Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (85 page)

Finlay
and Tanner agreed to meet the three of them back at their hotel lobby
and it was already ten minutes past the agreed time.

“
Hold
up, Brows...why are we running like we're in a mothafuckin' marathon?
This bitch doesn't run!” Morgan ignored him as she pulled on
his arm all the way to the awaiting taxi. “Now I'm wrinkled!
Stop dragging me!” He was still complaining as she pushed him
into the backseat, and slid over to the middle, and motioned for
Cedric to get in quickly. “You owe my ass a drink.” It
was then that Morgan finally broke her silence again.

“
Finlay.
Tanner. Alone. Get it?” Her face was inches from Angel's, and
her eyes bore into him as she waited for his reply. His gasp made
her move back, and giggle.

His
hands went to his mouth as his eyes opened wide. “Are we late?
Shit! We're late, aren't we?” Morgan nodded and brought her
bottom lip into her mouth with worry. Angel pushed the bulky
shoulder of the driver. “Drive faster!”

*****

“Beer?”
Tanner nodded toward Finlay's hand that held the large dark ale.
Finlay followed his eyes and raised his glass.

“Aye,
I drink beer every now and then.” Tanner smiled as he took the
seat at the table across from Finlay.

“Now
and then?” Tanner stifled a giggle as he took a drink of his
own. He knew that Finlay was only drinking it to make Morgan more
comfortable, and he wanted to tell the man that he had better do much
more than changing drinks to get to a woman like her. Finlay watched
the humor cross over Tanner's tan face, and he too stifled his own
smile. Tanner thought that he was more Morgan's type, and the young
lad had a lot to learn. Finlay finally spoke.

“They're
late.” Tanner didn't even check his watch before he replied.

“As
usual.” It didn't matter to the Aussie, he was happy to enjoy
a few drinks and wait for her for as long as it took. It was also
interesting to see Finlay's discomfort at having to wait, and he
smiled each time he saw the large Scot check the time. Tanner
enjoyed the show for another ten minutes, then the giggling trio
finally ran through the door of the lobby.

“Finny
Boo Boo! Sorry we're late, but we had to do a mothafuckin' exorcism
on Morgan's brow.” Everyone laughed, except for Morgan, who
gave her best friend a sharp elbow to the side.

“My
brow is fine.”

“No,
baby girl, your
brows
are fine...because now,” he poked
gently between her eyes, “you have two.” Again, loud
laughter erupted from the table as the three found a seat.

“Would
someone please order me a glass of Moscato? My brows and I are going
to the restroom.” She rose from her seat and smiled at the men
at the table before walking away.

Angel,
and the other three men watched Morgan until she was out of sight. He
had immediately wanted to order the wine, as she asked, but the
devious part of him wanted to see if it would be the Aussie or the
Scot to go through with her request. He leaned toward Cedric, and
asked, “which one will it be?”

Both
men looked toward Angel and Cedric, trying to figure the context of
Angel's words. It was obvious the question had been about them, as
Cedric brought his hand up to his chin and raised a brow in question
at the two men, but Cedric's answer didn't clear anything up.

“You
know who I say,” his eyes shot so quickly towards Tanner that
Angel barely caught it. “Bet you a drink, if I'm right.”
Cedric turned his face to Angel, curving his full lips into a wide
smile.

“I'll
raise that shit and bet a drink and,” Angel leaned in and
whispered the rest of his bet to Cedric, then sat back against his
chair, proud of whatever he'd just wagered.

“Oh,
that's good.” Cedric looked at Tanner, then Finlay, then back
to Tanner. Finally, he looked to Angel and nodded. “We shall
see.”

In
the bathroom, Morgan was still staring at her reflection, admiring
her new highlights, when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She had
forgotten to have Angel change her tone, so putting it on silent had
been the next best thing. Morgan's hand quickly slid into her back
pocket and she pulled out her phone. On the front, was that number
again...the one from Hawaii.

She
bit her bottom lip as she stared at the bright red number, flashing
on the screen in front of her. The phone vibrated in her hand three
more times before she took a deep breath and answered.

“Hel...hi.”
She thought to say
hello
but that sounded too nice for anyone
who might be calling her from that area.

“Morgan?”
She bit her lip again. It was a man, so that ruled out Angela, but it
wasn't Kole either.

“Kala?
Uh...wh...hi,” she said again.

“Morgan..”

“We've
established that.” They hadn't really, but she could feel her
body tensing, just at the thought of Kole...or anyone he knew.

“Sorry
for the weird number. Blame Kole for that one, he lost my phone at
the beach and...” She didn't even hear the rest of his story.
There it was. Kole. The name she didn't want to hear.

“Why
are you calling me, Kala?”

“Everyone
misses you,” he told her.

“By
everyone, you mean Kole and Angela, the ones who hurt me and never
thought twice about it?” She lowered her voice, knowing her
words weren't exactly true. She knew both of them had to feel guilt,
after all, they
were
her friends. A part of her missed them
too, but she would never be the one to take the first step to
rekindle a friendship with either of them.

“Yeah,
of course they miss you. But my family misses you too. Mom,
dad...me.”

That
one hit her. His family. The family that had brought her in like she
was one of them. “I miss your mom and dad too.” She
wouldn't go so far to admit she missed the others.

“They're
really sorry, Morgan. I...I know it's not my place. But Kole...he
needs you right now.”

“Why
would he need me? I'm just a whore.” Morgan placed one hand on
the sink and rolled her eyes at her reflection in the mirror.

“Morgan,
the real reason I called you...mom is sick.” Kala's voice was
soft, and she heard a quiet sniffle.

Sick.
She had been down the road of
sick
before then, and it
usually never ends well. Morgan didn't ask for more information, it
was enough to know how serious Kala was about it.

“I
understand.” She didn't know how she could help, she didn't
know what possessed her to say her next words, but they fell from her
lips before she could stop them. “I'll try to make it there
when I get the time, but no promises.” She paused for a moment
and spoke again. “Kala?”

“Yes?”

“If
I make the trip, I'm going for
her
.” That's all she had
to say, and Kala understood. He nodded silently into the phone, and
after a quiet confirmation to Morgan, the two of them hung up.

She
sighed loudly and slid the phone back into her pocket. “What
did I just do?” Her hands slid through her hair and another
long exhale followed. “It's for her,” she told herself
again in the mirror, then left the bathroom.

Back
at the table, Cedric had just won a bet.

Chapter
Six

“Raise
it higher, Boo! Let me see those mothafuckin' biceps!” Angel
wrapped his hand around Finlay's wrist and attempted to raise the
large arm holding the drink.

Giggling
to the point of almost snorting, Finlay tried to move his arm from
Angel's grasp. “Let go, ye wee arse.” Angel's head fell
against Finlay's shoulder as they both laughed. “Git
yer....git....ah...fook it,” he raised his glass a bit more to
please Angel, and flexed his bicep as he did so, “there, here's
to friends....and wee arses.” Everyone at the table laughed
and raised their glasses.

“To
wee arses!” In unison, the toast was made.

Three
hours, and a five hundred dollar bar tab, had brought the group to a
whole new level of drunken comfort.

Morgan
leaned her head back against her chair and turned to watch her best
friend fix the curls on the side of his head that he thought had been
flattened against Finlay's shoulder. “You're still perfect, my
Angel.” She reached out and smoothed one finger down the side
of his soft cheek. Angel closed his eyes and enjoyed her touch as he
spoke.

“Thank
you, Stick,” his eyes opened quickly, “we forgot to eat!
You boys,” he made a quick circle with his finger to include
Finlay, Tanner, and Cedric, “need to order some nutritionals
before I fall the fuck out.”

“Nutritionals....what
the....nutrients?” Morgan laughed and sat up as she tried to
translate the recent Angelism. Tanner, laughing as well, chimed in.

“Order
anything ya want.” Angel put the back of his hand over his
mouth before answering.

“I'm
too weak to think. Order some shit for a bitch.” Finlay
dropped his head to the table and laughed out loud at Angel's words.
The table roared as Angel continued to feign starvation.

“Miss?
Yeah, over here,” Tanner waved down an employee of the hotel
and she nodded and slowly approached the table. It was getting late
and the table of five didn't seem as if they were retiring to their
rooms any time soon.

“Yes?”
she asked quietly.

“Could
we get a few of those menus again?” Tanner gave her one of his
charming winks, then smiled around the table at all of the drunk
faces. It was the fourth time one of them had asked to see a menu,
but each time distractions had come about and nobody had ordered
food. This time, everyone was actually hungry.

“Actually,”
the young woman began, smiling nervously back at Tanner, “the
kitchen is closed for the night.” It wasn't entirely true, but
it was closing in fifteen minutes and she knew if they were ordering
food, then it would be a long and drawn out event.

“The
fuck you mean the mothafuckin' kitchen is....” Angel's head
rose quickly from the table, arms flailing at the same time as he
questioned dinner, but Tanner cut him off.

“Okay.”
He understood what the woman had just done, and it was alright.
“We'll just go out.” Tanner stood from his chair and
called out to the rest of the group, “come on, we're going to
go find some food. I think we all need some fresh air too.”

Finlay
stood and gave Tanner a nod and Angel a pat on the back, then
directed his attention to Morgan. “I need ta talk te ye, lass.”

“I
know,” drunk Morgan replied as she struggled to stand from her
own chair. Cedric did the same, with a little help from Angel. “Where
are we going?” She sounded so happy, and to all four men at the
table, it was nice to hear, especially after all the stress she'd
been through recently.

“Don't
know,” Tanner spoke up again, then came around to her side of
the table and held an arm out for Morgan. She took his offer,
wrapping her elbow around his and looked up to his handsome face,
then rested her head on his arm as they waited for the rest of the
group to gather their things. “But we'll figure it out,”
he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and placed his free hand on
hers.

“I
think I saw a hamburger restaurant on this street,” Cedric
pointed toward the front doors, then to the right. Angel nodded and
said he 'saw that shit too'.

Twenty
minutes later, even though it was only a two minute walk, the five of
them loudly made their way into the small diner. It had been a walk
filled with laughter, tripping, stumbling and catching one another.
By the time they'd reached the restaurant, Morgan had left Tanner's
side and was escorted by Angel and Finlay to the table. Tanner didn't
mind sharing her, it was confidence that allowed him to believe that
way. In his mind, she could love Finlay, but he knew her heart
already belonged to him.