Page 11 of Always There Bayou (The BR Bayou #3)

Realizations Bayou.

I sit up in bed as I stretch, letting the sun from the windows wash over me.

Even though we’d stayed up to the wee hours of the morning with my siblings and Imani’s fiancé, joking and reminiscing about our childhoods, I was surprisingly well-rested.

I think the others would be feeling it since they’d taken down a few rounds of shots.

I’m not a heavy drinker, so I stopped after one.

However, my energy was depleted along with Denny’s by the time we made it up to my old bedroom.

All we had enough energy to do was quickly take turns showering before we fell into bed together, dozing off in a matter of minutes.

I look over at Denny as they snore lightly, still knocked out.

They were sleeping on their stomach, their wild mess of curls sprawled over the pillow, thanks to their bonnet running away because of how wild they slept.

I stroked their hair as I watched them rest for a bit.

There was just something about seeing them so peaceful that made me feel at ease.

That funny feeling started to build up in my stomach again, and I quickly pulled my hand back.

My eyes traveled to their lips, and I suddenly wanted to kiss them. I sigh, shaking all of those thoughts out of my head. What the fuck was going on with me?

“Mmm,” I hear Denny groan, and my eyes are immediately back on them. They roll over, feeling the space around them, their eyes still closed. A look of stress flashed across their beautiful face. “Cory…you left me again…”

“No, I’m right here,” I say softly as I take their hand in mine. They sigh, relieved.

“Don’t leave me, Cory,” they mumble, pulling me back down onto the bed. I oblige, allowing them to wrap their arms around me. “I can’t lose you. I love you so much.”

My eyebrows shoot up as I stare down at them. Was I hearing them right? They loved me?

I gently shake them, but when the snores start up again, I realize that they are just talking in their sleep.

They’d done this before, but they never admitted to loving me.

Was I reading too much into this? There was no way that my best friend was confessing their feelings to me. It just didn’t make sense…

I think back at all the time we’d spent together in the past to see if I could pick out any moments when they hinted at it.

I mean, there have been times when they’d become extremely uninterested when I mentioned who I was dating, and they especially didn’t like Christie.

Although I always thought it was just because of how many times she’d cheated on me.

My mind was all over the place as I tried to work out how I’d been so damn oblivious all of these years.

Or was I overthinking this? They were talking in their sleep, and they also probably had a hangover from the many drinks they threw back last night.

I tried to get them to slow down, but it was almost like they were trying to drown out their feelings.

For me?

“Damn, my head hurts so fucking bad,” they suddenly say, attempting to sit up. I help them as they rub their temples. They glance at me, a weak smile appearing. “Good morning, Corduroy. How long have you been up?”

“Uh, l-like 10 minutes,” I reply, stumbling over my words as I gaze at them, and it’s almost as if I were going through some self-discovery moment. My mind was spinning as it finally clicked into place why I’d been feeling the way I have about them lately…

There was no denying that I had feelings for Denny Houston.

Strong feelings at that.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” they ask, cocking their head to the side. I almost lost it and knew that if I didn’t get up out of this bed, I might make the same mistake I made a couple of weeks ago. “Cory, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I frantically shook my head as I slid out of the bed.

My heart was beating against my chest so loudly that I was afraid they’d hear.

I slip on some pants over my boxers and then step into my slides.

“I’m…I’m gonna go down and g-get you some medicine.

Yeah, that’s what imma do. I…I’ll be right back. ”

“Okay?”

I don’t look back as I quickly exit the room, closing the door behind me.

It isn’t until I’m down the stairs that I finally get my heart to stop pounding.

My emotions were all over the place, and my anxiety was at an all-time high.

On one hand, I was scared that even if Denny did like me like that, I wouldn’t be good enough for them.

But on the other hand, my heart was doing backflips because deep down, it knew that I had feelings for them, but I’d hidden them. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?

I walk into the kitchen to find my dad reading something on his tablet as he sips his coffee.

My stepmom, whom we affectionately called Mama B, looked up from the stove and greeted me with a warm smile.

I hugged my dad, greeting him before doing the same for her.

She notices something off about me and turns the stove off, giving me her full, undivided attention.

“Cory, my baby, what’s wrong?” she asks, her soft, melodic voice calming me within seconds. “You’re shaking. Are you okay? Is Denny okay?”

“Yeah, they’re fine…I just,” I exhale, shaking my head. My dad looks up from his tablet to listen as well. “I just realized something about myself, and I’m having a hard time processing it.”

“What? Did you realize that you’ve been in love with Denny all of these years?

” I hear Cordell ask, and my head snaps in his direction as he sits at the table with our other brother, Ian.

I hadn’t even noticed they were in here.

I narrow my eyes at them as they cackle like two hyenas.

“Ooh, looks like you did! I knew it! Ian, pay up, big bro.”

“Damn, Cory. You couldn’t have made that discovery about yourself until after you left?” Ian mumbles, placing two crisp 20-dollar bills into Cordell’s outstretched hand. “You owe me $40, by the way.”

“I don’t owe yo ass shit,” I snap, agitated. “Why are y’all niggas betting on me anyway!”

“Because we know this is easy money,” Cordell shrugs, stuffing the money in his pocket. “Y’all have been sauntering around like y’all aren’t madly in love with each other for years. Who the fuck sleeps in the same bed as their bestie half naked?”

“Right? And y’all are always holding hands and all up under each other,” Ian points out.

“And Denny is definitely in love with you,” My dad adds, and I turn to look at him, my mouth agape.

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Cory, I don’t see how you haven’t picked up on that by now.

Or maybe you have but didn’t want to admit it to yourself.

You tend to run away from your feelings, you know. ”

“That’s not…true,” I say, but even I know it is. I turn to my stepmom. “Mama B, do you think so too?”

“Well, Cory, sweetheart,” she says, walking over to me.

She takes my hands in hers and squeezes them lightly.

“I’ve noticed over the years that the only person you ever let see every side of you is Denny.

They’re your comfort person, yes, but it’s much more than that, and I’m happy that you’re finally starting to realize that. ”

“Right. Now you can let go of that bitch, Crusty,” I hear Imani say as she enters the kitchen with Leo right behind her.

She greets our parents with a hug before leaning against the counter, giving me her undivided attention.

I can already tell there’s an annoyed look on my face by the way she begins to laugh.

“Cory, you can look at me like that all you want, but you know that you should’ve been let that cheating ass hoe go. ”

“Right!” Cordell and Ian cosign, and I sigh deeply.

“What is it? Judge Cory Day or something?” I snap, getting increasingly irritated with every second. “I get it, okay? I’m a dumb ass for trying to hold on to a failing relationship. I know! It’s just- never mind.”

“See, and there you go shutting us out again,” Imani groans.

I don’t say anything, causing her to shake her head.

“Cory, I don’t know why you believe that you deserve to suffer, but you don’t.

If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you.

Hell, if it weren’t for you, there’s no telling how our lives would’ve ended up. Imagine if we’d stayed with-”

“No,” I cut her off, holding my hand up to stop her. “Don’t.”

I could feel my chest tightening as memories from the past came back to the front of my mind.

I look around at my family as they stare at me in concern, but I can also feel the somberness that has fallen over the room.

My head was throbbing, and I knew that I was only a few seconds away from cracking.

I didn’t need them to see that. I needed to get out of here.

“Good morning, everyone!” I heard Denny greet sweetly, and my head quickly snapped toward the sound. They take one look at me and their smile falls. They rush over and cup my face in their hands gently. “Corduroy, what’s wrong? You look like you’re about to-”

I don’t give them a chance to finish because I step out of their grasp and take their hand in mine.

I pull them out of the kitchen and in the direction of my room.

When the door is closed behind us, I push them up against the wall and decide on a course of action.

Part of me wanted to kiss them and then make love to them.

Anything to get my mind off what was bothering me, but I hated myself as soon as I pondered it.

I couldn’t use them like that. Especially if they did have feelings for me.