She used a finger on her little device, doing something before she ate another gummy worm.
I cleared my throat, “Kresslee?”
She jumped, then she looked up at me, and she put the little device into her purse.
“Ridge. Hi.”
My eyebrows drew together as I walked a little closer to her car.
“What are you doing here?”
She bit her lip, then slid off the hood of the car, standing before me.
She started to ring her hands together. “I, um. Hi.”
I stared at her, “You said that already. Are you okay? Is everything all right with Creed?”
She nodded, “He is fine. I wanted to see you.”
I knew my eyes went wide, and my eyebrows flew up my forehead.
She bit her lip again, “I know that’s probably the last thing you were expecting to hear.”
I could only stare at her, and she looked away from me, “I might be too late for this. It’s been a long time, and I understand if seeing me is the last thing you want.”
“I don’t understand.”
Her cheeks went red, “I wanted to see you because I missed you.”
I staggered back a step, “You missed me? Really?”
She slowly nodded, “I know that we haven’t spoken for a long time, and that was really all my fault. That day when everything happened, I stopped talking to you because I was worried that Creed would spiral. He was already struggling and that day was the worst day for all of us.”
“What happened after you left? Or should I not ask?”
Kresslee looked away from me quickly, then back. “Creed had issues with our father. It wasn’t a good day. For any of us. And I had a choice to make. I couldn’t choose us at the moment. I can’t tell you how much that broke me. I wanted to see you again, to explain why I wasn’t allowed to see you after that, but I couldn’t. I chose Creed at that moment, because I knew he needed me, more than you did at the moment.”
I lifted a brow, “I saw your dad punch Creed in the face because he took you to the hospital. Did more happen after that?”
Kresslee nodded, and I heard a few of my teammates come out of the stadium, heading toward their cars.
I looked over at my truck, “How about we go for a drive, is that okay?”
She nodded, and I grabbed her purse off the hood of her car, then helped her into my truck.
Denver came up behind me, “Dude, you have a girl in your truck? What the fuck?”
I looked over at him, “I will see you tomorrow.”
His eyes were wide when he nodded, and I got in the driver’s seat, then pulled out of the parking lot after starting my truck.
Kresslee was still worrying her hands together, and I looked over at her as I drove toward my house, “Can you tell me what happened after I saw that punch?”
She slowly exhaled, “It’s not a good story to tell, but it’s necessary I guess.”
She went on to tell me about how, after she was kept overnight in the hospital, Creed went home, knowing the punishment he was going to get wasn’t going to be a good one.
And he was right. Their dad beat the shit out of Creed, breaking three of his ribs, and saying horrible things to Creed that she didn’t know about to this day.
