Page 70 of One More Round

He mutters something under his breath, turns back to Dex and signals for him to get on with it.

“So. I just wanted to let you know that Morgan and—”

“Oh my God. Are you getting married?” Link nearly shouts.

“Uh, no,” Dex replies, “but I mean, that’s the end goal though—”

“Having a baby? Did you knock her up, you dirty dog, you?” Link interrupts again. I rub my forehead and stifle a groan. I glance at Dex and see the annoyed look on his face.

“No. Will you shut up and listen to me?”

“Fine, fine,” Link surrenders.

“Morgan and I are moving in together. There’s an open apartment on Bernie’s floor and we want to snag it up. So, I’m moving out.” The look on his face is a mix of trepidation and excitement.

“I can’t tell, are you not looking forward to moving in with her or are you excited?” I ask carefully.

“No, I was not looking forward to telling you fools. You give me shit all the time and I figured you’d both freak out at the news,” he says.

“So, what’s this mean for the team?” Link asks.

“Says the man not on the team,” I deadpan. Link shoots a glare my way.

“It means absolutely nothing for the team. I’m just not going to be living here in this unit with you guys. You’ll still see me in practice all day, every day. Instead of sharing all the waking and sleeping hours near you smelly a-holes, however, I’ll spend them with my girl.” He smiles. It’s slightly annoying how in love he is, but I’m happy for him. “I’d like to add that she is quite partial to you both, so she’s worried that you’ll be upset. I told her that she could visit anytime she wanted.”

Link places his hand over his heart. “Aww, I knew she loved me.”

Dex rolls his eyes. “Watch it,” he warns.

“So, what was the deciding factor in all this?” I ask.

“Well, we want to see each other more. Plus, Morgan can’t really afford the rent for her apartment now that …” He hesitates, but I just cock an eyebrow. We don’t have a “she-who-should-not-be-named” policy. I mean, her best friends are over here constantly. He takes the hint and continues. “Gia isn’t splitting the payment anymore. So, it doesn’t make sense that she lives there alone. Plus, their lease is up. Ruby was going to move in, but she can’t get out of her own yet.”

“It all makes sense, man,” I tell him.

“Plus, I really don’t like her living alone. I know it’s only a twenty-minute drive or so between us now, but I’d just feel better knowing she’s closer.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about us, we will survive without you. Two single bros living the life,” Link croons. Then looking at me he says, “I mean, think of the possibilities, the parties we could throw, all the single ladies. Life’s about to get interesting, man.”

I just shake my head and Dex chuckles.

“Whatever. Even when there were three singlebros,” Dex air quotes the last word, “we didn’t live that lifestyle. But do what you want.”

We all know we won’t turn to that lifestyle. Even though he jokes about it, it's really not Link’s scene.

“So, for real though, when are you getting married?” I ask, taking my turn to razz him a bit.

“Ooh, do tell.” Link props his head up on his palm with his elbow leaning on the arm of the couch.

Dex relaxes now that we’ve apparently eased his mind on hearing his news. A slow, confident smile crosses his face.

“Well, I’ll have to ask her first.”

“So, you’ve thought about it,” I confirm. I know he has. He doesn’t know, but I caught him looking at rings a couple weeks ago on his computer.

He chuckles. “You could say that.”

“You already have the ring, don’t you?” Link asks.

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