Page 73 of Dark Creed

I watched the show she was talking about once, back when it first came out. Ben Barnes was a good-looking guy, no lie, but now, the only good-looking guy for me was Creed. They were quite similar in appearance, I realized. Having Ben Barnes play Creed in a documentary about our lives wouldn’t be so awful.

“Why are you so tired? Stay up all night doing homework like you always do?” Beth asked, her mouth full.

“What?” I must’ve been too busy thinking about Creed being played by Ben Barnes that I didn’t hear her, at first. After Beth repeated what she’d said, I answered her, “Oh, it’s a long story. Not homework this time.”

The way Beth stared at me, I could tell she was expecting more. More from me, more out of the story… just more in general. So, I went on, “Family drama. It’s all good now, but I definitely could use a weekend.”

“Sorry, girl, we still have a few days until then.”

That was very sad, but also very true.

“What about your mystery guy? Have you still been talking to him? You’ve been quiet on that front lately, it’s suspicious.” Beth squinted at me, acting overly dramatic about it all as she took another large bite from her slice.

And here I’d thought she’d forgotten. I should’ve known Beth would never forget something like that. My boy-crazy friend to the not-so-needed rescue.

“Yes, I’m still talking to him,” I admitted.

“You know, sooner or later you’re going to have to tell me who he is. I need to do research on him to make sure he’s not a serial killer.” Beth licked her lips after finishing the crust on her piece. “I’m just saying, someone who doesn’t have any social media these days is either hiding the fact that he’s in a relationship and lying to you about it or a serial killer.”

I chuckled. “Those are the only two reasons, huh?”

“Uh, yeah!”

“So, you don’t think serial killers are on social media?”

“No, of course there are some, but I’m betting there are more out there who aren’t.”

I didn’t eat the crust off my piece, and I slipped it back into the box before picking up a second piece. “Uh-huh. And how many Netflix documentaries did you watch to become an expert on the subject?”

“I’ve lost count,” she deadpanned, and we both laughed at that. “Seriously, though, when are you going to tell me who he is? I’m dying over here, Taylor! Dying!”

“I don’t think you’re dying.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, when I fall over, randomly dead, just know it’s because of you and your secret boyfriend.” Beth shook her head once. “I still can’t believe you won’t tell me. It’s not like I’ll try to slide into his DMs or anything—”

“I know you wouldn’t, but he’s not on anything. He can’t be, because of work.”

Beth wouldn’t let it go. It’s all she could talk about during lunch, but I did my best to fend her off, so to speak. I wasn’t going to tell her about Creed, not now. Maybe in the future, once I had a more concrete story to tell her. I just… I didn’t want her to know that my dad was abusive and I’d run to my stepbrother because he was the only person I could think of.

She’d only ask me why I hadn’t come to her instead, and what could I say to that? That I’d been ashamed? That I didn’t want my single friend, the only one I’d ever really had, to know that I was so weak I’d been turning my cheek to everything my dad had done for years? No, I didn’t want to tell her any ofthat.

In all honesty, she’d probably not blink an eye at the whole stepbrother thing. I might’ve grown up idolizing Creed as a brother, but he wasn’t actually my brother, and we’d spent the last ten years apart. Those ten years were enough to wipe away whatever we might’ve had.

I liked Beth, I did, and I enjoyed eating lunch together, but today, I was also grateful when our time together ended, mostly because I couldn’t take any more questions. We went our separate ways, both of us heading to our afternoon classes.

Late afternoon came soon enough, and I walked home.

As I walked, a strange feeling came over me, something I couldn’t describe. You know the saying that your nose itched when someone else was talking or thinking about you? It was kind of like that, except it was more of a whole-body experience than just my nose.

I threw a glance over my shoulder a few times as I walked, but I didn’t see anything. Nothing out of the ordinary. I assumed I was just a little paranoid after everything with Hailee and my dad, so I carried on.

I wouldn’t say it felt like I was being followed, but… well, it felt like I was being followed.

When I made it inside Creed’s place, I found Creed sitting near the island, reading something on a tablet. When I walked in, he set the tablet down, his dark features twisting in concern as he noted the look on my face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. I just…” I trailed off. I didn’t know how to say it without sounding like I was losing my mind. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” I gave Creed a smile, walked over to him and kissed his cheek. “I’m just going insane.” I tried walking away—I did have some homework to do, since yesterday had been full of fucking—but Creed’s arm shot out, his hand wrapping around my wrist and stopping me cold.

“What is it?” I didn’t respond to him right away, and he yanked me back to him. “I’m not going to let you go until you tell me.”

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