Simple Twist of Fate (Fated 3)

Chapter One

He checked his cell phone. Again. And he wasn’t discreet about it this time either. He blatantly whipped it out of his pocket, looked at the time and sighed loudly. Right before his gaze cut to her half finished dinner plate.

Morgan pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t say anything rude. The guy was an ass. There were no other words to describe him. And the date had started only a little over an hour ago…

She was in for a torturous night. She just knew it.

“If we don’t leave now—” her date, Don the jerkbag paused, still staring at her plate of food, “—we’ll end up being late. And I have to see the beginning of this game. It’s important.”

He was a Lakers fan, and she wasn’t. How did Mia know this guy again? Was he a friend of her boyfriend’s? Oh, Morgan really hoped not. Jake was way too nice to hang out with a selfish jerk like this guy.

“I guess I can get the rest of it in a to-go box…”

“Awesome. Waitress!” He yelled at their server, garnering the attention of more than a few people in the busy restaurant and she wanted to slither under the table. Blind dates were the worst. Mia had been bit by some sort of weird matchmaking bug, and she was on the constant hunt for the right guy for Morgan.

Yet again, it was a bad choice, not that she could blame Mia. Her friend’s intentions were good. But this was it. No more blind dates. She’d rather be single with fifty cats living in a one-room shack than go on an endless stream of crappy dates with awful guys.

The waitress took Morgan’s plate and offered her a sympathetic smile as if she understood the torture she was enduring. Don practically wiggled in his seat, his knee bouncing up and down so fast he made the table vibrate.

Someone was just a little too eager to get to a freakin’ basketball game, for the love of God. Morgan had agreed to go on the date just for the experience since she’d never been to a live professional basketball game before but jeez.

This guy was ridiculous.

He threw a few twenties on the table the moment the waitress returned with her leftover dinner in a plastic bag and packed in a Styrofoam container. Don leaped from his chair, waving an impatient hand in Morgan’s direction.

“Let’s go,” he tossed over his shoulder as he started for the front entrance.

She trailed behind and clutched the bag tight. Dang it, she was still hungry. And she really didn’t want to go to the game with him after all. During the entire—and very quick—dinner he’d been short with her. He didn’t seem interested in anything she had to say though he didn’t have a problem talking her ear off about himself.

Don was already at the front door, pushing it open against the hard wind that blew outside. Morgan hurried her steps and tried to slide through the open space but the heavy glass door whipped back with the wind, the metal edge catching Morgan on the forehead.

And she went sprawling to the floor.

“Hey.”

The voice was low and rumbling. She’d never heard it before.

She wanted to hear it again.

“Hey. You awake?” Gentle fingers brushed against her forehead, and she winced. God, that hurt. And was her head wet? How did that happen?

Morgan tried to lift her eyelids, but it felt like a thousand bricks sat on top of them. Her entire head throbbed.

“Listen, I’m like way late, and the game is already in the second quarter.” Ah, she recognized that voice, unfortunately. It was her blind date.

“Hold on, dude,” Mister Low Voice said, sounding completely irritated, which automatically made him her hero. “We’re going to need to wrap her head and take her in.”

“Take her in? What do you mean? To the hospital?” Don’s voice was in full-on whine mode. “I don’t have time for this.”

“From what I understand, you’re the one who did it to her.” The disgust in her hero’s voice was blatant, and she wanted to laugh.

But it would hurt too much. She couldn’t even open her eyes let alone say anything.

“It was the wind, man. How could that be my fault?”

As if on cue, the wind whipped around them, brushing swiftly across her prone body and she realized she was lying on the ground. They must’ve dragged her away from the door because she wasn’t on the sidewalk. The grass was damp beneath her and so cold. She shivered and slowly cracked opened her eyes.

“Ah, there you are.”