Page 129 of Set me Free

He held up his badge slightly so I could see it. “Dr. Carter, Iman Carter.”

I felt my stomach tighten. I’d never met him before, but I didn’t need to. I’d heard enough about him.His name used to come up all the time when Serenity and I were just friends, back when she was still with him.

I kept my face blank, just listening, but internally my mind was racing.

"She’s doing well," Iman continued, glancing at his chart. "The break is clean, no fractures outside of the initial injury. We’ve set her arm, and she’ll be in a cast for the next six to eight weeks. She should heal just fine with minimal complications."

Serenity sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Iman nodded before finally looking at me. "Nice to meet you man. Sorry it’s under these circumstances."

I nodded once, not offering my hand, not offering much of anything. "Yeah. Thanks for taking care ofourdaughter."

His lips pressed into a tight smile. "Of course." With that, he excused himself, leaving Serenity and me standing in tense silence. As soon as the door clicked shut, I turned to her.

"You gotta be kidding me," I muttered.

Serenity sighed. "Creed?—"

"You telling me out of all the doctors in this city, our kid just happened to get treated by your ex?"

She frowned. "I didn’t know he worked here. You think I planned this?"

I dragged a hand over my head. "I don’t know what the hell to think."

Her expression softened. "Creed, don’t do this. Not now. Not here."

She was right. I needed to focus on Cree.

I swallowed my petty ass thoughts and nodded. "Yeah aight. Let’s just get through tonight."

She exhaled in relief. "Thank you."

For the rest of the night, we stayed by Cree’s side, both of us silent, but my mind? It was loud as hell.

A few nights later I came back from the gym, heading straight to the kitchen to grab a water bottle. I heard Serenity before I even saw her. She was standing at the counter, her back to me, holding her phone to her ear. Her voice was soft, almost playful in a way that made my skin itch.

"You’re ridiculous," she laughed lightly. "You always were, though."

I froze in place, brows furrowing.

Then she said, "Okay, fine. One date. Just to catch up."

My grip tightened around the water bottle. No. The hell. She didn’t.

I took a slow step forward, making my presence known. She glanced over her shoulder, her smile fading slightly when she saw me. "Alright, I’ll text you later. Bye, Iman." I watched as she hung up, placing her phone face down on the counter before taking a sip from the glass of wine in front of her.

I folded my arms, leaning against the fridge. "So that’s what we doing?"

Serenity sighed, turning to face me fully. "Creed, please."

"You really about to double back to that nigga?"

"Why do you care?"

I stared at her, my jaw clenching. Why did I care? Because it was Iman. Because it was her. Because I was still too deep in whatever this was between us.

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. "Whatever. Do what you want."

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