“Bye, Dad. See you for dinner,” Creed waved.
Grabbing his tray, the professor threw out his garbage and left.
“We should go watch him give his presentation at the conference,” Creed told me. “It’s a thing we do.”
“Right, sit in the back until he notices you. I remember when Verity suggested we sit in on his class. But I’d rather wear a Compass BioTek polo and sit in the front row,” I replied.
Creed laughed. “I love that. Usually, we’re sneaking in. But you,Dr. Thanukos of Compass BioTek,can probably contact any conference and ask if you could sit in on a single panel, and they’d probably let you.”
“We should do it.” It seemed like an easy way to support him.
“And hey.” An anxious look crossed his face. “Don’t feel like you have to hang out with me.”
“Brothers are allowed as long as they’re not assholes,” I replied. “I plan on inviting all of you to my big wedding next year. I’d love for the little ones to be my flower children, and maybe Verity and Mercy could be attendants. But I’m not inviting everyone to the party I’m having with Spencer the weekend after next. I hope no one’s feelings will be hurt. He’s still recovering from what happened at the beach, and we’re keeping things simple. That being said, you’re invited, and so is Verity if we can get her away from kid duty–maybe Mercy can come with her.”
I’d decided I'd really like them there.
“It’s fine; no one is expecting it. Though it would be super funny to see Mum try to make nice withthat Greek man.But I guess we’ll see that next year. I’d love to come, thank you. Verity would like to attend, I’m sure. She just loves weddings. Well, mostly. But I think that’s when her modeling thing is,” he said.
I groaned. “The one they want her to cancel. Fine, we’ll just bring all the kids over so she can go. I can have a bouncy castle at the country club.”
We hadn’t ended up getting one because there weren’t that many kids.
“Hale’s not allowed in a bouncy castle, just to warn you,” Creed laughed. “We’ll figure it out.”
Did I want to know?
Creed finished eating, and we cleaned up, and I led him over to Special Projects.
“I can get myself back to my place, you don’t have to worry about me. The public transportation seems good here, and I should get used to it. But you probably get chauffeured by your alphas,” Creed teased.
“I have a truck, sometimes we take that. When Riley starts, we’ll probably take my motorcycle. Also, Evan said something about going on a date tonight,” I replied.
As we entered Special Projects, Tish and Jordie were leaving.
“Awww, it’s Tall Grace,” Jordie joked.
Tish waved. “See you later, Grace, Tall Grace.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to get old,” Creed chuckled.
I’d have to tell Verity about that.
“Here’s my lab.” I showed him and told him about the project.
“That is fucking cool shit,” he told me. “But it makes sense, considering what you saw on your field trip and your being at the PIIP Symposium. Can I tell Ina?”
“Absolutely. Maybe one day she’ll work with us, too. Let me take you to Narif’s office.” I led him down the hall and knocked on Narif’s door. “Special delivery.”
Narif looked up from his laptop. “The resemblance is uncanny. Creed, I am so excited for you to be joining the team.”
“I’m happy to be here.” Creed shook his hand.
“That’s my cue to go.” With a wave, I left. Then I went into the office and shut the door.
That was… a lot. Sitting on the floor under my desk, overwhelmed with too many emotions, I brought my knees to my chest and cried.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
