Page 120 of Grease Monkey
A silence settles over us as we watch my mom leave. I bite down hard on my bottom lip as it quivers again because, as much as I know I’m doing the right thing—she was controlling and manipulative and toxic—she’s still my mom, and I worry this will be the last time I see her.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Teddy says, taking me into his arms, just as my legs want to give out. I sag into him and bury my face in his shirt, trying so damn hard not to cry.
“Morgana, I know it sucks now, but it’s for the best.” Skip places his hand on my back, and I swap one embrace for another, wrapping my arms tightly around my brother’s back, and then the sobbing starts. Years of frustration, hurt, anger, and sadness flow through my tears that I can’t seem to stop. My body shakes against Skip’s, and he lets me cry. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“Where were you?” I sob, pulling back to look at him with wet eyes and an even wetter face. “Why haven’t you been in contact for the last seven years? Why are you here now?”
Skip grimaces, and I see him look at Teddy silently, asking for help. He sighs and itches the side of his face. “I was mad at you.”
“Why? What did I do?” He looks at Teddyagain. “Will you stop looking at him, please?”
“Well, I feel like a dickhead now, but at the time, it made sense,” he says, trying,and failing, to keep his eyes off Teddy.
“Skip!”
“Okay, okay. After you broke things off with Teddy, he called me to see if I knew anything—which I didn’t—but when he told me what had happened, I got mad and sided with him.”
I wince. “But you’re my brother. I needed you,” I croak, my heart splintering in two.
“I know, okay, I am a dickhead. But it brought up all these old feelings from when Mom kicked me out and knowing you went along with what she wanted you to do without a fight… Fuck, Morgana, you were always the one who followed her blindly. Always doing what she expected from you and I just thought she had finally managed to turn you into hermini-meor something.”
“I was scared Skip.”
“I know thatnow.But, Morgs, seeing you both in New York, how happy you were… And then to find out you dumped him bytext.I hurt for the guy.”
“Baby, don’t be too upset with him. I think it’s fair to say your mom has caused a lot of hurt for a lot of people. And she still wins if we don’t move past it.”
I stare at Teddy. When did he become levelheaded? But, still, it doesn’t stop the pain in my heart that my brother chose Teddy over me.
“Besides,” Teddy says, coming behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. “We bonded over the whole thing and became sorta friends.”
I eye Skip skeptically. “Really?”
“Yeah, Morgs. Teddy’s good people. I like him.” He smirks at Teddy, who flips him the bird. “Plus, I’d rather him for my brother-in-law than some stuffy asshole Mom picked out.”
I freeze, remembering what Teddy said to my mom. I twist to face him, my throat thick as I ask, “Did you mean that?”
“What? That I’m going to marry you?” He laughs and kisses my forehead. “Fuck yes, Ana. If you didn’t have the faint line where fuckface’s ring was on your finger, I’d have done it already.”
I lift my hand and notice I do have a mark like a tan line circling my finger. Teddy links his hand in mine and brings it to his lips. Kissing the back of my empty finger, he says, “One day, you’ll wear my ring, but not right now. But when it happens, you’ll be mine forever.”
“You don’t need to give me a ring to know I’m yours forever. I already am.”
“Bleeeeeh,”Skip pretends to gag, pulling us out of our moment as he walks into the living room, leaving Teddy and me alone. “You two are disgusting.”
I laugh. “That’s what Shay says… Oh shit, Shay.”
“She went to the bar. Couldn’t handle your mom and her rampage,” Teddy says.
“I should text her and let her know we’re okay,” I say, grabbing my phone from my purse and sending her a quick message. “Are we still going to meet her?”
Teddy licks his lips suggestively. “I’d know what I’d rather do…” He stalks forward and trails his hands up the side of my body, his thumbs brushing the side of my breasts, and I have to bite back a moan.
Skips in the next room, Morgana.
Teddy snatches my phone out of my hands and texts Shay.
Morgana:We can’t make it. I need to suck Teddy’s cock more than I need air. Stay at a hotel, and Teddy will pay you back.
