It's odd seeing Creed so distressed. Not heartbroken, like someone would expect to see, but like he's worried something will come crashing down. I keep stealing glances back at him as I heat water in the kettle. A beer would probably calm him down a little better, but I forgo that idea for a cup of chamomile tea.
I'm sure having Zane jump up in his face for no reason didn't help his stress levels. I had to shove Zane back to his motorcycle and threaten to call my dad to tell him he's here starting shit. Creed has just as much right to be at my house as he does, and he knows it.
As I pour the hot water into the ready mug, my phone buzzes in my jean jacket pocket, no doubt just another text from Zane asking if I'm okay and if Creed is gone yet.
I hate to ignore Zane right now, but Creed needs me more. Besides, Zane left me standing on the pier frustrated and alone for forty-five minutes. He can wait.
I take the mug over to the couch Creed is sitting on and set it on the table in front of him before tentatively taking a seat next to him. I'm not very good at stuff like this, consoling the broken-hearted. I did a terrible job for Zane when Becca did this to him over a year ago, and I feel just as inapt for Creed. Honestly, I think he's better off, but those aren't the types of words someone hurting wants to hear.
I gently run my hand across his back in small comforting circles. His fingers are dug deep into his black locks as he hunches over in a stress-filled ball.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. Do I mean it? No, but I know the words are nice to hear. I am sorry that he has to go through this, not that I didn't predict it. I'm honestly shocked it lasted this long.
"Thanks." Creed takes in a deep breath before running his hands over his face and taking a deep breath in. He flops back, relaxing into the couch, and stares up at the ceiling. "Ollie?" His voice seems so distant, and the weight of the world seems to hang on his shoulders.
"Yeah?" I lean back next to him. I might not be a comforting friend, but I can at least be one that can lend a listening ear.
"What would you do if I told you that I don't think I ever slept with Becca?"
"What?" I chuckle and turn toward him. "What do you mean? You two dated for like a year and half."
His dark whiskey-colored eyes shift to me. Pain starts to show on his features as he studies my face. "At that party where Zane caught Becca and I in bed together, I was so drunk that night I don't even remember what happened. I was feeling like shit, so I stumbled into that bedroom. I remember the door cracking open and a girl coming in. I thought it was you. I remember saying, 'hey baby, I feel like shit,' and that's it. Next thing I know I'm getting jerked out of that bed, buttass naked with Becca there."
My chest tightens as a scowl pulls down on my face. That bitch! I wouldn't put something like that past her. I don't know why she would do it. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Creed's gaze turns back up to the ceiling, but the pained look stays on his face. "Because, when you walked in and saw me with her, I knew I had fucked up bad. I saw the hurt filled look on your face, and knew that I had ruined everything. Then Zane kept calling me a piece of shit and accusing me of sleeping with his fucking girlfriend. He accused me of taking advantage of her and I just saw red after that."
His gaze flashes to me before looking away. I remember that night. The boys ended up going to blows. My world felt like it crumbled, and my heart broke seeing Becca with Creed in bed together. It also broke for Zane. It broke for all of us. I knew it would never be the same again.
"I wanted to prove that I didn't have to take advantage of Becca to get her. I knew that slimy whore would prance right over to me, and I was right." Creed sits up a bit and reaches over to grab my hand as I try to run this all through my head. "I didn't sleep with her after that. I barely could muster up enough strength to kiss her much less fuck her. That night at the party if I slept with her it was only because I thought she was you."
His thumb draws small circles on the back of my hand as I try to process what he's telling me, but I can't. None of it seems to add up to me.
"Then why stay with her for so long? Why not confess what happened and dump her. No way you stayed with her this long just to piss Zane off for this long, and if she could tell you didn't want to be with her then why did she stay with you?" The questions pour from my lips.
Creed tenses next to me. "Becca has blackmail on me."
My gaze darts up to him as he licks his lip and grows nervous. Has blackmail on me, not had. Whatever she has on him is still hanging over his head.
His voice drops to a whisper, even though we are the only ones here. Dad and Tamarah are more than likely at a Pirate party.
"You know my momma isn't here legally, right?"
My stomach drops to my feet. I know it, but very few of us do. My dad does, possibly Big Daddy P, but that's about it. I was one of the first people that Creed told.
I dryly swallow and nod.
"Becca found out and threatened to turn Momma in if I broke up with her." His brows knit together in concern. "Mom can't even try for a green card until I'm twenty-one. I'm not old enough to host her. I didn't want her to get deported so I stuck with Becca."
What the actual fuck is wrong with her.
"Why the hell would she blackmail you into dating her though?" that doesn't make any fucking sense. She had Zane, and Becca never really obsessed over Creed until they first started dating.
"Because of you."
I jerk back and am stunned into silence. "What? Me?"
"She hates you, baby." He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. That's probably the first bit of information he's given me tonight that doesn't come as a shock. Not that I know exactly what I did to Becca Thornhill to get her to hate my guts, but she hasn't been shy about it.
"You're everything she can't be. Sweet, caring, kind, lovable, and it drives her nuts. She wants to take everything you care about away. She took Zane from you, and then." His hand reaches up and cups my face. "When you finally gave up on him, she took me. I just wasn't stupid enough to fall for her snakecharmer smiles, so she had to be craftier."
His lips thin, and his hand drops to his lap. "Now that Zane is slipping through her fingers I'm guessing she wants him back, which means..." he trails off.
"Which means she's realized my feelings for Zander are back," I finish for him. Creed's known from the start that I'm in love with Zander. He called me out on it a few years ago.
"Yeah." Creed's words are sharp, and his jaw ticks with irritation. "Are you two dating now? Is that why you were gone so late?"
I shrug. I'm not sure what we are. I know we aren't dating, and I know I fucked up at his patching party when I slept with him, but tonight has me so confused. I knew it was just a 'friend' outing going into it, be the looks he kept giving me all night, and God, that kiss.
Then he pulled away and wouldn't even look at me afterward.
I don't know what to think anymore.
"It wasn't a date." That much I do know. Tonight wasn't meant to be a date. He wouldn't have jerked away from me like that if it was. "And we aren't together."
"Then can I have a second chance?" Creed's gaze searches my face for the answer. The gleam of hope grows with each passing second, but I don't know what to answer.
"We weren't going out before." I point out.
"No?" He leans in so close I feel as if I can't breathe. "Maybe we weren't official, but we were definitely together." His golden eyes run along my body as he guides me back until I'm lying with him over me. Creed's hand travels up my arm until our fingers are interlaced above my head. He leans in so close that I can feel his hot breath against my lips, sending a shiver through me. A steamy fog clouds my mind on whether I should or shouldn't be doing this. "I miss the sound of you screaming my name, baby," he whispers against my lips as he rocks his hips into mine to show me how much he's missed it.
These boys are trying to kill me tonight.
"Creed," I gasp as his broad, rough hand starts to trail up my thigh.
"Yeah, that's what I missed." He smiles before his lips drop to my jaw.
I feel like my mind is racing through a tub of peanut butter. Creed's kisses and touches are clouding my head. My body is screaming yes, as my mind is still debating. I want Zane, but he keeps pushing me away. I told myself long ago I couldn't wait for him. No doubt about it, Creed wants me and now.
This isn't the right time, though. Not after he just broke up with Becca, and I'm still licking my wounds from being rejected again by Zane. "Creed, wait." It comes out more of a strained groan when he needingly grips my ass.
To his credit, he pulls back. The heat in his gaze causes my core to churn with desire and almost regret asking him to stop. Before I can explain why we should wait, my front door crashes open. Zane's tall frame fills the doorway. A fury fills his face that I haven't seen since the night he caught Creed and Becca in bed together.
In an instant, Creed is on his feet as I scrabble to get to mine. The tension in the room is heavy, making it hard to breathe.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" I trip over my words as guilt floods my soul. Not that it should. I'm as single as a pringle. I can kiss and fuck whoever I want.
Zane doesn't hear me, though. His stern glare is focused solely on Creed. The aggression in the room twists and coils like a strained cable, becoming tighter and tighter as sparks crack wickedly in the air. Then it snaps. Before I can even register what the hell is happening, Zane rushes across the room toward us. Creed doesn't hesitate. He's up and over the coffee table before I can blink. Fists fly, and the sounds of cracking wood and broken glass snaps me out of my stupor. At my feet, Creed has a fist full of Zane's blue dress shirt. Dad's coffee table is splintered and broken under both of the boys' weights, and the cup of tea I had made for Creed lies shattered in a pool of golden liquid.
"Stop!" I scream over the mass of thrashing limbs and hate-filled words they're slamming each other with.
"You fucking piece of trash!" Zane hollers, not hearing me at all.
"Get the fuck off me!" Creed pushes Zane off with all his strength. Both boys get to their feet, ready to go at it again.
I need to stop this before they hurt each other and completely trash my house.
"Stop!" I scream as I rush up behind Creed to jerk him back. Before I can realize my mistake, I'm blinded by a sharp mind-numbing pain when Creed's elbow cracks me right in the nose. I let out a yelp and stagger away, quickly covering my face in the hope that it will somehow deaden the pain.
"Baby!" Creed whips around, realizing what happened.
Tear from the pain pout down my cheeks as I pull my hands away. The warm liquid I feel isn't from the tears though. The palms of my hands are covered in bright red blood.
Creed goes to help me, but Zane quickly jerks him back. "You son of a bitch."
"It was an accident," Creed growls before his gaze shifts to me and softens. "It was an accident, baby, I'm sorry."
"Get the fuck out." Zane orders before shoving him toward the door.
"I'm fine," I lie as I cup my hands to catch the blood. The taste of copper fills my mouth and turns my stomach. I need to get the bleeding to stop. The boys can just fucking kill themselves if they want to destroy the place so that when my dad comes home and sees, he'll off them. I don't give a shit.
A trail of blood follows me back to the bathroom, where I can assess the damage. When I see myself in the mirror, I gasp. I look like one of those horror vampires that ravish their victims. Two dark lines are already forming under my eyes, and the front of my top is stained red.
A new set of tears flood my eyes and pour down my face. I grab a rag out of the cabinet and wet it before trying to dab the stain off my brand-new top.
"Ollie." Zane's soft voice snaps my attention to him, not realizing he's standing in the door. His dress shirt is now wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and his face busted and bloodied.
He steps into the bathroom, and to my surprise, he grabs my waist and sets me on the bathroom counter. Zane takes the rag from my hand and rinses it out under the running water while taking gauze out of the medicine cabinet. Like me, he knows how to fix busted noses. It goes with the territory. Between Dad's boxing center and the Pirates, broken noses are a common occurrence.
Zane's hands carefully press on my nose, making me jerk back from the sharp pain. "Sorry, Sunshine. I don't think he broke your nose."
I watch Zane roll up the gauze and stuff them up my nose to get the bleeding to stop. The idea of offering my extra small tampons swiftly passes through my mind, but the idea of having two strings hanging out of my nostrils changes that.
"He didn't mean to do it, you know."
Zane's lips thin as he tapes my nose up and grabs the rag out of the puddle of warm water in the sink basin. "I know." He wrings the rag out and tips my head up as he starts to clean the blood off my face.
"This is just as much your fault as it is his." I point out. It might be a little harsh, but Zane was the one that came in with fist flying.
His sky-blue eyes dart up to mine and slightly thin, but he doesn't argue with me. His jaw only ticks before going back to cleaning me up. He rinses the blood-soaked towel out before trailing the rag down my neck.
"Why the hell did you come back anyway?" I scowl as the rag trails lower to my collar bone.
"You weren't answering my goddamn texts."
I raise a brow at him as he gets dangerously close to my breasts.
"I got worried," He bluntly tells me.
I stop his hand before he goes any lower. "Worried about what?"
He lets out a sigh. "I don't know."
I want to press more out of him but am quickly interrupted by my dad's gravely voice booming through the house. "What the fuck happened!"
Oh, shit.
I can hear his heavy boots thump against the floor as Tamarah's shocked voice gasps out, "Oh, my God!"
Zane and I both stare at the doorway, frozen, just waiting for the strike to hit when Dad appears in the door. His gaze shifts between Zane and me. The already dark cloud swirling over his head only darkens. "Did you fucking hit my baby?!"
The reads on this story have completely blown my mind. I can't believe in a month I'm already creeping up on 1k reads! I'm not there yet, and I'll be posting to Instagram and Twitter when I do get there, but I just wanted to say thank you!
It's so encouraging to see the numbers rise, and a big thank you to the readers that leave comments for me.
Now onto story questions...
So, what did you think about hearing that Becca blackmailed Creed into dating her? I know many of you aren't Becca fans (not that I blame you), but what are your opinions on her now? Also, what were your thoughts on the fight? With it being from Ollie's point of view, it was difficult to put the boys' emotions in it, and she was mostly stunned, so I hope it wasn't dull. And poor Ollie and Creed. I'm sure he feels like garbage for elbowing her in the nose.
Thank you so much for reading, and if you're enjoying the story, please let me know by hitting that star, leaving a comment, or both!
Till next time.
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