Chapter 37
Creed
“I’M GLAD YOU’RE HOME. I MADE PANCAKES.”
Ipluck the strings of my acoustic Gretsch, but when my shaky fingers hit my thirteenth sour note, I’m over it. I make a face at the neck where I’m holding a basic G note, like it’s the guitar’s fault that I’m an anxious mess. But I’m not worried for the reasons I should be.
I hadn’t dozed off for very long after Collins went off in search of Riley.
This house is big, but it’s awfully cavernous with the tall ceilings and stone floors, so sound travels when you leave the doors open.
Even from the second floor, I could hear an intense conversation between Collins and Riley.
They’ve never even so much as bickered at one another before, so the heated tones of their voices had me concerned.
My girl can hold her own in an argument, so when I crept downstairs, I had every intention of leaving her alone to handle whatever was happening.
I almost intervened, though. When I saw Riley standing with his back to her, fucking duffle bags at his feet, ready to leave?
I was prepared to throw him over my shoulder and blackmail him into staying in bed with snacks and orgasms until he rid himself of the silly idea that we would ever be better off without him.
But of course Collins handled it in a way that only she could. It’s one of the millions of things I love about her. When she’s in your corner, she’s there for life. She’s a people pleaser, but she’d sacrifice her own pride to fight for what or who she loves.
Much like when she sat in my lap on this very couch and braved telling me just how badly she’d always wanted me and didn’t back down.
When she whispered words to him, I could see the fight leave his body. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not without her, at least.
Riley had kissed her like his life depended on it before scooping her up and stealing her away in the night.
I know… I know they’re okay, but their absence from this house is driving my anxiety downhill at breakneck speeds…
and there are no breaks. Logic tells me that they’re okay, that they’re coming back.
But the traumatized part of my brain is berating me for not following them.
The threat to their lives is gone, but I still worry. I’m not sure that will ever stop.
Just as I set my guitar to the side, giving up on trying to play to distract myself for now, Asher saunters into the room, pulling a gray shirt over his head.
“Good morning, Princess,” I tease, and he gifts me with two middle fingers as he flops down next to me on the couch.
Sound travels, remember? And boy did I hear some shit coming from their room last night.
I chuckle at his swollen lips and disheveled state.
“You look like you had a long…hard night, bestie.”
His face scrunches in disgust. “Creed—”
“How much sleep you get? Eight, nine inches? I mean hours?”
He opens his mouth to probably tell me to fuck off, but Blair enters the room and plops down in Asher’s lap, dragging his hot pink, short nails through his hair. “Nine and a half, actually.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Asher hisses, burying his reddening face in his free hand. “Can you not?” he says, but there’s no threat behind it. He might be a badass, but he’s a delicate little flower when it comes to his relationship and sex life.
He’s not entirely used to the playful teasing after starting anew with Blair.
I might goad Ash for falling for Blair, but I love and support him and their growing relationship. While we do our best not to allow the siblings to overhear each other behind closed doors, we don’t judge when shit slips out.
Blair just laughs and kisses Ash’s hair before getting up and heading into the kitchen, showing off all his newest ink while stretching, his cut-off crop top riding up even higher.
Blair is objectively hot, so I don’t blame Asher for tracking his every movement until he disappears from his line of sight.
It’s quiet for a moment until Blair starts playing As We Stand through the speakers in the kitchen, followed by the clanking of pots and dishes.
Ash scratches at the stubble on his face, looking around.
“Where’s my sister? She’s usually the first one up.”
I look down at my hands, picking at the blue nail polish. “She’s…out.”
“Out? At seven thirty in the morning? Where the fuck did she go?”
I shrug, feeling kind of dumb for not having all the answers. “Don’t know.”
“What do you mean, don’t know?” Asher’s voice rises.
“Relax,” I sigh, ignoring my own anxiety that spikes again. “She’s safe, she’s with Riley.”
“But you don’t know where they went? You remember that they’ve both got trackers on their phones, right?”
“I know that, but I also know that there’s no threat to them anymore. Riley has her, and I know he’d never take her anywhere dangerous. They just… needed time to talk. Alone.”
Something softens within Asher’s expression, and he relaxes back into the couch, nodding, albeit reluctantly.
“I just worry, Creed,” he says so softly that I almost don’t hear him over the music playing in the background.
I reach over and grip his knee. “I know. I do, too. I don’t think that’ll ever go away.
” I look at him, then at the Polaroid wall that Collins has started next to the TV.
“And not just because of what… happened. But because she was always ours to protect. From the time she was a kid, up until now, and for all the days beyond.”
Ash nods again, but a crashing noise, followed by Blair’s hysterical shrieking for help interrupts whatever he was going to say.
He sighs overdramatically, standing from his spot on the couch, fighting the smirk on his lips.
Blair has a flair for the theatrics, but he truly is a shit cook, so whatever trouble he’s gotten himself into is probably just as foul as he thinks it is.
Just before Asher slinks into the kitchen, he turns back to me, “If she’s not back in an hour, I’m going looking for her.”
I roll my eyes before giving him a shit-eating grin and mock salute. “Yes, boss.”
He flips me off again and disappears to help Blair.
The moment he’s gone, the anxious feeling creeps back in.
They’ve been gone for several hours now, and I can’t help but feel worried as fuck about them.
I busy myself with tidying the living area, then add Collins’ newest Polaroids to the wall, and even play guitar some more before giving up entirely.
I’m about to storm upstairs to get dressed and start my own one-man manhunt when the alarm beeps and the front door swings open.
The sound of Riley and Collins’ laughter blesses my ears, and my heart stutters at the melodic sound.
I round the corner of the foyer to find them both soaking wet.
Collins is wearing nothing but Riley’s tee and his hoodie draped over one of her arms. Her fingers are laced through his as he playfully drags her through the door before kicking it shut and pulling her in to pepper teasing kisses along the slender line of her neck.
Her face flushes, and her head tips back with the contact, and sweet, broken laughter falls from her lips.
Whipping my phone from my pocket, I snap a photo of them before pocketing it. I take one step toward them, not bothering to keep it quiet. They hear me and freeze. Collins looks at me with so much fucking joy in her eyes, it could bring me to my knees. Riley, on the other hand, looks terrified.
Might have something to do with the neutral look on my face as I stalk towards them.
Collins says nothing but ducks behind Riley to hide her knowing smile.
She can read my intentions clearly, but my poor, sweet boy looks like he’s about to throw up or pass out.
Collins grips Riley’s hand tighter to hold him in place as he tries to back up.
I don’t stop until I’m close enough to reach out and grip his throat. Panic flashes in his obsidian eyes as I whip him to the side and shove him back into the wall with a firm thud. I don’t give him a chance to speak before I crowd his space and smash my lips against his in a frenzied, hard kiss.
I’m not mad at him. I could never be. He’s clearly still battling demons, and what he needs are life partners who will show up for him when he can’t do so for himself.
I don’t need him to explain why he felt the need to leave.
I just need him to stay. To know he belongs here with me.
The three of us are a package deal, and we wouldn’t be us if we didn’t have our Riley.
He moans into my mouth, his free hand gripping my bicep when I bite his bottom lip and press into him.
I fucking love how responsive he is. It takes every last shred of control not to haul the two of them upstairs and have my way with them.
Especially now that I feel Riley’s massive cock hardening against my thigh.
I give him one last kiss that he chases when I pull away and press my forehead to his, just breathing him in. He smells like lake water, but beneath that, he just fucking smells like mine.
Riley visibly relaxes, even with my hand still around his throat. I brush my thumb over his hammering pulse when a cat-call whistle sounds behind us.
I peek over my shoulder to see Blair staring at the three of us with his mismatched eyes. He’s leaning against the wall with a dirty spatula in his hand.
He bites his lip, which has Collins giggling next to me.
“That was the hottest shit I’ve ever seen,” he says in a low voice, but I can hear his playful tone coating his words. He looks at Collins, then pushes off the wall and opens his arms wide. “Welcome home. I made pancakes.”
Laughter bursts from both my and Riley’s chests when she drops Riley’s hand like it burned her and squeals, bounding over to Blair, soaking his clothes when she throws her arms around his middle for a hug.
I’m about to whoop some ass over Collins hugging Blair in nothing but a wet t-shirt, but then I notice she’s wearing Riley’s boxers.
She must have found them in Riley’s spare bag that we keep in the Jeep, and it has me relaxing again. Good girl.
“Did you make chocolate chip pancakes?” she asks, sniffing the air as she leads the way to the kitchen.
“Is there any other way to eat them?” Blair tuts, but Collins looks back over her shoulder at Riley, a knowing smirk on her lips.
“I can think of a few,” she mutters, and it’s got Blair howling.
I hear her greet her brother, and then it’s just Riley and me.
I’ll never forget that first morning, when she ate that half-melted chip right off his skin.
I look back at Riley, and his dark eyes look sad as he gulps around my grip on his throat.
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t.” I kiss him again. “Don’t apologize. Just…talk to me when things get loud in here, yeah?” I say softly, tapping his temple.
Releasing his neck, I reach for his hand, lacing his fingers through mine as I pull him toward the stairs. “You’re my boy. There’s no me, no us, without you.”
He nods, his shoulders slumping in relief, like he couldn’t fully relax until he heard the words coming from my lips.
I gesture up the steps, “Go get cleaned up, then come down for breakfast. I’ll send Collins up, too.” I wink at him. “When we’re done eating, I thought we might get into the studio if you’re up to it. I’ve got a new melody in my head that needs a beat.”
His eyes light up at the prospect of getting behind the drums again, and he smiles.
“Fuck yeah! I can’t wait to hear it.” He laughs, and I think I feel both my heart and my dick grow two sizes at the sight and sound of it.
But then…then he shocks the shit out of me when he grabs me by the back of my neck and pulls me in for a hot, quick kiss.
It’s over before I have time to even squeak out my surprise, because Riley and his rosy cheeks are bounding up the stairs before I can even process that he initiated the contact with me.
Ho-ly fuck.
I’ll be needing more of that ASA-fucking-P, thank you very much.