the slit that goes all the way up to the hip, while he loosens his tie, and unbuttons his jacket.
"You want to be a professor?" he asks, glancing over at me. We're hanging out while Miranda showers in the other room, my barefoot bumping up against his shiny Barker Blacks as I wiggle my toes.
A smile takes over my lips as I glance Creed’s way, meeting that heavy-lidded stare of his and feeling a small thrill go through me. Don't think of the hot tub, I tell myself, but then of course, that's all I can think about.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pretty good at school." I shrug my shoulders and then lean back into the pillows. "And I like it, too. If I could, I'd be a professional student for the rest of my life."
Creed smirks and then sits up to remove his jacket, tossing it casually onto the floor. He turns on his side to look at me, propping himself up on his elbow. His eyes trace the neckline of my dress, and I reach a hand up unconsciously to tease my collarbone with my fingers.
"Isn't that what grad school is for?" he asks, scooting just a little closer to me and reaching up with long fingers to pull my sleeve down my shoulder. He leans in and presses a warm kiss to my already heated skin. "Just be a doctor, and you'll be going to school for most of your life anyway." He gives a lazy cat's grin, and scoots a little closer, putting his right arm on the left side of my body so that he’s partially covering my upper half.
"I like the academic environment," I say, struggling to control my breathing. With the way Creed is laying, my natural instinct is to lean up into him, wrap an arm around his neck, and kiss him. "I want to go to Bornstead, and if things work out, I'd like to teach there one day, too. I've already started working on my application." Creed raises his eyebrows, and looks at me like I'm crazy.
"You've already started working on it?" he asks incredulously, some of that lazy nonchalance disappearing for a minute. "Is it that time already?"
"It is if you don't have a legacy bonus," I joke, and I can't help myself, reaching up a hand to stroke Creed's smooth jawline the way Tristan did in the library. As soon as that thought enters my mind, a fresh surge of heat flushes through me, and I catch my breath. "And if you desperately need scholarship money in order to be able to go there."
Creed closes his eyes, and leans in toward me, putting his face in the crook between my neck and shoulder. When he breathes, air flutters against my pulse, light as a butterfly kiss.
"My mom says that if I don't pull my grades up and get into college, then she's kicking me out and cutting me off." He sounds almost ashamed as he admits this to me, nuzzling deeper against me.
"I don't think Kathleen would ever do that to you," I admit, because as much as she's upset by Creed's actions, she loves him too much to see him suffer.
"You don't know her like I do." Creed lifts his head to look at me, putting our lips insanely close together. I can feel his breath fluttering against my mouth, and all I want to do is kiss him. Some big, bad bully he's turning out to be. He looks so soft and angelic in the gold light from the bedside lamp. "She's smart, and driven…" Creed wrinkles his brows slightly. "Kind of like you, I guess. She worked hard for everything she has, and she expects Miranda and me to do the same. I can't disappoint her."
And there it is, the real crux of the situation. Creed is desperate to be a part of his family, whether he wants to admit it or not. He's terrified of disappointing his mother.
"Hey." I cup the side of his face in gentle hands and pull him just a little bit closer, so that when I talk, he can feel my words against his lips. "You've got me as a tutor," I say with a little smile. "so really, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I'll do whatever it takes to whip you into shape. Let's start with this: where do you want to go to college?"
Creed looks up at me, his gaze shifting from the lazy,