Page 12 of Always There Bayou
Besides, I wasn’t even sure if they were having the same feelings that I was having. Maybe I’d misinterpreted that look. Whatever. It didn’t matter. Even if theydidlike me like that, I knew that I wasn’t good enough for them anyway. I refused to subject them to anything less than they deserve.
“Denny…” I whisper before sighing.
“Cory, please don’t apologize again,” they tell me, but I can hear a slight somberness in their voice. “We both just got a little carried away, is all.”
“Can I still hold you?” I ask softly. They nod, and I do my best to keep a straight face. “Thank you.”
They don’t reply as they turn to face away from me, so I could wrap my arms around them once again, burying my face in their necks. I know it’s selfish of me, but the only way I could get a good sleep was if Denny was in my arms, and they knew that.
I slept well that night.
2
Settled Bayou.
Denali“Denny”Houston-December 6th, 2024
I woke up feeling frustrated as my mind instantly drifted over to the one woman who plagued my thoughts daily.
Cory Tate.
I sighed as my mind drifted over to the events of that night, a couple of weeks ago. I thought for a quick second that she was about to give me what I had longed for years. I thought for sure that she would finally pick up on the fact that I was undoubtedly head over heels for her and how my body craved the affection that she loved to waste on women who didn’t deserve it. I wanted her to keep going, but then I went and messed it up by whimpering as she hugged me and kissed my neck like I was the most precious person in the world to her.
We never brought it up again and just went back to how we were before that moment. Yeah, we still cuddled, but she didn’t tryto cross the line anymore. I won’t lie, I’d been slightly irritated and sexually frustrated for a while now; however, I did my best to tuck those feelings away when she was around. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable, especially if she didn’t like me like that.
I was bummed, thinking about the fact that no matter how much I wanted her as more than a friend…maybe Cory and I would never be.
I’ve liked her since that first day on the playground back in 6th grade when she stood up to the bullies. I fell for her even more over the years when I saw how protective she was not only of me but of her younger siblings. On the outside, she had this tough girl persona, but I got to see the soft side of Cory. I got to see the times when she laughed so hard that snot dripped from her nose. I got to see the times when she got sudden bursts of energy and danced around the apartment to her favorite pop songs. I got to see her cry when shit got too overwhelming, although she tried her best to make sure that that rarely happened.
Cory was my best friend, and I loved her with all my heart. She accepted every part of me. She helped me with my anxiety and panic attacks every time I heard loud noises. She helped me get out of the house whenever I was close to letting depression win. She was always there for me when I needed her. Hell, she even went with me to visit my dad every month. She was the best friend anyone could ever ask for…but she wasn’t 100 percent mine, and I was slowly starting to believe that she never would be.
She was currently in an on-again, off-again relationship with some chick named Christie. They’d been dating for almost two years. Well…if you could call it that. Christie did nothing but cheat, yet Cory still took her back every time, and it made me sick. Whenever they were taking a break, Cory was over at my apartment since the two lived together, and she couldn’t stand to be around her. They’d been apart for these past couple of weeks, and Cory has been at my house since.
I’ll be glad when they finally split…
I jump at the sound of my phone ringing on my nightstand. I grab it and see that it’s my sister, Delilah, calling. Well, technically, she’s my cousin, but after her parents adopted me when my dad went to jail, she was born about a year later, and we were raised as siblings. Even with the seven-year age gap, she and I were really close and even shared a love for art and tattoos.
“Morning, Den,” she greets me once I answer the phone. “I was thinking about getting some breakfast from McEaston’s before heading to the studio. Would you like anything?”
“No, I’m good,” I reply, standing to stretch my bones. “I have one more day on the juice cleanse. I’m trying to clean my body of all those toxins. I slipped a couple of weeks ago when I ate some food that Cory brought home, so I decided to start from scratch a few days ago.”
“Ugh, please make sure you bring some air freshener with you,” she groans. “Yesterday, your stinky booty ass kept expelling toxic fumes. What in the hell are in those juices?”
“Not too much on me!” I laugh, walking over to my closet to find something to wear. “I’ve been feeling so much more energized.”
“Well, you do you, boo,” she states. “But don’t think I’m gonna ignore that little tidbit about Cory bringing foodhomefor you. I know this isn’t a first, but every time it happens, I become more and more optimistic about you two finally getting together.”
I roll my eyes as I put the phone on speaker so I can search for something to wear today. She teases me when I don’t reply to her comment. This was always how things went, ever since a few years ago when she walked in on me and Cory sleeping together. No, we weren’t having sex, unfortunately for me, but we were both in our underwear, cuddled up like an old married couple.
She’d come over to spend the weekend with me so we could celebrate her 21st birthday. Since it was late at night when she planned on coming, I’d given her the code and an extra key to my apartment so she could let herself in if I was sleeping. Long story short, she did and came to my room to tell me, but was shocked as hell to find Cory and me in bed together. When Cory left the next morning, she immediately cornered me about why we were half-naked and hugged up together.
I explained that we’d been sleeping like that for years, and she damn near lost her shit, going on and on about how sheknewthat something was going on between us. It pained me to explain that we were nothing more than friends. She was confused at first, stating that we had too much chemistry not to be dating. Or at the very least, fucking. So, I admitted that I did like Cory, but unfortunately, she didn’t feel the same way.
At least I don’t think she does...
I realized a few years ago that I wasn’t her type. She usually dated social media influencers and models. The ones everyone ran behind. The ones who loved the attention of famous athletes – basically everything I wasn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t lack confidence in any capacity. I loved my curves. I loved everything about myself, from my above-average height to my beautiful brown skin to my naturally curly hair. I loved my thick thighs, my thick arms, my round tummy, my ample breasts. Everything about me was beautiful; however, I knew that, as confident as I was, it wouldn’t change the fact that Cory just wasn’t attracted to me in the same way that I was attracted to her, and that’s okay.
