Page 114 of Creed

“With a lot of love from family and friends. I also had someone that needed me, and I couldn’t just wilt away in my grief. I have a purpose, and I will do everything I can to build a quiet life and move forward.” I answered.

“You’re adopting the couple’s child?” He asked.

“Yes, and we hope to live a private life away from Hollywood for now.”

He looked at the camera and a sinister grin appeared. “Lets talk about this new beau. The press is going insane after seeing the two of you together last night. With your relationshipwith Jake Meadows and Nicole Powers, some are having a hard time believing you weren’t arranged by his mother.”

I shook my head. “No, it was totally random. Creed moved to my hometown after visiting with a friend. We met at a fundraiser, and I had no idea he was Nicole’s son. I knew she had a son from her first marriage, but I never heard the name. Creed is a very private man, so he is definitely stepping out of his comfort zone for this relationship.”

Nick looked down at some papers. “Lets see, a war hero, secret billionaire, and now heartthrob after his debut at your premier. He was quoted as saying this is a forever thing. Is this man your end game, Morgan?”

I smiled at the audience. “He’s the one and only for me.”

There was some booing and laughter which only made me laugh.

“Have you heard about the petition?” Nick asked and I tilted my head. That wasn’t anything I knew about and wasn’t a pre-approved question.

“Petition?”

He chuckled. “As of an hour ago, there were over twenty thousand names on the petition for your new beau to pose for playgirl magazine.”

I threw my head back and laughed. Just the thought of that was hilarious. “Won’t happen, sorry ladies, he’s spoken for.”

“And what about you? Now that you’re retiring, no more modeling or anything? You’ve gotta give us something.”

I shook my head. “No, there will be no modeling or sexy movies in my future.”

The audience booed again.

“Well speaking of that, let’s bring out your last three leading men.” He stood and clapped, making me stand and turn to see Jake, Brandon, and Kyle walking toward me. They all waved at the audience then took turns kissing my cheek and shaking Nick's hand. They took a seat, and the audience settled down.

Nick looked at all three men. “Wow, someone’s been busy.”

We all laughed.

“How does Creed feel about these three characters here?”

I pointed at Jake. “Well, that guy is his cousin and the other two met him last night. He hasn’t said too much, but liked the movie.” I thought back to how hard he slammed into me against the wall. Damn that was hot.

The main thing I had to avoid at all costs was the one thing that was tearing me up inside. I couldn’t let anyone speak of his deployment if they somehow found out.

Pride

Creed

“I’m not joking, man. My little brother shit at Justin Bieber and told him to suck his ass.”

“Yeah right.” Axton didn’t believe me.

“Its not a joke. I’m expecting him to visit before we leave. I guess I gave in and agreed to meet them. Nicole is doing a shit job at raising them and I agreed to check out the situation for myself. My sixteen year old brother knocked a fifteen year old up and the other one has a juvenile record a mile long. Someone has to step in and help.” I said.

“I swear, you better not bring two shithead teenagers home with you then dump them on me for the duration of your deployment.” He growled.

“It’s a thought. Morgan is teaching and I’m sure we can put together some teen boot camp shit to straighten their asses out. The timing sucks ass, but Morgan would never forgive me if I turn my back on them.”

“They can stay at your place with her then. I’m not dealing with that fucking shit.” He must have forgotten who he was speaking to or something.

“They’ll bunk in separate cabins with a few established members. You never know, it might be fun to ride their asses. Weston is coming to an age where he can enlist. It would be the best thing for him. All Nicole and Jonathan do is send them to some kind of hippy therapy bullshit, when they really just need someone to kick the bullshit right out of them.”

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