Page 39 of Meant for Them
“I’m so sorry, you guys. Honestly, I tried to warn him, I swear I did! After reading your palms in the shop a few days ago, I knew he was wormy, but, like I kind of thought he had some sort of self-preservation instinct? Nah. Not a single shred.”
All of a sudden, the tears that I thought Morgan was weeping in pain turn into laughter so severe that her face starts turning red and her voice completely cuts out. “I fucking love it here!” She screams as she flops to her back and starts brutally kicking the rock. “Oh my gods, this is the single greatest day of my life. Please tell me you have surveillance footage? I would do so many dirty things to watch that,” Morgan says as she begins pleadingwith Lenore, who seems very confused about how to address us now.
“Um, well actually, I don’t usually…” Lenore takes in the desperation in Morgan’s eyes, and I know she’s got her. “You know what? Fuck him. Yeah, you bet your ass I have footage. Come on in, I’ll make some caramel corn.”
Lenore grabs Morgan’s arm and tugs her into her shop, where there’s a large, hard-to-miss sign posted informing anyone that wishes to enter that the premises is monitored by spell malware, and that if they enter with the intent to harm anyone this town claims, then they will be transformed into their societal worth.
Apparently, the town thought Alex wasn’t good for anything other than being a large rock that’s going to be a bit of an eye sore and in everyone’s way.
Oh my gods. How terrible would it be to hire heavy machinery to move the rock somewhere onto our property so we could take turns fucking Morgan on it? Can you fucking imagine?
“Are you boys coming? You’re welcome to not,” Lenore calls as the ladies disappear into the back room of her shop.
My brothers look at me, and I look at them, wondering what we’re doing by introducing Morgan to other women as devious her.
She totally belongs here.
“Yep, coming,” I wheeze out as I try to whisper my plans to my brothers. They’re obviously immediately on board.
The back of Lenore’s shop doesn’t even look like the same space as the rest of it; instead of the moody vibe out front, as soon as you cross through those beaded curtains, we’re hit with the bright scent of lemons and a breakroom decked out in so many shades of beige it’s almost offensive.
“Make yourselves comfortable dears, I’m going to put a sign on the front door, so we’re not bothered while we’re snacking.”
I pull Morgan onto my lap while my brothers surround us, making sure to leave room for Lenore to sit as well.
None of us quite know what to say, it feels like we’re free falling through the sky.
Well, I guess Morgan knows what to say. “Is it messed up that I really want to go buy a can of spray paint so I can cover that entire rock in dicks?”
The tension breaks and we all groan and do some variation of rubbing our foreheads to ease the stress.
“When you fell to your knees outside, I thought you were genuinely upset, Morgan. You scared me,” Troy admits as he wipes amusement from his eyes. “I should probably feel bad for Alex, right?”
“No,” we all reply at the same time.
“Yeah, no, fuck that guy. But seriously Morgan, this is kind of a lot. You were kind of with him not too long ago. You thought you’d spend your life with him for at least a few days. What are you feeling right now?” Troy asks her, trying to help her in any way he can.
Morgan takes a deep breath as Lenore walks back in, responding with a gentle smile on her face. “I think all of us have wasted enough time thinking about Alex. He only messed me up for a tiny part of my life; you guys have been fucked over by him for years. I know you said your father had a part in that as well, and maybe Alex could have been redeemed eventually, but if he weren’t an actual hunk of stone outside, I’d probably be bartering with Lenore for spells to give him incurable crabs or something.”
“That can still be arranged,” Lenore tells us as she pulls some popcorn from the microwave and drizzles some caramel over it.
Morgan waves her off. “I like him as a stone. We’re good. So, what happened? Do we need any back story before we watch the footage?”
Lenore settles onto the single chair next to the loveseat, grabbing a handful of the sticky treat before handing the bowl to Morgan. “There’s no audio on the recording, so maybe. I was getting ready to close for the day when he came marching through the door. I could tell he was confused, which is to be expected after the strength of the memory spell I sold to your mates.
“I knew immediately that he meant to do something mean, because he just had that aura about him. He deduced that your mates did something to his memory since he had no idea why he was in Trash Haven. He connected those dots real quick. I held up my hand and warned him about the protections on the shop, but he was too bullheaded to listen.
“The shop pushed him back out the front door, which was his warning, and I rushed out just as he reached for the door again. He lifted a hand to grab the nearest items he could reach, and I thought he intended to throw them so as to get my attention, but he was kicked out so quickly by the shop that he tumbled head over arse a few times and began to spasm before he became that hunk of stone out there. It’s quite stunning though. I bet it would make somebody a lovely countertop.”
Morgan starts cackling. “That’s even better than drawing dicks all over it. So, is he stuck like that forever?”
Lenore sighs. “Unfortunately not. The spell isn’t permanent.”
“Please tell me we get to enjoy him not existing for a while before it reverses,” Wiley begs.
“It will hold as long as he remains so stubborn. If Alex changes his heart and becomes sympathetic enough to understand his faults and he develops a true desire to be better and right his wrongs, he will be transformed back.”
“So basically, it’s permanent,” Wiley says as he grabs a handful of popcorn.
