Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,56
squeezing. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Bean. What are you doin’ here?” My tone came off curter than I intended, and while I was happy to see her, this wasn’t a good time for her to come and sneak a surprise visit on me. I took in the state of her dress again, my mouth curving downward to which she simply shook her head, reading my mind, or better yet, my expression.
“I thought you’d be happier to see me?” She pouted, and I instantly felt bad for my cool reception. It’d been almost a year since the last time we were together, but like I said, she couldn’t’ve picked a worse time.
Zoe cleared her throat, stepping onto the porch and sidling up next to me. Her hand found mine, and had I not been caught up in the possible repercussions of Bean being here right now, I would’ve laughed at her not so subtle claim on me.
She had no idea the woman in front of me, of us, was my cousin. Scratch that. Technically she was my cousin, but she was more like my little sister. Her mother, my aunt Terry, my mother’s older sibling, had struggled on and off with drugs her entire adult life, and because of her addiction, Bean had come to stay with us more often. Then when she was only twelve, four years my junior, her mother overdosed. She’d been with us ever since.
The two women shared an inquisitive glance. “Who’s this?” my cousin asked, gifting my woman a friendly smile, although if I had to guess, I didn’t think Zoe mirrored the expression.
“Sorry.” I shook my head. “Bean, this is my—”
“Girlfriend,” Zoe blurted, keeping her eyes on our unexpected guest and away from me. It was the first time she claimed the title since I posed it the other day.
I squeezed her hand and pulled her closer. “Zoe, this is Bean. My cousin.”
“Oh,” Zoe finally said, elongating the response, realization dawning that the surprise guest wasn’t stopping by for a booty call. The thought alone made me cringe, and I needed to rid the awful thought and quickly.
“Morgan,” she corrected. “I’ve tried to get him to stop calling me that ridiculous nickname since I hit puberty, but he won’t.” She looked to me. “I’m not a string bean anymore, Matty.” I narrowed my eyes at her. She knew I didn’t like the nickname she had for me either. It made me sound like some kind of surfer douche.
“Why are you here?” I asked again.
“Nice to see you too,” she scoffed, extending her hand to Zoe, her eyes bouncing between the two of us. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. About time.” She stepped around me and waltzed inside my house. “Can you grab my bag? It weighs a ton.”
Snatching up her suitcase, popping the handle, and dragging the item over the threshold, I spun it around and shoved it in the corner closest to the door.
“Are you ever gonna answer me?” I walked up behind her and spun her around to face me. “Did something happen?” The tic in my jaw pulsated under the weight of my suspicion. Because of everything goin’ on right now, I was suspicious of everyone and every situation. Morgan showing up on my doorstep out of the blue no exception.
“No, nothing happened. I’m here on business. My boss is opening a new gallery and wanted me to oversee the progress.” Morgan lived in New Jersey but worked in Manhattan. She moved out of the house six years ago when she turned twenty and traveled across the bridge to the city. She landed odd jobs until a waitressing friend of hers told her of a receptionist job at a well-known gallery. Art had always been a passion for Morgan, but before working at the gallery, she’d never pursued a career related to that field. She told me when she started offering her opinions on certain artists, her boss took notice, putting her in charge of scouting out new talent. She moved from answering phones and making appointments to bringing in new artists all within the span of a year.
“Dressed like that?” I scoffed.
“Brick,” Zoe admonished, nudging her shoulder into me.
Morgan ignored my comment because she was used to my reactions by this point. “For your information, I’m not working today, which is why I stopped by in the first place. I thought we could grab something to eat and hang out.”