Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (25 page)

“Cedric,
what's wrong? Why are you acting like that?” Morgan asked
again.

“I
don't know, Morgan. What's wrong with me, Angel? Tell her, because
I'd sure like to know too.” Cedric walked to Morgan's side,
making it two against one. He put an arm through Morgan's and put his
other hand back on his hip. Morgan hated feeling like Angel was left
to fight the battle on his own, but the only way that he'd learn his
lesson was if he told them both the secrets he'd been holding inside.

“Angel...?”
She spoke softly, knowing that's what her friend needed to hear.
“What haven't you told me?”

He
took a long breath and let it out slowly. It looked like the weight
of the world was really on his shoulders. Morgan had never seen him
like that...she almost stopped him from speaking, but caught herself
and let him go. “The ring ain't from Finlay, Stick.”

Morgan's
brows came together in confusion and her eyes went to her hand where
the diamond sat on her finger beautifully. “Wha...how would you
know? Then....” She tried to think of how she'd really act, if
she were hearing the same news a week prior and hoped her acting
skills were up to par. “Who is it from?”

“Jesus
Christ, we sent it Morgan. We,” Cedric pointed between himself
and Angel, “sent the ring. Angel had the idea, I paid for it
and had the delivery set up....” Mr. Brussels only wanted to
get to the reason of why it was on Morgan's finger and not in his
possession. He didn't mean to throw Angel under the bus, but he was
mad for the fact Angel had let it go on so long.

“You?”
She pulled out of Cedric's arm and backed away from the two men.
“Wh...no, I won't believe it. Fin...he said he sent it to
me...”

“Morgan,
I'm so sorry,” Angel pleaded. “Finlay didn't send that
shit to you. I did. We did.”

“Why
would you do that?” Morgan backed away further as Angel came
closer.
Don't laugh! . Leprechauns. Pink flamingos. Avocados.
Water bottles.

Angel
didn't have time to answer because Cedric spoke up again. “So,
you knew she was wearing the ring and you let her believe Finlay had
sent it.....and you didn't tell either of us?”

“I...Cedric...”
Cedric shook his head and huffed loudly. “Morgan, we did it
because...” A single tear went down his cheek and he wiped it
off quickly with his shoulder. His two best friends were both mad at
him and he didn't know how to make it better. He took another breath.
“Stick, I'm sorry for not telling you I sent it. I...I planned
on telling you when I got here, but then you said Finlay had said he
sent it. You...sounded so fuckin' happy. Cedric...she's my best
fuckin' friend. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on, but I
couldn't do that to her.”

Morgan's
eyes burned as tears threatened to fall. That was so sweet. She
looked to Clay and he gave a nod of encouragement as he watched from
the sidelines. She let the tears fall and one landed on her hand as
she slowly pulled the ring off her finger. “Guess I'll ask
Finlay for another ring...” she laughed weakly, still going
along with the joke and passed Cedric the ring.

“There's
another thing,” Angel looked from Morgan to Cedric, back to
Morgan. After another deep breath, he told her the news from Sean.
“He's already engaged to that muthafuckin' twatwaffle.”

Finally,
Morgan couldn't take it. She took a step back, and like a balloon
that had been filled with too much air, she burst. She exploded with
laughter than had been built up for a week. It was too much to hold
in any longer and she doubled over with hysterical giggles.

“Bitch,
I ain't joking,” Angel ran to her and placed his hand on her
shoulder. More laughter and Morgan crouched down toward the sidewalk
so she wouldn't fall over.

“I....know....”

“You
know what?” Angel asked, then looked behind him. Cedric was
laughing too. “What the fuck is this shit?”

Cedric
stepped forward, still laughing, and was clutching his side before he
reached Angel and Morgan. “Payback, my friend. Payback.”

*****

“I
ain't talking to none of you bitches,” Angel's perfectly
manicured fingertips tapped the edge of the bedside table as he
pretended to ignore everyone.

“Oh,
come on! That shit was good! You have to admit it!” Clay leaned
back in the desk chair and stretched his arms above his head. Angel
and Cedric had already been checked into their room, but Morgan and
Clay were joining them for a bit, at least until everything had been
explained.

“What
I don't get is how did you assholes know?” Angel stood and
pointed to Morgan and Cedric. The two of them looked to each other
and laughed.

“Remember
when I was leaving Puerto Rico and you said you were drinking to
celebrate because Gio had said you could go to Vegas?” Morgan
took a step toward Angel as she explained. He nodded, having no idea
what that had to do with the story. “Well, you must have drank
a lot. You sent me the wrong text,” Morgan giggled again. It
was nice to laugh about the whole situation.

Angel's
face went white, as if he'd just seen something horrific. “Fuck.”
His hand went to his back pocket and he pulled out his cellphone. A
few moments later, he looked back up to Morgan. “How did I not
see that shit?”

“Your
ass was drunk as fucking fuck!” Cedric chimed in, mocking Angel
of his own words.

“He
told
you
that too?” Morgan laughed again, still poking
fun of Angel. Cedric nodded, then sat down next to Angel.

“And
how did you know?” Angel looked to the gorgeous man next to
him.

“This
is where it gets good.” Clay smiled as he spoke to
Angel.
“Nobody asked your ass, Play-Doh,” Angel told
Clay and everyone laughed again.

“You
must have noticed that the message was sent to Morgan and not me. Not
that you realized the fact Morgan would then know that we sent the
ring...” Angel titled his head to the side, then looked up to
Morgan. His brows came together as he waited for the rest. “You
forwarded the message to me.”

“So?
It was supposed to go to your ass in the first place.”

“Angel,
it had my number attached to it! He knew that... I already knew!”

“Oh,
you muthafuckin' cocksuckin', douchebaggin'.......” Angel stood
and ran his hands through his long hair. “You're right,”
he pointed at the other three people in the room, “that shit
was
good and I deserved every bit of it.”

As
the night went on, more of the story came out. Of course, Morgan and
Clay had devised the plan with Finlay and Sean, but Cedric had been a
last minute thing. After Cedric had texted Angel asking him where the
ring was, and knowing Angel was putting him off, Cedric had jumped
right to the source... Morgan. He'd asked Morgan if she were going to
send the ring back, because it was his. If Morgan hadn't already
known about the two being behind the trick, she would have known then
and she should have been pissed either way, but she and Clay used it
to their advantage.

Instead
of giving the ring back to Cedric right then, they asked if he wanted
to be part of their game of payback. He quickly jumped on board. Clay
had only told him that Morgan would be wearing the ring when he
arrived at the airport and he was to act as he normally would before
he knew that Morgan already knew. Acting was easy for the man. When
Clayton had to separate the two men, Cedric had caught on, and kept
his mouth shut.

“Yeah,
if you would have told Cedric at the airport, then we couldn't have
had the time for Sean to make his call,” Morgan chimed in that
evening.

“You
all suck. Every muthafuckin' one of you.” The whole room
erupted in laughter once again.

Around
eight that night, Morgan and Clay left, with the promise of Morgan
returning the next day. One more night with her handsome Clay was all
she asked. It was an amazing night as well. He helped her pack her
bags, they took Abby for a walk, then the rest of the night, they
enjoyed one another in the most intimate way possible.

*****

“I
hate saying goodbye.” Morgan's head fell to Clayton's chest for
one last hug.

“Then
don't say it,” he whispered and kissed the top of her head. His
hand ran down her back and he pulled her closer. “We'll meet
again, Morgan Holland.”

“I
know,” she whispered back, curling her fingers softly into his
wide shoulders.

“Hey,
you'll be here all week, right?”

“Clay...”
Please don't ask me to stay.

“I'm
just throwing it out there...if you guys want to get lunch or
something, I'm only a phone call away. If you happen to stop by my
casino, you know where to find me too.” She nodded again, then
squeezed him tightly one last time.

“I'll
see you, later, Clay.” Morgan pulled away and saw him smiling.
It was better than what she could conjure at the moment. He wiped
away one of her tears and nodded.

“I'll
see you later, Morgan.” He kissed the top of her head, then
turned and left. She slid the card Cedric had given her into the lock
of the hotel room and entered quickly, not wanting to watch him
leave.
I will see you again.
Morgan didn't look up until she
ran head first into Angel's chest.

“Oh!
I didn't think you'd be awake yet,” she forced a laugh through
her sadness, then made her way to the kitchen.

“That
shit was sweet,” Angel pointed to the door.

“I
can't tell you how much I hate goodbyes...” Morgan poured
herself a cup of coffee, thankful Angel had already made a pot. I
also hate picking clients when I feel so sad.” She went to her
pile of luggage that had been dropped off earlier, and pulled her
laptop from the floral bag on top. She sat on the side of the bed,
and opened it, then turned it on as Angel began to speak.

“Bring
that shit up, I'm picking the next man of the week.” Angel
nodded his head toward her lap, obviously waiting for her to find the
Julianne's database. She laughed as she knew that that their taste
in men was almost identical, so he couldn't do any better or worse
than she would.

“Alright...
here's the map.” She moved the cursor over the world before
them, and Angel pushed her away, and took the mouse from her hand.

“Oh,
Tee-fuckin-he-tee.” He moved the small white arrow over the
islands, and stopped when the first dot appeared. He clicked it, and
the image of, Te Atea opened quickly. “Fuck me on the island
and call me Tee Tee... look at the shit, Stick!” He clicked
the confirmation before she could access the picture of the man that
Angel was calling, 'Tay.'

“I
didn't.. Angel! I need to check him out first!” She did
notice the green flag, so that was a load off her mind, but she still
needed to bring the computer closer to see the man that had just been
picked for her. “Alright... he's... cute.” Angel
scoffed loudly in her ear.

“Cute?!
He looks like a dark skinned Tarzan, what the fuck is cute?”
He was actually right, Morgan was looking at her new client and
couldn't help the slight stirring of nerves at the sight of him. He
had jet black hair that fell in slight waves, all the way to his
waist. Tanned skin, light brown eyes, an extremely square jaw, and a
smile that showed nothing but love of life as he stood in front of a
small clothing store. Yes, Te was breathtaking, and had a touch of
wildness that she was all too willing to try and tame.

“Okay,
that's done. Thanks! Now... what's the plan for the rest of the
day?”

“Well,”
he cleared his throat. “I guess now is as good of a time than
any.” He pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing a
card.

“Oh,
no...no, no. no....no more!”
“Morgan...this isn't
from me. I swear on my muthafuckin' life. Cedric didn't do this shit
either. About an hour ago, we got a knock on the door...”