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She pushed off the wall, and it was then I realized she was quite a bit taller than me. The heels she wore gave her an extra two inches. “How do you know Creed?” she asked, her voice a whisper, and yet I could hear the wariness in it.
Instead of answering her, which I supposed I could’ve, I threw back the question: “How doyou?” Seeing her, knowing she was here for Creed… I was anything but comfortable. I didn’t like the way she looked at me, like she was judging me, like she didn’t think I was good enough or pretty enough to be here.
She let out a soft chuckle. “Creed and I go way back. Funny thing is, he’s never mentioned you before.” She reached out, taking some of my brown hair between her fingers, a haughty smirk on her face, as if she was making fun of my hair and its color.
Even though I wanted to tell her that he never mentioned her, I found myself saying, “He’s my brother.”
Something in her shifted the very second I told her that. She pulled her hand away from my hair, blinking at me as a huge smile graced her face. She appeared delighted. “His sister? Oh, my! He never told me he had a sister.” She puckered her lips and tilted her head. “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said, “Uh, okay.” I was slow to move past her, reaching the door.
“My name is Hailee,” she said. I made sure that she couldn’t see over my shoulder to note what the code was, and within thirty seconds, I had the door open and was stepping inside. “What’s your name, honey?”
“Taylor,” I told her. I threw a look behind me at the apartment. “I don’t think Creed is here.”
“That’s okay,” she was quick to say, pushing in past me, so confident that I was stunned and just stood there, letting her swat me to the side like I was a fly, bugging her by my presence. “I’ll wait for him.”
I opened my mouth, wanting to tell her to get out, that I wasn’t comfortable with her waiting here, especially since Creed hadn’t told me about her.
Hailee must’ve noticed my apprehension, because she said, “Come sit with me, Taylor. I want to hear all about you.” She walked with a certain sway to her hips, and that sway drew all attention to her ass—which did look great in that dress, I had to admit.
She was pretty, okay? Had the perfect hair, the perfect makeup, the whole thing. I never looked that good, even when I tried to.
I didn’t want to go sit with her and talk to her, but… I guess I shouldn’t leave her alone, either. Although she kind of pushed her way past me, a not taking no for an answer sort of thing, it was my fault she was in here, and I didn’t want Creed to get mad at me for it.
Slowly, I walked toward the living room on the far side of the open space, even slower to set my bag down on the coffee table before sitting down with her. She stared at me all the while, her blue eyes lively and framed by what must’ve been fake eyelashes. She was the very definition of an Instagram model, the people who got famous on TikTok because they were so gorgeous they always had guys thirsting for them.
I’d never be like that. Who had the energy to do makeup every day? To work out so much you never had an ounce of cellulite on your body? Living itself was exhausting lately.
“So,” Hailee started, smiling at me, “you’re Creed’s sister. I have to say, he’s never talked about you before—and yet you’re here. I find that strange. How long have you been here?” She talked like she owned the place, with an authority I just didn’t have.
“I needed a place to stay,” I said. “Creed took me in last week. Before that, it’d been ten years since we saw each other.”
“How old are you, dear?”
“Nineteen.” I didn’t like that she kept calling me sweetie, dear, and honey. It was as if that was her way of talking down to me. I didn’t like it at all. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I didn’t like her very much in general. She might be gorgeous, but there was something I found off-putting about her. I didn’t like her at all.
Hailee flipped her blond hair over her shoulder in a move she’d probably taken years to master. “So young,” she said. She glanced at my bag. “I take it you’re a student?” When I nodded, she let out a single chuckle, as if the thought of me going to school amused her. “Good for you. I, myself, was never really good at school. The moment I graduated high school, I said,that’s it. No more for me.”
I didn’t say anything to that, because there was nothing to say. It wasn’t like I wanted to go to college; I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. It’s just something that was expected of me… even though it was one hell of an expensive expectation, one I’d pay for years afterward.
“I just can’t believe you’re his sister,” Hailee went on, either oblivious to the fact that I was uncomfortable or not caring in the slightest. “All the time we’ve known each other, and he’s never mentioned you. Not once.” It sounded as if she was rubbing it in my face, like she had to mark her territory or something.
Again, I couldn’t stress enough how badly I didn’t like this woman.
“Well, like I said, it’s been a while since we’ve been in each other’s lives,” I said, looking away, toward the windows. How I wished I would’ve, I don’t know, gone to the library or something. Done something that would’ve made it so when I got back, she wasn’t here.
“I’m curious,” she said. “Creed doesn’t talk much about his childhood. How was it? What was he like as a boy?” She still grinned; I could see her smile with my peripherals. She had to know how uncomfortable this was for me, and she took joy in it.
“Um. He was…” I thought back, back to the days when I had a family and not just a dad who acted like he hated me. Back to the days when I had a stepmom who was a mom to me, a stepbrother who was my everything. “He was always nice to me, protective. He was always there when I needed him.”
“Oh, that’s sweet. I never pegged him as a family man. Good to know.”
That got me to look at her again. I looked at her and wondered just what the hell she meant by that. Something in me prickled, something deep down. I didn’t like hearing that from her. I wouldn’t say I was jealous; more like on edge because I didn’t trust her. Like now it was my turn to be protective over him instead of the other way around.
Hailee was going to say more, but right then the door to the apartment opened, and I leaped to my feet, turning to watch Creed walk in. Hailee remained where she was, not bothering to get up. I stepped around the couch as Creed shut the door.
His dark eyes darted from me to the blond head he must’ve seen on the couch, and his mouth thinned into a straight line. He didn’t look happy, like you would imagine a normal guy would when his girlfriend was around. No, if anything, I’d say he looked pissed.
