Page 84 of Love, Morgan

“Morgan,” she said softly, stopping me in my tracks.

I turned back to her, drinking in the sight of her in my sheets. I hated this part. I’d hated this part for six long months. The moments right before she left, right before we were back on opposite sides of the country. So far, she’d always come back, but this time, when she came back, she was moving in. What if it was finally too much?

She got out of the bed, standing in front of me and looking like an angel in the light behind her. “I promise, this is where I want to be. I’m coming back.”

“Your dad’s going to hate me.”

She laughed. “You know he adores you. And you know he’s excited about visiting, and us visiting him and Cerberus all the time…”

I did know that, and of course he liked me. This was the man who’d raised Iona, he clearly had great taste.

But I also knew how huge a move this was. No matter how excited she was to be here with me all the time, it was still a huge change, still her giving up part of her life. And, even if we were still going to spend a lot of our time bouncing between here and her dad’s place, I couldn’t help but worry.

I took her hand carefully, holding her like the precious jewel she was. “Are you sure you’re happy? I don’t want any part of you to—”

“I promise. I know it’s huge. I know so much has been changing over the last six months. And, yeah, sometimes it’s still scary and anxiety-inducing, but I don’t want to live my life running scared, you know?”

“You’re not. It’s not like that.”

“I know. I know I can’t help it, and anxiety is what it is, but I don’t want the fear running my life any more than we want the people from our pasts running our lives.”

I pursed my lips. I knew what she was getting at, and I knew how much she meant it. The last six months had been a great many things, but working through all of the feelings coming up wasn’t something that had been hard to do. It often surprised me how easily it had come to both of us. We really were just stronger together.

But anxiety was still like that sometimes, no matter how good we were together. And that was okay.

I pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “If you’re sure?”

She nodded, that deep sense of rightness in her eyes again. “I am.”

I grinned. “Great, because I’m amazing, and everyone should want to live with me.”

“They totally should,” she said, following my lead in getting ready.

It didn’t matter that I’d had six months of her now, every little thing with her was still amazing. There was nobody else I’d ever have been willing to give up so much of myself and my life to, but none of it felt wrong or like a sacrifice for her. I’d been waiting for her, and only her, my whole life, it seemed. So, things like walking down the street towards Petal and Pebble together, holding hands, and chatting about everything and nothing just felt right. They felt like life was slotting into place and, for the first time ever, making sense.

I’d been happy enough before her, but, in many ways, I’d been floating. Untethered in a way that only made sense now that I knew I’d been waiting for her.

The fact that she felt the same was more incredible than any gift I’d ever seen her wrap.

We got to the door and I saw the tiny moment of hesitation. In the last six months, her social circle had expanded a lot. She was getting along with Ripley, Alicia, and Harlow like she’d always belonged with us, and she had a solid group of content creators she was friends with. In addition to Thalia, it was like her whole world had suddenly become populated. But, no matter what, she still hesitated sometimes, that way she did when her brain tried to tell her she didn’t belong.

I squeezed her hand, reminding her that she did.

She shot me a grateful smile and pushed the door open, letting me lead the way into Petal and Pebble.

Alicia grinned from over by the counter. “Good morning, Franklin-Engles,” she said, sipping at her coffee.

I rolled my eyes. I knew she thought I deserved it for all the times I referred to her as Ripley’s wife even though they were yet to officially tie the knot again, but really, the cheek of her to pull a Morgan on me was off the scale.

Iona blushed and smiled at her. “Morning, Alicia. Colombian medium roast?”

Alicia smiled and shook her head, incredulous. “The way you can do that is weird. I’m never going to get used to it.”

“You will when she’s here all the time, being the most amazing person in town, and constantly guessing your coffee just from the smell,” I said, squeezing her hand tightly. Admittedly, it was weird that she could do that, especially when in Ripley’s store and surrounded by the smell of all the plants, but it was weird in an amazing way.

“I highly doubt it,” Alicia said, nodding to Iona. “Colombian medium roast it is.”

“Well, now you owe me a forfeit,” I said, pulling Iona in close to me as we waited.

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