I dropped my voice low, feeling like I was being overheard. “I promised my teammates I wasn’t going anywhere. I told Anna we’d stay in Chester until she graduated. I can’t up and leave everyone. I have obligations.”
Morgan leaned her chin in her hand and regarded me. I liked the way she looked at me. There was no adoration in her gaze. She wasn’t star struck. She only saw me. A man. Nothing else.
Being seen for who you are is a powerful thing. It can make you think things you’d never dreamt of before.
Like commitment. And a future.
“But you’re thinking about it. Leaving Chester,” she whispered. I appreciated her discreetness.
I ran my hands over my face. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s a lot of money.”
She didn’t ask how much.
“Does the money matter that much to you?” she asked softly.
“You have to understand that I’m a guy who grew up with nothing. My mum had to scrape and save for everything. My dad took off when I was young, leaving Mum to do it all on her own.” The mention of my father had me fuming again.
Morgan got up and moved her seat so it was beside mine. She leaned her head on my shoulder. I could smell her shampoo. It was strangely calming. I found myself relaxing into her, not realizing I was even doing it.
“That’s not all,” I found myself saying to her. She looked up at me attentively.
“My sperm donor is trying to sell information about me to the fucking Mirror. Stupid shit like my school reports and behavior plans from when I was bloody five. But he’s also trying to say that Mum has been using my money to support him. Has been for years.” I realized I was shaking. The thought of my mother betraying me like that was too much. I couldn’t face it. Not from her.
“Don’t,” Morgan said sharply.
“What?” I frowned.
“Don’t doubt your mother based on hearsay. Has she not always been a great mother?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she has.”
“Have you ever had reason to think she still kept in contact with your dad?”
“No, but it doesn’t mean she hasn’t,” I argued.
“Do you have a good relationship with her?” she prodded.
“We do. The best. She’s always been my biggest supporter.”
Morgan gave me a light slap on the cheek. “Then don’t you dare question the woman unless you have hard proof. And probably the best way to get that is to go to the source. Call her. Ask her about it.”
I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her. “You’re right. Damn you.” I could feel her laughing against my chest and I found myself smiling, even though I was stressed and feeling guilty, and angry as hell at my dad.
She made me smile in the middle of all that.
Morgan Carter was something kind of special.
“As for the offer, you have to go with what your gut says. Don’t listen to your agent. Or your teammates. Or your coach. Or even your family. Listen here.” She tapped my gut. “And here.” She then tapped my temple. “And maybe a little here.” She placed her palm over my heart. “It will all fall into place.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
She leaned up and kissed me. There was passion there. But there was something deeper. Something intense. Something I wasn’t prepared for.
It felt a lot like falling.
“I trust that it will. You should too,” was all she said.
I wasn’t sure I could believe that, but I was starting to trust her.
