Page 59 of Creed

Then there’s the whole other issue with Guy sending me threatening texts. Judging by his last messages to me, he makes it sound like he’s closer to me than I realized and that fucking terrifies me. Guy was, and still is, a piece of shit. He’s a beautiful man with an ugly soul and a violent hand. He got off on hurting me, and I’ll never forget the way his eyes roved over my body the closer I got to eighteen.

My heart keeps screaming Yes! Go. Go with them. Give yourself a chance at a fresh start.

But my brain overpowers it by telling me that it’s a terrible idea, and I’ll just be putting Creed into the line of fire and risk giving him bad publicity, because there’s always some lowlife that’s capable of digging up dirt on anyone and my past is so fucking filthy that it wouldn’t take much to smear his name.

“Collins?” Creed grabs my attention with his smoky voice and a gentle hand on my knee. “You okay? You kind of spaced out there for a minute.”

“Hm?” I shake my head. “Yeah, I’m…I’m fine.”

“So, what do you think?”

“About touring with you?”

“Yeah,”

I pause. I know the answer I want to give him and the answer I need to give him, so I steel my spine and take a deep breath before releasing it and looking directly into Creed’s eyes.

“No.”

Chapter 23

Collins

Riley’s brows knit, confusion swirling in his deep brown gaze while Creed rears back as if I’d slapped him. “No?”

“I can’t, Creed.”

He smirks at me. Fucking smirks as he says, “I wasn’t exactly asking, Stardust.”

I scoff at his brass balls for pulling the possessive alpha bullshit again. “You can’t just order me to drop everything and follow you around on your tour bus. I have a job. A life?—”

“Collins, I’m going to be really fucking honest with you, and I’m telling you ahead of time, it’s not to hurt or to offend you.” Which means that’s exactly what his words are going to do. I roll my eyes but sit silent and wait for him to continue.

“I’m not going to pretend to know what your life has been like for the last two years, but from what I’ve gathered, your job fucking sucks.”

I open my mouth to argue, because fuck this, but he holds a hand up and continues, “You, are talented as fuck. You deserve to be performing in a space that’s safe, where you don’t have to fear your boss or the fuck-wads he considers to be his ‘valuable’ members. If it’s the performing that you love about that club, then I’ll swear to you that we’ll take you to a studio every goddamned day that we’re on the road so that you can perform. Or, I don’t know, fuck, we can build a set for you to dance on stage while we perform because you’re just that good, Stardust.”

His bright eyes glimmer with the truth behind his words and my heart warms and squeezes painfully at his conviction and his thoughtfulness. Fuck, he’s making it hard to stick to my answer, but I won’t—I refuse to bring trouble to his doorstep.

But apparently I’m a sadist because I can’t help but ask anyway, “You’d do that for me?”

He gives me a look that says are you crazy? But instead he smirks and says, “Of course I would.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to just say Fuck it and just give in, but, “I—I can’t, Creed. I have to pay Tank, I can’t just pick up and leave.”

“Collins—”

“No, there are other things you don’t understand. Things I can’t and won’t expose you to.”

“So help me understand! Tell me, because there must be something deeper that’s keeping you here. Something you’re not sharing.” His voice is nearly shouting, but I think it’s more out of frustration than it is anger at me. Riley bristles beside him and knocks his knee against Creed’s and shoots him a warning glare. Creed reads it and takes a slow breath, his shoulders slumping a bit when he looks at me again, his voice calm once more. “Give me the truth, and don’t you dare lie to me Collins Adaire Weston. I know you, and your self-sacrificing heart. If something is going on, tell me, and we can help you.”

I close my eyes for a moment, gathering and organizing my thoughts. Do I dare to share everything going on in my life? About the threats looming over my head? If I do, Creed will definitely put a fucking collar on me and drag me away with him on a short, tight leash.

Would being protected by Creed be so bad, though?

“Collins?”

I open my eyes to see two sets of eyes watching me. Waiting patiently.

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