Chapter 22
Morelli was waiting outside of the room for Ranger to exit. "We screwed up," he said when Ranger appeared.
"Yeah, we did, Morelli. Neither of us treated her the way we were supposed to treat her. We didn't give her the respect she deserved," Ranger replied.
"I have never seen her this happy. I grew up with her. She was never this happy before. Even when she ran me over with her dad's taxi."
"Are you kidding me?" Ranger asked. He raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Nope," Joe said while rocking on his heels.
"Has she ever kicked you in the groin before?" Ranger asked. He was hoping Morelli got a taste of that reaction from Stephanie.
"No, that was new. We probably need to start using cups around her," Morelli answered.
"Yeah, I agree." Ranger and Morelli walked to their hotel rooms. Morelli paused at his door.
"Okay. He-Man has his hands full," Morelli said, grinning.
'You think?" Ranger sarcastically asked before laughing. Morelli fist-bumped Ranger before unlocking his door.
He shut the door to his hotel room and leaned against it. A lot has changed in the past few months. Fake Morelli messed up, causing him to lose his girlfriend to Tank.
Tank looked at his wife as he sat down on the bed. He stroked his finger down her cheek. Stephanie leaned into his touch.
"Hey," Steph said as she looked at him. She cupped his cheek with her hand.
"You did good," he quietly said.
"No, Tank. We did good," she corrected him as she placed her other hand on his face. Stephanie leaned up to kiss him lightly. He pulled back to look at her face.
Tank looked into her sparkling blue eyes. He saw the love Stephanie felt for him in her eyes. After laying down beside his wife, he pulled her close. They were exhausted from the busy day and fell asleep in each other's arms.