Page 10 of Creed

“We’ll train you.” Ivan smiles, running his hand down my arm. “Get you used to being more social.”

Jerking away, I smile tightly. “Goodnight.”

“Wait,” Ivan calls, his dark blonde brows pulling together. “You’re not walking back to the dorm, are you?”

“My Uber will be here soon,” I lie smoothly and without hesitation so they don't ask any more questions.

Leaving the building and industry mixer behind, I step outside. The cool evening air brushes my cheeks, and I inhale the scent of the Pacific Ocean from the bay. Being so close to the water is one of the best perks of being here. I love the ocean. In Mexico, my family lives in a small inland community. My estranged father is a sicario in the Garcia Cartel, and my mother—may her soul rest in peace—never would let me have anything to do with him. Instead, we lived with myabuelaandabuelo, living a simple and quiet life as off the radar as we could.

“Who were those two assholes?”

I whirl around, seeing Sir Hotness leaning against the neighboring building. He has removed his glasses, and his eyes narrow on Ivan and Gene through the window.

“I didn’t like how they looked at you or how the one dared to touch you,” he growls darkly.

“Whoa.” I hold up my hands, even though heat erupts between my legs and my sex has started to throb. “Ease up on the possessiveness, jackhole.”

His piercing blue eyes swing to me. The darkness and hardness make me shiver, but his look softens now that he's looking at me and is no longer glaring at Ivan and Gene through the window. “Jackhole?”

I groan and roll my eyes. “Sorry. It’s one of my young cousin’s newest and favorite sayings.”

“You’re close with your family,” he guesses, and the thought seems to please him.

“Yes, with myabuela,abuelo, and cousins. Especially my oldest cousin, who is more like an uncle.”

“Tío.” When I tilt my head in surprise, he continues, “That’s uncle in Spanish, right?”

My Latino heritage is easy to recognize from my coloring and features.

He motions with his fingers, beckoning me closer. My mind doesn’t question it; my body just obeys. I have no choice; I’m sucked into his orbit. He’s like the sun, the center of the solar system, and its gravity keeps all the planets in its orbit.

The wind catches my hair, and he pushes it gently out of my face. “Uncle in Italian isZio… Very similar.”

“You’re Italian.” I look up at him.

God, I want to crawl under his skin and never leave.

He nods and holds out his hand to me. Unlike inside when I declined to take it, I take it now, making his eyes flare with satisfaction.

I gasp when my skin touches his for the first time. Heat spreads from the point of contact and quickly radiates outward.

“Will you trust me?” he asks in that deep, sexy voice.

All common sense tells me to say no, pull my hand free, and go back inside. But something deeper within me responds, “Yes.”

A primal look flashes over his face, drawing me closer instead of frightening me.

“Good.” He brushes my hair back from my face with his free hand, his fingers trailing lightly down my neck, making goosebumps follow in the wake of his gentle touch. “I won’t do anything to abuse your trust, angel.”

The door to the building opens, spilling noise outside to burst the bubble that has descended around us. Sir Hotness’s back is toward the glass building, shielding me from view. Still holding my hand, he walks us away from the building and onto the sidewalk. We don’t go far, and he stops at a pub a few doors down. I hold back, shaking my head.

“I’m not old enough.” I just had my nineteenth birthday.

He smiles. “Freshman, right?”

“How old are you?” I hadn’t gotten a good sense of it, but he isn’t of an early college age.

“Twenty-eight.” He cocks his head to the side and my stomach flutters. That move and dragging his thumb over his lip might be my undoing. “Does that bother you?”

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