18. Nakyra
Chapter 18
Nakyra
B ella walked next to me as I moved up and down the aisles of the grocery store. Having her with me when I was out and about made it easier for me. Even with my aids it was still hard to hear when I was in a busy space. She wore her service dog vest so everyone knew not to approach her and that she was allowed. I brushed the aid on my right ear. A couple people gave me funny looks when I was out, but I had grown used to them and learned to ignore them. Unfortunately having her with me was like a big red sign telling everyone something was wrong with me.
Tonight I wanted to do something special for Creed. The past two nights he had been gone until early in the morning. I was sure he was with the girl I saw him with. When he suggested we give us a try, it’d caught me off guard. The attraction between us was clear. Rock climbing was some of the most fun I’d had in a long time. When he caught me, my whole body jolted as if it had been hit by electricity. The sound of his heartbeat against me caused my pulse to ripple in excitement. My skin tingled from his touch. When he spoke positivity into me and showed protectiveness toward me it made a knot of emotion burn in my center. He made me feel things even Rome hadn’t before. That scared me.
There was no way I could agree to go out with him knowing I was due to get married to his brother in less than six months. I couldn’t betray Rome like that. He wasn’t perfect and had his flaws, but he didn’t deserve that. Yet, Creed even suggesting it sent explosive currents racing through me. Just because I had to turn him down didn’t mean I couldn’t do something nice for him.
“Okay just a couple more things, Bella, and then we can leave.” Bella’s head tipped up at me and her tail wagged eagerly.
After we left the store I was going to meet my wedding planner, then I felt like I had to try at the hospital again. Guilt had been clawing at me and I hoped seeing Rome would ease it.
I continued moving through the store until I was finished and walked to the checkout.
Once finished we walked out of the grocery store to my car.
“What the hell!” I cried, abandoning the cart and rushing to my front passenger side wheel with Bella at my side. Kneeling, I examined the wheel. I brushed my hand over it and released a sigh, I must have run something over on my way here.
Groaning, I tried to think. I’d never gotten a replacement tire put back in my car after using it a few months back.
“Damnit,” I cursed, standing and walking back to the cart. Grabbing my purse I pulled my phone out and went to call AAA. While on the phone with them I opened the door and let Bella in the car and sat in the driver’s seat with my door closed.
“Now what?” I mumbled once I was finished.
I went to my contacts and was about to call Summer when my eyes landed on Creed’s name. My stomach stirred as my finger hovered over it. I wasn’t sure if he would answer or even be willing to come get me, but I decided to try. Twisting my lips to the side, I clicked his name and waited for the call to connect.
“Hello?” he answered after a couple rings.
I swallowed around the knot in my throat and spoke. “Creed, hey. Are you busy?”
“Nah, just leaving the gym. Wassup?”
“I’m at the grocery store and caught a flat tire. AAA is on the way, but I don’t have a spare tire, can you?—”
“Send me the address and I’m on the way.” He hung up before I could finish. Pulling the phone back I stared at it, fighting back a smile before sending him my location.
“Am I wrong, Bella?” I laid my head on the steering wheel and turned to face her.
She blinked at me before releasing a bark. “If I entertain anything with Creed, it wouldn’t be right, right?” Even though I knew she couldn’t respond I still waited as if she could.
It took about fifteen minutes for Creed to get here and another ten for AAA. They gave me the information to where they were taking my car then pulled off. Creed had loaded my groceries into his truck by the time I finished talking to the tow driver.
“I hope you don’t mind Bella.” I pulled the seat belt over me.
“Nah, she’s a good girl.” He smiled, reaching behind him and rubbing her head.
“Yeah she is.” I glanced at Bella. She was such a big baby when she was getting attention. “Thanks for coming to get me. I hope I’m not taking you from anything.”
He faced me. “You’re good. I was about to head to the house, shower, and lay down.”
“You know… now that you mention it, you are a little ripe.” It was a joke as I bunched my face up.
“Haha.” He threw his car in drive.
I giggled and folded my hands in my lap. Creed was always so laidback and in control. It never seemed like anything bothered him. I admired that about him.
“I have to meet with my wedding planner. I was gonna drop Bella off first then go, but I don’t have time now. Do you mind taking me?” I asked him.
“Just type in where I’m going.” He nodded at the screen on the dashboard.
I went to the navigation and entered the address then sat back. Neither of us spoke as he drove. The traffic was light and her office was a little over fifteen minutes away without traffic.
“Do you mind coming in with me?” I asked once we were parked in the lot in front of the building. “I just mean, I don’t know how long I’ll be, we’re finalizing everything and I’ve been doing all this alone. It’ll be nice to have someone at my side.”
He was about to answer but I started talking again. “Wait, I get if you don’t want to. It’s fine.” I went to open the door, feeling foolish. Why would Creed agree to come speak to a wedding planner with me after I turned him down?
I went to undo my seatbelt so I could get out the truck, but Creed placed his hand over mine. Goosebumps flooded my arms. “It’s fine, Nakyra, I’ll go in with you. I don’t mind.”
I lifted my head to face him. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, c’mon.”
Nodding, I undid my seatbelt and opened the door. Moving to the back door I let Bella out and grabbed her leash.
We headed into the building, Dedra’s office was on the second floor.
“Big day is getting closer, you nervous?” Creed asked as we walked up the steps.
“Kind of.” I laughed softly. “Isn’t everyone though?”
Creed shrugged. “Don’t know. Never been married before.”
“Right. Well I’m just ready for the day. It’s a lot preparing for it.”
We got to Dedra’s office and the door was already open. Her secretary was behind her desk, staring at the computer.
“Excuse me. I’m Nakyra, I have an appointment with Dedra,” I said when I stepped to the desk. She looked around the computer at me.
“One second.” She tapped her keyboard.
I looked around the gold, black, and white decorated office. I had only been here twice before now. Normally we met at other places. It was cozy, a small coffee bar with a mini fridge and a rack with snacks was by the few chairs on the wall. A coffee table with different magazines was in front of it. The room wasn’t huge, but it was comfortable and smelled like cinnamon apples.
“You can head in,” she said, staring back at the computer.
I walked around the desk and opened the door to Dedra’s office with Creed behind me.
“Nakyra, it’s good to see you again!” Dedra stood with a smile on her face.
“Bella, sit,” I commanded when I got to the desk. I grabbed her hand and shook it. “Nice to see you too.” I turned to Creed.
“This is?—”
“Cree!”
“Creed.”
She spoke as I finished my sentence. My face bunched, squishing my brows together and my lips poked out.
“You two know each other?” I bounced my eyes between the two. Creed looked just as surprised to see Dedra.
“Uh yeah… we do.” He grabbed the back of his neck. “It’s good to see you, Dee.”
My frown deepened when Dedra blushed. “You too. How do you two know each other?” She patiently looked between us.
My stomach twisted. “He’s my fiancée’s brother.”
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I didn’t like the way the air shifted in the room. It was uncomfortable and for some reason I felt like I was the third wheel, intruding on something private.
“Should we get to the meeting?” I interrupted their stare off after a while, unable to handle the way she boldly eye fucked him. I pushed back my chair and took a seat.
“Right, take a seat.” She grinned, sitting down, her eyes still locked on Creed.
I bit the inside of my cheek as she began speaking. I tried to focus on what she was saying but it was hard. Every so often her eyes would travel to Creed. He was on his phone for most of the meeting. I didn’t know if it was intentional so he could avoid the awkwardness or what.
Dedra was nice, she was good at her job, highly sought out and expensive. Typically I enjoyed meeting with her but right now I was counting the minutes until it was over.
“I just need a signature here and here and we’re all set,” Dedra said.
I signed where needed then stood so we could leave. “Come, Bella,” I called out, causing her head to pop up.
“Creed, can I talk to you for a moment?” Dedra asked, flashing a sultry grin at him. I studied Dedra, the way she was looking at Creed and saying his name was so familiar. I thought for a second, wondering how they could know each other. It took a few seconds but suddenly it felt as if I was hit in the gut as the realization came to me. Dedra was the same color as the girl I had watched Creed with. The girl had locs like Dedra too. My stomach sank.
Was she the same girl he was with that night?
Dedra didn’t even wait until I was out of the room to walk around the desk. She leaned down and whispered into Creed’s ear.
I cleared my throat. “Can I have the keys so I can go to the car?”
Creed looked back at me. He narrowed his eyes before his face went slack. “We gotta get those groceries home,” he said, speaking for the first time since we sat down.
He stood up, causing Dedra to step back. “I can take you home if you want. This was my last meeting of the day.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and crossed my arms over my chest. There was no reason for me to feel jealous. I had no claims to Creed. I had already turned him down, but I hated seeing how Dedra practically eye fucked him.
“Nah, I’ma leave with Nakyra, but I’ll hit you up later,” he told her.
My lips tucked into my mouth.
“Okay.” She stepped forward again and leaned up so her mouth was close to his ear. I couldn’t hear what she was saying but it was clear it was something that appealed to Creed.
I left the office before Creed, not wanting to see them interact anymore. It didn’t take long for Creed to follow me. We didn’t speak, and when we got to the car, he opened the door for me after I got Bella into the car.
I shouldn’t be upset. I tried to lose my attitude, but the tugging feeling in my chest refused to go away, thinking about Dedra experiencing Creed in ways I never would.
____
“I’m telling you guys he’s sleeping with her!” I complained to Summer and Camilla as we sat in my living room. Creed was again gone and I figured he would be until much later, just like he had been for the past few days.
“I’m confused on why it matters though? Didn’t you say you turned him down?” Camilla asked while texting on her phone.
“Only because it would be wrong for the two of us to get together.” My teeth sank into my bottom lip. I hadn’t been able to get the thought of Dedra and Creed out of my mind. He had come home and showered, then left shortly after. The dinner I planned to cook quickly became an afterthought. The moment he was gone I called the girls over, needing to vent.
“You like him, don’t you? More than you want to admit?” Summer asked. I gave her my full attention. She stared at me with a blank expression, waiting for me to answer.
Fumbling with my hands, I licked my lips as my heart slammed against my ribcage. “I don’t even know when it happened.” I choked out a laugh. “The more time we spent together, the more I found myself liking him. I keep telling myself it’s nothing, but today… seeing him with that girl.” My hands balled into fists. “I don’t remember ever feeling like this.”
“Creed’s a great guy. I’m not shocked you fell for him, babe,” Camilla said.
“And I know you might feel guilty about it and it may be wrong to some people, but you can’t help who the heart wants.”
Sighing, I stared down at my hands. “ So what should I do? ” I signed, looking between them.
“Be honest with him,” Summer said. “I mean you said he admitted to having feelings for you too, right?”
“But what about Rome?”
“Is it fair to Rome to have feelings for his brother and let them linger? At least this way you’ll be able to find out if they’re real or not. If you go out with him and find that you don’t have feelings like you thought, then you can move on like nothing happened.”
“I’m a lover girl when it matters,” Camilla stated. “I say do what feels right. But babe, if you were truly in love with Rome then it wouldn’t be so easy for another man to catch your attention like this.”
A lot of what the two of them were saying made sense. The past couple weeks I had been second guessing my relationship, comparing how Rome treated me to how Creed did, wondering if I could truly accept him not learning ASL with the fear that maybe one day the aids would stop working. Creed had me realizing the perfect relationship I thought I had was far from it. It was a tough pill to swallow too.
“Look… don’t do anything you don’t want to do, cousin. At the end of the day you have to live with your decision. Do whatever feels right, for you .”
“She’s right, Nakyra. Only you can make the call, chica.”
I knew they were right. I could get all the advice I wanted from them, but at the end of the day it was my life that would be affected by my choices. My biggest dilemma was whether exploring things with Creed was worth blowing up my whole life.