Page 113 of Grease Monkey
Morgana
“Where the hell have you been?” Shay crosses her arms over her chest. Her brows are pinched down so low on her face that I can’t help but grin as I throw my arms around her neck and hug her hard.
“Someone’s happy,” she says, returning the hug, then swiftly pushing me away and gasping. “You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t. Not again.”
I roll my lower lip between my teeth, biting down to rein in my laughter. She looks so mad right now that it’s comical. She throws her hands up and spins on her heel, her feet pounding the hardwood as she paces the kitchen to the living room and back again.
“Honestly, Morgana, how could you be so stupid? I left you for a few hours, and you run off withhim?”
“It wasn’t a couple of hours, Shay. You were gone for almost a whole day,” I say, walking to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. “You missed a lot.”
She taps her foot, her lips pulled into a tight pout. “Well, are you going to stand there or tell me?”
I drop onto the sofa and grip her hand, tugging her down hard to sit beside me. She shifts, so she’s facing me, and I smile as she appears to be getting madder and madder with every second I don’t talk.
“Richard came by after you texted about the new bar opening.”
Her jaw drops so low I can practically see her tonsils. “Shut the fuck up.”
“And Teddy came up.”
She sits up straight. “And Imissedthat? What happened? Did Richard find out? Did Teddy out you guys? Fuck, Morgana, where are they now?”
I take a deep breath and answer her questions in order. “You were drinking free wine.Itold Richard all about us. Teddy didn’t say anything. He made up some story about needing to speak to me about my car. Richard is back in Connecticut with the engagement ring, probably telling my parents that the wedding is off as we speak.”
I think I’ve broken Shay. She’s sitting unblinking, slack-jawed, and I’m not convinced she’s still breathing. I lean back against the armrest and wait. Eventually, she closes her mouth and swallows hard.
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s all you have to say?”
She nods. “Uh-huh. I guess I’m trying to channel whatever energy you’ve got going on right now because you donotlook broken up about ending your seven-year relationship.” My smile drops as Shay looks genuinely worried.
“Shay, I don’t look broken up about it because I’m not. Richard and I spoke. A lot. We both weren’t happy. I didn’t realize our whole relationship was arranged, and I lost it. I told him everything: how unhappy he’d made me, about Teddy, about not wanting to get married, and we agreed it wasn’t what we wanted. It was actually a very boring break-up.”
“And what about your mom?”
“Richard promised not to tell her.”
“And we believe him?”
I shrug. “I don’t have a reason not to believe him.”
She huffs and rubs at her temples. “Okay, so what about Teddy? I assume he knows the wedding is off?” I nod. “And he knows the reason you broke up with him all those years ago?” I nod again. “And are you going to fill me in?”
“Mom threatened his family.”
Shay’s face grows redder and redder the deeper into the story I go. “Why aren’t you more mad, Morgs? Your mom is the devil incarnate.”
I shrug. Maybe I’m just desensitized by it all, but after rehashing it several times for different people, I don’t want to think about it for a long while.
“And you’re not scared about the fallout when your mom comes here next and demands you go home? ’Cause you know she will.”
“Oh, I have no doubt she will.” And that thought alone is enough to make my stomach curdle. “And as for the fallout—I’m fucking terrified, Shay. But I didn’t trust Teddy enough to tell him the truth the last time, so when she tries it again, we’ll be together.”
“Together as in…”
“Together-together.” I look away, embarrassed, as heat spills onto my cheeks. “He was always it for me, Shay. It just took me too long to stand up for what I wanted…”
