Page 3 of Undeniably

“Yep, that’s Morgan for you.”

I can almost picture the shrug at the end of that statement.

Tears threaten my eyes as I turn to leave, but Ryan’s next question stops me.

“You bang that yet?”

A long silence passes before Keaton laughs. “You already know, brah.”

They all burst out laughing. This time, I don’t stop. I turn and run right to the front door. Boswell catches me as I reach it.

“What’s wrong, Ms. Wright?”

He’s holding a tray of drinks. I feel the tears pouring from my eyes as the tightness in my chest continues to retract like a vice on my heart. The betrayal threatens to crush me.

“Take me home?” I whimper between sobs.

He doesn’t hesitate. He sets his tray down on a hall table before opening the door for me. From behind, I hear Keaton hollers, “Boswell, what’s taking so long?”

“Shouldn’t you go to him? I whisper.

“He can wait. Let’s get you home.”

The drive home is silent as I sob uncontrollably in the back seat. I want to be strong like my mom taught me, but I love Keaton. Those words he spoke shattered me.

“Here you are, Ms. Wright.”

“Thank you, Boswell. Could you not tell Keaton I stopped by?”

He gives me a sad smile. “I’ll take it to my grave.”

I return his sad smile with a thankful one. “Take care of yourself.”

“You too, Ms. Wright. I’ll miss you.”

I think we both know this is goodbye for good.

When I enter the front door, my mom pops her head around the corner to see who it is. When she sees me, her eyes go wide.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” She engulfs me in her arms, offering me the comfort I need.

“I don’t want to talk about it. When can we leave for Chicago? Please tell me right now.”

“Honey, whatever it is can’t be that bad. Let’s not make rash decisions.”

“No, Mom, it’s worse. Please, can’t we go?”

She sighs. “You know I think you should face your problems, not run away.”

“Mom, I know. Just this once can you just let me? Please? I need time.”

She gives in. “Just this once. We can go check the campus out again tomorrow. Maybe spend a few days in the city.”

“Thank you, Mom,” I whisper as I let the rest of today's emotions pour from my body.

???

Chapter 1

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