Page 9 of Creed
I pulled my car up next to several rugged trucks on a flat gravel area. There were a few beams framing the gravel, like they’dstarted laying out the base for a garage but got distracted almost as soon as they started and now there was just the promise of a structure left behind.
The trucks were huge and made my four-door sedan look like a compact car. Remembering the harrowing drive to get out here, I could understand why they needed such impressive machinery. I would have to remember to rent a truck if I ever came out here again.
I was just stepping out of the car when Creed’s familiar voice greeted me.
“Kayden. You made it.”
With my back still turned to him, I hesitated. This was the point of no return. Right now, I could still jump back in my car and make my escape. It would probably mean an end to my friendship with Creed, but it was an option. Once I turned around and faced him, I’d be stuck. There was no way I’d be able to bring myself to leave, even if I wanted to.
Clenching my fists in front of me so Creed wouldn’t see them, I put a big smile on my face and turned around to face him.
“Creed, it’s been a long time,” I greeted him, trying not to show my surprise at his proximity. The man was completely silent when he walked. He was already just a few feet away and I hadn’t heard him approach at all.
When we were younger, I would have run up and hugged him, but those kinds of gestures stopped on my fifteenth birthday, when I first realized the extent of my feelings for him. From then on, whenever I wanted to greet him, I always just slung an arm over his shoulder, careful to keep our bodies angled away from each other.
Now, I didn’t even have the right for that much.
How were you supposed to greet someone that you hadn’t seen in person for years?
A handshake was too formal and didn’t adequately express how happy I was to see him, but anything else felt too intimate.
In the end, I settled for a hearty slap on the shoulder.
“It’s a miracle I got here at all. The place was hard to find. I got lost three times on the way here.”
He was bulkier than I remembered. A lot of his size came from muscle, which I could feel through his clothing when I touched his shoulder. The man was practically made from stone. Yet, there was also some softness around his stomach that hadn’t been there when we were younger. It looked good on him. When we were teenagers, there had been an unpleasant leanness to him, as if he had to keep himself in fighting shape at all times and could never relax. I’d been afraid that the military would exacerbate this, honing an already sharp blade until it broke, but it seemed like a life of service had provided him some comfort as well.
“You look good, man. Are you settling into your retirement?”
We’d spoken over the phone about how out of sorts he felt as he tried to find his place in civilian life, but that had been a week ago. Maybe he’d made some progress since then.
Creed merely answered with a shrug, which meant he wasn’t willing to talk about it.
His dark eyes then raked over me.
“You’ve gained weight.”
Anyone else would have been offended by this statement. Creed’s lack of tact had driven many people away from him in the past.
However, when I heard him, I immediately started laughing as I was flooded with a sense of relief. I’d feared that so much time apart, no matter how frequently we talked on the phone, would leave us strangers to each other.
That fear was put to rest when I found that I understood exactly what Creed meant. His statement was not meant to be harsh or insulting. It was merely an observation of how I’d changed. My own thoughts had been similar when I first saw him, the only difference was I had enough tact to keep those observations to myself.
Still chuckling, I finally felt comfortable enough to throw an arm over Creed’s shoulder. “Ah, Creed. Blunt as ever. Yep, I’ve packed on a few pounds. There are so many places around the world with their own delicacies and unique tastes, and I refuse to be denied life pleasures for something as stupid as a waistline.”
Just for emphasis, I patted my own stomach.
Never let anyone call me self-conscious.
“That sounds like good life advice.”
The new voice had me turning around, where I found myself face to face with several people I didn’t know. They stood a little distance away, giving Creed and I the illusion of privacy while still being able to hear everything we said. From Creed’s descriptions, I could already identify each of them. From the back of the little group, Trent and Ellis watched me with mild curiosity, while Brody and Magnus each gave me a hard stare.They were sizing me up, trying to determine if I was any threat to their friend.
A small, possessive part of me wanted to push back against that suspicion. I’d been Creed’s friend long before they ever met him. If anyone should be protective of him, it should be me.
I shoved those thoughts to the farthest recess of my mind where hopefully even I would forget about them and kept the smile on my face.
“I wish my editor agreed with you. Pretty sure she thinks I’m a reckless idiot who’s always getting into trouble.”
