Jagger smirks.“Little frustrated, Hawke?”
“He means sexually,” I quip.“Or have you finally broken your vow of celibacy?”
Hawke flips me off but doesn’t comment.
“Speaking of frustration.”Roman collapses on the mat and begins stretching his quads.“You never told us what happened with Morgan last night.”
Hawke’s body tenses.I’m not sure why.We’ve all been curious to know what went down between them.Numbers and drama.We always share plenty of both the morning after a Harden Night.And since Morgan showed up on the grounds, and Hawke was the one to talk with him, the line of questioning makes sense.Hawke’s response, though?Not so much.
Scrubbing the towel over his sweat-soaked torso, Hawke mutters, “I, uh, I told him he wasn’t welcome.”
Roman’s attention snaps to Jagger’s.“You sure that was a good idea?”
“Not sure I had any other option,” Hawke returns.
I can’t help my scoff.“Considering our relationship with his uncle, I’m pretty sure there were a dozen other options you could’ve chosen before tossing Morgan out on his ass for attending a Harden Night, but that’s just me,” I point out.
“Did he try to share the video of Vi and me during the haunted house or something?”Jagger questions.
A twinge hits Hawke’s jaw.“No.”
Jagger holds my stare, then turns to Hawke.“What happened?”
“He was being…” Hawke scrubs his hand over his face.“Difficult.”
Annoyed, Roman grits out, “Morgan’s always difficult.”
“Yeah, well,” Hawke’s molars grind, and he squeezes the damp towel in his grasp.“After I caught him groping a few girls, I made a call.”
Groping girls?All right, now he has my attention.If there’s anything my brothers and I take seriously, it’s safety.And at a Harden event?Right under our noses?Yeah, that shit doesn’t fly.I know it.Roman knows it.And so does Jagger.
“Who did Morgan grope?”Jagger demands.
“A couple of the cheerleaders,” Hawke replies.“He was giving them shit for not wanting a Drifter after they told him they didn’t want to party after the event.”
“That’s it?”I ask.I could’ve probably chosen my words more wisely, but getting anything from Hawke lately feels like pulling teeth.I’m not trying to downplay what happened.I want to know if that’s literally everything that transpired last night.And I mean everything.The more we know, the better our response can be.Thankfully, my brothers know me well enough not to question my motive or demand clarity for my less-than-perfect word choice, and Hawke nods.
Roman scratches his jaw.“Gus has a pretty strict policy at The Body Shop.If we spin this like we’re holding the same standards at our events as he does in his own establishments, then it’s not on us.It’s on Morgan for fucking with our policy.”
Jagger nods.“I like it.”
“Me, too,” I announce.Call Gus what you want, but he looks out for his girls.
Pinning Roman with a sharp look, Jagger asks, “Have you heard anything from Gus?”
Roman shakes his head.“Nothing.”
“Do you think Morgan would keep his uncle in the dark?”I ask before standing up and pacing the gym area.After everything I just heard, I’m too amped to sit still.
Roman stays quiet, considering the possibility.It wouldn’t surprise me if Morgan stayed quiet.Then again, it also wouldn’t surprise me if he ran to his uncle and tattled on what terrible hosts we were last night.How dare we stand up for our guests and throw out a low-life who doesn’t know the word no?
“I’m not sure,” Roman admits, “but either way, if we’re going for the upper hand, it’d be smart to be the first to bring it up instead of waiting for Gus to jump to his own conclusions.”
“Yeah, but if it looks like we’re tattling on Morgan to his uncle, Gus won’t like that, either,” Jagger points out.
He’s right.The last thing we want is to stir up drama when things are already precarious enough as they are.
“I could ask Rafe,” Roman offers.“See if he’s heard anything.”
