Page 85 of One Kind Goal

Sawyer stared at her for a solid five-count, his eyes blinking rapidly as if he were trying to decide whether to be mad at her or admit she was right.

“Is there a way to fix this?” He flapped his arms out to his sides, looking so wrecked.

“Doesn’t your team have a press person?” Morgan sat on the couch to keep from throwing her arms around Sawyer. That was what she wanted to do, but he was definitely giving off a don’t-come-near-me vibe right now. “We can’t erase Nia from the internet. If you can get official word out that Nia is yours and that I’m not her mother and explain what really happened last night, however, maybe that will quiet the hordes of curious web idiots. If the stories stop spiraling, that should ease Carina’s worries, right?”

Sawyer lowered to the chair across from Morgan. “It might. I’ll call our publicity guy, Lawrence. He’s great at hyping up the team. I hope he’s great at putting out fires too.” He tapped on his phone a few times then went into the bedroom.

Morgan tried not to feel bad that he didn’t want to talk to Lawrence in front of her, but she had to cut Sawyer a break. He was no doubt feeling raw and wounded right now, and maybe he wasn’t the type to want someone comforting him when he felt that way. This was a new situation for her to see him in. So far, all they’d had was fun together. The current scenario definitely didn’t qualify as fun.

And to think twenty minutes ago she’d been tied to the bed and deep in the throes of passion.

Now she felt raw and wounded too. She hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to Nia either and that hurt. The kid occupied a significant portion of her heart now, and though she wasn’t Nia’s mother, she’d sure as fuck enjoyed playing that role over the last few days. She’d gotten on board with Sawyer’s team mentality and she wanted the three of them to get the chance to be a team again.

She hit Austin’s contact and tapped her foot as she listened to the rings.

“Hey,” her brother said. “Does Sawyer’s jaw feel like my cheek does?”

“Probably,” she said. “But we’ve got bigger problems.”

“I know,” Austin said. “My agent called about what’s online. Cody is working on how to spin this.”

“We are too, but we need to move quickly,” Morgan said. “Nia’s mom came by and took Nia. She wants full custody. Sawyer is crushed.”

“Damn. Press like this is nothing for Sawyer and me,” Austin said. “And it won’t destroy Nia’s life, but I get why her mother is upset. Did you see the story that speculates we all have an open marriage thing going on between you, Sawyer, Charlie, and me?”

“Oh my God, no.” Morgan rubbed her temple. “What is wrong with people?”

“We don’t have time for that conversation. I’ll put Cody in touch with Sawyer so a coordinated statement can be issued. The more solid we all are on the message that goes out, the better.”

“Agreed. Thanks.”

“I’m so sorry this happened, Morgan. I know you like Sawyer and Nia.”

“I love them, Austin.”

“Then let’s fight to make this right,” Austin said. “Oh, and you’d better give Claire and Brooke a jingle. They blew up my phone with texts. There is no way I can read them all.”

“Okay. I will,” she said.

“Are we still on for meeting the lawyer at Trixie’s Attic today or do we need to reschedule that?” Austin asked.

Shit. Morgan had forgotten that was today. “Umm . . .”

“Call me in an hour,” Austin said. “That way I have enough time to tell my lawyer not to come.”

“All right. Will do.”

“Try not to worry, Morgan,” he said.

Knowing worrying was all she’d do, she leaned her head back on the couch cushion behind her. This trip was supposed to be nothing but a good time. It’d turned into a great time when Sawyer told her that he loved her. And then it shifted into a shitty time when they found Carina packing up all of Nia’s stuff.

All except the Pegasus Morgan caught sight of in the corner of the living room when she lifted her head. She only hoped that winged horse would get reunited with Nia.

Soon.

A few minutes later, Sawyer came back into the living room and threw himself into the chair again. “I talked to Lawrence and then Austin gave me his agent’s number so he could talk to Lawrence too. Hopefully, together they’ll craft something that benefits all of us.” He scrubbed a hand down his face, wincing when his hand hit his bruised jaw. “And you’re right about letting Carina cool off. Going after her right now would only seem aggressive.”

Morgan was encouraged to see Sawyer a little calmer now. Sure, a great sadness had settled in his beautiful eyes, but perhaps his publicity guy had assured him things would be handled. She’d felt better after talking to Austin.