CHAPTER 15
I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing, which is annoying, because I’d much rather be sleeping than waking up and the sound is making that impossible. Jonah is half draped over me, and I wiggle out from underneath him. He worked late last night and came home somewhere halfway through the night and is still out cold. The annoying sound not even waking him up. When I finally find my phone, I see my dad’s face lighting up the screen and I accept the call.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Why are we whispering?” my dad says as his face fills the screen and a wrinkle appears between his eyes.
I shift the screen of my phone to where Jonah is sleeping on his back covered beneath just enough sheets for it to be decent to show to my father. A loose strand of his hair falls over his forehead and it’s adorable.
“Morgan,” my dad whispers, pulling my attention back to the present.
I walk to the hallway, rubbing my eyes while I make my way downstairs. “What’s up dad?” I ask when I find Gil topless and in gray sweatpants in the kitchen, and I give him my best puppy dog eyes while pointing to the coffee maker. The fucking awesome coffee maker.
“Just wanted to check up on you. Can’t your dad call you without a reason?”
“Sure you can, but does it have to be so early?”
“It’s late here,” he scolds me. Right. Different sides of the world. Time difference. I know this.
I try to remember where they are, but between all the police stuff and editing and having literally no spare time at all between all the guys, I’m having a hard time remembering what their current location is. “Where are you guys again?”
“China. I’m almost starting to believe you’re forgetting about us.”
Gil hands me a cup of coffee, which I take a big gulp of, scorching my tongue before I answer my dad. “You change countries every other day, it’s hard to keep up.”
“Well, you went through boyfriends every other day, and I always kept up with you.” He says it with a wide grin, so I know he’s joking, but I have to admit he has a point.
“Well, at least now I’ve got four at once, and I’m not planning to change it up any time soon, so that’ll make your life easier.”
“Yes, my daughter, the one with the four boyfriends. Easier. You know what every father’s worst nightmare is? A son in law. And you pick four.”
Gil snickers in the background. “Who’s that?” dad asks. I flip the camera and show him Gil, who waves.
“Hello mister Pike,” he dutifully greets him, not giving any fucks he’s half naked. As he should.
“Hi Gil, my wife made me promise to not call you the sex guy, so I’ll absolutely not say that.”
Gil roars with laughter as I yelp a ‘Dad!’ at him and flip the camera back. My father laughs too, and I must admit it’s hard to keep a smile off of my face. Even though my father can’t see Gil anymore, he can very much hear him say that all of them kind of are the sex guys now.
“I only have myself to blame for that one, now have I?” dad says as he scrunches his face. I snort.
“So, how’s Chinese cuisine?” I ask to divert the topic of conversation.
“Your mother walked past fried chicken feet, and now she’s convinced everything we eat is either dog or cat, even though she literally saw it were chicken feet, so she has us on a strictly vegetarian diet. If I have to eat another bowl of rice I’m going to go crazy.”
I snort again. My mother, not an adventurous bone in her body, on a trip around the world ladies and gentlemen, it’s hilarious. “Where is she now?”
“Getting some acupuncture done.”
I frown. “So eating questionable food is a no, but sticking needles into your body is okay?”
My father sticks a hand up in the air. “I don’t question the woman, it’s the reason we’re still happily married.”
Gil chuckles again, and I give him a foul look.
“But give it to me true, kiddo. Everything good over there?” His look softens as he stares directly in the camera.
“Yeah dad, all is well. We’re all doing the best we can.”