Page 50 of Love, Morgan

“Why?”

I glowered out at the ocean. I didn’t care that it wasn’t the one speaking. “Because.”

“Because why?”

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whined.

“Because, if you don’t tell me, you won’t tell anyone, and you’ll just sit there, brooding, and ruining the final days of your vacation.”

She was right, of course. How annoying.

“Fine.” I took a deep breath. “We live in different places, we have lives we’re going back to, she’s basically famous…”

“That’s a whole lot of unimportant things.”

“No, it’s not,” I protested. “Those are all very important and relevant things. You and Alicia didn’t live in the same city, and you didn’t see each other for eight years. Where you live is important.”

She sighed. “Where you live is negotiable. And distance isn’t impossible to overcome.”

“I’m not leaving Jackson Point.”

“I’m not saying you have to,” she replied quickly, hearing the determination in my tone. “I’m just saying it isn’t worth the level of annoyance you’re currently going through. And I think you know that. So…?”

I knew what she was getting at. I was sure she knew I did. But I didn’t want to get into this. Why did I have to? All because I got a crush on someone? Really?

“Morgan,” she prompted quietly, and it half broke me.

Ripley was my best friend. I’d sat with her as she’d gone through hell. I’d hidden in a bush with her, helped her get back together with Alicia. She knew my past, my family. She knew it all. And she was still here, still letting me be exactly who I was. No judgment, no hatred, no unreasonable expectations.

“I don’t date,” I whispered.

“Well, you haven’t. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t.” She was so gentle.

I’d done my best to be what she’d needed when she was in trouble, but I’d never been this gentle.

“It does. If I date, then what? Am I supposed to get married? Have kids? Get a house my mother would approve of?”

“You haven’t spoken to your mother in years. I don’t think you need to do anything she’d approve of.”

“Too right,” I replied, as if she’d been fighting me on it. It wasn’t for her. It was for me, to me. A message to remind myself that I’d built the life I wanted, not the one someone else forced me into.

But relationships, they included two people. Two sets of wants and needs. Two paths you had to make compatible. Another person you had to accommodate yourself to. And what if she wanted something I couldn’t give?

And that wasn’t even getting into all of her stuff. She had her dad and her life, and they mattered.

“Have you talked to Iona about this?”

“Ha. No.”

“Don’t you think you should?”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

She snorted indelicately. “Maybe to get a read on where she’s at? What she’d be interested in? Maybe to figure out whether or not you’re on the same page?”

“No, because I’m not even supposed to like her. She’s putting up with me, but we shouldn’t have even met. I watch her videos, go to her shows, avoid meeting her. I don’t have time for… all of this.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t see it as putting up with you. And I think you know that, deep down.” She took a slow breath and my heart pounded, waiting for her words. “I know why you’re scared, Morgan. Your family took your whole childhood, and you’ve worked very hard to have your own life. But Iona isn’t your parents. A relationship doesn’t have to be like that. The way they treated you isn’t the only way it could be. Look at me and Alicia. We’re nothing like they were.”

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