Page 31 of Find Me
“It’s alright to tell us stuff, Shiloh,” Colt said as his fingers began to knead the back of my neck. “I get that it hurts you to talk about your family, but you can’t keep it all bottled up. You can talk to us and we’ll listen.”
I was happy he didn’t think I was crazy, but was I that transparent?
“And you can call us,” Creed said. Like I had yesterday, I turned my head, resting my cheek on Colt’s chest so that I could see Creed. He was staring down at me with a tight expression. “If you ever get hurt, you can call us.”
I sniffled. “Don’t say that just because you feel sorry for me.”
“I wouldn’t have made an offer like that lightly,” he assured.
A smile slowly stretched across my mouth. “Does that mean you like me?”
Colt’s chest bounced as he chuckled.
Creed scoffed, slightly shaking his head. “Yeah, Shi, I like you.” His admission gave me that warm feeling in my heart again.
I released a heavy sigh. “I landed on my hip,” I finally admitted and pulled back from Colt. “It’s not broken, but it hurts. I’m not going to be able to run for a while.”
Colt took a step back. “Can you at least walk?”
“I think so,” I said. Colt took a few more steps back and I walked to him with a limp.
“Why don’t you go grab your stuff and we’ll take you home?” Creed offered.
I shook my head. “You have swim practice. Your meet is tomorrow.”
“So?” Creed drawled.
“Coach Reed will be pissed, but he won’t bench us for the meet if that’s what you’re worried about,” Colt said.
“You shouldn’t miss practice because of me. I’ll go and watch you, like we originally planned.” With them driving to school today, we had already discussed me staying after to watch them practice.
Colt shook his head. “You’re not going to sit on a metal bench for hours in pain.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
“Shi, if you don’t let it go, I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to the girls’ locker room to get your shit,” Creed threatened in a deep, firm voice.
It was two against one. I let out a long sigh and began limping toward the locker room to get my stuff.
12
Colt parkedhis Charger in front of my house. After I slowly climbed out of the car, Creed scooped me up. Having experienced being carried already once today, I wasn’t as startled this time around. I still hooked my arms around his neck, holding on tight as we headed toward my house.
Colt walked behind us, carrying my backpack. “Are your keys in your bag?”
“Front pocket. I have an alarm,” I warned Colt. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone the code. I hesitated for a second as I debated, then remembered I could always change it later if I had to and told him the code.
As Colt pulled my keys from my bag, Keelan’s Jeep pulled up their drive.
“Why aren’t you at practice?” Knox asked loudly as he and Keelan climbed out.
“Here we go,” Creed grumbled under his breath, then shouted over his shoulder, “We didn’t go!”
Colt dashed ahead of us to unlock my front door.
Knox slammed the Jeep’s door and stormed around it to stand along the oleander bushes that separated our properties. “Please tell me you didn’t ditch practice so one or both of you could try and get between Shiloh’s legs?”
My breath caught in my throat as my cheeks began to burn. Creed paused at the top of the porch steps, his jaw clenching. He started to turn us slowly to face Knox. With the rage burning in his eyes, I knew he was about to explode on him, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.
