Learning To Fly (Fated Love Book 1) (2 page)

I couldn't help but grin. “Smooth Morgan, but no. No partner to go back to. I am actually about to start traveling for a while.” I could see his brows raise in curiosity.
 

“Where ya headed?”
 

I took another drink of water I looked away for a minute to compose myself. I had no idea when I left home a few days ago that I would be sitting here with Morgan Young. Not that I was about to admit this to him, but my laptop was a stalker’s paradise to this man. Obsessed was an understatement. I looked back at him and swallowed my water. “Around Australia to begin with, then who knows where after that. Maybe the States. I would love to see Italy and Greece. The UK, too. Germany for Oktoberfest, Switzerland, Finland to see the Northern Lights from an igloo…” As I talked, his eyes never left my face. I felt my cheeks heat up again “Sorry, rambling.” I took another drink.
 

“Don’t be sorry. I love to see that passion in someone’s eyes.”
 

I nodded as I swallowed. “It’s something I have always wanted to do. Photograph my way around the world.”
 

He shook his head and took a drink from his bottle. “Hard to believe I stumbled on the one person who has ambition and I have to leave her here.” I watched as he heaved a sigh and took another drink.
 

“When do you fly out?” I asked taking a sip of water.

“A couple of weeks.”
 

“Then why don’t you come with me and see some of what my country has to offer then? Then when I get there, you can do the same?”
 

He looked up and his grin was back. “You have yourself a deal.” He held out his hand to me.  I shook it and met his eyes. I didn’t pull my hand away, and neither did he. Hearing someone coming up behind us and a throat clear, we both reluctantly let our hands drop.
 

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
 

I moved to sit next to Morgan. Taken or not, I knew what was coming next. “As a matter of fact, Ellie, you were. Don’t you have a boyfriend to go and check up on? Would hate for you to turn your back on him for too long.” As Ellie narrowed her eyes and took a step toward me, I stood up. I let my lips curl into a smirk because the look in her eyes told me not everything was as picture perfect as she had been painting it all weekend. Out of nowhere, Jas came running up, grabbed Ellie by the wrist, and pulled her away. As my best friend since preschool knew, I was vicious when pissed off, and I had only just scratched the surface with Ellie. I had a lot of ammunition I wouldn’t hesitate to pull out in the future. When she was well away from Morgan and me, I sat back down, and he took my hand again. He laced his fingers with mine and gave them a squeeze.

“You okay?” I nodded, running my free hand through my hair. I rested my elbow on my knee and my cheek on my palm.
 

“She is part of the reason I am so happy to be anywhere but home. My ex was cheating on me with her, and she still refuses to own up to it despite him telling me everything. They are still together. She has been rubbing it in my face all weekend trying to make out that they are perfect together. All she is doing is trying to convince herself of that. That’s not my problem anymore. I won’t be around to see it crash and burn.” He took his hand from mine, and I felt a little disappointed. That disappointment didn’t last long, though. Morgan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. Leaning my head against his shoulder, I let out another sigh. God, I hated her right now.
 

“Stay with me tonight?” I blinked and pulled back to look at him
 

“Excuse me?”
 

“Sorry, filter didn’t quite catch that thought...” He chuckled and ran his hand along my arm.
 

“What I meant was, I don’t think you should be going back to stay at camp if the she devil is going to be there. It’s your last night here and I think you should be leavin’ on a high.”
 

I could see his point. If I went back to the camp, then Ellie would start shit to try to get to me, which would result in me doing something I really wouldn't be sorry for after. If I was going to be taking photos for a living, I couldn’t risk hitting her wrong and doing something that would see me stuck back in that town with them. Biting my lip, I nodded
 

“Okay, I’ll stay.” The grin that spread across his lips was enough to make me forget what just happened and relax. I tucked myself back into his side and wrapped my arms around his waist as I fought to hide a yawn. This was what happened once I stopped after a night of drinking. The buzz would make me sleepy as hell, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was crashing. “Do you mind if we get out of here? I have a feeling I am about to meet a wall, and sadly, there is no crashing through it after this weekend.”
 

“Of course, darlin’, let's get you comfy shall we?”
 

I smiled and we both stood up. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I tucked myself into his side as we made our way back to where they were camping out. Well, I wouldn’t so much call it camping as I would sleeping in tour buses and campervans, but eh, I wasn’t about to complain. They needed to sleep and when you are camping in tents with this many people around, I can understand why they needed to put a solid wall between them and that. Once we got through the security guys who kept the crazies away from them, Morgan opened up the door and pulled his arm away.
 

“After you, my lady.” I couldn’t help but grin when he motioned with his hand and dipped his head.
 

“Why thank you, good sir.” I stepped in after a small curtsy and walked inside the bus, Taking his hand as he led me through to the back. He pointed out everything including the bathroom and kitchen in case I needed anything before he stopped when he got to the bedroom. Yeah, maybe I was rethinking how I should be travelling. I shook my head at the thought and moved to lay down on the bed.
 

“You take the bed Maddie. I can sleep out in the front part.”
 

Sitting up slowly, I shook my head. “You should have the bed Morgan. It is your bus after all.”  Morgan shook his head and I tilted my head to the side a little. “You could always come and lay with me…” It took him half a second to think about that before he was pulling his shirt up over his head and moving to lie down on the other side of the bed. “Morgan, where are your shirts?” He raised a brow and pointed to a case in the corner.
 

Getting up off the bed, I moved to grab a comfy looking one and ducked into the bathroom. Losing the boots and jeans, I took off my shirt and bra folded them all neatly and left them in there. Putting on his shirt, which was swimming on me, I took a deep breath, walked out of the bathroom, and moved to lie down again. I looked over at him, and boy, did I ever regret that. That smirk.
My God
. I was going to have very good dreams of that smirk tonight. While getting comfy under the covers, I wiggled back against him. “No funny business mister.”
 

He chuckled and lay down letting his arm wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. “Wouldn’t dream of it…well, maybe I would.” I let out a soft groan as I hid my face in the pillow and closed my eyes. He clapped his hands, and the lights went out before he wrapped his arm back around me. “Sweet dreams, Maddie.”
 

I mumbled something as sleep kicked in and took me from Morgan. That was the first night I’d had a good night's sleep in I don’t know how long…

I ran my hand over my face with a groan and went to stretch but found someone tucked into my arm. I couldn't help but grin seeing Maddie curled into my side and using my chest as a pillow. Part of me expected her to regret coming back with me, to wake and find she had crept out during the night. My God, she was gorgeous. How an angel like this was here with me, I’ll never know, but I thank God she was. Carefully slipping out from under Maddie, I stretched and watched her curl up. I could stay here and watch her for hours, but that would be creepy. Right? Shaking my head and moving to the bathroom, I went to pee before moving into the kitchen where I started making coffees. I had no idea how Maddie liked her coffee so Lord only knew if I was gonna get this right, but I had to give it a go. I was about to pick our coffee up when I heard my phone go off. Shit, where had I left that? Quickly finding it in my jeans from last night, I made sure it didn’t wake Maddie and looked to see who was calling.
 

“Josh?”
 

“What’s this I hear about you sleeping with my ex?”
 

“Excuse me? I’m doing what now?”
 

“Don’t screw with me Morgan. Maddison. I know she is there. El said she didn’t come back last night and she was last seen with you.”
 

“What I do and who I do it with is none of your business. You may be family, Josh, but I don’t owe you anything. I had no idea Maddie was your ex, but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. You’re an idiot, and she deserves so much better than you.
If
that’s me, then great. If not, at least I will know I made her happier in just one night than you did in your whole relationship. Oh, and Ellie?”
 

“What about her?”
 

“Real class act there man. You should definitely hold on to that.” I hung up the phone and turned it to silent. My manager knew I was off the grid for a few weeks, so I shouldn't be hearing from anyone else. Turning around, I picked up the coffee and moved into the bedroom. Setting them down and getting back into bed, I pressed my lips softly to Maddie’s neck and nuzzled. My God, she smelt so good.
 

“You better have a coffee ready Morgan, or your ass is getting back out of bed.”
 

I chuckled softly. “I have one gorgeous, but I was just guessing. I don’t know how you drink your coffee.” I pulled back. She let out a soft groan and pulled me back to her.
 

“Don’t you want your coffee?” She shook her head no and I chuckled again. “As you wish.” I cuddled back up to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Her body felt so perfect next to mine. I listened to the sound of her breathing as she lay in my arms. I thought for a minute that she might have fallen back to sleep. The sound of a phone going off made her groan. “Just ignore it. Whoever it is can wait.” She sighed and rolled over to hide her face in my neck.

“I know who it is. I don’t care if he is dying. I am not moving. If it goes to voice mail, I can listen to it later.” I nodded gently.

“Good, because I am not ready to share you.” I chuckled and wrapped her up in my arms as I rested my cheek against her head. I knew Josh wasn't happy with my answer and he would try to get to Maddie. I was gonna have to deal with that real quick. A guy like him didn’t deserve to even know a girl like Maddie. I knew I was going to have to tell her about Josh being my cousin, and I had to beat him to it. If he told her, the spin he would put on it would make me look like I was using her to get to him. Much like her feelings for him, he could be on fire and I wouldn’t piss on him to put it out. He had always screwed with the girls he dated and left a wake of hurt in his path. Maddie deserved so much more than that. She deserved someone who would treat her like a princess and make her feel special. Was I that man? God, I hoped so, but if not, I wasn’t about to let Josh decide that.
 

Her phone started up again and she pulled away. I let my arms fall and prayed to God she didn’t answer the call. I had only just met her. I didn’t want him messing up my time with her. She got out of bed, and my eyes moved to her ass. Damn, she was perfect. Pushing myself up and leaning back against the headboard, I watched as Maddie moved to where she left her clothes and took her phone out.
 

“Oops, phone died.” she said.

 
I watched her hold the power button and turn it off before tossing it back down and coming back to me. I cracked up laughing and pulled her closer to me, kissing her head. Maddie leaned over me, reached toward her coffee, and pulled it to her hand.
 

“I can remake it if it’s not how you like it.” I took mine and we both sat back. I watched as she took a test sip, and her eyes closed.

“It's so good. Thank you, babe.”
 

“You’re welcome, darlin’.”
 

I drank mine quietly for a minute before turning my attention back to Maddie. She was staring at the bed deep in thought as she quietly sipped her coffee.

“Wanna talk about what’s on ya mind?”
 

Maddie looked over at me and leaned into me more. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and ran my hand along her arm, letting my fingertips trail lightly over her skin. “I won’t push ya but if you wanna talk, I am here.” The silence sat between us. It wasn’t an awkward silence though, which was something. It didn’t make her want to get up and go back to her friends.
 

“I guess I am just waiting to wake up. The last couple of years haven’t been all that good to me, but here I am feeling happy, and I am just waiting to wake up in a tent with a bunch of girls like this never happened.”
 

I stayed quiet for a minute while she sipped her coffee. Setting mine down beside me, I shifted so I could get a better look at Maddie. “What that ass did to you, you can’t let it run your life. I know it hurt but believe me darlin’, last night, we slept together.” I waited until she smiled before I went on. “This is happening and will happen for as long as you want it to. We are going to spend so much time together you are gonna be begging me to go home. If you want to take me back and parade me in front of your ex, we can do that.”