Page 76 of Creed

“Why?” She narrows her eyes.

“My… girl,” I say, again, and Riley stiffens beside me. “Her brother works on their security team. The two of them are actually at the diner down the block. That shirt would be a gift for her.”

Her eyes widen and a huge grin splits across her face. She turns to the shirt on the wall and takes it down and proceeds to wipe the dust from it with a cloth she’d produced from somewhere. She looks at me as she sets the framed shirt down on the counter. “She’s Asher’s sister?”

I nod. What a small fucking world. Genevieve continues, “He has gone on and on all week about getting to see his baby sister for the first time in nearly a decade. He talked the ears off of Callan and Lachlan about her. How quiet and kind she was, and how much she loved David Bowie.” Her eyes shine with emotion and she bites her lips for a second to keep it from quivering. She then slides the frame toward me and shocks the shit out of me with her next words. “Take it. From what I’ve heard, she deserves to be spoiled by all of her favorite things.” She looks at Riley and asks, “she your girl, too?”

I choke on air and cough while Riley turns as red as a tomato, stammering for words. Genevieve just looks between the two of us and smiles, but the look in her eyes is conspiratorial at best. She ducks down and produces some bright pink and blue gift bags and proceeds to quickly pack everything on the counter into each one, complete with fucking sparkly tissue paper. She pushes them toward us and says, “Go spoil her.”

Uh. “How much for all of it?”

She just shakes her head. “It’s a gift.”

“I can’t just take all of this. Let me?—”

“You can, and you will.”

I look down at the gift bags, and I’m thrown back to all the times Ash and I found Collins in the back of her closet, wearing out her brother’s mp3 player by listening to David Bowie’s greatest hits. Or how I’d play Heros or Ziggy Stardust on my guitar while she’d dance around her room, belting out the lyrics the best she could until her voice gave out completely.

“You want a price?” Genevieve asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Yes,” I answer past the fucking lump that’s now occupying my throat.

“Take care of her. That’s my price.” She says with authority, this strange shop owner damn near ordering us around now. But her eyes soften before she continues, “I know how it feels to live for so long without family,” she glances to the far wall where several pictures of people hang and fresh flowers and lit candles adorn a table beneath them. She turns her attention back to Riley and me.

“We will, I promise.” Riley says, his eyes shining with absolute truth. I’m fairly certain he’d sooner throw himself off a cliff before ever hurting Collins. I can’t say I disagree.

She pushes the gift bags closer to us and we take the sparkling monstrosities from her. “Thank you,” I tell her, genuine gratitude washing over me as the weight of the framed shirt in the bag settles into my grip. “Are you sure there’s no way I can pay you?”

She just shakes her head but then pauses. “You picked up a tour for As We Stand, right?”

Riley nods, “We did.”

“I know that both Dark Sins and As We Stand like to start and end your tours here in Cali,” she twirls a purple strand between her fingers, and I know where this is going. It’s not the first time someone has tried to sweet talk their way into getting tickets, but for this chick? I’d lick her fucking scuffed up doc martin boots if she asked me to right now. But I let her finish speaking. “If you can leave me a ticket for your last show in August, I’ll call us even.”

I glance at Riley like I’m prepared to have a silent debate with him, even though we both know she’s getting that fucking ticket. He offers me a smile with wide, obviously exasperated eyes that say just give her the fucking tickets, dude.

“You’ve got a deal, Genevieve McTavish.” I hold my free hand out to her and she shakes on it. “It was nice meeting you.” I say as I turn and start for the door, Riley right on my heels.

Of course, we earn a laugh from her when Ri turns back at the last second and yells out, “Your store is fucking awesome!” I shove him out the door and we turn back towards the diner, where I see that Asher and Collins are now standing next to my Range Rover, hugging like they’ll suddenly vanish if either of them lets go. My heart squeezes in my chest and regret flows through my veins when I think of a young Collins, alone in the world without her family, thinking she was unwanted.

Fuck, I feel like a bastard. Based on the agony on Asher’s face as he squeezes her in a tight hug, the feeling is shared.

He finally lets her go as Riley and I approach the SUV and they both turn their attention to us. Collins’ eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, the tip of her nose is pink, but the light in her jade eyes and the smile that she blesses us with cause my shoulders to slump in relief. I was fucking terrified that I’d made a very bad decision in bringing her to see her brother, because though she was never a spiteful person or one to hold grudges as a kid, I’m not entirely familiar with how she is now. I can tell she’s still a people pleaser, but that doesn’t mean she’s as forgiving as she was as a kid. But she doesn’t hesitate when she takes the few steps that stand between us and wraps her arms around my shoulders, burying her face in my neck and whispers, “Thank you.”

I turn my head and drop a chaste kiss to her temple. Asher watches me with a really weird look on his face, like he’s trying to analyze and dissect the entirely innocent interaction. The kiss was completely innocent, but it’s more affection than I showed her as a kid. “I take it the surprise reunion went better than expected?” I ask, glancing between Ash and Collins when she releases me and steps back to her brother, who’s scrutinizing glare is still trained on me, by the way.

“It was a shock, that’s for sure.” Collins says, trying for sarcasm and sass, but it quickly morphs into joy as she smiles again and side-hugs her brother, laying her head on his shoulder. “But the happiest surprise.” She straightens and fluffs up her messy waves and leans against the side of the Range Rover. She looks away from us for a moment, her eyes trained on the morning sun peeking over the trees on the horizon. A warm breeze brushes some of those messy white waves across her cheek and the sun peeks out, casting her face in a golden glow.

My god she’s fucking stunning.

Fucking Christ. I need to make her mine.

She fidgets with her now midnight blue nails as she speaks, her gaze meeting each of ours. “I wanted to be angry.” She huffs a sarcastic laugh before she continues, “I wanted to be so fucking angry, because for so long I felt…I felt abandoned, forgotten…like I was a burden that nobody could be bothered with anymore. Dad ran off to god-knows where before landing himself in prison, and when mom…” she trails off, her raspy voice breaking at the mention of her mom. Riley inhales in a barely audible gasp. He had a shitty relationship with his mother, though their situations were different, I’m sure he feels that similar pain at the loss of a parent.

Asher reaches out and wipes a tear from her cheek before she has time to do it herself. “I was just a kid, ya know? So when you’re told that you’re being placed with a foster family because the family contacts declined, you start to assume the worst. I was angry for so long, but I can’t find it in me to be angry now. Not when I’ve found my family again. Not now that I know you’re all happy and healthy and…and fucking thriving.” She says with a soft smile, and glances at all of us, including Riley. She looks over to her brother, “Especially you!” she laughs, tugging on his suit jacket. “Wearing fancy suits, carrying weapons, and apparently, you’re a fucking bodyguard now?” Asher laughs at her but her expression changes to something softer as she says, “You look happier than you did in the MLB, Ash.”

He just smiles at her and responds, “I am.”

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