Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(14)

Stop! It was one night. That’s all a man like Creed will ever want.

I wondered if he was home right now high fiving his brothers and describing the fruits of a successful hunt. Then I wondered if Saylor was completely disgusted with me for screwing her boyfriend’s brother. That thought was the most depressing of all. Saylor was really the only friend I had. It was painful to realize she might be thinking badly of me.

A glance at the clock told me it was after ten. She should be awake by now. Creed lived in the same three bedroom apartment with Saylor, Cord and Chase so even if she hadn’t seen us take off together last night she would have found out about it by now. Reluctantly I pulled my phone out of my purse and called her. She didn’t answer until the fourth ring.

“Truly!”

“Hi Say. Look, sorry I ditched you at The Hole.”

Her voice rose. “What? Who gives a shit about that! Are you all right?”

I raised my eyebrows. She sounded panicked. What on earth did she think happened last night? “Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”

There was the sound of a door closing on the other end. I figured Saylor might have retreated to a place where Creed couldn’t hear her talking.

“I was just worried,” she said gently. “When Chase told us you’d gone home with Creed I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I never would have figured you’d go for him.”

“Me either,” I muttered.

“Damn, I feel bad. I’m the one who pushed you to go out last night and I know you’re not the type to go bed hopping.”

“It’s not your fault, Say. I’m a grown ass woman. It might not have been one of the top ten wisest things I’ve ever done but it was totally my choice.”

Saylor seemed to relax a little. “I gave Creed some crap when he walked through the door this morning. I don’t like that he’d treat you like any old girl.”

I bit my lip, wondering if I should ask the next question. “Was he laying out his bragging rights?”

“Nah, Creed doesn’t brag. He just does what he does and expects everyone to be cool with it.”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Cool with it. I mean, I could have picked someone other than Cord’s brother.”

Saylor laughed. “Look, I grew up with these boys. I know what kind of impact they’ve always had on females everywhere. Brayden used to shake his head and say ‘It’s a Gentry world. The rest of us only live in it.’”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t blame you one bit for taking up with Creed.”

I twisted the belt of my robe and opened the patio blinds. The sun hurt my eyes. “I’m not exactly taking up with him. We had a night.”

“Was it a good night?” She wasn’t asking in a lewd way. She sounded merely curious.

I leaned my head against the warm glass of the patio door. “It was,” I admitted. “It was an amazing night.”

“Truly,” Saylor said gently. “You do realize what Creed is like, right? He’s a lot more, well, impenetrable than Cord. I don’t know if he has it in him to have anything regular with anyone.”

Regular.

What did that mean anyway? When my sisters and I were children we used the word ‘regular’ to describe most of the people around us. If a classmate waved goodbye to someone in a real house every morning and had a Christmas tree in December they were part of a life we’d only ever seen from the outside. We used the word as an insult. We’d say things like “He’s all regular and shit,” as we screamed with laughter but each one of us knew it would have been nice to see something of that life for ourselves.

Saylor didn’t need to tell me that Creed wasn’t the ‘regular’ type. Even if she’d never mentioned the abusive past suffered by the Gentry boys I would have been able to tell. Those three had also spent their entire lives on the outside.

“Look, I get it,” I told her. “I’m not expecting him to show up here with a dozen roses or anything.”

“Not that I’m fishing for details, but did you rip his shirt off him last night?”

I glanced at the couch where Dolly was still lounging on the discarded shirt in question.

“No,” I told her. “Maybe he just likes the world to see as much of him as possible.”

Saylor gave a sarcastic laugh. “No way. I can tell you in all honesty that Creedence doesn’t like the world to see him at all.”

I sighed. “I wish you were going to be there at work today.” It was true. The hours always passed more quickly when there was Saylor to joke around with.

“I can come by later,” she promised. “We’ll sneak out to Whataburger when Ed gives you a break.”

“I’d like that. I’d sick to death of chicken.”

When I hung up with Saylor a few minutes later I felt slightly better. She hadn’t mentioned Creed again and I was grateful. There probably wasn’t anything left to say about the matter. It was done.

Dolly let out a small mew of objection when I pulled Creed’s shirt out from underneath her. I shook the cat hair off and folded it neatly. I supposed I could give it to Saylor to return to him but then she’d look at me awkwardly and remember why I had it in the first place.