Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I grin and head straight for the back of the canteen, to the wall covered by a dense layer of pictures featuring members of the community and those deemed worthy of being invited to Vulture Hollow. I pull out the piece of cardboard I used to keep our photos from bending, and pick up the first one we took, in which both Creed and I are staring at the camera, drunk on that moment of happiness.
“Where should we put it?”
Creed looks so serious when he assesses the board, as if this decision could make or break his life. “Here,” he points out a spot. “Not central, but also not on the sidelines.”
And next to a photo of Clyde and Road sharing a massive hunk of meat like two cavemen, so maybe it’s secretly a gay couples’ competition, but I won’t tease him about it, because I know his self-esteem is fragile, and I don’t want him to doubt himself. I take some of the sticky tape from a box resting on a side table and use it to arrange the picture of us in a way that makes it stand out among photos with a darker general color.
“There!” I tell him, taking a step back to admire my work. The other photos will go in my private stash.
I’m surprised when he pulls me in for a hug. The way he’s opening up to touch is so endearing. I don’t want him to feel patronized, so I’d never say it to his face, but it’s like enticing a dog that’s been kicked too many times. I think he’s not just enamored with me, but actually trusts me now, which is so precious I want to kiss him all over. I could hand him the keys to my house, the PIN to my phone, and doze off knowing he wouldn’t touch me sexually until he knows we’re playing.
We linger in comfortable silence, looking at the photos together, but he eventually pulls away and stands in front of me with a tense expression that makes him no less handsome. He’s so very pale his skin is like porcelain in the dim yellow light of a single lamp above the photos. I shaved him before we went out, and I’m pretty proud of the moisturizing regime I enforced, as it’s made his skin perfect in no time. Bruises and swelling can’t spoil it.
Creed clears his throat, and now I’m starting to worry, because he’s shifting from side to side. “I… I got this made for you,” he says and holds up the jacket. When he unfolds it, I realize it’s not a jacket at all, but a leather vest. It’s on the shorter side, with fringing at the bottom, but it’s the patches on it that make Creed’s intention’s clear. The club logo in the middle, Property of on top, and Creep at the bottom. “If you accept it. I know you’re barely settling in Vulture Hollow, but Angel… you mean everything to me. You made me feel that I deserve to be seen, and I want everyone to see you as mine. My name would protect you even when I’m not there.”
The playful mood from moments ago is gone, replaced by a sense of importance. It’s just the two of us here. I don’t know whether he wants to make sure I don’t feel pressured to agree, or if he’s worried what might happen if others see me reject him, but he chose this setting for a reason.
He wants honesty.
Something I haven’t quite offered him yet.
A sigh shakes my body as I lower my head, fighting the urgent desire to ignore that fact and let him claim me.
Isn’t that what I always wanted? To belong with someone who cares for me instead of enjoying my presence as part of a draining arrangement? I wanted something real. Something so raw and visceral my man and I would be like two primordial beasts, the last of their kind and utterly dependent on one another.
But I don’t have the right to demand something real if I’m not willing to offer him the same. Now that Domino knows where I am, keeping Creed in the dark is too risky. Even if I’m putting my life on the line by outing Domino.
“N-no?” Creed whispers, but it’s like the cracking of ice about to lead to an avalanche. I need to stop it before it’s too late.
“No. But it’s not what you think. I… I want it. I want you. But I’ve had a secret, and you need to know it before you decide if you really want this.”
He doesn’t even blink. Watching. Waiting. Assessing me and my worth? I’m getting into my own head now, so I better spit it out.
“I was sugaring on the side, right? With those two guys you know about, but there was also a third, and…” I flap my arms about as the pressure in my chest grows, threatening to either break my ribs or squash my heart.