to each one of the children.
A little boy, clutching his mother’s hand, stopped in front of him. His mother smiled at Morgan. “Hi, are you Morgan Cantrell in K-2? This is my son, Tony Gargano, and I’m Denise.”
“Yes, that’s me.” Morgan crouched to eye level. “How’s it going, Tony? All excited to start school?”
The child held his toy dinosaur closer and lifted a shoulder. “Uh-huh.”
“Oh, we’re going to have fun. I see you like dinosaurs?” At Tony’s nod, Morgan straightened up. “Well, I just happen to have a major collection of dinosaur picture books and stickers. If you want to go inside, you can wander around the classroom and find them.”
Interest gleamed in his eyes. “Okay.” He let go of his mother’s hand, and she watched him walk in.
“He’s a little nervous since he wasn’t in pre-K, but we’ve been talking to him about kindergarten and all the fun he’s going to have. It’s okay if I stay for a little, right?”
Morgan observed Tony, still holding his toy, walk over to the picture book area and pick up one of the books with a T-Rex on the cover. “I’m sure he’s going to love it. I always say, everyone graduates from kindergarten. And yes. The parents can stay for a bit in the beginning. After that, it’s time for the children to learn to be on their own for the day.”
“I agree, and I’m certainly looking forward to it.”
Tony came running to them. “Mommy, they have dino Legos. Come.”
“I’ll see you later,” Denise said with a smile and took Tony’s hand.
A line began to form down the hall in front of each class. The principal, Ana Ramirez, waved to him and gave a big thumbs-up, and he waved back. She’d been such a help during his divorce, keeping security apprised to watch out for Jeffrey, checking up on him during the day. Without her and Chris, he wouldn’t have made it.
God.
Was it only a year ago he’d been so broken? So…lost? Memories he’d once thought impossible to forget had slipped from his consciousness like sand through his fingers, proving the mind and body’s incredible capacity to heal.
As well as love.
The classroom had filled with eager but nervous children all dressed in their brand-new outfits. He walked inside. “All right, everybody. Are we ready to start?”
He closed the door to his classroom.
***
At three thirty, he opened the front door of the school building and ran down the steps.
“Going my way?” a familiar voice called to him.
Sitting at the curb, straddling his bike, looking like every erotic dream he’d ever had, was Leo in his ripped jeans, tight black T-shirt, and mirrored Aviators. God. Morgan felt so weak from the ache of desire rushing through him, he could barely walk.
“I might be.” He strolled up and leaned against the Ducati. “What’s in it for me?”
“Anything you want.”
He leaned in to meet Leo halfway for a kiss. “You. Only you.”
* * *
TWENTY-TWO
* * *
It had been a long time since Leo had missed someone.
And not until they shared a kiss on that busy sidewalk did Leo realize how lonely he’d been since he became that lost little boy who never stopped missing his father.
But not anymore. And with that realization came another.
“You got me.”
“I can’t believe you