I liked that.

I tried not to grin but it didn’t work too well. I knew this when his eyes dropped to my mouth, they went funny in a way that made my belly feel funny and also made me bite my lip.

His gaze came back to mine and he muttered dryly, “I see my girl gets it.”

“Um…” I muttered back and he grinned.

“Yeah, she gets it,” he kept muttering then his face got closer. “I dig that you like you can do that to me but just so you know, it feels good, gettin’ excited but for a guy, it can go bad.” He saw it coming, my question, so he lifted up his chin slightly before shaking his head. “Not gonna explain. Not now, baby. Later, maybe. Not now.” He rolled to his back, pulling me with him so I was lying partly to his side, partly on him and he lifted a hand to pull my hair away from my face before suggesting, “Let’s just talk for a while.”

I preferred kissing but I could do that too.

So I agreed, “Okay.” Then I studied his face and fell into the Creed and me that was and would always be. “Is everything okay with your Mom?”

His hand left my hair, his torso lifted up and he got up on his elbows behind him even as I stayed close. Once in position, he rolled his head around on his neck like he was trying to stretch away tension there.

He did that a lot when I brought up his Mom.

She was living with him again. She’d moved out, moved in with a man but they’d got in a fight and now she was back. This, unfortunately, happened a lot. She’d find the man who was the love of her life, date him for a few weeks, move out then move back in when it went sour. Sometimes her being away lasted a few days. Sometimes, if Creed was lucky, it lasted months.

This time, it had lasted months.

Now it was over.

Creed did not like his Mom coming home because he didn’t like her much. He also didn’t like it because that meant I couldn’t come over at night, eat with him, watch TV, neck on his couch before he walked me through the woods to my car that I’d park on the old abandoned lane that went nowhere.

He further didn’t like it because she hadn’t changed. She drank too much, didn’t mind making a mess but did mind cleaning up after herself.

He also didn’t like it because when she got back, she could be nasty. She didn’t get that there was only one Brand Creed. She didn’t get, after years and years and years, that she needed to learn to live with his loss and move on. She just continued to feel the pain and take it out on everyone around her.

Last, she was in and out of work, currently out and Creed worked at the local tire factory. He was union, he told me, so the pay wasn’t bad (I didn’t get this, totally, but I did believe him). But no one wanted to work hard, come home and watch their Momma drink their paycheck while she made a mess and gave him stick (I did get this, totally).

Creed told me his Dad actually didn’t leave the house to his Mom when he died and when Creed turned eighteen, he owned it. So he could tell her to leave, kick her out.

But Creed wasn’t that way.

He was Brand Creed’s son through and through. He didn’t have it in him to be mean, not even to a Momma who never was any good to him or for him or, really, anybody.

“No, Sylvie, it’s not okay,” he answered.

I scrunched up my nose.

He grinned.

I stopped scrunching my nose and grinned back.

Then I pressed closer. “I wish I could do something,” I said quietly and I did. Really, really badly.

“You can’t, baby,” he said quietly back. “My lot in life.”

“Not forever,” I told him and his eyes held mine before they drifted beyond me.

“Seems like it’ll be.”

“No way,” I told him firmly and his gaze came back so I went on. “When I turn eighteen, we’re out of here. We’re going to get in your truck and go. Drive until we hit a place we both like and then stop and build a life without your Mom. Without my Dad. We’re going to buy a house and have babies and no one will know us. No one will know I’m Sylvia Bissenette, A Bissenette of The Bissenette’s and no one will know you have anything to do with Winona Creed. We’ll just be Creed and Sylvie. Just you and just me.”

Creed’s head tipped to the side slightly and his eyes were soft but lit with a bright light when he asked gently, “You want babies?”

“Two. A girl and a boy,” I replied immediately.

“Got it planned,” he muttered, his eyes still soft but bright, his lips curled up at the edges.

“Yep.” I grinned.

“Names?”

“Kara, the girl. Brand, the boy.”

His lip curl faded and the soft went out of his eyes but the bright went brighter.

“Brand?” he whispered.

“For your Daddy,” I whispered back.

He stared at me, that bright in his eyes shining through me, shining deep and feeling sweet, like it wasn’t autumn and there wasn’t a nip in the air but it was summer and the sun was shining, warming me through.

“Make it tough,” he muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“You make it tough not to kiss you,” he explained and my belly curled.

I liked that too.

I bit my lip.

Creed grinned at me and teased, “So, the hope is, you’re namin’ your boy Brand, you intend for me to be the Daddy.”

That was such a stupid question, I released my lip, narrowed my eyes at him and slapped his arm.

He burst out laughing, lifted up off his elbows and his arms curled around me. He fell back twisting so he was now lying mostly on my side.

I liked lying on him.

I liked this a whole lot better.

Therefore, I lost my exasperation, lifted a hand and slid the hair away that had fallen over his forehead. The minute I dropped my hand, the hair fell right back and I couldn’t help but smile.

“You know what love is?”

Creed asked that and my eyes shot from the hair on his forehead to his.

“I…” I swallowed again then, holding his eyes, I whispered, “Yes. I do. I know what love is, Creed.”

I felt his big hand curl warm on the side of my face before I felt the pad of his thumb sweep across my lips again. He watched it move as he replied, “I do too, baby.” His eyes came to mine. “I absolutely do.”

I sighed.

Creed bent his head to touch his mouth to mine before, unfortunately, he pulled away.