“Talking won’t give me back my heart, Chet.”
He looked pained as he turned back to me. He wanted to help and as kind as that was, there was nothing he nor anyone else could do. Creed was gone.
Thirty-Three
July 28, 2014
Portsmouth, NH
Creed ended the kiss, but he left his forehead resting on mine as we both worked on catching our breath. Kissing Creed was one of my favorite things. Lately something else had taken the number one spot and if my Gran found out about it, I was sure I wouldn’t get to see Creed again. Gran loved the Sullivans, but she wasn’t going to be okay with her granddaughter having sex at seventeen.
“I want to take you to the barn,” he whispered. Which was the closest spot for us to be alone.
I smiled and shivered from excitement. Hearing him want to be with me always made me feel giddy. “We haven’t seen Cora all day,” I reminded him. “I need to spend time with her too. We have barely seen each other this week.”
Creed ran a finger down my cheek. “I don’t want to share you,” he admitted.
I sighed from the pleasure of his touch. “She’s your sister.”
He chuckled. “So, we’ve never shared well.”
Knowing if we kept this up we wouldn’t stop, I pushed back away from him. “I need to go inside your house and I don’t want to be flushed when your momma sees me.”
He smirked then. “My mom isn’t here and I like it when you’re flushed.”
I opened the car door then and got out before I did something stupid like kiss him again. I had promised Cora we would go get manicures today. I wasn’t about to cancel on her because I wanted to go have sex with her brother. That was just rude. I was a better friend than that.
Creed was out of the car and beside me before I got to the driveway. “Fine. Let’s go visit my sister,” he said with no enthusiasm.
“Not you. Just me,” I reminded him. “It’s a girl day. We are getting manicures”
“Our summer is running out. I don’t want to give you up all day.” His words made me sad. He was right and I hated the reminder. I also hated Nashville and being away from him. I’d begged Mom and Gran to let me finish my last year of high school in Portsmouth. Gran had agreed easy enough, but my mother was being more difficult.
There was always a good chance she’d give in though. “I may not have to leave this summer,” I reminded him.
His hand grabbed mine. “God, I hope not. Having you all year would be fucking incredible. I’m just scared to get my hopes up.”
When we reached the house, he opened the door for me then pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Go do girl things with Cora. When you’re done, you can find me in the game room.”
I nodded then flashed one more smile his way, before heading to the stairs that led to Cora’s bedroom.
“Hey, Sailor Moon,” he called out and I looked back at him. “I love you.”
His words sent a warm jolt of joy through me. He said it often now, but it never lost its power.
“I love you most,” I replied, then hurried up the stairs before he could argue that.
High on love, I swung open Cora’s bedroom door and announced “I’m here!” but realized she wasn’t. Her Jetta was outside in the driveway, so she wasn’t gone. I started to turn and go look for her in the rest of the house when I noticed a pill bottle on the floor and went over to pick it up.
My eyes went from the bottle to the other bottle beside her bed that was sitting on top of a letter. The writing was Cora’s and I didn’t want to invade her privacy, but I felt like it was a letter meant to be seen. I reached for it, and as I read the words, my stomach knotted up in fear.
I then saw the other bottle laying on her bed just under the pillow. Grabbing it and the one on the floor, I took the letter and ran from the room to find Creed. He was in the game room when I came barreling through the door.
“Sailor?” he asked, standing up from the sofa when he saw the look of horror I knew was clearly on my face.
“Cora,” I said, handing him the letter as the pill bottles fell at our feet. “Oh god,” I said as my hands shook uncontrollably.
Creed read the letter then looked at me. “Where is she?” he asked me. I saw the same fear spiraling out of control inside me reflected in his eyes.
“She’s not in her room,” I said then I knew. I knew where she had gone. It was where we always had gone as kids. She loved to go there to be alone and to tell me her wild adventures with boys. It was somewhere no one would look for us when we were younger.