Free Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 by Brandi Ratliff, Rebecca Ratliff Page B

usually that meant he had some kind of news or advice.
Morgan wasn't sure if she even wanted to hear whatever it was, but
she couldn't leave him hanging like wet underwear again.
    After
her salad arrived, she took a deep breath and clicked Angel's name.
Three rings in, her friend answered... only, it wasn't the friend
she'd expected to hear. Morgan inhaled a piece of lettuce, putting
her into an uncontrollable coughing fit that caught the attention of
everyone around her. One of the servers quickly brought her a glass
of water, but by that point, she'd managed to dislodge the little
bastard from her throat. She silently thanked the man for his
efforts, then slowly brought the cell phone back to her ear.
“Cedric?”
    “Hello,
Love. Are you okay? Sounded like you were choking?”
    “Uh,
yeah... I just... I didn't expect you to answer Angel's phone.
What...why are you... I mean, that's great you're... together...”
She was confused, and in her normal way of dealing with it, she
rambled.
    “Baby
girl, breathe. I arrived in Brazil last night.” Morgan could
hear Angel in the background and she wondered why he wasn't the one
on the phone. “I was just talking to Angel, you haven't figured
out who sent the ring yet?”
    “Not
you too,” Morgan groaned, flipping lettuce leaves around her
plate. She was happy the two had come together, but she wasn't ready
to be lectured by both of them. “Put me on speaker, I can hear
the bitch giggling.” There was a pause, then the beep of
confirmation that he'd done what she'd asked. “Angel, you said
to call you?” She wanted to get to the point and suddenly
regretted calling her friend in the first place. There was shuffling,
muted whispers, then silence. “Angel?”
    “I'm
here, Boo. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be all pushy
and shit about this damn ring anymore,” Angel finally answered.
It took Morgan aback, shocking her at the sudden change in her best
friend. She had been bracing herself for the ass ripping, figuring
he'd be wondering why she hadn't called Finlay back yet.
    “Well..I
appreciate that.” Morgan leaned back in her chair to make room
for the big steak that was headed her way. She mouthed a thank you to
the server, then spoke to Angel again. “Why the change of
mind?” Her brows came together as she waited for the man to
answer, yet she was still grateful that the hounding might finally
come to an end.
    “Stick,
I'm not gonna lie, I think this whole thing has been good for you.”
She heard Cedric agreeing in the background and Morgan rolled her
eyes, then laughed.
    “How
could you see any light in this whole situation?” She took a
small bite of bread, then laughed at her strange friends.
    “You
know you're not going to marry any of these men tomorrow, right?”
Cedric answered for Angel.
    Morgan
pressed her phone between her cheek and shoulder so she could cut
into her steak and nodded silently to herself, then agreed out loud.
“Of course not.”
    “Sticky, I've seen you cry over Finlay, cry over Tanner, feel
hurt, feel jealousy, cry over Kole...your emotional roller coaster
with these men, Boo....it's got to stop.”
    “Thanks
for the walk down Misery Lane, Angel,” Morgan sighed and took
her first bite of steak. “What's this have to do with the
ring?”
    “Because
that damn ring might have finally taught you a lesson... that cryin'
over bitches that you ain't trying to marry is going to make you
crazy. I thought about it, Boo, and you need to find the silver
that's lining this messed up situation.”

    *****

    “Always
a fucking lesson, isn't it?!” The following morning, Morgan
was still angry about her brief conversation with Cedric and Angel.
She stood in front of the steamed bathroom mirror and scolded her
reflection in a way that she wished she could scold.... someone.
“Maybe I don't want to learn a lesson, maybe I just want to..
to... live my fucking life!” She stormed out of the warm room
and into the cool air