Page 2 of Pretend

“Is it later?” Morgan asked, sounding hopeful as she glanced around the insanely expensive restaurant, most likely looking for another chance to bitch-slap Amber.

“Not yet,” Eric said softly, watching as Morgan’s small shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Looks like it’s time to leave,” Trevor said, drawing his attention to Jack, Amber’s father, who looked seriously pissed as the manager handed him the bill for this mess.

“Probably a good idea,” his father murmured in agreement as he stood up and headed toward Theo, who wasn’t letting the fact that he was barely fourteen stop him from trying to pick up a waitress. Eric watched his little brother lay on the Bradford charm only to wince in sympathy when their father grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him out of the restaurant.

“Well, that was fun,” Trevor said around a yawn as he got up.

“Not really,” Jason said, grabbing another beer as he headed for the door.

“You want help?” Trevor asked, gesturing to Morgan, who was staring intently down at the bucket of ice.

“Did you see that?” she mumbled, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced up at him.

“See what?” Eric asked, dropping the ice back in the bucket as he stood up.

“I turned the bubbles into ice with my mind,”Morgan whispered as he plucked her glasses off her face and carefully placed them in his jacket pocket.

“I did and it was amazing,” Eric said, nodding as he reached for her.

“Do you think this means that I’m a Jedi Master now?” Morgan asked as he picked her up and carefully threw her over his shoulder.

“I really do,” Eric said as he headed for the door.

There was a sniffle, and then, “I knew this day would come,” making his lips twitch even as he tried to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do now.

CHAPTER2

“Kill. Me,” Morgan managed to get out as her grip tightened around the towel that she was hugging against her chest while she prayed that Eric took pity on her and stopped talking before it was too late.

There was a heavy sigh and then…

“How did I fuck up this badly, Morgan?” the man that wouldn’t shut up asked while she lay there wondering why she didn’t leave when she had the chance.

Because she was an idiot, that’s why, Morgan realized when the man that she’d never thought she would see again released another long-suffering sigh, causing her poor head to pound harder. Not sure how much more of this she could take, Morgan slowly, ever so slowly, moved to stand up only to decide that was a bad idea when she remembered what happened the last time she tried to become vertical and settled for turning around, shoving the shower curtain out of the way and crawling into the oversized shower stall.

Once she was there, Morgan blindly reached up, slapped at the tile that matched her bathroom in the townhouse next to this one until she found the faucet, turned it on, and promptly returned to the fetal position, praying that Eric took pity on her and left her alone so that she could die in peace. She felt herself begin to relax as the hot water slowly worked its way through the dress that was probably ruined now, closed her eyes, and-

Found herself groaning when Eric shoved the curtain open the rest of the way with a heavy sigh and asked the question that she’d been wondering since he’d decided to propose to the Wicked Bitch of the East, “What the hell was I thinking, Morgan?”

“Can we talk about this later?” Morgan asked, regretting her decision to do those shots with Trevor, but at the time, she’d thought that they were a good idea.

“How do I keep fucking up my life?” Eric asked, ignoring her question.

“I really don’t think you want me to answer that,” Morgan mumbled as she reached over, grabbed the towel she’d abandoned on the bathroom floor and dragged it inside the shower and shoved it beneath her head.

“I’m done with women,” Eric said with a heavy sigh that had her cracking one eye open to glare at him because she’d heard this all before.

Since he didn’t actually want a response, Morgan closed her eyes again and tried not to think about how much she had to drink last night. She was never drinking again, Morgan decided as she listened to Eric ramble on about how badly he’d messed up because that’s what she did when the man that she’d been in love with her whole life needed to vent about another woman.

She listened.

She listened while he wondered why it didn’t work out this time.

She listened while he wondered why he couldn’t seem to fall in love with any of them.

She listened to all the things that she didn’t want to hear because he was her best friend, but this time, this time would be the last time.