Page 20 of Set me Free

"Yeah. Serenity Bradshaw"

Her eyes widened slightly. "Serenity… Bradshaw?"

I raised a brow. I could see it in her eyes that she was putting two and two together. "Yeah?"

Egypt’s mouth dropped open. "Nigga. You Sie B’s daughter?"

I blinked.

"Yup," I muttered.

"Holy shit. I was looking at you like, damn, she kinda favors her, but I ain’t wanna say nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well. That’s my mama."

"Bruh. Your mother is one of my favorite artists ever. Like, Period." Egypt said.

Averi nodded. "She’s a legend, for real."

I sighed, already knowing where this was going. "Yeah, yeah, she’s great. But that ain’t my life. I don’t do the whole Hollywood thing."

"Nah, I feel you," Egypt said, still staring at me like she couldn’t believe it. "But damn. That’s crazy. You don’t sound too thrilled to be her daughter though; you good?”

“That is a conversation for another day.” I replied. “Y’all wanna go get some food, I’m starving.”

Later that night, when I had made it home I kicked off my shoes at the door before heading to my bedroom so I could wash this day off of me. I was tired and hungry. After a quick shower, I found myself wondering into the living room.

"Brodie’s coming over," Arielle announced, stretching her arms over her head as she lay sprawled out on the couch.

I barely looked up from my phone. "Cool."

"And he’s bringing Creed."

That made me pause. “Oh.”

I glanced at her, trying to keep my face neutral, but Arielle smirked like she had caught something in my expression.

"Oh?" she teased. “That’s all the reaction you gon’ give?”

"What other reaction is there?" I rolled my eyes, acting like my heart hadn’t just skipped a beat.

"Girl, don’t act brand new," she said, sitting up. "I know y’all been talking. I know y’all got close over the summer. Brodie said Creed been talking his ear off about you.”

"We just friends, Ari." I fought the smile from spreading across my face. I didn’t know why I was being coy about it;didn’t even know why I was holding back my thoughts and feelings with Arielle. She was after all, my best friend and usually I told her everything. But this thing with Creed, this seemed sacred in a way, and I wanted to protect the friendship we were developing.

"Uh-huh. We’ll see."

Before I could respond, there was a call on the landline phone. Grabbing it off the receiver, I knew it could only be the front desk, no one else used this number. My stomach flipped as Arielle answered it, but I pushed it down.

“Hey… yeah, they are fine you can let them up. Thank you so much.

A few minutes later the sound of the elevator dinged, and Brodie strolled in first exuding his usual confidence, but it was Creed who stole my breath for a second the moment my eyes landed on him.

Months had passed since I’d last seen him in person, but the energy between us hadn’t changed. He walked in like he had been here before, like we hadn’t gone months without being in the same room. His light brown eyes found mine immediately, and there it was—that same pull, that same intensity, that same unspoken understanding.

"What’s up Toot," he said, smirking as he took me in. He knew I hated when he called me that. "You really out here in the city now, huh?"

I crossed my arms fighting my own smile. "I been out here. You just late."

---