He doesn’t make any sense, whatsoever. And the last place I want to be is here in his mother’s house. Even if she is the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. How she created him, I’m not really sure.

Creed’s hand goes to my upper thigh and sits there just holding me in place like he’s afraid I might run off. I do want to, make no mistake about that. I don’t really know this man. His body, maybe. But nothing else.

Darby’s eyes flick to me as Echo argues with Falcon over lunch, like he wants to say something but knows he shouldn’t. At first, I thought it was a joke that no one had actually been to his house, but now that I think about it, I’m not surprised.

“Why don’t you help me in the kitchen?” his mother asks picking up the plates. Creed’s hand drops from my thigh as I stand, grabbing my plate and following her into the kitchen.

“He’s very taken by you.” Turning the water on, I don’t turn to face her, she’s a reader. I see people like her all the time, she reads people’s actions and how they react to a situation. So, I try not to let her know that her son is more than likely sadistic and possibly a killer as well.

“Thank you.”

“I must say, though, if you don’t mind, you don’t seem to have the same affection toward him as what he has to you. Is this just a fling for you?” My head turns around to her. Her eyes are kind and I can see she’s only trying to protect her son. If my mother were alive I’m sure she’d do the same, or at least I would she hope.

“I’m very taken with him.”

Her eyes assess me. It’s true even if I wish it weren’t. No other man has made me feel half of what Creed has, and I know for a fact if another man did half the shit he does, I wouldn’t be here.

“I can hear it in your voice that you are, but your body language says you aren’t sure.” Taking a deep breath, I try to think of something to say that won’t scream, ‘Well, I just saw your son covered in blood, forgive my reticence.’ Instead, I smile. “We’re just—” looking to where he’s seated, not saying a word, just watching the guys talk all around him, “—two very different people.” Looking back, she reaches for me.

“I can hear the pain.” She brushes the top of my hair as if she’s my mother, and I have to try to stop myself from crying. I didn’t realize how much I miss a mother’s comfort. “I’m sorry you’re conflicted, but maybe take away the problem and then look at it from a different angle. Would you be here with him if that problem was gone?”

I nod my head straight away.

She places a gentle kiss on my forehead as she smiles. “There is your answer. Why don’t you go back in there to him before he comes in here looking for you?” I nod, wiping my eyes. “And Elicea?” I look back at her. “You’re welcome here anytime, even without my son.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as I step back into the dining area, Creed’s eyes find mine as he pulls my seat out for me to sit. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, one I never asked to be. But she also made me see something from a different angle.

Maybe I will let him explain.

Explain exactly what he was doing down there.

We sit next to each other in silence, the sun starting to set as he drives me back to my apartment. Time flew by fast at his mother’s. She’s very kind and sharp, she seems to know everything, even when the guys think she doesn’t know. She isn’t someone to be fooled, not by any means.

As the car comes to a stop my stomach starts churning and I have to open the door fast before I lose my stomach all over his car. My throat aches as I heave up everything I’ve just eaten. Creed is there straight away, grabbing my hair and pulling it back, wiping my mouth when I think I can’t throw up anymore. I look up to him as he lets go of my hair. He reaches for my keys, then walks to the door and unlocks it before he walks back to me—lifting me up and carrying me inside.

“I can walk, I just had an upset stomach.”

He doesn’t answer, simply walks straight to my room, laying me down before he disappears again. My hand touches my stomach, afraid it’s going to happen again. I’m almost asleep as time flutters by and I don’t hear him again. Hoping he’s left, I close my eyes, but soon after his hand is shaking me. As I open my eyes to see him standing there with a bottle of drink in his hands and a wet cloth which he places on my head.

“Drink this, it will help—with your stomach, I mean.”

Drinking it, I lay back and before I know it, I’m falling asleep.

Hands are on me, and I jump with a start. Didn’t I just fall asleep? It’s pitch black outside and a heavy arm is draped over me. Turning, I see Creed asleep. No noise leaves him as he seems dead and it makes me want to poke him. Turning to face him, I take in his features from the night sky shining in through my window. His nose is perfect, the straight lines that contour his face make me jealous. Reaching up, I run my finger over the outline of his jaw, feeling the roughness of his hair but the smoothness of his outline.

His eyes flick open and he does nothing but stare at me. I don’t stop touching his face as he blinks, still not saying a word. Reaching forward, I kiss his jawbone, then the other side before I pull back to look at him.

“Thank you for looking after me.”

“You shouldn’t go to work tomorrow if you’re sick.”

I nod my head. “I’m feeling better, must have been something I ate.”

“I won’t tell Ma you said that.”

I grimace at how that must have sounded. “I’m sure it wasn’t anything from dinner.”

He smirks at that. “You like her,” he states.

I nod. “She’s smart, caring, and clearly she loves you.”

“Someone has to do it.” His words hurt. “Why do you wear that shirt, the one that says Arch on it?” I didn’t think he’d notice, no one notices or asks about him anymore. I once heard somewhere that if you don’t say someone’s name out loud and just forget about them, they die twice. That hurt my heart more then I cared to admit, so I always say his name. Always.

“It was Archie’s.” He looks at me waiting for more. “My brother’s.” Rolling onto my back I stare up at the ceiling. “I miss him more than I miss anyone in this world. He was always there for me, even when she couldn’t be. He was always there.” A stray tear leaves my eye. I didn’t realize how much it still hurt to think about him. How much it still affects me.

“What happened?”

“They died together, I should have been with them. Mom was on her way to pick me up, and Archie went with her because she was mad that I quit school. Again.”

“Again?” he asks confused.

“I liked to think I was a rebel. Stupid, I know.” Taking a deep breath, I try not to remember the police officer coming to my school while I sat out front for hours, even after everyone left and I was the last one there. “Powerline was down, and—well, let’s just say they didn’t survive.”

“You wear his shirt to remind you?”

“Of him, yes.”

“What about your mom?” he asks. I show him the ring that sits on my finger and I kiss it. It was hers. Closing my eyes I start to count, to calm down my erratic heart that’s beating out of my chest.

“Who taught you that?”

I open my eyes when I get to ten to see him watching me. “What?” I ask confused.

“You do that a lot. You count and won’t open your eyes until you reach ten.”

I didn’t realize he noticed. No one ever notices I do it.

“Archie did. I had panic attacks as a kid. He taught me how to settle,” I whisper.

“You loved him very much.” He wipes the tear that falls, and I turn back to look at him.

“I know nothing about you, apart from who your mother and friends are. Tell me about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why don’t you like people?”

He almost laughs at my words. “I like you, very much.”

“When was your last relationship?” I ask him, and his eyes search mine.

“Never.”

“Never?” I ask shocked. “Okay, why did you hurt that man?”

This time he turns to look up to the ceiling. “It’s my job.”

“Your job?” I ask.

What does he mean by that? His job is the club.

“You would have heard the rumors, they’re all most likely true. We are elite for a reason, Elicea, and we’re all the reason that it is.” His eyes close for a split second before he opens them again. “Even you participate in that.”

“I would never.”

His hand reaches up and brushes my hair from my face. “You do, but that’s okay. I prefer you blind to it. I like the way you are.”

“I don’t want this, Creed.”

His hand stops pushing my hair back and he stills. My heart hurts as the words leave my mouth but they have to. Even if being with him is becoming my favorite thing, it’s also my most dangerous and stupidest thing.

“Want what?”

“This.” Pulling away from him he looks at me shocked.

“You want me to leave?” He says it in a way he doesn’t believe my words. Like what I saw wouldn’t have any effect on me. Of course, it does.

“Yes, I want you to leave, and I want whatever this is between us to end.”

He sits up. His back comes into view and I want to touch it, run my hands down it, marking him as I go.

He’s tense and waiting.

He’s waiting for me to change my mind.

“Are you quitting work, too?” His shirt slides on as he leans down placing on his shoes.

“No. Unless you want me to.” I don’t want to quit, I still stand by what I said. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I can make a life for myself with the money I earn from the club. But seeing him every day will be hard.

“I’ll let you be.” He starts walking to leave my room and my heart stutters.

“Creed.”

His hand grips my door frame, but he doesn’t look back.

“I’m sorry.”

His back stops moving for a split second, his breathing’s stopped. But then he moves again and he walks out the door, and just as he does I lose my stomach again.