Page 38 of Set me Free

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.

10

CREED

Isat in the terminal, elbows on my knees, phone pressed to my ear as I watched people move around me.

"So, you ready for Christmas with the fam?" I asked, adjusting the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.

Serenity sighed. "Not really. Me and my mom still ain’t really speaking like that."

I shook my head. "Baby, you need to fix that. You only get one mother."

"Creed, please don’t start."

"I’m just saying," I muttered, leaning back in the seat. "I know she ain’t the easiest person to deal with, but at the end of the day, she your mama. That shit ain’t worth it."

She was quiet for a second before exhaling sharply.

"Anyway," she said, completely ignoring what I just said causing a slight chuckle to escape my lips. "I talked to my dad about Nasseem."

I sat up immediately. "Yeah? What he say?"

"He said he’s willing to help."

I blinked, letting that sink in.

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