Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(21)

When strong arms tried to gently lift me off the concrete patio floor I lashed out, flailing.

“Shush, Big C. It’s all right.”

I relaxed, leaning on Cord and Chase as they moved me indoors. I saw the spinning interior of the apartment. My belly was starting to revolt.

“Sink,” I groaned, then yelled it. “Sink!”

My brothers got me over to the kitchen sink and held my head over it while I heaved the liquid contents of my stomach all over the stainless steel basin. When I was finished, one of them, Chase I think, wiped my face with a paper towel and then they dragged me to my bedroom.

I was on the bed, looking at the ceiling and trying to make sense out of it. The sweat was pouring off me so I tore at my shirt, hearing the accidental rip of the fabric. When I settled back onto the cool surface of the sheets I could hear Saylor’s voice in the next room. Cord answered her but I couldn’t understand what either of them were talking about. Dark shapes appeared in the doorway and I realized they were people. I wanted them to leave and then when they left I was lonely.

I awoke to the soft light of daybreak. Someone had set a big glass of water next to my bed and I drank it eagerly, trying to wash away the foul taste in my mouth. I searched my mind for memories of last night and didn’t find many gaps so I figured I hadn’t done anything too awful.

My head ached though. I wanted coffee.

Even before I walked down the hall I knew no one else was awake yet. Chase’s door was shut. Cord and Say’s door was cracked open and I wondered if that was because of me, if they wanted to keep an ear out in case I’d gotten up in the night and started fighting half forgotten battles. It had happened before.

I saw them in bed together, her long brown hair spilling across the pillow, his face resting on her bare shoulder. My brother frowned slightly in his sleep and then tightened his hold on Saylor before his face relaxed again.

After gently closing their door I went to the kitchen and quietly started a pot of coffee. My knuckles were slightly bruised from last night but it was nothing that wouldn’t fade in a day or two.

About this hour one week ago I was waking up next to Truly. I’d thought about her a lot since then and most of those thoughts were dirty. That wasn’t how I was feeling now though. I was thinking about how troubled she’d looked that morning. Later on I wished I’d puzzled out a way to tell her, “Look baby, it’s okay to do something that makes you feel good.”

If Truly were here now I would have liked to have a cup of coffee with her and just listen to her talk for a while. I remembered what she said to me right after I told her I was just plain Creedence Gentry, forgetting she didn’t come from Emblem and wouldn’t understand what it mean to be part of my trashy family. She gave me an answer anyway though, just before she drifted off to sleep.

“Well, that’s a whole lot from what I can tell.”

That got to me. If she really thought there was more to me than muscle and a hard dick then I honestly couldn’t help but wonder why. I wished I’d asked her.





CHAPTER NINE


Truly



“Call in sick,” Saylor said.

“I can’t do that,” I told her over the phone, folding laundry as Dolly watched me. “Anyway the game doesn’t even start until seven.”

“Well, then tell Ed you need to go home early because you’ve got menstrual cramps. Remember how much female anatomy freaks him out?”

I laughed. I’d never bailed on work due to illness, whether it was real or invented. Saylor’s offer was tempting though. I’d been in a sour mood ever since the phone call with Aggie the other night. Say had a bunch of free tickets to tonight’s football game at the university. She and Cord were already going with her cousin Brayden and his girlfriend. She seemed determined to drag me along too.

“How’d you get all these free tickets again?”

“Chase works security up there.” She paused. “Creed does too.”

“I see,” I said as my heart rate jumped.

“You won’t even see him,” she said quickly. “He’ll be off breaking up fights in the stands or whatever.”

“I already told you I have no intention of avoiding Creed forever. It’s fine, Saylor.”

“Good.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Then you have no excuse. Don’t you like football?”

I loved football. “Only when they hit a lot of home runs.”

“Very funny. We’re meeting up at Bray’s apartment at six.”

“All right. I’ll think of a lie to tell Ed about water retention and ovarian spasms.”

Ed took my fake illness better than I thought he would, especially considering it was Saturday night. A look crossed his face which was nearly paternal in nature.

“Everything all right with you, Truly?”

“Fine, Ed. It’s just…oh god, I need to take some Advil.” I clutched my belly as if a sudden cramp had seized me.

He nodded absently. “Go then. Feel better.”

That was as close to a friendly conversation as I’d ever had with my boss. It made me feel slightly crappy for lying to his face.

I stopped at home to change before heading over to Saylor’s cousin’s place. Even though the jeans I was wearing might be more suitable to a sporting event, I found that I actually wanted to dress up a little. I told myself it had nothing to do with the possibility of running into Creed. Nothing at all.