Morgan laughed. “And to think I used to get called a sissy for jumping rope with my next-door neighbor Jenny McAllister and her friends when I was a kid.”
“Fuck that,” Leo growled. Robert used to call him that, along with a host of others, whenever he’d catch him playing with girls. It was usually accompanied by a beating to “toughen him up.” His hands curled into fists as the image of Robert’s angry face loomed before him.
“Hey. Leo? What’s wrong?” Morgan touched his arm, and he jumped.
“Nothing,” he snapped, the loneliness and pain from the past seeping like a poison through his blood, and he hated that it messed with his mind and his time with Morgan.
“That’s bullshit. You were miles away just now. I told you about the worst part of myself—what happened with my ex—and I survived.”
But Morgan was strong. He lived a normal life and had friends and a family who loved him and cared enough about him that they baked cookies and made trips to tell him how special he was.
Not him.
He was weak and hid from people. Grief kept him shackled to a past he couldn’t bear to think about, let alone talk about it with anyone, not even his best friend.
And yet…
There was Morgan, who’d endured hell and still found goodness in people, even Leo. Morgan stood facing him, nose-to-nose, so fucking brave, Leo’s shell of a heart cracked and splintered.
“My father…” he began, his voice so rough with pain, he barely recognized it. “When he died, it all went to shit.”
“You mentioned how close you were.”
“He was everything to me. The only thing. My mother didn’t care. Having a child had been her bargaining chip—my father wouldn’t marry her unless she agreed to have a child, and she thought he would become a big developer and have her sitting pretty, with a big house in the city, a place in the Hamptons, and unlimited shopping. She loved her Chanel bags more than me. No, don’t contradict me,” Leo cut off Morgan as he opened his mouth, likely to voice his disagreement. “I was there. I know.”
“I’m listening.” Morgan took his cold hand. “I’m here.”
But for how long?
“If you are, you’re the only one. My mother couldn’t wait to get remarried after my dad died. And Robert was perfect for her—she got everything from him my father never had the chance to give her. That big house you saw wasn’t for me. It was so they could entertain their friends. The Hamptons house was for her, not for me to enjoy the beach. Nothing either of them did was ever for my benefit. Robert gave even less of a shit about me than she did. I think he got a thrill from knocking me around.”
“You only said he was two-faced.” Morgan’s shocked gaze clashed with his. “He hit you?”
“He beat me,” Leo ripped out, the words tasting savage and bitter on his tongue. “Any excuse was good—a lousy grade on a test, forgetting to take out the garbage, or maybe breathing too loud in his direction.”
Locked inside him for so long, a torrent of all the bygone horrors spilled out.
“Neither of them gave a damn about me playing baseball, but if I didn’t get a hit or score a run, Robert would call me a loser. There were days I couldn’t sit because the belt he used on me cut so deep, the slightest pressure on my skin was torture. I don’t know if my mother knew. I never said anything to her after the first time because Robert said I was making it up. I was ‘troubled.’ And she believed him over me because as long as the credit cards were available, she was happy. Every summer they’d dump me at a camp. I begged to stay with her in the Hamptons. Who wouldn’t want to be on the beach all summer? But she wasn’t about to let me ruin her fun, so Robert let me know with his words and hands that I wasn’t wanted. But the joke was on them.”
“How so?” Morgan whispered, holding his hand tight.
“After that first summer I didn’t complain because I’d get a reprieve from them for a few months. I didn’t even care that they never came to visit on Parents Day. The other kids pitied me, but I was happy. I never wanted to go home.”
“That bastard. That low-down, disgusting…”
Morgan cursing brought a tiny smile to Leo’s lips. “It’s okay, Tiger. But maybe now you can see why I feel about my mother the way I do.”
“How?” Morgan set his jaw. “I only saw a son who made sure to drop everything to go see her when he thought she was sick. You can pretend with other people you’re the big bad wolf, but not with me.”
Leo dragged him close, the audible hitch in Morgan’s breath sending a shockwave of desire through him. “I don’t mind huffing and puffing if you’re going to let me in.”
Morgan brushed light fingers along his jaw. “Maybe you already are.”
His heart lurched, and he blinked as the world careened around him like a merry-go-round on warp speed. He closed his eyes to get his bearings but didn’t let go of Morgan.
“We’d, uh, better get started.”
Shoulders slumped, Morgan picked up the rope, and after a few awkward jumps, got the hang of it. Five minutes into the set had him red-faced and gasping for breath, his body drenched with sweat. He stopped and dropped the rope.
