Page 14

That was the only way for me to describe what Creed and I were being.

Ever since our conversation, we had spent time together, as friends, but damn, knowing he felt the same way about me as I feel about him; it was hard not to jump on him.

I felt my eyes often roaming his body, lingering the most on his lips.

Just one kiss, that was all I needed to hold myself over.

Yeah… it was hard.

“Alright, prep done… I’m going to find my man.” Ari announced walking out of the kitchen.

“We’re going to explore. Where should we start?” Averi asked.

“Um, maybe outside. The grounds are massive, but if you ask Juliette she can get you one of the golf carts. Y’all can go visit the stables.”

“Stables? Y’all got animals?”

“Horses.” I replied. “Come on…” I walked with them back towards the foyer. As we made our way there, my phone buzzed.

Creed: Where you at?

Me: Foyer

Just as I hit send and we made it to the foyer, Creed, Donovan and Trenton were walking down the stairs.

“Yo Serenity, this shit is wild.” Donovan said the moment he made it to the bottom of the steps. “Thank you for inviting us.”

“Of course.” I replied, as we all greeted each other. When Creed approached me, I felt like the world stopped.

“What’s up Beautiful?” he opened his arms and I walked into them, wrapping my arms around him.

“What y’all was about to get into?” Trent asked.

“Averi and Egypt were about to go see the horses.”

“Horses?” Trent and Donovan said before looking at each other.

“Yeah, let me call Juliette and let her know to get one of the golf carts ready. I know it’s cold, y’all might want to go get coats.” Reluctantly, I removed myself from Creed’s embrace going over to the intercom near the front door.

“Yes.” Juliette answered.

“Hey, can we get Gene to bring a golf cart and take some people to view the grounds and see the horses?”

“Of course.” She replied. “Also, the food should be here within an hour. Should I set up in the theater?”

“Yes, thank you.” I ended the intercom and turned back towards my friends, all of which were looking at me crazy. “If y’all tryna go, y’all better go get y’all coats.”

I laughed when they all rushed towards the steps. Shaking my head, I turned back towards Creed whose eyes hadn’t seemed to leave me.

“Give me a tour?” he asked, smirking. I smiled at him, admiring how fucking good he looked in an effortless kind of way. His hair was freshly cut, sporting black joggers, a white t-shirt and black and white retro Jordan 12s.

I grabbed his hand, pulling him along. “Come on.”

Hand in hand, I led Creed through the halls of the home, our footsteps echoing off the walls with each step we walked on the polished floors.

I pointed out the formal dining room where my family had, had many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, the great room where my grandparents hosted parties and where my Poppi, daddy and Uncle Leo hosted business associates, and my favorite—the conservatory—where my grandmother, Ari and I would sip tea in the morning watching the sun come up over the estate.

Everywhere we went, the subtle scent of nutmeg and even a hint of crisp apple filled the air, and I couldn’t help but smile.

"She really went all out," I mused running my fingers over a garland wrapped around the staircase.

"Your grandma?" Creed asked, watching me.

I nodded. "She knew we were coming. The decorations, the smell, the way everything is set up? This is her way of making sure it feels like home."

Creed’s fingers squeezed mine gently. "It worked."

I turned to him, eyes softening, but before I could say anything, we reached the theater room—one of my favorite rooms on the estate. Often times our family would gather in here watching Christmas movies.

Creed walked ahead of me, taking in the rows of luxurious leather seats and the massive projector screen. "Okay, now this is dope." he admitted, dropping into one of the plush chairs.

I chuckled, walking toward him, but before I could reach the next row, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me down onto his lap .

A gasp of surprise left my lips, but I didn’t fight him. Instead, I relaxed into him, my arms looping around his neck. His hand rested on my thigh, thumb tracing lazy circles against the exposed skin on my distressed jeans. “How was practice?”

“Shit, it was practice.” He chuckled. “We still got some work to do. I got an axe to grind after we didn’t make it to the third round last year at the tournament. Not only do we gotta get there, but I’m tryna take it all the way this year before I announce I’m entering the draft.”

“So, that’s a done deal? You’re going to enter?”

I worried about him, making this decision. I knew why he was doing it, but also I wanted him to finish his education. To me, there was nothing sexier than an educated black man. And Creed, he was smart as hell. Instead of picking something easy he was majoring in Engineering of all things.

When he first told me, I thought it was a joke but it wasn’t. The more I got to know him, the more I realized he was one of the smartest people I knew. Honestly, if basketball didn’t work out for him, he had a bright future regardless.

“Yeah. I spoke to Nas again before I came here and I don’t know it just sounds like he’s into some shit he don’t need to be in. He keep saying shit about not having no other way out, but he trippin. Nasseem is talented as fuck in the ring.”

“In the ring? He’s a fighter?”

“Yeah. He been boxing since middle school. He’s done some amateur fights locally, hasn’t lost a fight yet. Once I make it, I’m gon have the means to get him the training he needs, the attention he needs.”

I listened to the words he was saying, having a ready solution but not knowing if he would be willing to accept my help.

“You know my dad used to fight?”

His eyebrow raised “Don’t he run a company?”

“Yeah, he runs BLG but he didn’t always run it.

” I explained. “When he first met my mom, he was fighting and he’s pretty good.

But when 9/11 happened and my grandpa lost some people in tower one, the company was a mess, so my daddy ended up going to help my grandpa get everything back on track.

He has a lot of connections in that world, though Creed, I can ask him if he could maybe help with Nasseem. ”

“You don’t gotta do that.”

“Honestly, it’s nothing. It won’t hurt to ask, the worst he can say is no; but I’m a daddy’s girl and that man cannot say no to me.”

“Fuck Serenity, I just—you’re fuckin’ amazing do you know that?”

“Don’t start singing my praises now, gotta get the yes from Lenox Bradshaw first.”

“Still.” He smiled, maintaining strong eye contact with me. “I want to kiss you so bad.”

I swallowed, my breath catching as he lifted a hand to my chin, tilting my face up slightly. I should’ve pulled away. Should’ve said something, done something to stop what was about to happen.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Because at that moment, nothing else mattered.

Not the fact that we were supposed to be just friends.

Not the fact that he was still technically with someone else.

Not the fact that we had promised not to cross this line until things had ended between him and Gianna. None of that mattered.

Because when Creed kissed me, everything else disappeared. The second his lips brushed against mine, it was over.

A slow, explosive kind of heat unraveled inside me, spreading through every inch of my body as I melted into him.

I straddled his lap, letting low moans escape my lips as his hands found their way under my shirt, brushing my skin.

I needed him, craved him and I hated it; hated that he did this to my body without provocation.

His hands found my waist, and I could feel the way his body tensed, like he had been waiting for this just as much as I had.I grabbed the front of his sweatshirt, fingers gripping the fabric as I kissed him back with just as much urgency.

Months of built-up tension, months of late-night conversations, months of pretending we weren’t feeling what we were feeling—It all came crashing down in that moment.

“Oh, sorry.” A voice said from behind us causing our embrace to end.

I groaned seeing the staff coming in to set up for our movie night. Unraveling myself from Creed and standing up I smiled in their direction.

“No worries, we’ll get out the way.”

“I might need a minute.” Creed grabbed a pillow from one of the other seats and the loudest laugh escaped my lips.