Page 79 of Creed

She’s quiet for a moment, and a quick glance back at her shows me that her face is still that sweet shade of pink. Then she asks quietly, “You think the crowd will like it, too?”

“Collins, I fucking know it, baby.” The last word kind of slips out without my permission but her little gasp tells me she liked it, so I pretend like it wasn’t a slip of my tongue.

She bites her lip when I look at her in the mirror, and she smiles wide enough that her dimples pop out. “Okay, yeah, let’s do it!” she squeals, bouncing in her seat and claps her hands but quickly stops, slapping a hand over her mouth when she remembers the sleeping Riley next to her. When our eyes meet again, she busts out in silent laughter.

But when I look at Riley, I see his lips quirked up in a smile, no doubt having heard our conversation and likes the idea of seeing her perform again.

I just hope he likes what I plan to do afterward, too. I can see that he already has feelings for her, but I’m a selfish bastard who will stop at nothing to make her mine, if she’ll have me.

If she doesn’t? I’ll fucking find a way to make her.

Eh, it’ll be fine.

Probably

Chapter 29

Collins

The rest of the drive was spent in peaceful silence, which was a welcome reprieve from the morning I had while catching up on ten years’ worth of history and overwhelming emotions between me and my big brother. My heart aches with leaving him, but knowing he’s so close, and moving even closer soon is like a salve over the ache.

I’d drifted off after my mind had stopped racing over choosing an aerial routine and the perfect outfit for the encore performance that Creed wants me to be a part of.

My mind was blown.

I’d never been to a concert before, and not only is my first going to be with the man I’ve been crazy about my whole life, the man who I’ve watched practice in his dad’s garage countless times, listened to his voice evolve over the years…but I’m freaking performing for them now? No fucking way. It’s like an exciting yet terrifying dream come true.

Before I’d drifted off in the car, I squirmed in my seat for about thirty minutes, Creed's voice ringing over and over in my head from when he called me baby. It’s not the first time he’s done it since we found each other again, but there was something in the way he said it that wasn’t just a plea or heat of the moment pet name.

The way the word curled around his lips shot straight to my core and sank down between my thighs. It had me imagining what it would sound like for him to call me baby in a more…intimate setting. One where he needs me so badly that he can’t wait, where I’m pressed up against a wall and fucked within an inch of my life, both chasing a high we both crave.

It was torture not being able to reach down and touch myself. The need to come is growing stiflingly unbearable being around these men.

Yes, these men. Plural.

I can admit that both Creed and Riley are hot as fuck, but in such different ways. Creed is tall and muscular, built much thicker than he was when he was eighteen. He’s all dark, and rugged; a no-bullshitter attitude wrapped in beautiful tattoos and panty-dropping smiles.

Riley is just as beautiful as Creed. He’s equally as tall, though not as muscular, but still perfectly toned and has no tattoos or piercings that I know of. He’s sweet and soft, a light in the darkness. He radiates happiness and brings with him a peace I’ve never known in my life.

Creed was always a constant in my life and is quickly slipping back into that role again. Riley took zero time in proving himself to be an amazing friend, giving me a comfort and lightness that I haven’t felt in a very long time.

While I can’t deny that I harbor some staggeringly strong feelings for both Creed and Riley, I know I’ll have to stifle them. Push them down to the point of ignoring them because I don’t want to come between them and the family they’ve created. Creed’s made it clear where he stands while Riley has only shown me the kindness of a friend and nothing more. I just need to relax for a damn minute and be grateful for the new life I find myself living with people who actually intend to take care of me.

My eyelids grow heavy but before I drift off, my phone buzzes in my lap. I glance down and my body breaks out in a cold sweat at the text lighting up my lock screen.

Unknown: You think you can run from me? Running will only result in punishment when I finally catch you, little girl.

Nausea rolls through me and my heart beats with a wild fear.

He knows I’m gone.

Maybe he doesn’t know where I am, though.

I make quick work of deleting the text messages and turn my phone on ‘silent mode’ before Creed notices the panic roiling through my body. I let my head drop back against the headrest and close my eyes, the last thing going through my mind before sleep claims me is the sadistic smile that Guy gave me before I escaped—because that’s what I really did, escape—and the fear I feel for Creed and Riley by allowing them to help me.

I wake to the feeling of a thumb brushing down my cheek and a rush of the warm, early summer air. I crack my eyes open to see Creed smiling at me in the doorway of the SUV. God, he’s so beautiful. I let my eyes rove over him in my sleepy state, thoroughly enjoying taking in each of his tattoos that stretch from the line of his jaw to the tips of his fingers. A knowing smirk graces the natural pout of his lips and I want to lean in and taste them with my own.

“We’re here, Stardust.” He says softly, pulling me from my quiet ogling. I sit up and look around, seeing that we’re in a private, gated lot and parked behind a row of very fancy-looking large black buses. Several people dressed in black Dark Sins shirts are moving around at a hustling pace, loading and arranging various cases of equipment in each of the RV’s. He holds his hand out to me as I unbuckle my seatbelt. “Want to see our bus?”

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