Page 70 of Creed

He chuckled.

I almost cried again. It may have been the nicest thing anyone did for me. “You had them make Indiana festival fried chicken?”

“Only the best for you.” He said and I reached up to hug him. “I asked them to fill a few Styrofoam coolers so we could take it back and share it with the rest of the gang.”

I pulled back. “I have to share?”

He laughed. “I can’t exactly imagine you eating two coolers of the stuff.” He tapped my nose, and I scrunched it.

“Ha! You don’t know me as well as you might think.”

He flashed me his million dollar smile and gave me a wink. “I guess we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”

People were filing in the doors, but the back door was open, and I saw a few of Creeds men carrying in the hundreds of arrangements from the funeral. “What are we going to do with all of them?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Its up to you.”

An idea came to me, and I smiled up at Creed.

“You look like I might need to brace myself.” He went to touch his beard but forgot it was gone.

“Would you mind if I planted the fruit trees around your place? That way when they start to fruit I can use them for my pies. Most of the flowers are perennials, maybe I can plant them around the community? It'll be like there will be little pieces of Callie sprinkled around the best place on earth.”

His eyes softened. “That sounds perfect, but you think the community is the best place on earth?”

I nodded real big. “I made friends for the first time in forever. I jog in the mornings, and nobody bothers me. I can get groceries, go for a swim and everyone is so kind. I feel free back at the lake.”

He reached up and ran his thumb down my cheek. “Freedom looks gorgeous on you, Morgan.”

I blushed. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t long before my mother and sister pulled me aside. “Okay, so it wasn’t appropriate to say anything earlier, but holy hotness! Can you believe Creed became even more sexy?” Savannah asked.

Mom playfully slapped her arm. “Savannah.” Mom shook her head then looked at me. “Okay fine, holy hotness or what?”

All three of us laughed. “Yes, he’s definitely handsome.” I looked over at Creed and he was talking to the Hans and Franz duo.

“Okay, I’m dying to know. What’s going on between the two of you?” Savannah asked but Mom leaned forward and patiently waited for my answer.

“Nothing.”

Mom’s eyes furrowed. “What do you mean, nothing? That’s not what I saw today.”

I shrugged. “We’ve grown close, but we are not romantic. That’s all I can really say.”

A pair of warm arms wrapped around me from behind and I turned to see Jake. For some reason I broke down and cried just before he turned me toward him and wrapped me back up in his arms. “I’m so sorry about Callie. She was an awesome person.” They met when we were just kids, and they also spoke on the phone pretty often. “I tried to go back inside the funeral home, but the doors were locked.”

I sniffled into his neck. “I’m sorry about that, Jake. It was a security measure.”

“Please tell me that wasn’t because of Nicole.”

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t.”

He pulled back and looked down at me. “I think we have a lot to talk about.” He looked over at Creed who was glaring at Jake like he was going to rip his head off. “I don’t think my cousin likes me much.”

No, it’s because you’re touching me. I didn’t say that out loud. “He’s…well Creed is Creed. Its not that he doesn’t like you.” It wasn’t like I didn’t notice how protective Creed was, but there was more to it than that. Creed did not like other men getting too close. He was obviously not the kind of man to share, and the attraction between us was intense to say the least. Axton and Magnus both told me at different times that Creed was unreadable, but I disagreed. It almost felt like Creed, and I silently communicated. Sometimes it was a look, a certain touch, and sometimes I could look in his eyes and could tell if he was feeling insecure or unsure about something, but a lot of the time I saw desire and fear. I never had that kind of connection with anyone in my life.

“Are you dating him?” Jake asked.

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