Creed-
I must have fallen asleep after going into the guesthouse.
When I opened my eyes, I knew Noah was in the room with me before he spoke.
It was dark outside, and it had been about noon when I laid down.
I wondered how much time had passed.
“You didn’t answer my question,”
Noah said.
I shifted off of my back and cleared my throat.
“What question, Noah?”
I didn’t bother hiding my annoyance.
“What's your end game? Will tearing your family apart make you feel better?"
I shook my head in the dark as if he could see me.
“Maybe.
You know what God Daddy said to me that night during Maine's graduation when he took us all to the club?”
I didn’t wait for him to respond.
“He said, 'Maine is so jealous of you, even though you've taken the back seat in your own life for her.' It pissed me off.
Maine's my sister, he didn’t have the right to accuse her of anything.
I was supposed to spend the Fourth of July with him, and I canceled. If I hadn’t been mad, maybe I wouldn't have been there.”
I felt so guilty sometimes.
Maybe I could have been there and he wouldn't have been murdered.
Which makes her betrayal worse.
“So, this isn’t about Devon? It’s about you being able to—"
I cut him off.
“It’s about Devon too, but it's fuck Devon too.
Maine could have had him.
But whether I wanted Devon or not isn’t the point. I could have wanted him with everything in my heart and none of you would have cared because poor fucking Maine was sad that one boy didn't want her. Y'all considered her feelings without even a thought of mine. You didn't even have to take my side, just tell the truth. A little honesty goes a long way.”
“You want the truth? Fine, here it is.”
His voice dropped low, to a dangerous rumble.
“I thought about your feelings, Creed.
Really thought about them.
And then I said, ‘fuck them.’ You left me standing in that mall like a fucking fool, made me look weak. And when you ghosted me—didn’t answer, didn’t give me the chance to explain—I’ll be real with you, I wanted you to hurt. I wanted you crying. If you weren’t with me, why would I want you happy without me?”
The way he said it was toxic and backward as hell, but I could feel my pulse pick up, heat pooling low, making my thighs press together.
I hated him for making me feel this way.
But my body didn’t seem to care.
“Where’s Ashley, Noah?”
I asked, trying to sound unaffected, trying to deflect.
I felt the bed shift as he leaned closer.
“Fuck Ashley.
Take these off,”
he tapped my hip, indicating my shorts.
Like a puppet, I was suddenly willing to go along with whatever he wanted.
I didn’t know what it was about Noah that made me lose all common sense.
I couldn’t even hold onto my anger where he was involved.
I lifted my hips without thinking, letting him drag my shorts down, feeling them catch around one ankle.
He settled between my thighs, his heat swallowing me up.
He hovered over me.
My thighs spread wider, inviting him in.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. It was too dark to see anything but his intense blue eyes. He stared at me, and I could see anger and desire swirling in those blue pools.
“Glad you finally let me know you see me for who I am,”
he murmured, voice like gravel scraping against my skin.
“No more masks, no more pretending to be the good guy.”
His lips brushed my ear.
“I don’t have to hide how much I want to see you swollen with my babies, don’t have to pretend I give a damn if your parents find out how many nights I’ve spent dragging orgasms from you.
You’ve trapped yourself now.”
He thrust his whole dick into me, slow at first, letting me feel every inch, his hand sliding up to wrap around my throat.
He didn’t squeeze—not enough to cut off my air—but just enough to make my nipples harden and my head swim.
He felt so damn good that the implications of what he was saying barely registered in my mind.
I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t focus on anything but the rhythm he was setting and the way my body responded to him. He sped up. His first thrust hard made me forget how to breathe. the second knocked the air out of my lungs entirely.
"He was all like, 'Take this pregnancy test now, Creed,' He tried to physically make me pee on it.
Luckily, Ashley came looking for him, distracting him long enough for me to leave."
It had been two days since Daddy left Momma.
She was sulking around the house, and I felt bad about that, which was one of the reasons I wasn't there.
The main reason was that Noah really thought I was pregnant.
It had barely been a month since the first time we had sex. Wasn't it like six weeks before a test would even come back positive? He was worrying about the wrong thing. He should have been trying to get my wallet, keys, and driver's license back before I got loose-lipped again. But I guess he didn't care, since he said his days of being a peacemaker were over. I shook my head.
Tempest squinted at me and lowered her voice, leaning in closer after looking around the half-empty coffee shop.
"I know you like to tussle these days, but let me just ask you this without you squaring up.
What exactly did you expect when you started forcing this man to impregnate you? This is the same man you said has a restraining order out against him because he was obsessed with his momma's old-ass friend.
You thought he wouldn’t get attached to your young ass pussy, especially when you're forcing it on him and fucking him like a porn star? The same man you were having passionate, raw sex with five years ago. Mind you, you said you knew he had deeper feelings for you, which is why you didn’t answer his calls back then. You didn’t want to put a label on what y’all had," she shook her head. "I'm thinking you're not actually mad. You're enjoying all this attention. And you're enjoying fucking Noah." She shook her finger at me. "You have middle child syndrome and commitment issues," she frowned.
"Okay, Freud," I waved her off, though she wasn’t too far off from the truth.
It was messed up, but it was true.
I was enjoying being the center of attention for once.
Shifting in her seat, Tempest tried to get comfortable by switching her weight from one hip to another.
She looked like she was ready to blow, and I didn’t think she should have been out of the house, but she’d threatened me that if I didn’t drive her somewhere, she would drive herself.
She claimed to be bored in that big mansion with everything in it.
I almost called AJ, but she started giving me what she called love taps to persuade me from doing that. Tempest was one of the sweetest people I knew, but she was violent. I think that had something to do with who her daddy was. I chose to drive her to where she wanted to go instead of dealing with her heavy-handed ass pouting and playfully hitting me.
I picked up and handed her the bottle of water from which she’d been sipping.
"How does it feel?" I asked, looking down at her belly.
"Being pregnant?" I was changing the subject before she remembered the question she asked me about Noah.
I didn’t know my end game.
I just knew I was still angry and hurt, and I wanted everybody else to be. I knew I couldn't continue my maliciousness, but at the moment, it was all I had.
She took the water from my hand and took a sip before answering.
She looked really serious.
"Terrifying.
It feels like I'm walking on a tightrope, one step away from falling into the abyss, but also exhilarating, to know in just a few weeks I'll be able to hold my daughter."
I thought about what she said and the fact that I could indeed be pregnant, wondering if I would feel exhilarated too.
I knew the fear would be present.
"Tempest." The sound of her name being roared made me jump.
I brought my eyes up to Tempest in time to watch her face go as red as a Black girl's could.
Then I snapped my head in the direction of a very angry AJ stalking our way.
He didn’t seem to notice the very nervous-looking customers pulling out their phones. I wanted to run. I wanted to pick Tempest up and run with her. She was in trouble, and we both knew it. I could see the lie being created in Tempest's head, but she wasn’t quick enough to formulate it before AJ was on us. So she just sat there, looking about ready to cry.
"What are you doing away from the fucking house, Tempest?" AJ's voice boomed like thunder when he yelled.
Tempest did what I would have never thought to do; she burst out crying.
The anger fell from AJ's face immediately.
Shushing her, he bent and swooped her up in his arms.
He glared at me without a word before walking off with his very pregnant wife in his arms.
The faker had the nerve to look back at me over his shoulder and wave.
AJ was so soft on Tempest; she could get away with anything.
I wanted that.
Everybody was whispering and gawking in my direction after they'd left the coffee shop.
That was my cue to leave.
I stood and smoothed down my parents’ band T-shirt and then my red knee-length bandage skirt to make sure everything was in order before I ducked my head and headed towards the exit.
I knew I wouldn’t be hearing from Tempest for a few days.
I almost dropped my phone when I was snatched into the bathroom by the exit.
A hand was slammed over my face.
My heart was beating erratically.
I always told myself I’d be able to defend myself in a situation like this, but I just froze. Then time sped up when I realized it was just Noah. I wanted to hit him, but instead, I just glared. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
I whisper-shouted.
He kept his hand wrapped around my arm as he explained.
“I went looking for you at Tempest's place.
I didn’t find anyone home, then AJ pulled up and went apeshit when he found out you had taken his wife, who is having a high-risk pregnancy, out of the house.
He tracked her here, and I followed."
I didn’t even try to explain that Tempest had insisted.
I knew better, but we were ten minutes from four hospitals; she would have been alright."
"That doesn’t explain why you’re here or why you pulled me into the bathroom like you were about to snatch me up," I retorted.
He was wearing a white polo and blue jeans.
He pulled a pregnancy test from his pocket.
It was one of the good ones, with "Find out seven days sooner" scrawled across the box.
“You want me to take that here?”
I scoffed.
"You’re not leaving until you do..."
I reluctantly took the pregnancy test from Noah's hand, my fingers trembling.
I stepped into one of the stalls, closed the door, and locked it.
I followed the instructions on the test carefully, my mind racing, even though I doubted I was pregnant. I waited.
After what felt like an eternity, I emerged from the stall, holding the test in my hand.
The results were clear and undeniable.
My eyes met Noah's, and I could see the hope in his gaze.
I was dying.
"It's positive," I whispered.
What had I done?