Page 51 of Sundowners
He turned and gave me a smile, but it was strained and quick. He turned his attention back to the band with a frown, and my good mood deflated a bit. He did reach for my hand though and gave it a squeeze. A little tighter than an “it’s good to see you” squeeze. This almost hurt.
The band finished their song and announced they were taking a break. The room filled with hearty conversation as Creed turned toward me.
“Hey,” he said, pulling me in for a hug. “Can I get you a drink?”
“I got it.” I asked the bartender for a draft. They always had the best local brews on tap so I knew I couldn’t go wrong. “I’m sorry I was late. It was Bingo night.”
Creed’s attention was elsewhere though, despite the fact that he was still holding my hand under the bar. I got being discreet, but he seemed…distracted.
“Hey, you okay?” Then I realized that he hadn’t slept today and figured maybe he was tired. “You want to go?”
“No,” he said. “Sorry. I’m okay. I’m glad you got to spend some good time with her tonight. She doing okay?”
“She really is. It’s so strange, she’s so much better now that she’s there. I’m almost wondering if she just needed the reassurance of not being alone, you know? Maybe now that I’m back, she can come home and she’ll continue to get better.”
Creed’s smile slipped and he focused his amber eyes on me. “Roman, she’s betterbecauseshe’s there. I know you want her to be home, that you want to take care of her, but she’s really in the best place for her. You have work and school and the consulting job. You couldn’t be with her twenty-four-seven, and she wouldn’t want you to.”
I knew he was right. I wasn’t even sure why I’d brought it up. I’d just been on such a high today, it seemed like anything was possible.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I tried to shake it off to get back to the vibe we’d had that afternoon, but something was still off about him, too. “Hey, you want to get out of here? You seem tired. Maybe?”
He glanced around the bar and toward the rear stage door. “Yeah, I am a little tired. I’m sorry.” He drained the rest of his beer. “I think I should go home.”
The mood I was trying desperately to hang onto deflated. “Okay. I’m sorry. Let me give you a ride.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not far.”
I finished my beer and let him lead me out of the bar. Once outside, he took me around the corner to a dark spot and he pulled me close, burying his face in my neck.
“I had a great day with you,” he said close to my ear. “I’m sorry it has to end.”
“Me too,” I admitted, kissing his lower lip. “Why don’t you let me drive you home? I could tuck you in.” I pulled back and wiggled my eyebrows at him, but he had this strange expression on his face that gave me pause. Was I seriously getting the “this has been fun, but I’m moving on” speech?
“Some other night,” he said, answering my tentative kiss with a little more feeling. “When I’m more myself. Let me walk you to your car,” he said—and then we heard the shouts.
Creed’s head snapped around to the back of the bar, and then he turned to face me. “Go on, get inside.”
“Fuck that, Creed.”
He cursed and ran for the back of the bar. Fast. Like I couldn’t have kept up even if I’d been ready to sprint.
“You picked the wrong fucking bar, you pieces of shit.”
I recognized the laughter that followed.
I turned the corner and ran into Creed’s back. In front of him were the four assholes from the Boardwalk, and the bass player from the band.
The assholes’ laughter stopped when another band member came outside, the guitar player this time. Then they looked to Creed and their smiles faded further.
“Run along,” the guitar player said, giving them a “shoo” gesture. He had a long, thick beard and a head full of dark wavy hair. He wore black eyeliner and an upside-down cross hanging from one ear. He was certainly built strong enough to take on all four of the assholes.
I recognized the leader of the group as the one working for the biotech firm. He looked at Creed and flicked his chin at him. “You should have learned after last time to stay out of things that don’t concern you.”
Creed held his arms out. “I’m here now. And I don’t scare.”
The kid’s eyes flicked to me, and he laughed. “You sure about that?”
He gathered his fellow assholes and they disappeared into the darkness, laughing all the way.
