About Tomorrow - Abbi Glines Page 0,44

to offer to stay, but my feet reminded me that I was abusing them in my choice of heels. I promised to email her the pictures I’d taken then went to the back to get my purse, before slipping out the door without drawing any attention to myself. I paused when I got close enough to my car to see a dark figure leaning against the driver’s side door. It was dark and whoever it was stood just outside the street light’s glow. For a moment, I thought it was Griff, but then I realized how unrealistic that was. Griff was busy like always.

The figure moved into the light when I stopped walking and the glow illuminated Creed. I didn’t start walking right away, mostly from confusion at his being beside my car. I hadn’t thought it would be Creed. My surprise passed quickly and I realized I was happy to see him. I wanted to tell someone about tonight and Creed was here. I wasn’t sure why he was here but he was and I could tell him all about the exhibit and the donations.

“Hey,” I said, smiling when I reached him.

He didn’t say anything at first and I remembered our earlier conversation. Was he mad at me now? Had he come to finish our argument? I had every right to get angry. I started to tell him just that but he spoke first.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He’d already apologized but then I hadn’t been nice about it. “Thank you,” I replied. “I was having an…emotional day, I guess, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry.”

“No, you were right. I spoke to Rachel. She knows that we are just friends.”

“Thank you,” I said again. My earlier outburst seemed silly now. Had it really mattered what his cousin, who lived in another country, thought of me? Was it my conflicting emotions making me over react?

“How was opening night of the exhibit?” he asked me.

I sighed from the memory of tonight. “Amazing,” I told him. “I was able to talk about the art and people listened. They wanted to know all the details and I got to tell them. I love it.”

“You look beautiful,” he said, as his gaze slowly went down my body with an appreciative gleam.

The giddiness from my evening had to be the reason my stomach did a flip and my heart felt as if it was fluttering. I felt flushed suddenly and the night sky was my friend as it helped cover up my reaction to his words. I should thank him but I wasn’t sure my voice wouldn’t give away exactly what I was feeling.

“Griff should have been here with you,” he said and my fluttery feeling turned sour. That wasn’t his business and the way he had said it sounded as if he was judging Griff. He had no right to judge Griff.

“He is a med student,” I stated the obvious. “An art exhibit isn’t as important as his studies.” I was annoyed and I didn’t try and hide it.

“Anything that is important to you, should be important to him. He should have prepared and made time to be here. Not doing so was selfish.”

“You don’t get to say what he should and shouldn’t do.”

Creed took a step closer to me and his eyes blazed down at me. I wasn’t sure if it was anger at me, at Griff, or at something else. “You fucking deserve for your boyfriend to be by your side when something as important as tonight happens. Does he know how much you love your job? Does he know about Albert and how you’ve charmed the moody bastard? What about the La Sconfitta and that you finally got to see it first hand? Does he know any of that, Sailor?”

Tears stung my eyes and I hated it. I didn’t want to be emotional especially, not in front of Creed. This wasn’t fair. He was making it sound like Griff didn’t care and he did. He just hadn’t had time…yet he was right that Griff knew none of those things. Creed did. It was Creed I had told all of that to. It was Creed that was there to listen. None of this was fair to Griff. He was working so hard.

“Come on,” Creed said gently, taking my upper arm and leading me toward my car. “Let me drive.”

I shook my head no. I didn’t want him in the car with me. I wanted to be alone and I wanted to cry. He didn’t