Page 13 of Creed

And she was smiling, and fuck me, that smile got to me more than anything else. I hadn’t seen her in years, but it still made my chest tight when I saw it.

She didn’t see me.

She didn’t even glance in my direction, but that didn’t matter. I was completely spellbound and couldn’t move if I wanted to. And she didn’t have a clue that I was even there. She and her friend slid into their seats at the table, playing a round of blackjack just like it was just another day of the week.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Just the sight of her had the memories rolling in. They came one after the other, but there was one that stuck with me. It was the day I knew I’d fallen for her, and I’d fallen hard.

It was raining. It was one of those lazy, southern storms that rolled in slow and loud and made everything dark and cozy. Hell, I didn’t even want to get out of bed, but I wanted to see her. I was trying to think of an excuse to get her to come over when there was a knock at my door.

She stood there looking like a beautiful, drowned rat with two cups of coffee and takeout. I pulled her inside and helped her out of her wet clothes, and we never made it out of the bedroom.

She curled into me like I was home and not just a man trying to be something better for her. The sheets tangled at our feet, and her bare leg hooked over mine. The rain was still coming down, but I couldn’t care less. I had her next to me, and she waswarm and smelled like vanilla and something I still couldn’t name.

We talked for hours about nothing. About everything.

She ran the tips of her finger over my hip, and when she reached my scar, she asked, “What happened?”

“I was shot.”

“What? How have you not told me about this?”

“You never asked.” She gave me one of her looks, and I chuckled as I added, “It was a long time ago.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know. I was nine or ten at the time.” I ran my fingers through her hair as I told her, “My brother and I were bored and decided to go out to the back woods for a little squirrel hunting. Neither of us were all that good at it, and we certainly shouldn’t have been out there alone. But that’s how it was with me and my brother. We were always into something.”

“But that doesn’t really explain how you were shot.”

“Well, that came later in the day. We’d wandered in those woods for hours, and we had a mess of squirrels ready for cleaning. We were on our way back to the house when Tyler tripped and fell. When he hit the ground, his gun went off. Hit me right in the side. I went down, and it was hot, and I was bleeding like there was no tomorrow. It was a freak accident, but he nearly took me out.”

“What did he do? How did he get you out of the woods?”

“Threw me over his shoulder and ran. It was the only thing he could do.” I shook my head. “When he got to the house, he was so covered in blood that Dad couldn’t tell if he was the one who’d been shot or me.”

“Oh, bless his heart. I bet he was scared to death.”

“Nah, it just pissed him off. It was bad enough that he had to step away from the garage and get me to the hospital, but thebills that came after. Damn. That earned us both a beatin’ we wouldn’t soon forget.”

“Oh, Jameson. I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. It was just the way it was, and my ol’ man was just doing the best he could with two rowdy boys.” I chuckled. “We had more good days than bad, and not many can say that.”

“I wish I knew you back then.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“I would’ve come to bring you soup or something.”

“I was nine. If you brought me soup, I would’ve thought something was wrong with you.”

She gave me a playful nudge to the gut. “You would’ve loved me. I was adorable back then.”

“I don’t know. Something tells me you were a bit of a nightmare when you were a kid. I bet you were one of those who had a bed full of stuffed animals and slippers at the foot of your bed.”

“And how would that make me a nightmare?”

“It would make you spoiled, and spoiled kids are usually nightmares. I was anything but spoiled. That’s why I was such a good kid, and everyone loved me.”