The Reality of Everything - Rebecca Yarros Page 0,146

mine and her head on my chest. Did I miss the sex? I was a guy, and it was the best of my life, so yeah, of course, but I missed the connection more. I would have given up sex for the rest of my life if it meant I could just hold her every day. I’d probably negotiate a few kisses, though. I missed her kisses so much I nearly groaned just thinking about them. She’d never been able to hide her feelings when her mouth was on mine.

The fact that Finley spent her afternoons with Morgan gave me hope. Not that I was using my kid to keep my girlfriend or anything. I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do to actually keep Morgan, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t fighting like hell. I’d meant every word I’d said to her the day I left. I loved her enough to carry us through this. Hell, I loved her enough to carry her through a thousand of these, but I still hated myself for putting her through it. There weren’t enough gifts in the world to make up for the spike in her anxiety attacks.

But a giant blow-up apple still might help.

“You know girls like chocolate and flowers, right?” Sawyer asked, smacking my shoulder as he took the seat next to me. “I mean, if you’re ordering blow-ups, there are way better models that serve way better purposes.”

I scoffed.

“Leave the man alone. He’s long-distance wooing,” Garrett remarked from the corner of the room where he was playing a video game.

“Just saying.” Sawyer waggled his eyebrows. “And who the fuck says wooing, anyway? What is this, the eighteen hundreds?”

“Wooing is the only word I can describe for what’s going on over there,” Garrett threw back. “What else would you call constant effort with zero dates and zero encouragement?”

“Harassment,” Sawyer quipped, then cringed. “Shit, that was a step too far.”

I leveled a look at him over my laptop screen.

“I said I was sorry!” He put his hands up. “We all like Morgan. We’re all pulling for you. We all understand why she…did what she did, and we all think she’s worth it.”

“Don’t say we all, like we sit around gossiping about Montgomery’s love life,” Garrett chided.

I honestly didn’t give a fuck if they approved of my actions or my relationship—or lack thereof. The only two opinions I cared about in the world were Morgan’s and Fin’s. “Right. Thanks.”

He spun his chair to face the monitor behind me. “You keeping an eye on Ingrid? She’s starting to look nasty.”

I looked over my shoulder at the named storms heading our way. “Nah. Looks like she might skirt by the Bahamas, and she’s only a two. The boys at Clearwater will handle her. Jerry’s got my eye, though.”

When the fuck had I become callous enough to think of hurricanes as rescues and aftermaths instead of destruction and lives lost? We were called in for storms every year up and down the coast, and it never failed to affect me, but I’d stopped panicking at model projections years ago.

Sawyer whistled low. “He’s a big son of a bitch.”

“And headed this way, if those models are right.” The last thing Puerto Rico needed was another fucking hurricane, but we were here and ready to help if he hit.

“What do you think he’ll end up at?” Sawyer rocked back on his chair.

“That guy?” Garrett slid his chair out from the console and peered at the monitor. “He’s going five.”

“Fuck that. Three,” Sawyer countered. “He’ll lose steam as he passes over the islands there.” He pointed to the model that took the storm south.

“Let’s pray he doesn’t hit them at a three.” I looked at the models closer. “And if he follows that middle projection, then I’m with Garrett. He’s going big.”

Moreno skidded into the room, grabbing the doorframe. “We’ve got a call.”

I shut my laptop. “Time to save some lives.”

…

I cracked a yawn and reached for my phone when the notification went off. I’d already talked to Fin this morning, but the coffee hadn’t quite kicked in yet. It was still weird as hell to see Claire in my home, moving around in the background.

My screen flashed with Morgan’s name, and I immediately smiled.

Morgan: Why is there a giant apple in my classroom?

I grinned.

Jackson: Because you’re a teacher, duh.

Morgan: This thing takes up my entire whiteboard space.

I had half a mind to FaceTime her, but I knew she wouldn’t accept. She never picked up my calls,