Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“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.”