Draw (Gentry Boys #1)(81)

Creed had vaulted out the door before I could blink. In a flash I saw the ways this could go. He might tackle Pruitt, beat the ever loving shit out of him, possibly kill him, and likely receive an escort back to Emblem to sit behind the fences for a decade or two.

Or, whoever was inside that house might hear the racket and come storming out. Then there would be a front lawn hand-to-hand combat brawl which might land us next to Chase in the hospital, and still with a ticket back to Emblem.

Neither vision was tolerable. As Creed began barreling through the dark I knew I only had seconds to stop him.

I leapt out of the truck but he was already several yards ahead of me.

“Fucker!” he shouted and Jay Pruitt turned around.

His eyes widened as he saw Creed storming straight for him, with me close behind. Pruitt glanced desperately around for help and was on the verge of shouting when Creed caught up with him. Creed grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him away from the house.

“Piece of shit,” Creed was snarling as he shoved Pruitt into some bushes. Pruitt was making a strangled noise in his throat as he tried to get to his feet. He wasn’t a small guy, but he knew damn well he wouldn’t be a match for Creed. And he’d already seen what I could do in a fight.

Creed pulled back and I could tell he was going to unleash a crushing blow to the upturned face of Jay Pruitt. I could also tell he wasn’t going to stop there. He was going to keep going until the guy couldn’t f*cking move. I knew how he felt. I’d felt the same way when I went tearing into Say’s ex. I don’t know how that would have ended if she hadn’t stopped me. She was right to stop me.

His momentum was already underway and Creed didn’t have time to pull back when I stepped in the way. I had twisted around so that the blow caught me on the right arm but it still hurt like hell because Creed was strong as shit.

When he realized he’d hit me instead of Pruitt he just stood up straight and stared with a baffled look in his face. I spun around and grabbed Jay Pruitt.

“Did you do it? Did you jump my brother like a cowardly bastard and f*ck him up?”

Even in the dark I could see Pruitt’s eyes were wide and petrified. He stammered. “N-no. I didn’t do it.”

But he couldn’t quite keep the shiftiness out of his expression. I knew a liar when I saw one. He’d either done it or knew who had. I wanted to kill him myself.

“Go,” I choked, shoving him away.

Creed shouted at me. “Cord!”

“Go!” I screamed at Pruitt as he scrabbled around trying to get his legs underneath him. In a few awkward lunges he was at the entrance of the frat house, banging at the door like crazy and shouting his stupid head off.

I pushed at Creed. “We need to get out of here.”

He’d left the keys in the ignition. As I got behind the wheel and started the engine I could see a mess of angry college boys beginning to pour out of the fraternity house. I extended my middle finger out the window and sped away.

Creed was fuming. His eyes burned into me from across the seat. As we reached the lights of University Drive I rubbed casually at the arm where I’d taken his hit.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” I said mildly.

“Pull the f*ck over,” he muttered.

“Let’s just get back to the apartment and-“

“Pull. The. Fuck. OVER!”

I turned into an empty parking lot. It used to be a restaurant but now was boarded up and deserted.

Creed dove out of the truck and stalked away, cursing wildly.

“Hey!” I shouted.

He turned around and glared at me. He was furious. Both at me, and just in general.

“Creedence,” I said gently, daring to take a few steps in his direction.

He spat on the ground. “We’ve always had each other’s backs. Always.”

I swallowed. “I know that. It’s why I stood in front of you just now. I’ve stood in front of you before, you know. Both you and Chase, blocking someone else’s threat. I know you didn’t forget.”

“And I’ve stood in front of you too, Cordero. I’ve taken hits that were meant for you and I was glad.”

“Yeah, I know. Just like I’m glad now. I’m glad that I stopped you from doing something irreversible. We only get this one life, Creed. Just this one life. You want to be careful what kind of risk you take with it.”

He turned away, scowling out towards the road with his arms crossed. I bent at the waist, breathing heavily. He was still out of my reach. I was no longer willing to jump into the black hole beside him, but I needed to reach out a hand and pull him back to safety. He’d done it for me before.

I stood straight and spoke his name softly. “Creed.”

He didn’t answer. Several yards away, the traffic continued to roar by.

“Do you remember the first week we got up here? We scraped together enough change for a single room in that roach motel by the freeway.”

“No,” he shook his head.

I smiled. “Yeah, you do. About the only things you carried out from Emblem were a few changes of clothes and that guitar you’d scored at the pawn shop.”

“So?” he challenged. “So what? What the f*ck does that have to do with where we’re at right now?”

I sighed, remembering. “The only work we could find was under the table, shoveling gravel at a pit in in Mesa. We were eating bulk pasta for every meal, sleeping in a shithole and wondering how the hell anyone ever managed to make it out of the sand trap.”