“I know we’re all struggling in our own ways. It’s only been a few days of being back in the same place, but we can’t forget who we are to each other—especially in…difficult situations.”
Her hands squeeze ours before letting go to cup the backs of our necks. When she tugs softly, Creed and I both bend down to her level instantly. Her soft lips caress my cheek, then the corner of my mouth, and finally my lips. When she turns to Creed, her expression is stern.
“You want a kiss?” she asks with a brow raised in question. Creed nods eagerly. Collins pats him on the cheek, hard and full of condescension. It’s shocking to both of us, but before either of us can react, she speaks again. “Fix it. Then come find me.”
And just like that, I get a glimpse of the fiery hellcat that had cursed Creed six ways to Sunday when he tossed her into the back of his car months ago. Her command carries a playful yet powerful finality that leaves zero room for negotiation as sheturns and exits the room with her chin held high and Creed’s mouth agape.
Chapter 26
Creed
“FAILING YOU IS NOT AN OPTION THIS TIME.”
My jaw is on the floor with how Collins left me high and dry. The moment the door to her studio clicks shut and she’s out of sight, I know exactly why she did it. And fuck knows I deserve it. Guilt for how I snapped at Riley sits like a ton of lead in my gut.
I close my eyes to get my shit together before apologizing, but all I can see is the look of hurt on Riley’s face. The way his deep brown eyes gave away every ounce of pain that my one cutting word delivered.
Every part of me wants to take his hand, but like kissing Collins, I know I haven’t earned the right. Things won’t always be perfect between the three of us, but I trust that Collins will do everything in her power to make sure that we treat each other with love and respect, and that we right our wrongs before forgiveness is earned. I can be a hotheaded asshole when tensions run high. It’s an automatic response I need to learn to control, especially when it comes to Collins and Riley.
I open my eyes to look at my boy. What I see is even worse than the images that have burned into my mind. Because the person in front of me doesn’t just look heartbroken, he looks unsure. Ofme. He’s shuffling uncomfortably from foot to foot,hand gripping the back of his neck hard, refusing to meet my eyes.
You did that, you goddamned prick.
Fix. It.
“Walk with me.”Smooth, asshole, real nice.It was meant to be a question, but my desperation to make this right has the words tumbling out like a demand.
Riley simply nods and reluctantly falls into step beside me. He’s clenching and unclenching his fist, while the other continues to rub and agitate the skin on the back of his neck.
Stepping outside the guest house, we’re immediately assaulted with the hot summer sun, so I move us into the shade by the pool.
We sit on the ledge, the silence between us an uncomfortable one. There’s a discomfort there that’s wearing on both of us. I don’t like it. This isn’tus.
My eyes are fixated on the rippling water, and I open my mouth to apologize, but Riley’s voice is soft when he speaks first.
“I’ve said those exact words before.” He whispers sadly, and I shift my focus, taking in his side profile. He swallows thickly, his eyes trained on the water. The reflected light from the ripples dance across his freckled skin. “Every goddamned day… I said those words no less than a hundred times.” A tear escapes the corner of his eye, and he sniffles. “But he never listened. Every fucking day I begged that piece of shit to not touch her. He ignored me every time.”
He looks at me then, the deep brown of his irises glistening with a wall of unshed tears. “It was an automatic response when I saw her starting to slip away. I’m?—”
I put my finger over his lips to stop him from apologizing—again. The move startles him, and his tears spill over when he blinks. My heart cracks from the heartache I caused. The pain of knowing how long he and Collins had to watch one anothersuffer makes me hate the sight of those tears. An insistant need to break the tension and ease his nerves about how I must be feeling about him right now takes over.
Shifting my grip to cup his jaw with one hand, I hold him steady as I lean in and lick the line of tears from his face. When I reach the corner of his eye, I start over, pressing delicate kisses down the same path, careful to avoid the bandage he uses to cover his ear and scarring.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper into his skin, and he shudders in response. “I’m sorry.”Kiss,“I’m sorry.”Kiss.
I kiss his freckled face between my murmured apologies so many times that he starts to laugh and shoves me away. The sound is contagious, and in the very next moment, I join in.
His face tips towards the sun, the light breaking through the leaves of the trees overhead dancing across his skin. Those damn fangs popping out as he tries—and fails—to compose himself. Riley Graves is sunshine personified, and it has my heart thudding blissfully hard in my chest. I hate that I hurt him, and it’s not something I ever plan to repeat.
Once the two of us settle again, I place my hand on top of his where it rests on his thigh, just as he pulls his pant legs up to dip his feet into the water.
“I truly am sorry, Riley. I never should have snapped. Especially not at you.Neverat you, baby.” I sigh, focusing on his face once more—which is still fucking perfect, even with the scarring. “I won’t try to make an excuse. It was an asshole response, and it never should have happened.”
Riley turns his hand over and links his fingers through mine before flipping our hands back over so that gravity and pressure holds his shut around mine without the use of muscle.
“You know that I would never intentionally come between you and trying to help her, Creed. Right?”
“I know,” I whisper, my thumb brushing softly over the smooth skin on the back of his hand. “You know, I actually did the same thing that you did the day that we found you.”
