Page 16 of Breakaway

Morgan abruptly pulled away and stared up at Morris with large eyes, as if she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Last Travis checked, kissing wasn’t illegal.

“Uncle Sam—”

“Uncle who?” Travis sat dumbfounded. A sick feeling hit him in the stomach. With any luck, her uncle was standing behind Morris, and was ironically also named Sam. There was no way that Sam Morris was her uncle, the uncle who didn’t want her dating an athlete.

But the glare Morris was giving him told him all he needed to know.

“Anderson?” Morris’s voice was filled with anger, and it was directed right at him.

Her uncle was, in fact, Sam Morris, his Renegades teammate.

“Oh, shit.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Morgan

Morgan sat in the café of the rink with Travis across from her. They were on another coffee date, this time after practice.

“Next time, maybe we could go somewhere outside of the rink?” she teased.

She didn’t mind, honestly. It was nice getting to hang out with him during her break. He was handsome, and she’d take any chance to stare at him for an hour.

“Sure. I just thought that with you working, and me already here, this would be a great excuse to see you mid-day. And if you’re free, I thought we could grab dinner tonight?” He grinned cockily.

“Sounds like a plan. What’s dinner? Western Egg Wraps at the rink cafe?” she teased.

“Haha. Very funny.”

“I thought so. But seriously, I don’t know too many places here yet, so surprise me.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “And speaking of surprises, tell me a little more about yourself, since you left out the fact that your uncle was Sam Morris.”

“Well, you left out that you played for the Renegades, so...”

“True.” He nodded. “But do you think this is really fair? I have to go out on the ice with him.”

“And I have to live with him.” She grinned.

“Touché!” He winked at her.

“Okay, hang onto your hat, because here come the facts. My uncle and aunt would always visit us during the off season, but for the most part it, was just me and my mom. We liked it being us against the world. I think we thrived because of it.” She couldn’t help but smile. “I got to know Aunt Trina long before my uncle became a Renegade. And they helped my mom a lot over the years. Mom never asked him to, of course, but she was a single mother, and Uncle Sam never wanted us to struggle. So thanks to him and Aunt Tri, I grew up never wanting for anything... But I was the kind of kid who enjoyed the simple pleasures. Mom and I loved to go to the beach, have picnics, bike ride, roast smores... Pretty much anything that involved being in the sun or on the beach, we did. I can’t say school was a big focus for me, but by the time I was accepted into college, I had a plan, and I wanted to be at the top of my class. Which I did, with lots and lots of studying.”

“Now who’s the smarty pants?” he challenged.

“No shame here. My mom got sick my final year. But she promised that she’d be there to see me graduate, and she was.” Hot tears stung her eyes.

“Oh, I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” He leaned toward her and wrapped his hand over hers.

The way he looked at her made her stomach wrench. She hated seeing that look on folks’ faces. It was an “Oh, you poor thing” type of look. She used to see it when she was young and people found out it was just her and her mom, then when her mom became sick, then after she lost her mom.

“Can you not do that look again?”

He frowned. “What look?”

“That puppy dog, I’m sorry kind of look. I really hate it.”

Travis shrugged, then nodded and removed his hand from hers. “You got it.”

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