good voice as much as the next person, but it was getting to be a bit ridiculous.
Morgan giggled and gave me a knowing smile. “Having to rearrange some personal preferences?”
“Yes, if you must know…and I don’t appreciate it.” The shower was much more convenient.
Another giggle escaped. “I like the music most of the time.”
I couldn’t resist channeling just a bit of Destin. Raising one eyebrow, I gave him a questioning look. “So you prefer an audience? I’ll keep that in mind if I see your door open.”
He blushed a fiery red but refused to back down, which I thought was admirable. He rolled his eyes and did his best to keep his voice sarcastic and teasing. “Thanks. I’ll do my best not to shock you.”
I barked out a laugh. “I lived with Destin for almost a year and a half. Nothing will shock me at this point.”
Destin had burned away most of my natural reservations about a lot of things since we’d met. At first, they’d been legitimate questions about dating and the real world, but later he’d started deliberately driving me nuts.
I’d gotten plenty of practice at not reacting over the last few months. I still had a way to go, but judging from how private Morgan was, he wasn’t going to do his best to make me blush anytime soon.
That had him laughing quietly as I worked on finishing the last of the chopping. “That I can believe. He says exactly what’s on his mind. I’ve never met anyone like that.”
Nodding, I had to smile at that. “Yeah, I hadn’t either last year. But when we first met, the outrageous stuff was mixed in with questions about dating and how the real world worked.”
I glanced up to see a confused expression on Morgan’s face, so I explained. “He grew up in what’s basically a religious commune that had some weird rules about sex and dating and just the outside world in general. When he got out of there and started college, he was book smart, but all the other stuff we pick up listening to the kids in school or by watching movies, he’d never learned.”
It'd been like raising a teenager on my own.
Destin had known nothing about internet safety or how to tell an asshole from someone legitimately dangerous. I’d admit I’d never been the best at dating, but I knew enough to steer him in the right direction.
“That had to be hard.” Morgan frowned. “It makes my life look easy.”
It was the opening I’d been hoping for. “Religious family too?”
He shook his head, not seeming to realize how much he started to share as he spoke. “No, my parents died when I was a kid, so I went to live with an older relative. But she passed when I was a teenager, so I had to spend the last part of high school in foster care.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” It was a good reminder that while my own parents were cold, at least they were around and I’d had a stable childhood.
He shrugged. “It wasn’t too bad, just not enough privacy.”
Which might explain why he locked his door so much. I gestured around the room as I moved over to the stove. “But now you’ve got plenty of privacy. It just took an insane roommate to get it.”
Morgan gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, but you seemed to have been blessed with one of those too. Did he really give you a concussion?”
I groaned but nodded. “Yes, he was high as a kite and using the drugs to self-medicate. I didn’t get all the details, probably for legal reasons, but he had some issues his family thought were under control and the stress of everything gave him a setback.”
They’d tried to sweep it under the rug, but from what I could tell, there’d been some serious communication issues between the school and the family. My head had borne the brunt of it.
“And Destin was on the phone with you?” Morgan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter.
“Yes.” As the pan started to heat up, I turned back to Morgan. “His family doesn’t talk to him. They’re that insane. So I’m basically big brother and guardian wrapped up in one. He…he had a hard time hearing what happened and not being able to stop it.”
He’d stayed with me round the clock for the first couple of days until Ray and Avery had sat him down, promising everything would be fine if he let me out of his