10. Nakyra
Chapter 10
Nakyra
B y the time the races were over, I had to admit this was one of the funniest nights I’d had in a long time. The atmosphere was exhilarating and unpredictable. Everyone there was lively and at one point it grew so loud I needed to turn off my aids, but still it was a good time. When Creed invited me out, I hadn’t expected him to take me to a street race. Sometimes it was hard to remember he and Rome grew up in the same house because of how different they were. It was clear Creed didn’t care what people thought of him and moved to the beat of his own drum. The way he carried himself screamed confidence and looking at him showed he came from money, but he was also down to earth and humble too.
Dylan ended up winning his race, which no one seemed shocked by. At first I thought a fight would break out between his crew and the guys they were racing but in the end everything turned out fine. Now we were at a pool hall, which I learned Dylan owned. Everyone was drinking, laughing, playing pool, and having a good time. Everyone in Dylan’s crew was welcoming when it came to Creed. Currently he was playing a game of pool while I sat in one of the booths near the table, nursing a Sex on the Beach.
“ You okay, girl ?” Camilla signed, sliding in the booth.
I nodded. “ Yes. Just taking everything in. I am not used to being around a crowd like this,” I replied.
Camilla grinned and looked around the pool hall. She reminded me of a wilder version of Summer. Not afraid to speak her mind, careful, and wild. I didn’t grow up with friends, only my cousin. I had associates from the tennis club, but those relationships didn’t go far. No one wanted to be friends with the deaf girl. A lot of times my hearing loss made people uncomfortable, so I never pushed to try and make friends. Camilla didn’t seem to mind, it was honestly nice that she spoke ASL and didn’t seem to mind it.
“ It can be a lot, but the guys are cool. We are all a big family here. You will get used to it.”
The corners of my mouth tipped upward. “ I do not have any friends. You can probably tell I am awkward, so all this is new for me.”
My eyes dropped down to my drink. I knew I probably came off socially awkward. It was a characteristic I had grown to accept.
“ Girl, you are fine! Most people call me crazy but I do not give a fuck! I do not fuck with too many women anyway. And you do have a friend, hello.”
Camilla waved her hand in front of herself and looked at me like I was crazy, causing me to laugh.
Reaching up, I turned my aids back on. It took a second to adjust to the loudness of the hall—the sound of the balls being hit and the chatter of everyone, including the music playing overhead.
“I don’t think you’re crazy, a little wild maybe.”
She smirked. “You haven’t seen me in action, chica. Just wait until Dylan pisses me off.” Both of us laughed.
“How long have you guys been together?”
She sighed and leaned back in the booth, bringing the beer bottle in her hand to her mouth. “Two long ass years.” Her head turned to where Dylan was sitting on one of the tables with a couple guys surrounding him. He was laughing and the group seemed to be in a heavy debate about something. “I love his ass, but there’s times I be tired of all the bullshit, you know?” She faced me again. “What about you? You said you’re engaged to Creed’s brother, right?”
I scraped my top teeth over my bottom lip and nodded. “How long you been together?”
“Eight years.”
Her eyes widened. “And y’all ain’t married yet?”
I choked out a laugh. “I know, it seems crazy, but Rome had been working hard to take over his family’s business so he wanted to wait until the time was right. I was never in a rush to be married so I didn’t mind waiting.”
Her brows furrowed. “I never met him before. Dylan’s mentioned that he and Creed are the opposite of each other though.”
Looking up, my eyes landed on Creed. My cheeks heated seeing he was already watching me. He lifted a brow, as if asking if I was okay, which caused a weird sensation to pass through my stomach, a small toothless grin to form on my face, and me to nod.
“They are. Rome is…” I thought about it for a second. “More serious, I guess. It’s not his fault though. His parents put a lot of pressure on him since he’s next in line to take over when his father retires. He was raised to represent himself in a certain way. Creed, however, well I don’t think he had that kind of pressure on him and was able to be more free. Since he isn’t the heir, he was able to choose his life whereas Rome had his chosen from the moment he was born.”
“Mhm.” Camilla took another sip from her beer. “Oh shit, I’m empty. I’ll be right back. You need anything?”
I picked my glass up and shook my head. “I’m good.”
“Cool, be right back.” She slid out of the booth and walked away.
Back alone, I pulled out my phone. I had been checking it every day faithfully, hoping maybe to have something from Rome’s parents. It was going on twelve at night, but I was hopeful. Whenever I texted one of them for an update, the response was short, if anything at all. When I realized there were no notifications, I got lost on social media.
“So what you think?” My head popped up and my eyes landed on Dylan. His brows scrunched and he spoke a little louder. “Wait, can you hear me?”
I blinked blankly at him. “If my aids weren’t on, you speaking louder wouldn’t make me able to hear you.”
He chuckled and ran his hand over the top of his head. “My bad. I’m new to this.” He grinned.
I waved him off and locked my phone back, laying it on the table. “And to answer your question, I did have a good time. It was exciting to say the least. Some of the most fun I’ve had in a while honestly. I have a question though.”
He leaned forward. “Wassup?”
“Isn’t it scary? I mean you guys were driving so fast and those turns.” I shook my head just thinking about it.
Again, he laughed. “Hell nah! The thrill of it all is the fun part. I’ve been driving since I was fourteen and I still feel like I’m on a new high each time I get behind the wheel.” It grew quiet between us. My focus traveled back to Creed, who was now leaning over the pool table, preparing to take a turn. “Creed’s like a brother to me,” Dylan mentioned, bringing my attention back to him.
“How did you two even become friends? No offense, but I doubt you hung in the same crowd growing up.”
Dylan chortled. “Nah, we didn’t. He actually was friends with my cousin who went to the same school as him on a scholarship. He ended up coming to a party we threw one night and a race the next night. It was the first night I was able to get behind the wheel and my older brother was racing at the time.”
“I hope you’re over here behaving.” Camilla slid into the booth next to Dylan.
He turned to her with a smirk on his face. “Always, baby.” He leaned over and kissed her.
“Mhm, tell me anything.” She grinned against his lips and pressed her lips harder into his mouth.
“Your man was actually telling me how him and Creed met.”
“Oh, you mean how he corrupted the poor little rich boy?”
“I ain’t corrupt shit; he never liked that saditty shit anyway.”
“Who never liked the saditty shit?” Glancing up I saw Creed had finally made his way over. He slid in the booth next to me, then turned his head to face me. “My bad, I didn’t expect that game to go on that long. You good?”
“I’m fine. Your friends were good company.”
He didn’t bother to look across the table at the couple and studied my face instead. “How are your ears? Your head still bothering you?”
I shook my head. “It’s not as loud here so it’s fine.”
“Still, we can head out if you want. I know you weren’t keen on coming out anyway and I don’t want you to overdo it.”
Softly, I smiled at him, appreciating the gesture. “I’m a big girl, Creed. If I was ready to go, I would say it. I’m fine.” I laid my hands on his arm. “I promise.”
His tongue swiped over his lips and he bobbed his head. “A’right. I just want to make sure. I brought you here and didn’t mean to leave you that long.” He looked across the table, finally acknowledging Camilla and Dylan.
“I’ve never seen you so worried about someone before, Creed.” Camilla grinned at him.
“This isn’t her scene and she came with me. I gotta make sure I take care of her while we’re out.”
His words made my heart stutter. I wasn’t used to someone being cautious about me and how I felt. When I went out with Rome, most of the time he was entertaining and didn’t bother to worry about whether I was comfortable or not. His friends were all boring and snobby anyway, so I didn’t care to be around them. It felt good for my feelings to be acknowledged.
“You know as long as she’s your people she’s good with us. You ain’t gotta worry,” Dylan mentioned.
We stayed at Bank Shot for another hour before calling it a night. The rest of the night Creed stayed by my side. In that hour I couldn’t stop laughing at the bickering between Camilla and Dylan. One minute they were arguing, the next they were close to humping on the other side of the booth. The two were a hoot for sure. By the end of the night I was yawning and couldn’t wait to get in my bed. Camilla made sure we exchanged numbers and the two of us agreed to meet up soon.
“Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” he asked on the way home.
My eyes fluttered open and I peeked over at him. “I did. Thank you for inviting me.” A small smile formed on my face.
“Good. That’s all I wanted. You deserve to go out and enjoy yourself sometime.”
“You ever race?”
“Me? Nah, I can watch but I’m not skilled enough to get behind the wheel.”
A yawn fell from my mouth. “Good, it seems exciting, but also looks dangerous.” My eyes closed again.
My breathing slowed and the hum of the car and music playing lowly filled the comfortable silence between us.
____
“I needed this walk, huh Bella girl?” I reached down and stroked the top of her head. Her tongue stuck out and she wagged her tail wildly. The weather was cool, but it felt good against my skin. A few times a week, in the morning, I liked to walk Bella on the trails not too far from my house. Since the accident I had been slipping on it, but today I woke up with the urge to get back to my normal routine. I always used this time to mentally prepare myself for the day. Now that fall was setting in, the weather was growing cooler, it woke me up and caused me to be more alert. I always enjoyed fall. The leaves changing and falling off the trees. The weather cooling down. Not to mention the earth tones it brought always appealed to me.
I had a meeting with my literary agent in an hour to go over the promotion schedule for my book. I also wanted to work on the comic book I had been procrastinating on as well. It was a little over a quarter done, and since I had cleared my commissioned work and children’s book, I planned on focusing on it more. For too long I let fear of stepping into a new lane stop me, but it was time to do away with it.
Music played through my aids as we continued through the trails. A few other people were out walking and jogging the trail as well. Every so often Bella would stop and sniff a pile of leaves or hear something that caught her attention. She wore a service dog vest so people normally left her alone whenever I was out with her. One good thing about having an aid dog was that she came trained and was good around people and crowds.
Once back at the house, I kicked off my walking shoes, removed my jacket, and took the vest off Bella who instantly went to the room her water bowl was in. I wanted to shower before my call with my agent.
Making my way upstairs, I was caught off guard when Creed’s door opened and we slammed into each other.
I stumbled back when he grabbed me, helping to steady me.
“Damn, my bad.”
“Oh no I—” My words trailed off as I focused on him. Slowly I scanned him, taking in his athletic physique. This was the first time I had seen him shirtless. He wore only basketball shorts. His abs were carved to perfection as if each one was chiseled. Small curls of hair dusted the lower part down to where his pelvis started. His chest was wide, arms thick and muscular. I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help comparing the differences between him and Rome. While Rome was in shape, it was clear he didn’t keep up with working out like Creed did. Lowering my gaze, it was hard to miss his third leg’s imprint between his legs.
Snatching my eyes back up, my cheeks reddened upon realizing what I was doing. Creed didn’t call me out for ogling him but the amusement that danced in his eyes couldn’t be missed.
“I thought you were still out or I would have put a shirt on. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“My dick.” My eyes bucked. “I mean… I don’t. Fuck.” I cleared my throat. “I was just heading to my room.”
Not bothering to wait for his response, I quickly moved around him and hurried to my bedroom. Shutting the door behind me, I pressed my back against it and gripped the door handle tightly. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pushed a heavy breath out and knocked my head on the door a couple of times.
“What the hell was that, Nakyra?” I muttered.
Pushing out another deep breath, I opened my eyes and jumped when a knock on the door sounded.
“I’m about to go to the gym but before then I’ma stop by the hospital.” My heart stuttered. “I know my parents been shutting you out, so I’ma go see what’s up for you.”
Scraping my bottom lip with my teeth, I slowly stepped away from the door and opened it. When I laid eyes on him, he was giving me an easy smile.
“Thank you.”
He nodded. “No need to thank me. My parents are wrong. Plus the whole reason I’m in town because of Rome, so it’s about time I went and checked on him for myself anyway. I’ll let you know what’s going on once I get there.” He turned to leave. Before I realized what I was doing, I was taking in his ripped back. His back muscles were as defined as his abs. My stomach stirred and my body grew warm.
Hurriedly, I slammed my door shut. Nothing was wrong with admiring how attractive someone was. It was human nature, so why did I feel so guilty?
Shaking the thought out of my head, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. I had half an hour before my meeting with my agent, which gave me enough time to shower and prepare.