This was the worse hangover Morgan ever had in her life.

No, wait, the second.

Well, third.

Whatever. All she knew was that it ranked high on her list of Worst Hangovers Ever Survived. Not only was her head throbbing, but so was the rest of her body. She regretted almost every beer she'd had last night - almost. The physical pain caused by the alcohol wasn’t the only thing surging through her thoughts. The moments that had followed the beer and caused some slight physical pains of its own also came to mind.

Morgan shuffled through the store as she hung clothes back on their assigned rack. She was relieved that the store manager wasn’t working today. Now she didn’t have to worry about being questioning on her slow footedness. She really didn’t need the grief right then, feeling the way she felt.

After returning all the clothes to their rack she headed to the fitting room to gather the garments left back there. The continuous motion began to make her feel nauseous again, and she took a seat on a bench in one of the stalls, reaching down to grab the clothes off the floor. Once they were all gathered she set them on the bench beside her and leaned back against the wall with a sigh.

She still couldn’t believe it. She got drunk and let all her common sense blow out the window by having sex with a guy she barely knew. To top it off, right on the damn dining room table. She'd scrubbed it with antibacterial spray twice before sitting Chloe down for breakfast. But, the location wasn’t what had bruised her pride so badly. What put the icing on the cake was the fact that he didn’t come back that night.

How damn ridiculous, drunk, and desperate could she have been? Well, maybe not desperate - more like vulnerable. It wasn't like her to let a strange guy into her bed - obviously. She preferred to take her time and really build a bond with someone. It seemed to her that men who moved that quickly were usually sleezy and useless, with no sexual skills and even less stamina. But, in this case she couldn't complain about Justin's personality or the sex.

No, not him.

And definitely not about the sex.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she'd been with someone so good - but that was beside the point.

Morgan couldn’t blame him for not coming back, it wasn’t like they were an item. Maybe he was just as embarrassed as she was. Or, maybe he was mad at her for making him go through with it when he'd been clearly protesting. She really hoped he wasn’t mad, because she wasn’t quite sure how she would be able to walk around the complex and see him avoiding her and giving his trademark cold, expressionless stare. He did that to everyone else, but not she and Chloe. He and Chloe seemed to come alive when they saw each other. 

Sighing deeply, Morgan swallowed the lump in her throat and rubbed her temples in slow circles. She really hoped she didn’t fuck up whatever was going on between them just because she decided to get drunk.

Was she bad in bed?

Morgan's head shot up at the thought - eyes wide with fright.

Had she been so sloppy drunk that she wasn't any good?

She hadn't done very much to help as far as the actual act was concerned, but that was because everything he did felt so good she'd barely had the wherewithal to even keep her eyes open. She'd never been with a man who felt like that, made her body tingle and react like that. Every time she thought about it a tiny shiver ran down her spine into her hips. For just a fraction of a second she could feel him all over again.

***

Justin pushed himself up and down from the ground repeatedly. He inhaled and exhaled systematically, staring straight ahead out of the glass sliding doors. He was on his fourth set of push-ups. His biceps were burning and sweating was dripping from his brow into his eyes, hanging on his lashes. He really didn’t need the workout, but he couldn’t find anything else to keep his mind occupied. It seemed like no matter what he did he couldn’t keep his thoughts from Morgan. No number of cold showers were enough to make his mind forget the soft skin of her body.

He mentally kicked himself for allowing the events to occur in such a manner. While sex on a dining room table had secretly been on his bucketlist, doing it with Morgan had felt a little cheap and taudy. She was sweet and beautiful. She deserved chocolate, candles, John Mayer songs, and all that other shit girls liked. At the very least she deserved a mattress to lay on.

It wasn't like him to let his emotions completely control him like that. He was a Marine. He was trained to stay cool, calm, and collected. Emotions came later, if at all - especially when women were concerned. He could easily turn a woman down any other time, but there was something about Morgan that simply captivated him. She forced him to put his guard down, without really doing anything at all.

The seductive, dark gaze she gave him. How she fell into his arms when her legs gave out, and nestled against him instead of standing. Even if that wasn’t enough to stir him up there was the warmth of her body against his, the snug feeling he felt inside her. The erotic sounds of her moans and whimpers drove him crazy and still echoed in his head.

Justin sighed and jumped to his feet, pacing the living room floor. The tattoos on his back glimmered with sweat. He just couldn’t shake her. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted too. He did know that he'd finally slept through the night for once. When he got home that night he didn’t have a single bad dream. He just dreamed of her - her soft hair in his hands as her tongue danced around his.

There were only a few hours left before he needed to head off to work. He wasn’t sure what he would say to her once he saw her, but he knew that he wanted to see her again - especially now that he had a better idea of what she looked like under those clothes. At the thought of her body - her wide hips held steady by hands - he let out a deep groan and headed toward the shower to clean the sweat from his skin. It was one last chance to rid his body of the urges before getting ready for his shift.

***

“Then she was like, you need to be more open about your feelings. I mean, really?!”

Justin couldn’t help but chuckle as he maneuvered through traffic while Tim voiced his frustrations over his girlfriend. The two men had this conversation almost all of the time. Tim and his girl were always bickering over something. But, this time in particular it was about his feelings - or lack thereof.

“That's code for 'she wants you to show some emotion'.”

Tim rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Bro, I spend nearly 12 hours a day busting criminals and breaking up fights. The last thing I want to do is come home and talk about it, let alone cry about it.”

“I get it. But it's either you open up or she won’t shut up. Chicks don't give up when it comes to that touchy-feely shit,” Justin advised.

He hadn’t been in a relationship in a long time, but one thing he had learned from watching his parents as he grew up was that a happy woman led to a happy home.

Tim grunted as he ran a hand over his face. Why were women so damn complicated? Justin chuckled once more, steering the car into the exit lane on the right. While usually he was fine with listening to Tim's problems, Justin's mind was more set on wondering what was to come for himself. He had no idea what he was going to say to Morgan. He had no idea what she would say back to him. What if she didn't want to see him? She had a right after he didn't come back last night.

He knew the timing of last nights events weren't good. It hadn't been intentional; it was something totally unexpected by both of them. He didn’t think Morgan was the type to have a one night stand. She seemed too stand-offish and guarded to let anyone in that easily. Justin, on the other hand, had a few under his belt. Not that he was only looking for a one time thing with Morgan. He wasn't sure what he wanted with Morgan. He wasn't sure what she wanted either.

The Audi finally turned onto Polo Drive and parked in front of the office. He could see Morgan’s apartment building toward the back from where he was parked but had no idea if she was home or not. He'd have to walk the perimeter in a bit, hopefully that'd give him a chance to think of what to say.

“Hey, what happened with that sexy chick Morgan last night?” Tim asked.

His voice cut through Justin's thoughts as they climbed out of the car. Justin frowned and shifted his gaze.

"Nothing," he lied.

“I mean, you were gone for a minute. She must have given you a hard time about taking her back to her apartment.”

"Nah. We barely made it there before she passed out."

Justin doubted the lie was showing on his face. Marines had great poker faces. But still Tim's heavy gaze was making him uneasy. He turned his shoulders away, shielding his face from view as he unlocked the back doors so they could retrieve their bags.

"Hmm," Tim mused. "I'm no expert, but first the plate of cookies, then that drunken damsel-in-distress act last night? I think she likes you. Your fan club just keeps growing and growing Robocop."

Justin looked up just in time to see Tim flash a bright smile before closing the back door and heading off toward the office.

***

The sun was sitting low on the horizon, just barely above the grassy hills in the distance. The entire complex seemed to be cast in an orange glow that bounced off the white stucco walls and into the apartments, making them feel warm and inviting. The heat had finally begun to subside for the day, and it had already dropped to below 65 degrees out.

Morgan was feeling a little better than she had this morning. The splitting headache had passed, a long with the dizziness. The queasiness had passed, until she pulled onto Polo Drive and saw Justin's car parked in the front lot along side the other guards. He was here, somewhere, and that realization brought back the urge to vomit.

She tried not to think about it as she navigated the narrow lane of the parking lot to her spot in the back. She was dreading the thought of seeing him - being face-to-face with him after last night. Not only was she not mentally prepared for it, but she looked like hell today. She at least wanted to be in her low rise skinny jeans and a push-up bra when he gave her to kiss off. Usually around this time he was patrolling the grounds. If he was trying to avoid her the way she was hoping to avoid him, she'd have no problem sneaking into her apartment undetected.

Making a sharp right hand turn Morgan finally laid eyes on her parking spot. Her heart both dropped and skipped a beat at the same time. Justin was standing there, on the curb infront of her spot. His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of his black jacket, and his forehead was wrinkled; he was frowning down at the sidewalk.

"Mommy! It's Mr. Justin!" Chloe exclaimed in the backseat.

Morgan heard the distinct sound of a seatbelt being undone and she snapped her fingers to get the girls' attention.

"Excuse me, little miss. The car is still moving so sit back down."

Chloe sighed, her hand falling away from the buckles.

"Sorry Mom."

Justin looked up at the sound of an engine. Morgan's green Jeep was turning into the space infront of him. He'd been out here for a few hours, circling the area, muttering to himself. He'd gone over a dozen different conversation openings in his head. He knew what to say if she was upset, awkward, quiet, or even down right rude. He was completely prepared.

Morgan took a deep breathe, taking her time as she got out of the car. Chloe was bouncing in her seat, the straps undone as soon as the engine stopped. Now she was staring through the windshield with bright brown eyes, her little hand on the door handle.

"Hurry Mommy," she said.

Morgan gathered her things and climbed out of the car. She reached over, opening Chloe's door as Justin stepped off the curb and made his way over.

"Hi Mr. Justin!" She smiled.

"Hi Chloe. How are you?"

"I'm good. I got a sticker in my class today because I brought in the most boxtops. My teacher turns in the boxtops and they buy stuff for us like new books, and pencils, and she said maybe a pet. I want a fish but all the boys voted for a guinea pig. I got a sticker today, now I have four stickers, and do you know what Mr. Justin? If I get one more I get to pick a prize from the prize box. I really want a stuffed animal puppy but I think Sarah took the last one. My teacher said she would try to get some more if they still have them at the teacher store but she won't know until she goes there, and she's not going until Saturday so I have to wait alllll the way until next week. I hope she gets some, I want a brown one."

Justin nodded along, his brows inching higher and higher on his forehead as Chloe's narrative seemed to stretch on and on. Morgan, grateful for the distraction, gathered their things in silence and closed the car doors. Justin watched her from the corner of his eye, trying to remember what his opening line had been. All that planning and rehearsing obviously hadn't done any good.

When Chloe heard the beep of the horn signalling that the alarm was set she started a skip toward the walkway that lead to their apartment. The two adults were left alone, awkwardly avoiding each others gaze.

Morgan stepped forward, shuffling the bags handing from her arms. Her purse was enough on its own without Chloe's backpack, lunch box, and pastic bag of old papers the teacher had found in her desk. Justin reached out, taking the bag and Chloe's backpack from her right hand. Their fingers brushed, his fingers smooth against the back of her hand. Her heart jumped, racing immediately.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Yep."

He didn't say any more than neccessary, and he didn't say it any louder than was required for her to hear him. Something about that quiet, mysterious, confident nature of his was calling her - luring her in even more. Morgan started walking just to put some space between them.

"I didn't call for an escort."

"I know," he followed a step behind her. "I was patrolling out here. It's become a habit, I guess."

"You ran everyone off, now there's nothing for you to do."

He snorted.

"I suppose. So, how are you?"

"Fine," she told him. "A bit of a headache, but nothing major."

He didn't need to know about the times she went running through the store in hopes of reaching the bathroom before her nausea got the best of her in front of customers.

"That's all? You got off pretty lucky then. You drank a lot."

"Yeah."

A silence fell over them as they made their way across the grass. Morgan tried to appear as nonchalant as possible, keeping her eyes trained on the scenery rather than his face: the bushes, the trees, the insects flying through the air.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said suddenly.

Morgan's brown furrowed as she inhaled a deep breath. She was right, he did regret sleeping with her. She'd been sloppy drunk and bad at it, and now he was regretting the whole thing. His impromptu visit today was him giving her the kiss-off in the most gentlmenly way possible.

"It's alright, it was my fault," she said. "I shouldn't have made you do that. I was drunk and I basically drug you into my apartment and forced myself on you. I understand if you don't want to escort us anymore-."

Justin paused in his tracks, turning to face her.

"Wait, you think I'm sorry about sleeping with you?"

Morgan shrugged, confused.

"Yeah. When you didn't come back I got the hint. Don't worry, I'm not going to report you or try to use that against you-."

"Morgan," he interupted her ramble.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a grin, and his blue eyes flicked down to the ground.

"I'm not sorry about what we did, I'm sorry that I couldn't come back last night. We got a shit ton of calls, I didn't get off until after three, and I didn't want to wake you up."

"Oh," she sounded.

Her walking resumed, slowly following Chloe who was doing cartwheels on the lawn in the distance.

"I thought something else. You're hard to read sometimes."

Justin shrugged lightly. That was hardly the first time he'd heard someone say that.

"I thought maybe you were the one regretting it."

"No," Morgan answered quickly, "I don't."

Silence fell over them again. They were nearing the walkway that crossed in front of Morgan's porch.

"Do you want my number?" Justin asked. "That way the next time you aren't sure what I'm thinking you can just ask."

It wasn't exactly the way he'd planned on doing this, but they were fast approaching her door. Time was running out and he seemed to have forgotten all his other options.

Morgan bit down on the inside of her bottom lip, trying to contain the smile that was spreading over her face.

"Well, I don't really take numbers from guys. But, I'll give you mine."

***

Morgan peeked into Chloe’s bedroom once more before heading outside like every night. This time instead of her usual beer or two it was a bottle of ginger ale. She was a still a little queasy from her hangover so she substituted for something that would help ease her stomach a little more.

She walked outside, wrapping her jacket around her body. The night had a slight chill that required an extra layer if you weren’t up and moving around. She finally claimed her seat and sipped lightly on her drink as the night owls came out and began to walk along the sidewalk back and forth.

As she sat in her beach chair her eyes travelled down the walkway that ended in a pool of light at the door of the front office. A smile formed across her lips; she couldn’t help to think about Justin. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t get caught up in her day dreams about him and replay their single, solitary night of passion, but she couldn’t help herself and neither could her body help but react when she thought about it. 

“I don’t have time to argue with you, dumbass!”

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Charmaine slamming the door of her apartment and stomping down the stairs in a fit. Morgan couldn't make out much of what Char was muttering until she was within arm's reach.

"I don’t even know why I bother with his ignorant ass.”

Morgan chuckled shaking her head; she didn’t know either. Charmaine claimed her seat beside Morgan with a sigh. She had a Styrofoam cup of something strong, and a half-finished cigarette dangling from her lips.

Char took a long sip of her drink and a strong hit from her cigarette before saying anything to Morgan.

"I swear I can’t stand his ass.”

Morgan quietly rolled her eyes and laughed a little.

"Whatever Char, you know you love him.”

“Nah, girl, I’m so sick of his ass. All I asked his ass to do was run the fucking vacuum. Shit, we might live in the projects or whatever, but damn I’m not going to have my house looking like anything. Did he do it? Nah! He’s just like one of the fucking kids.”

Morgan went through this scenario at least twice a month with Char because Terrell would never do anything productive in the house. She'd always threaten to kick him out -which hardly ever actually happened- and whenever she did he'd always came back apologizing, promising to do better. Then he'd spend the night "blowing her back out" as Char would so eloquently put it during casual conversations. Things would be right in their little world for a couple of weeks, then they were back at each other’s throat.

Morgan chuckled and took another sip of ginger ale. Char looked over at her, eyeballing her non-alcoholic beverage.

"What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing why?” Morgan questioned.

“You sitting all huddled up to yourself with your ginger ale.”

Morgan rubbed her hand over her stomach.

"My stomach's a little weak.”

Char threw her head back with laughter and pointed a long embellished acrylic nail towards the parking lot.

"I heard you were out here drunk off your ass playing dice with Maurice and them."

“I was not that drunk,” Morgan defended weakly.

Char sucked her teeth, taking another hit of her cigarette before speaking.

"Whatever trick. Terrell told me he saw Justin and that other security guard out here trying to play Captain Save-A-Hoe for your ass.”

Morgan swallowed hard, raising her eyebrow.

"Terrell is lying.”

“Mmhmm... I saw all your beer bottles scattered in the parking lot too. I don’t care about you getting drunk, but were you that drunk that Justin had to carry you to your apartment? I know some shit must've went down. Spill it bitch!”

Morgan ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head.

"Nothing happened. I got drunk, and he helped me to my apartment. It was really late.”

Char remained silent eyeing Morgan, trying to read her, but the girl remained composed on the outside. On the inside she was having a heart attack. She didn’t know how long Terrell could have been watching them. She didn’t know that anyone at all had been watching them. The last thing she wanted to be was a piece of apartment complex gossip, and she didn't want to cause Justin to be caught up in unnecessary drama.

Char blew a puff of smoke out of the corner of her mouth.

"I hear ya. But, I see a lot of things, girl. Like the way you both be eyeing each other, and how he's always the one that escorts you from the parking lot. I’m surprised nothing happened. We both know you like his fine ass. I for damn sure would have tried to get at him."

“Girl, shut up. The last thing I want is a man.”

Char rolled her eyes, digging a long finger nail into her hair to scratch her scalp.

"Every bitch wants a man. Besides, no one said anything about being in a relationship. You just need some dick from time to time. Shit, I know I do. Terrell gets on my nerves, but that boy can lay down some pipe. Mmm mmm.”

Morgan frowned up her face as Char stared off into space, nodding her head in agreement with herself.

"I don’t want to hear about nothing y’all do. My stomach already weak.”

Char snapped out of her daydream and smiled.

"Bitch, don’t hate.”

They both burst out laughing as Morgan's phone began to vibrate. She pulled the device from her back pocket and read a new message. She held back a smile, biting down on the inside of her lip.

"Hey, it's Justin" was all it said.

She texted back a quick, "hi," then slid the phone into her pocket. She'd wait a little bit before answering his next text. Regardless of their sexual relationship status she didn't want to appear too available.

“Anyways girl, what’s going on with Devon's ol’ crazy ass?”

Morgan’s smile turned into a frown and she stared off at the grass.

"Nothin'. I haven’t seen or heard from him in a while.”

"Good," Char nodded. "You need to get you a gun or something. That way the next time he decides to show up you can scare his ass.”

“Nah, I don’t know how to shoot a gun, nor do I want it in my house with Chloe. You know she is curious.”

“Ooh, I know maybe a taser or something. Then you can shock the hell out of his nuts. That will show him a thing or too. Maybe he won’t be such a dead beat Dad to any more children.”

Char chuckled, taking another swing of her beer. Morgan laughed along. She'd never really thought about getting any weapons to defend herself against Devon. She really didn’t know what she would do next time - especially if he ever decided to pop up on her in public somewhere. She'd always considered taking self-defense classes, but in between working and taking care of Chloe she didn’t know whether or not she would have the time or money.

“Hopefully after everything gets settled in court I won’t have to worry about him again. I could probably get a restraining order too.”

“Char! Char!”

They both looked up at the voice interrupting them. It was Terrell leaning over the railing with his chest bare and his hands holding up his pants.

"What?!” Char shouted back in annoyance.

“I’m hungry,” he said innocently.

His phony angelic nature only made Char even more annoyed and she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you see I’m busy? Shit! Fix a sandwich or something Terrell, damn! Always talking about you hungry. Shit, I don’t care. Make your own damn dinner.”

Morgan watched as Terrell sighed heavily and walked back inside the apartment. She turned her gaze to Char just as she lit another cigarette.

"That’s the shit I be talking about right there. Always want something like he can’t do shit for himself. You got two legs and two hands. Figure something out.”

Char went on and on, venting about Terrell. Morgan didn’t know how she did it. She was glad that she wasn’t in a relationship with Terrell herself. She would have been forced to kick him out a long time ago.

“Anyways girl like I was saying, yeah put his ass on a restraining order because he can’t be just showing up here - especially with you trying to catch a new boo. But you might not need a restraining order if you have Robocop as a boyfriend. Devon wouldn’t dare step foot in this complex knowing he's here.”

“Girl, stop. No one is dating anyone. He's just doing his job protecting people.”

Morgan turned her head to try and hide the blush on her cheeks. Char flicked her ashes down into her discarded bottle.

"Yeah, whatever honey. He do a lot more protecting of you than anything else around here.”

“That’s not true, Char. Everyone around here is practically terrified of him.”

“With him marching around here the way he does? Hell yeah. He doesn’t have to say shit to me for me to be scared of him. His aura screams 'don’t fuck with me'."

Morgan smiled. His aura said a lot of other things too.

After saying goodnight to Char Morgan headed inside for the night. She passed through the doorway on the leftside of the apartment and traveled down the short hall that emptied into her bedroom. There was a dresser with a small TV on top directly in front of her, a queen sized bed slightly to her right, and the doorway to the bathroom and walk-in closet behind her next to the hall.

Walking to the dresser, she pulled the phone from her back pocket and checked her messages. There was another text from Justin.

"How are you?"

She considered it for a moment.

"I'm okay, how are you?"

She set the phone on the dresser and went into the bathroom to brush her hair before getting into bed. Only a few minutes passed until she heard the phone vibrate against the wooden surface again. Morgan picked it up on her way to the edge of the bed. She turned on the small lamp on the nightstand and pulled back the blankets.

"Alright. It's fuckin cold out here... What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just climbed into bed."

"In bed? Are you just teasing me or is that an invitation?"

Morgan smiled and put the phone down. Who know the Marine could be so flirtatious? She needed a witty reply.

"When I'm inviting you, you'll know. Remember last time?"

"Ha ha, touché lil girl."

A bright smile spread over her lips and her cheeks flushed red. Lil girl. She hadn't been called that in forever.

"So," his next text message read, "tell me, how long have you been single?"

Morgan laughed out loud. It was a relevant question, it just seemed to be coming a little late.

"Too long."

"Same. Why so long?"

She shrugged to herself.

"I don't know. Waiting for the right guy to come along and give me what I need, I guess."

"What do you need?"

"Why so many questions?"

"Why so secretive?"

Morgan snorted.

"You really want to talk about it now? We can, but aren't you at work?"

"Yes. I got til 3am, and everyone here is scared of me, remember? Ain't got shit to do."

Morgan smiled softly, mulling over her words. She wrote and erased several drafts before replying.

"I need someone who's going to let me be me, accept the fact that I'm always right, and love my daughter as much as I do."

Justin sat back in his chair, kicking his boots up on the desk. Tim was at the desk infront of him, streaming a standup special from Netflix on his desktop. It was a quiet evening with few calls, and Dale had already clocked out for the night.

His blue eyes scanned over the text again, taking in Morgan's words. Justin hadn't spent much time with Chloe, but from what he had seen she was a remarkable little girl. He was sure any man - such as himself, for example - could easily grow to love her . Morgan, too, seemed to be an amazing individual. He didn't know her very well either, but he was very open to finding out.

"You're delusional," he typed back. "How are you gonna be right when the universe has already declared that I'm always right?"