The Right One - Felice Stevens Page 0,90
didn’t have to fall out of a tree to get me to want you.” He rubbed their noses together. “I fell for you standing on my two feet, listening to you explain away my burnt cookies.”
Morgan’s eyes glimmered. “Way back then? I thought you were annoyed with me.”
Leo laughed and kissed him. “I was fucking furious. But you also turned me on like no one else, and that switch hasn’t flipped to the off position since.”
“Speaking of being turned-on…” Morgan wiggled under him, and Leo grew hard. “I believe someone promised me a good time.”
“I’m about to appreciate Mother Nature in a way I never imagined.” Leo had just reached under Morgan’s jacket to the waistband of his jeans when a sound exploded through the air like a firecracker. He jumped up. “What the hell?”
Morgan sat up. “That was a gunshot.” His face paled. “My parents.”
Leo pulled him to his feet, and together they raced away from the apple trees, across the wide span of green lawn. Leo’s stomach bottomed out when he saw the black BMW in the driveway, and he skittered to a stop. “Fuck. That’s his car.”
“If he touched my parents, I’ll kill him.” Morgan left Leo in the dust and sprinted to the house, smashing the back door open. It banged on its hinges as Morgan disappeared inside.
“Morgan, wait.”
Trying to stop him was futile, and Leo’s heart pounded as hard as his feet on the ground. Through the screen door he could hear Becca’s and Walter’s voices, so he took a moment to settle his breathing.
God, he cared about these people. Such a brief time since he’d met them, but they’d opened their arms to him right away, accepting him unconditionally, filling the huge void left by the loss of his father. If anything happened to them…
He peeked in through the door, and his jaw dropped. Walter caught his eye and gave him a big smile.
“Come on inside, son.”
Leo opened the door and spied Jeffrey on the floor, Becca gripping a cast-iron frying pan, and Walter holding a gun. Nervously eyeing the weapon, he sidled away from the man.
“What the heck is going on?”
Walter said, “Seems Jeffrey here doesn’t know how to treat a woman. Came in here looking for Morgan, and when we wouldn’t tell him anything, he got the idea he could push my wife around.” Walter kicked Jeffrey’s foot, and Jeffrey glared up at them. “Becca smacked him over the side of the head with the pan, and I—”
“Shot him?” Leo blurted. Much as he’d like to punch Jeffrey into the ground, he couldn’t shoot anyone.
“Nah.” Walter chuckled. “It’s blanks. But the damn fool didn’t know that. So I told him if he made one more move, bang.” He snickered and held up the gun. “Then I let one out in the air to scare him. Think he wet himself, he was so scared.”
“You’re going to be in trouble after I finish with you,” Jeffrey growled from the floor.
“Shut up,” Leo snarled. “You’re lucky you’re alive.” Faint with relief, he looked for Morgan. “Where’s Morgan? I saw him run in here.”
“I’m here.” Holding his phone, Morgan walked into the kitchen from the front of the house. “The sheriffs will be here in a minute.”
“Yeah. Probably the most action they’ve seen in years.” Leo could joke now that he saw everyone was fine. Except of course for Jeffrey, but he didn’t count. “Good aim, Becca. The Mets could use you.”
“Walter?” The screen door opened. “You okay in here?”
“Jet? Yeah, c’mon in.”
Two deputies entered the kitchen. One was an older man, his silver hair cropped close, military style. The other was in his early thirties, tall and muscular, his hair short and golden-brown, with a strong nose and a trimmed beard covering his face. Blue-gray eyes swept over the scene, lighting on everyone in the room, then returning to settle on Morgan. Leo recognized the gleam of interest when he spotted it, and he’d be damned if he’d stand by and not let Deputy Dog know exactly what was what. And with whom.
He strolled over and put his arm around Morgan. “You good, babe?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe Jeffrey did this. He must be having a breakdown.”
“Can you give us a statement?” Jet pulled out a notepad.
“We can go to the dining room.” Becca pointed to the door. “That way there will be seats for everyone.”
“Lemme call the ambulance for him.” The older deputy spoke into his radio, and a few minutes later a van came