27. Creed

Chapter 27

Creed

“ S o you plan on staying?” Dylan asked, lifting from the pool table after nailing his last shot.

“Staying where? Here in West Pier?” I asked.

“Yeah. This the longest you’ve been here since moving away. You staying permanently?”

The thought has been on my mind a time or two. Before, I didn’t have a reason to stay, so leaving after handling business was never an issue. But now, now I had Nakyra. We hadn’t had the conversation about what would happen once Rome woke up, and now, since he had, the conversation needed to be had sooner rather than later.

“I thought about it, but haven’t made my mind up yet.”

When Dylan missed his next shot, I walked around the table for my turn. “Things with you and Nakyra getting serious, ain’t it?”

Smirking, I lowered and aimed my pool stick. “Something like that.” I pushed the stick forward, hitting the cue ball. “Rome woke up.”

Missing the pocket by a couple inches, I shook my head and walked to the high top table where my Silver Shadow beer bottle was.

“Damn, for real? When?”

“Couple days ago.” I took a swig of the beer.

“You been to see him?”

I nodded. “Yeah me and Nakyra went the day he woke up.”

His eyes widened. “How’d that go?”

“As well as you can imagine. We were only there for a few minutes, enough time to get a look at him for real.”

“And now what?”

My brows bunched together. “What you mean?”

“I mean, c’mon, yo’ girl is still engaged to him, right? Shit with y’all was going smooth because he was outta commission, but now that he’s awake, how do you think things gon’ play out?”

“Why don’t you ask what you really want to know?” I took another sip of the beer, leveling my stare on him.

“I’m just saying, how you know she won’t stay with Rome now that he’s awake?”

Lowering the bottle, I dragged my tongue across my top teeth and poked the side of my cheek with my tongue. Nakyra had been taken off her engagement ring and hadn’t made any attempts to put it back on since. She hadn’t mentioned Rome or the wedding lately either.

“Rome and her were never gonna make it; she just found out sooner rather than later.”

“And you don’t feel guilty about being with your brother’s girl?”

“He left the door open for someone to take her. I didn’t come here with the intention of getting with Nakyra but shit just happened.” I shrugged. “My brother dropped the ball; he can’t blame anyone but himself.”

Dylan chuckled. “That’s cold blooded as hell, man, but I respect it.”

“I’m not one to step on another man’s toes, but our whole lives Rome’s taken shit for granted because my parents spoiled him. It’ll be good for him to have a reality check.”

The guilt I first felt regarding me and Nakyra had been subdued. When the truth came out, I would be prepared to deal with the blow back from it all. I could handle it, my only worry was if Nakyra could.

“I’m gonna take Camilla to Cashmere Lake for the weekend. I got us a cabin up there,” Dylan said. He approached the pool table, finally taking his turn.

“Yeah? I’m sure she’ll love that.”

“I think she thinks I’m about to propose. I told her I wanted us to go away for the weekend and she got overly excited.” His jaw clenched. “Hopefully her ass don’t murder me when she realizes that’s not the purpose of this trip.” Dylan bent over and aimed his pool stick.

He chortled. “You keep playing with that girl and she gon’ for real fuck you up.”

“I just need her ass to be patient. We got time to get married. All that shit is, is a piece of paper anyway.”

“Ay, Dylan. We picked up the packages. They’re waiting for you at the shop,” Jordan, a member of his crew, said, walking over to us.

Dylan cursed as he missed the shot then stood up straight. He dug into his pocket and checked his phone. “Shit, I didn’t realize what time it was. We’ll have to pick this game up another time.” He looked at me.

I finished my beer and nodded. “That’s cool. I need to stop by my warehouse anyway.”

Dylan looked at Jordan. “Let the guys know I’m on my way and to start on the first one. All three there??”

Jordan nodded.

I had a clue what they were talking about, but I never asked the details about what Dylan and his crew did outside of racing and him running the pool hall. He always told me the less I knew the better, so I always took his word for it.

____

When I stepped in the house later that day, I didn’t see or hear Nakyra downstairs. I grabbed a bottle of water then headed upstairs. Hearing noise from her bedroom, I approached the door, knocked, and slowly pushed it open.

Bella tapped her nose against Nakyra’s leg, gaining her attention, causing her to look up from her laptop at me.

“ Hey, ” she signed, smiling.

“Hey. Are you b-u-s-y?” When I didn’t know how to sign a specific word, I tried to spell it out.

“Busy.” Nakyra signed first, her smile growing. “ And just looking at houses.”

That piqued my interest. I walked toward the bed. This was the first time I had been in her and Rome’s bedroom. The day I came back, she was in my bed. I looked around briefly then stopped at the bed.

“ Here. Sit.” She patted the edge on the bed in front of her. “I changed the sheets.” She spoke slowly and cautiously. I knew how self-conscious she got when she spoke without having her aids in. She never could determine the loudness of her voice and it made her nervous. I never brought attention to it and always went on like we normally did.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I waited for her to reach over and grab her aids. “Okay, this is easier,” she said.

“You said you’re looking at houses?”

She nodded and turned the laptop so it was facing me. “This house is in Rome’s name. Once I end things, I’ll need somewhere to live.”

I reached out and scrolled the page of the current house she was looking at. “You thinking of buying?”

“Yeah, it’s time I stand on my own, you know? I was dumb enough to let Rome talk me into not putting my name on the mortgage all those years ago. Before then, I was staying with my parents, then at Summer’s. I never had anything that was just mine.”

I flicked my eyes to hers then lowered them back to the laptop, moving the cursor to the other tab with another house.

“Would you be up to moving out of the city since you’re moving out of here?” I asked.

“Move out of the city?” Her words were slow. “Wait… you mean to New Haven?”

I licked my lips and looked her in the eyes. “Possibly, yeah. We haven’t talked about what comes next for us.”

Nakyra’s eyes shifted and she tucked the corner of her bottom lip into her mouth. A crease formed on her forehead.

“I guess we haven’t.” She cleared her throat and adjusted her body. “I don’t want things to end between us. I know it’s fast, but this space we’re in feels good, feels safe, feels right. I want to end things with Rome, cancel the wedding, and be with you.”

My mouth split into a crooked grin. “Yeah? You sound sure about that.”

“And you’re not?” She frowned.

Amused, I moved the laptop out of the way and grabbed her hands. “That’s not what I’m saying. I just know all of this is a lot happening at once and I don’t want you to act off emotions. If we do this, then we’re doing this for real. When I’m with someone, I don’t have half-ass it, Nakyra. I jump in the pool full force without getting my toes wet first. Do you understand that? Understand that the moment we announce we’re a thing shit might get messier, and if you have any doubt about anything, tell me now so we can work it out.”

“Creed.” Her hands rotated and wrapped around mine. “I know in the beginning I was hesitant about everything, but I’m not anymore. I don’t care what anyone thinks about us being together either. You make me happy and make me feel seen for the first time in my life. There’s nothing I want more than to follow this feeling and see where it can lead.” She paused and suddenly uncertainty transformed her face. “I’m falling for you, Creed, and I hope to God you’re there to catch me in the end.”

I gripped her hands tighter. “That’s not something you have to worry about. I don’t normally believe in coincidences, baby, but I believe we were brought together for a reason, when the time was meant to happen. The circumstances surrounding us might be fucked up, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. I’m not here to let you down and make you false promises. This thing between us is just as real for me as it is for you.”

Nakyra swallowed hard and the smile returned to her face. “Then what should we do about the living situation? I love living in West Pier, but I know you moved away for a reason. I don’t know if I can handle a long distan?—”

Leaning in, I cut her off by pressing my lips against hers. She sat there frozen for a second before recuperating and opening her mouth, inviting my tongue inside.

“I moved away because I felt like there was nothing left here for me. If I had a reason to come back, then I would consider it. My home office is originally here in West Pier, and Ken, my manager in New Haven, is more than capable of running things there.”

“So you’re saying you would move back here?”

“I’d keep my house in New Haven because I would have to travel back there at times, but moving home isn’t off the table either. I kind of miss living by the water anyway.”

Her eyes beamed and her face lit up. Pulling her hands from mine, she grabbed my face and pulled it into hers.

“If you keep acting like this, you’re gonna spoil me.” Her lips brushed across mine with each word.

“What’s the harm in that? I’m just doing what should have been done from the beginning.”

The connection between me and Nakyra seemed to grow stronger each day. She was a breath of fresh air to me. After my break up, I didn’t plan on taking anyone seriously anytime soon, which was why I often kept things surface level and went to the club. We came from two different backgrounds, but our stories were similar, so maybe that was what drew me to her and made it easier for me to fall for her too.

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