Page 86 of Breakaway Goals

“Andthenyou admitted it was a player,” Jacob retorted mildly.

“You said that,” Morgan argued. “I never admitted shit.”

“Morgan, cut the crap,” Jacob said.

“I can’t even tell you how much I don’t want to talk about it,” Morgan said. “I didn’t want to talk about it then, and I really,reallydon’t want to talk about it now.”

“Is it Jasper Brandt?”

“Oh, fuck off,” Morgan said, grateful that the bartender finally set his next beer in front of him. He’d gone out of his way tonotget drunk with Jacob, not after the one time they did not talk about, right after he’d found out about Jacob and Finn dating. But maybe it was time to break that self-imposed rule, especially if Jacob kept up this line of questioning.

“He’s cute and I know he’s bi,” Jacob mused. “If itisn’tJasper, you could do worse.”

“For the love of God, please do not attempt to matchmake. You’d be terrible at it,” Morgan said between clenched teeth. He was so tense he thought he’d never get his shoulders to loosen.

They’d come here specifically to relax. Or at least that was what Jacob had claimed. But the truth was, he’d set this whole thing up, trying to getMorganrelaxed, so he could interrogate him.

Morgan was not a fan, and if Finn wasn’t so head over heels in love with Jacob, he would seriously consider beating his ass right about now.

Punching him right in the mouth so he would finally shut the fuck up.

“Or I’m sure we could find you a nice girl.” Jacob glanced around the bar like they were going to find him a “nice girl” here, which was a total joke.

“I don’t wantanyone,” Morgan said.

Jacob’s gaze was sympathetic. So fucking nice. Caring. Affectionate. Morgan could almost see why Finn loved him so much.Almost. “Sure, you love being alone. It’s super fun.”

“I’m notalone.” But he was, and he’d never felt it more than he had in the last year.

When he returned tonight to his big empty rental house, different but so painfully similar to his big New York penthouse, the walls would echo around him with silence and he’d turn the TV up louder, hoping that ESPN might drown out all the thoughts he didn’t want to hear.

Jacob raised a dubious eyebrow. “You’re not? You’re hanging out with me out of your own free will? Not because you don’t have any other choices?”

“You’re actually the worst,” Morgan said, with feeling.

“I know.” Jacob was grinning now, way too pleased with himself that he’d caught Morgan out. “We gonna talk about it now?”

“Yeah, it’s . . .it’s someone here.” He was definitelynevertelling Jacob who it was, not after that wholeeven you wouldn’t be stupid enough to pine after Hayes Montgomerybullshit. If he wanted to be stupid, there was nobody to stop him. And if anyone deserved being pined after, it was Hayes.

“Jasper?” Jacob said expectantly.

“No.No.And I’m never telling you. So stop asking.” That would probably not be the end of it, because Jacob was Jacob, and even though they were friends now, he’d never really stopped being a pain in Morgan’s ass. But he could hope.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I said it before and I still mean it.No. It . . .ended. That’s the best, theonly, thing I can say about it.”

“Because you’re Morgan?”

Morgan rolled his eyes. Took a long drink of his beer. “Why would you just assume it was me?”

“Because you’re Morgan,” Jacob repeated. “And you never saw a good thing you didn’t want to fuck up by overcomplicating it.”

Seriously, fuck Jacob. Fuckeverything.

“It was never meant to last,” Morgan admitted morosely. He’d long since come to the conclusion that even if Hayes hadn’t kicked him out of his hotel room six years ago, if by some insane miracle, he’d let Morgan stay, their end was always inevitable. Two people had never been less meant to be.

Morgan desperately wanted to believe that was true. But then, if it was, it was beyond unfair that they had fit together like that. Like Hayes had been made for Morgan and Morgan for Hayes. Fate was a bitch like that.