Interested in hearing more about Morgan’s personal life, Leo encouraged Chris by saying, “I know. The divorce was hard on him.” Did he feel a little scummy leading Morgan’s friends on to think the two of them were closer than they were? Kind of. But he wanted to hear his best friend’s opinion.
“Of course it was.” As if realizing he might have said too much, Chris bit his lip. “Well, divorce is hard on everyone.” They walked slowly up the path. “I’m surprised he talked about it.”
“Yeah.” Unfortunately, Morgan’s friend wasn’t going to spill the beans, and at a loss for words, Leo remained quiet. They joined Morgan and Sean, waiting for the elevator, but Leo’s mind raced—he was more intrigued than ever, wanting to figure out what happened between Morgan and his ex-husband.
He followed the three men into Morgan’s apartment.
“This is…nice.” Chris’s broad smile couldn’t hide his dismay when he and Sean stood in the center of Morgan’s small apartment. “You have a place for everything. You don’t need a bunch of wasted space cluttered with junk.”
An unexpected surge of protectiveness rolled through Leo.
“I know it’s a hell of a lot smaller than the Chelsea place, but…” Morgan shrugged and faced the window, but not before Leo spied the twin red spots of embarrassment on his cheeks. Chris and Sean enveloped him in a hug.
“It’s perfect. Your health and safety are worth a hell of a lot more than a twenty-five-hundred-square-foot apartment.”
Leo vowed to be vigilant and pick up clues as to what had sent Morgan Cantrell running from his marriage. Morgan didn’t seem like the kind of guy to walk away—despite being one of the good guys, he was tenacious.
“It’s been different living on my own, for sure, but I’m getting used to it.” Morgan put on a smile, but Leo, having spent enough time with him by now, knew it was fake. “I’ve even started cooking.”
“That’s debatable.”
Three sets of eyes fixed on him, but Leo was only interested in the scowl attached to the stormy green ones.
“You’ll never let me forget it, will you?” Morgan stomped over to the kitchen and set four wineglasses on the counter. Chris took the bottle out of the bag and uncorked it.
“Forget what?” Sean slid onto a barstool. “Sounds like a story.”
“Yeah. Your buddy here almost burned down the building.” Leo purposefully exaggerated, wanting to see Morgan spark. He wasn’t beyond admitting it was a turn-on. And Morgan didn’t disappoint.
“I did not.” Hot with anger, Morgan gripped the countertop. “It was just a little smoke.”
Leo snorted. “A little smoke? Dude, you couldn’t see in here. I almost choked to death.”
“Oh, you poor thing. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” With one final glare, Morgan poured the wine and pushed two glasses toward his friends. “I was on the phone and had put the cookies in the oven and forgot. They kind of burned.”
“If bykind ofyou mean black lumps that stunk up the place, then yeah.Kind of.That smoke detector was going off for a while.”
“Good thing you were around, Leo.”
“I’m the super as well as the building owner, so I’m always here.”
Chris’s eyes gleamed. “That’s great. It’s good to have friends close by.”
“If he keeps trying to destroy my building, I’m not sure how long that’ll last.” Leo took a glass of wine.
Sean held his up. “Cheers and good luck to Morgan in his new place. May you find happiness and peace here.”
They all clinked glasses, but Morgan refused to make eye contact with him. Leo took a sip. He was a beer man, and it must’ve shown on his face as Chris chuckled.
“Not exactly your drink?”
“Nah, but it’s all good.” He set it on the counter. “Where do you guys live?”
“Gramercy Park. Not the most convenient, but we like the neighborhood. Are you from Brooklyn?”
“Yeah. Mill Basin. You’ve probably never heard of it if you don’t know the outer boroughs. I don’t get to the city much; too much work around here—keeps me chained to the place.”
“I get it. Must keep you busy, fixing all the problems that can come up with a building.”
