About Tomorrow - Abbi Glines Page 0,75

head to look up at him. He was wearing a wool coat with a scarf wrapped around his neck. I wasn’t wearing anything more than the gray sweatshirt he had given me earlier today. The biting cold hurt and I embraced the pain. I welcomed it. I wanted to hurt physically because the pain inside my body was more than I could bare.

“He’s not coming back,” I said the words for the first time aloud.

The corners of Chet’s mouth turned down and he bent his knees until he was eye level with me. “I’m so sorry, Sailor.” His words were sincere, filled with a pain of his own.

“Me too,” I whispered then turned to look out at the water. I was sorry for so many things. The list of the things I was sorry for was so long I didn’t want to think about them all.

“Come with me,” he urged, holding out his hand. “We need to get you warm. Your lips are blue.”

I didn’t care about my lips. I didn’t care about warmth. Nothing mattered anymore. It never would again. The future I had planned was gone. I was to live a life with an empty void in my chest where my heart once was.

Chet took my hand and pulled me up then began walking me toward his car. He didn’t say anything more and I was thankful for that. I didn’t want to hear it. I just wanted to figure out a way to survive in this agony that was now my life.

When I was safely inside the car, I felt feeling slowly come back to my hands and feet as we drove away. Chet reached into the backseat and pulled a blanket toward me. “Here, you need this,” he said.

I took it and held it over me. The pain of the cold thawing left the horrible ache inside roaring all on its own. Living a life without Creed…I didn’t want to think about it.

“Griff is worried about you. He wanted to come get you, but I told him it was best if I did. Maybe you could talk to him about this. He will listen. You need to talk and let some of this pain free.”

I turned to look at Chet. He glanced at me then back to the road. He was a nice guy. I was glad Griff had him in his life. He, however, did not understand what I was experiencing. He meant well.

“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