Page 19 of Pretend

-sighed heavily when the plate was suddenly plucked out of her hands. Frowning, Morgan watched as Eric shoved a large bite of pancake in his mouth before he made his way back to the table, where he dumped the plate of hashbrowns, sausage, and toast onto his plate before he made his way to the bathroom, looking more relaxed than he had a minute ago.

Narrowing her eyes on the large bastard that was seriously screwing with her sanity, Morgan watched as Eric made his way to the bathroom, looking really freaking happy for some reason and-

Did…Did he just wink at her?

Yes, yes, he did, Morgan thought as she watched Eric close the bathroom door behind him with another satisfied sigh, leaving her standing there, shaking her head in wonder. There was something seriously wrong with that man, she decided as she shifted her attention to her backpack and sighed.

She needed to find out how much this trip was going to set her back.

For a moment, Morgan considered putting this off until later, but…

She had too much riding on this project to leave anything to chance.

CHAPTER12

He needed a plan.

No matter how badly he wanted her, and Christ, did he fucking want her, Eric wasn’t about to do anything to risk losing Morgan. She just…

God, she was fucking everything to him.

Last night, after he’d nearly lost his fucking mind and realized just how fucking badly he’d screwed up, he’d found himself turning around and heading back inside to tell Morgan everything. With every step, Eric finally allowed himself to think about all of those things that he’d refused to allow himself to think about over the years, the things he would have given any-fucking thing to come true but never thought would happen all because he’d fucked up.

He thought about that kiss.

He thought about what it would feel like to pull her into his arms.

And when he thought about what it would be like to finally touch her…

Eric hadn’t been able to move fast enough.

By the time he walked back into their room, he struggled to remember how to breathe and when he saw her curled up in that bed…

He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

As he crossed the large room, Eric realized that he had no fucking idea what he was supposed to say to her. Things would have been so much easier if he’d been able to tell her how he felt when they were fifteen, but now…

She was his world.

As much as Eric wanted her, and he’d never wanted anything more than Morgan, he was scared out of his fucking mind that he was going to lose her and he knew without a doubt that if he rushed this that he would destroy everything. He couldn’t risk losing her, which was why he’d forced himself to stand there, watching her sleep as he thought about what his life would be like without her and-

He would never survive.

He had to be sure, really fucking sure that he had a chance, which is why he’d spent the rest of the night waiting for her to say those words again and once she did…

There was nothing on this earth that was going to stop him from doing whatever it took to make her fall in love with him, which meant that he was going to have to do something that he swore that he would never do. With that in mind, Eric glanced back at the bathroom door to make sure that it was still closed before he pulled his phone out of his pocket, took a deep breath, and sent a text message to his father.

How do I make Morgan fall in love with me?

Pray that she’s desperate?

Narrowing his eyes on the phone, Eric sent another message.

What are you doing with Dad’s phone?

Wondering why you think Morgan’s willing to settle.

Praying for patience that he knew that he didn’t fucking have, Eric sent another message, one that was guaranteed to remind his brother what he would do to him when he got his hands on the little bastard.

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