Chapter 6
Millie
The door opens behind me, every thud of Hyde’s heavy steps vibrating the porch.
I sit on the top stair, watching another wave of rain patter the gravel, my heart rate on the quick side. He sits beside me, his long legs bending, knees hiking up to his shoulders.
“If you asked me to pick one person, aside from me, who’d never betray your trust, I’d pick Creed every time.” He curls his arm around my back, nuzzling me into his side.
I rest my cheek against his shoulder.
Sometimes, I hate that despite our history, I chose him to hear me and decided I could rely on him even though, until the incident, he was never there for me.
Now, he’s the only person I let inside my walls.
He doesn’t deserve that level of trust, or my unconditional love, but I always wanted a big brother.
He’s finally grown into the role, and I cling to him, fulfilling my childhood dreams. On some level, I understand why he pushed me away back then.
Why watching a movie with me wasn’t as appealing as his friends and girls, but it hurt all the same.
Maybe Evan’s words wouldn’t have hurt so much if Hyde hadn’t phased me out first.
“Not Mom or Dad,” he continues, his cheek rubbing against my forehead. “Not Noah, or Dash. Creed. You can trust him, sis. I trust him with my fucking life.”
I close my eyes, inhaling deeply, looking for the right words to explain why everything locked up when I first saw Creed. Why my voice disappeared and my heart picked up its rhythm.
“Millie,” Hyde prompts. “Talk to me. Don’t shut me off. Why haven’t you spoken one word all evening?”
Because the moment his best friend stepped out of the house and looked at me, I felt alive.
He didn’t scan me for cracks, didn’t soften his voice, didn’t look like he was second-guessing his every move.
He doesn’t see a fragile, fractured thing and it fools me into thinking that maybe I’m not.
.. maybe I could open up and be more and maybe I could trust him.
That’s dangerous.
Trust should be earned, not given. Evan taught me that.
I trusted him long before he ever spoke to me.
Long before he realized I existed. We were in the same classes for four years, but it wasn’t until senior year that Evan sat across from me in the library, slapping his bag on the table, a Hollywood-type smile curling his mouth when he looked me up and down.
He said hi, said I didn’t realize you were so cute up close, he said princess, and butterflies took flight in my belly.
Creed hasn’t earned my trust. I know nothing about him, but when he looks at me, I don’t feel small or broken.
“He scares me,” I whisper.
It’s the truth. A little twisted version of it, but still. He scares me because he’s tearing through my fortifications, digging out the version of me I buried deep back into the light.
All that with his presence alone. He feels safe and I don’t understand why or how. I just fucking met him.
“He’s unhinged and a trainwreck, but you’re my sister Millie and he’s basically my brother. He won’t hurt you.”
“No, he won’t,” I agree.
I’ll take his shovel away before he digs too deep.