Page 135 of Creed

He just stares at me with this pouty look that practically screams fight me but doesn’t respond. I keep staring at him until eventually he sighs dramatically in defeat.

“You’ve got to get off of me so I can get up, Creed.” He whispers back. His lips are so fucking close to mine I can feel each puff of warm breath coming from his mouth.

“Mm, that I do.” I grin, still not moving from where I’m hovering over him and Collins. It’s so tempting to lean down and steal a kiss from his lips, so that’s exactly what I do. The kiss is hardly a brushing peck against his mouth, but he doesn’t jerk away from me. I count it as a win, but I don’t push for more since he gave me this small token. He does look the slightest bit surprised because other than the night that Collins had orchestrated our kiss, I had never kissed his lips before.

I can practically see the gears turning in his mind so before he can overthink it, I give him another peck and immediately push to stand, holding out my hand to pull him from the bed. He gives me a grin that’s so bashful and I find it fucking precious as he stops next to me, pausing long enough to lay his forehead on my shoulder. He inhales deeply once before leaving the room without another word or glance back.

I’d love to know where his head is at, but I know that now is not the time.

We can explore that later.

Once we’re in the living room and out of earshot we speak a little more loudly. “We’ve got to be onstage in about fifteen minutes to start rehearsals with Blair.”

“Even though he doesn’t need it?” Riley asks, but it’s not really a question.

Blair has been nothing shy of fucking perfect since the moment he arrived a month ago. He’s a fucking monster on the bass and he knows all of our songs, plus a few from As We Stand. Little did we know he has perfect pitch so even when he wasn’t familiar with a song, he was able to pick up on the key and play right along like he’s the one who wrote the damn thing. He’s crazy talented with so many instruments, and he even fits in really well with everyone in our group. Especially Collins.

She thinks I was worried about him trying to swoop in and steal her away from me and it was cute to see her reassuring me, even better when she dragged me onto the bus and rode me within an inch of my life just to show her devotion to me.

I didn’t bother correcting her as we both got other-worldly orgasms from it, but what I see is that it’s not Collins that Blair has eyes for, but her big brother.

I don’t think he’s even noticed because he hasn’t been looking for a goddamned thing for years. He and I have had more time to catch up since he came home, and I couldn’t believe that he’s been practically living like a monk since he got out of rehab. He said he hasn’t even felt the need to touch another person, let alone himself.

Asher’s headstrong and used to be so sure of himself but he told me late one night that he can barely stand to look at himself in the mirror anymore. He feels so much guilt for the life that Collins was forced to live while he was getting sober and had a hard time forgiving himself. But that’s not all that’s eating at him. Collins treats him exactly as she did when she was a kid. With nothing but love, adoration, and pride. No, what I think is that Dani had to have done more than just get herself knocked up by one of his teammates to hurt Asher as bad as she did.

I hope she feels that tingling sixth sense in the back of her little mind to stay the fuck away from me if we’re ever in her city.

A knock sounds at the bus door, and I answer it, seeing that it’s Asher himself. “You got a second?” He asks, but he’s got a weird look on his face that has me calling for Riley.

Once we’re all outside I lean my shoulder against the door, facing Asher. “Have you heard anything about that partial match?”

He nods. “We found the guy. It’s not him. He’s an innocent who pissed himself when we pulled him into an abandoned warehouse to interrogate him.”

“Jesus,” I laugh, but there’s not much humor behind it. It’s some scary shit that Asher’s been trained to do since he started working for the McTavish brothers. “What’d you do with the guy afterward? He’s going to be fucking traumatized.”

Now it’s his turn to laugh as he stuffs his hands in his expensive suit pockets. “Don’t you know? Mass amounts of money are the number one cause of amnesia in this world.”

“Oh my god,” Riley buries his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. It’s a defense mechanism for when he’s uncomfortable so I don’t remark on it.

“So what now?” I question, thinking only about the safety of my girl who’s sleeping soundly on the bus.

“We proceed with the new security plan. I’ll place one of my own men here in front of the bus and have him guard the door from out here until I can get her and escort her to the venue myself. I don’t trust the silence of this fucker and it makes me nervous. I won’t risk losing her again.”

“That makes two of us, brother.”

Riley agrees before heading back onto the bus to get ready. Asher eyes him until he’s out of sight before he turns to me. “How does that work, exactly, between the three of you?”

I quirk a brow at him. “You sure you wanna know that?”

“Not really.” He chuckles. “I’m just curious about what the dynamics are.”

“You mean you want to know if we’re all together together?”

He scratches at the back of his neck. “I’m not sure I want to know that, either. I guess I just want to make sure that Collins is being cared for the way she deserves, that she doesn’t feel left out or left behind. She deserves to be number one in someone’s eyes. To be put first the way so many failed to do when she was growing up.”

A pain like a stab to my heart makes me rub at my chest because he’s absolutely right. I look at my best friend, my girl’s older brother, my brother by choice, and give him the whole truth.

“The three of us need each other, in one way or another.” I shrug like the answer is simple. Because it is. “We just are what we are, and what we are— is perfect for one another.”

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