Page 23 of Set me Free

My mind had been made up the second I stepped foot back on campus.

This was it. This was my last year at Rutgers. My last year before I entered the draft. I had already told myself I wasn’t waiting—I was entering the league this year, no matter what.

I had to.

Because every time I talked to Nas, every time I heard the exhaustion in his voice, the way he tried to act like he was fine when I knew damn well he wasn’t, the decision only got clearer. Nate had him wrapped up in shit he had no business being in. And if I didn’t get him out now, I might never get the chance.

"You sure about this?" Brodie had asked a few weeks ago, watching me lace up my sneakers before practice.

"Yeah," I had muttered, tightening the strings.

"I mean, I know you been planning for this, but… you good?"

I had paused, flexing my fingers before exhaling.

"I don’t really got a choice, Bro."

Brodie had studied me for a second, nodding slowly.

"Then let’s get to work."

And that was exactly what I did.

I threw myself into basketball, conditioning, early morning workouts, and late-night film sessions. The season was coming fast, and if I was gonna put myself in the best position for the draft, there was no room for mistakes.

But even with everything I had going on, Serenity still managed to take up space in my mind.

Somehow, I had made a habit of spending most of my weekends in New York. At first, it was just an excuse to get out of Jersey—Brodie was always going to see Ari, and I figured, why not? But it didn’t take long for me to realize why I kept making the trip.

It was her…Serenity.

She had become my best friend. I didn’t even know how it happened, but it just felt natural. We could talk about anything and everything, laugh about dumb shit, argue over music, sit in comfortable silence. And the more time I spent with her, the more I realized that I didn’t just enjoy her company—I needed it.

The problem? I wasn’t supposed to. I knew it, hell I don’t doubt in my mind that she knew it. Everyone around us seemed to know it but we kept playing this little game; pretending that we were just friends when in actuality I was fallin for her.

"Baby, what’s going on with you?" I was sitting in my dorm, scrolling through my phone when Gianna’s voice rang through the speaker.

"What you mean?" I muttered, already knowing where this was going.

"I mean, you been actin’ different," she said, frustrated. "You always ‘busy’ now, and when you do have time, you barely talk to me."

I exhaled, running a hand down my face. "Gi, you know I’m locked in. School, basketball, all that. You been knew what it was. I got shit to do and I can’t have no distractions. We talked about it and I’m entering the draft this year. If I’mma be picked, I gotta make sure I’m having the best season I can. That means, longer practices, longer work outs, and less time for anything else."

"That’s not an excuse," she snapped. "You ain’t never been too busy for me before."

I stayed quiet.

Because she wasn’t wrong. I had been pushing her to the back burner without even realizing it. Not on purpose. But because my time—my mind—was occupied with someone else.

"You messing with somebody?" she suddenly asked, voice low.

I frowned. "What?"

"Are you sleeping with someone else, Creed?"

I exhaled, shaking my head. "Nah, Gi. I ain’t doing that."

And I wasn’t.

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