“It’s cuddle puddle time.”
“Can I join?” Blair says around his last bite of food, but Asher, the possessive little shit, growls, “No.”
And that’s how we spend the rest of our night. The three of us curled up together in a pile on the couch. I play with Riley’s newly growing curls while he runs his fingers through Collins’ hair as she dozes against his chest, her face buried in the uninjured side of his neck.
Asher won movie pick in a game of rock, paper, scissors, so he’s currently flipping through every streaming service we have, while Blair continues to wiggle and squirm where he’s snuggled up against him.
None of us make it to the ending credits.
Asher dragged Blair to their room after his third warning to stay still, and I’m content to just sit here in the silence, dozing in and out of consciousness while Riley and Collins sleep against me.
I manage to wrap my arms around the two of them, effectively squishing the three of us together even more than we were before. The feel of their weight and the touch of their skin beneath my fingertips helps to ground me. I don’t think I’ll ever truly comprehend what it was like to be trapped in that room with Riley and Collins, but I’ve got my own demons that hauntme day and night. Fears that creep in, trying to tell me that if I blink, everything I love will vanish.
Guy is dead. Fucking rotting in some unmarked hole in the ground as I live and breathe. So, rationally, I know that he can never hurt them again. It doesn’t stop my mind from racing through all the possibilities of him somehow reanimating and getting to us again.Fuck.My mind really is my own worst enemy right now, but I need to remember myself. Being an asshole at times that matter the most will only push them away, and it will be entirely my fault.
Don’t think about that, Creed.Love them now and give them a reason to stay.
Shaking my head free of the demons that constantly try to claw their way out, I give them another squeeze. They both softly grunt and squirm before settling against me again. I know I’ll have to move us to the bedroom at some point, but for now, I’ll soak up our connection a little while longer.
Chapter 27
Riley
“I CAN’T.”
I’m jolted awake to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand. It’s been months since it’s gone off, and it leaves me feeling extremely disoriented and confused in my sleepy state. Creed’s heavy arm tightens over my abdomen when I attempt to shift as I lift my head to glance at my screen.
I don’t get a chance to see before the call stops and the screen goes dark.
“Sleep, baby,” Creed mumbles into his pillow, pulling me closer. “Too early.”
He’s not wrong about that.
It’s a little after midnight, and the sun won’t rise for hours, but now I’m wide awake.
Creed got to be the middle spoon last night, and he was almost too excited to settle down between me and Collins. It’s been a long few weeks since coming home between therapy sessions and trying to adapt to everyday life, but it feels like things are settling into a new normal for the three of us, and again for the five of us if we’re including Asher and Blair.
Creed’s tried to get me into the studio a few times, even just to try and familiarize myself with my drum set again, but I’ve vehemently refused. He doesn’t push me, though. A simple offer,and when I decline, he just smiles and moves on to the next task in his mind.
I know that I need to do it eventually, considering they’re trying to plan the U.S. leg of our tour. I haven’t even met the new manager yet, though it seems as if he’s a hit with all the guys. Creed loves him already, so that’s a plus.
“Shhh,” Creed shushes, sleepily padding the top of my hair. He tugs me deeper into his chest and buries his face in my neck. “You’re thinking too loud, Sweet Boy. Go back to sleep.”
His whispered words against my skin have me erupting in goosebumps, and I shiver against him. On the nights where he finds himself cuddled up against my back, he never fails to shove my shirt up so that we’re skin to skin.
The feel of his hard body against mine is different than snuggling up against Collins’ tiny frame, but it’s no less comforting…until I wiggle to settle into his warmth again, and my ass brushes against the hard length of his cock. My entire body heats, and suddenly, I’m not tired at all.
Memories start to flood my mind in rapid sequence. Starting with the day Creed kissed me like his life depended on it after apologizing. The way I craved more and dared to cling to him, silently begging for more. All the kisses we’ve shared play in my mind, memories dancing all the way back to that night in the hotel when he grabbed my cock to help Collins sink down onto me.
Thoughts of imagining his hand wrapping around my length again flit through my brain, this time stroking me simply because he can’t hold himself back anymore. I force my body to remain completely still, because if I move again, I’ll definitely brush his cock, and then it’ll be on me how Creed inevitably reacts.
Isn’t that what you want, though?
Obviously, I want Creed to touch me, but how much could I truly enjoy his touch without being able to touch him in return, let alone myself? I can’t even hold a fucking fork most days.
Creed tightens his grip, his arm sliding lower as he sleepily stretches himself out. We both freeze when his hand brushes right over my raging hard-on. My cock has been throbbing against my thigh for a while, and I had silently been thanking whatever higher power is out there that it doesn’t stick straight out or up when it’s hard. Guess I sent my thanks out too soon because here we are.
He hisses an inaudible curse and brushes his palm over my length again, and I can’t stop the soft whimper that escapes my lips.
