I sucked in breath.
Creed whispered, “I love you, Sylvie. Thank you for doin’ this for me, baby. I know you know but I’ll say it clear, it means the world to me. Just like you. All I can promise is, a day won’t go by where you won’t know you got that from me.”
At that, I started crying silently.
I did this while Creed held me and I kept doing it for a good long while.
Through it, Creed never let me go.
Chapter Twenty-Two
My Creed
A hot summer night in Kentucky, sixteen years earlier, Creed is twenty-three. It’s Sylvie’s birthday, she’s just turned eighteen…
I was in the warm, midnight blue waters of the lake when I saw his truck drive up, the headlights bright, cutting through the cloudless night.
I treaded water and watched the lights go out on his truck. I kept doing it as I watched his tall, shadowed form stalk through the dark toward the pier.
I adjusted my position and kept my eyes on him as I heard his boots fall on the wood slats while he made his way to me.
At the end, he stopped and I felt his eyes on me through the dark.
“Baby, what the f**k?” he asked, sounding irritated. “We got all of six hours before we’re home free. Why did you call me and what the f**k are you doin’ in the lake?”
“What time is it?” I asked back.
“What?” he returned.
“Creed, honey, what time is it?”
He looked to his watch then back at me. “Can’t see shit, so I don’t know but I left the house at two fifteen.”
I did a lazy breast stroke and when I made it to the end of the pier, I lifted a wet hand and curled my fingers around the edge, tipping my head way back to keep my eyes on Creed.
“I was born at two oh four.”
His patience waned. I knew this when he asked, “Sylvie, again, what the f**k?”
“I was born at two oh four.”
Creed said nothing but I saw the line of his body go completely still.
He understood me.
“I’m legal, baby,” I told him softly.
I barely got out the word “baby” when he crouched low, leaned forward, his hands went under my pits and he hauled me clean out of the water. Just as suddenly, he was down and my wet, bikini-clad body was on him and his hands were on me.
All over me.
Finally.
I’d wanted this for as long as I knew it was mine to have. I’d wanted to give this to Creed for as long as I knew it was mine to give. For a year, we’d held back.
The floodgates opened and it all rushed out, beautifully.
But not perfectly.