Chasing Destiny (8 page)

“Wednesday. That’s where I went—back home.”

“Oh.”

He was silent for a few more minutes before he asked, “What is your favorite flower?”

“Pink lily.”

He just nodded and we both became lost in our thoughts.

We stayed parked for another fifteen minutes before we rode back to the apartment. I went to my room and he went to his for the rest of the night. Carson seemed distant and I couldn’t figure out why.

***

It had been a week and a couple days since our bike ride. Carson had gone back to his witty self, but he still kept his distance from me. I was fine with that since I was starting to develop stronger feelings for him.

I stepped out of the shower and toweled off before slipping on a pair of shorts and a tank top. It was Sunday, Valentine’s Day, and I planned on staying home and painting my toenails.

I wandered into the hallway, then the living room, and finally the kitchen, looking for something to eat. I stopped short when I glanced at the counter. A big cupcake sat next to a bouquet of pink lilies. My breath caught and my hand went to my chest. He remembered. I took the card out and read it.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Flower Girl.

Be ready for our date at 7.

-Carson

Oh my gosh, I had forgotten he was taking me out. A small giggle escaped as I looked at the vase full of lilies. I glanced down at the chocolate cupcake with coconut—another favorite of mine—covered icing. I really wanted to eat it, but it was only ten a.m.

Five minutes later, I sat on the couch watching
House Hunters
eating my cupcake. I was an adult, damn it. If I wanted to eat cupcakes for breakfast, it was my right.

Just as I finished the last crumb, my phone rang from the coffee table in front of me. I peered at the screen and saw it was Holly.

“Hey,” I answered.

“What are we doing tonight? Renting a few romantic comedies?”

“Um,” I started. “I’m actually going out. I mean—”

“On a date? With who?”

“It’s not—”

She interrupted me again. “It better not be with Adam.”

“Holly!” I shouted into the phone. “Quit interrupting and listen to me,” I huffed. She was really beginning to irritate me. “It’s not a real date. Carson is taking me out, but it’s just two friends going to dinner.”

“Right…two friends going to dinner.”

“Exactly.” I really hoped she would accept this for the truth it was. I had no idea why she was so obsessed with me dating Carson.

“What time?”

“Seven.”

“I’ll be over around five.” She disconnected the call before I could protest. I rolled my eyes and tossed my phone beside me on the cushion.

“I’m telling you I’m not upset,” I heard as the door opened, and in walked Carson and some other guy. “I’m telling you Hayes and Luke will be upset.” Carson looked down to see me sitting on the couch with barely any clothes on. He let his eyes roam over me. “Hey, flower girl.”

“Um, hey.” I grabbed a pillow and placed it in front of my chest.

“This is Kurt. Kurt, this is Kristin.”

“Nice to meet you.”

His eyes traveled very slowly down my body then back up, stopping a beat too long on the pillow. I lifted my lip in disgust. “Pleasure is all mine, sweetheart.”

“Don’t even fuckin’ think about it,” Carson stated, his voice threatening.

I pointed down the hall, and said, “I’m just, um…I’m just going to go to my room. Yeah. My room.” I stood and hot-tailed it down the hallway. I didn’t want to spend one more second with them while braless. Well, I had with Carson because we lived together, but not the other guy.

Shutting the door, I went in search of a bra and settled on a plain, comfortable white one. I’d change later before I went out, or maybe I wouldn’t, but for now, comfort won over style. Once I was completely dressed, I pulled out my Literature textbook and headphones, then lay on the bed to study.

“Hey, I’m here,” Holly said, breezing into the room without knocking.

“What?” I glanced at my phone. It was five o’clock. “Shit. I had no idea it was this late. I was studying and lost track of time.”

“Well, it’s time now. You wanna go for a goth look? I think you would look really good.” If she were any other person, I’d think she was joking.

“No, I think I’ll just go with my regular look,” I said as I stretched my arms over my head and yawned.

She scrunched up her nose as she placed her makeup bag on the bed. “What do you mean? Like your ripped up jeans and a t-shirt?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Well, at least let me do your makeup.”

“I’m fine there, too.” Holly was the type of person who could pull off any look or color. I was not. I was a very plain color person.

“Ugh! You are so frustrating!”

“Fine,” I conceded. I could always wash it off if it was too much.

“Yay,” she yelled, jumping up and down.

I pointed my finger at her. “Nothing crazy!”

“Move to the side of the bed.” I crawled to the side and sat down as she rolled my chair to sit in front of me. After she plopped down, she began digging in her bag, taking different colors and brushes out.

“I’ll start with foundation. I’ll go get yours so it’s a match.” She left, and a minute later, she was back, rubbing the makeup all over my face. Next came powder. “Okay, now close your eyes and let me work my magic.”

“You make me feel so pretty. Work your
magic
?”

“Shhh, now close them.” I huffed but complied.

What seemed like fifty coats of whatever she was using and an hour later, she finally finished. “Open.” I slowly opened my eyes. They felt ten times heavier than normal. “You look stunning! Carson is going to be over the moon when he sees you.”

“Let me see,” I said, standing. I walked to the bathroom and couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked in the mirror. I wanted to scream. Or maybe cry. Or laugh. Laughter is what won. I looked like a cat-clown. A clown with cat eyes. I looked hideous! “What the fuck?” I asked through my laughter.

“Why are you laughing? You look amazing!”

“If I were part of the circus or the paid clown at a child’s birthday party.”

“I can’t believe you don’t like it.” Her mouth pulled down into a frown and I immediately felt like shit. I hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, it looks great. I just don’t think it’s me. That’s all.”

“If you don’t like it, you can wash it off and go with your boring look.” She cracked a smile.

I pulled her in for a hug. “Only you can look fantastic in anything, Holly. The rest of us just have to look plain. Thank you, though.”

She hugged me back. “I just wanted you to look good for Mr. Hot Stuff. Make sure you got laid.”

I stepped back and shook my head. “Let it go! We are just friends!”

“Whatever you say,” she said with a smirk as she left the bathroom and sat down in the chair in my room.

I closed the door and tied my hair up into a knot. It was going to take a lot of work to get all the makeup off my face. Not wanting to make a mess, I stripped off my clothes, got into the shower, and let the warm suds rush over my body as I smiled to myself. Carson was taking me out. I knew it wasn’t a real date, but it still made me smile.

A few minutes later, I stepped out and dried off before going into my closet to find something to wear. I was not going to dress up—I didn’t want Carson to think I thought this night was something more than it was—but I didn’t want to look like a slob either.

I pulled back a couple shirts and my eyes landed on the perfect one. I knew I’d look hot in it, but casual. Hot-cas. I chuckled to myself and got ready.

Carson

After Kurt left and dropped the huge fucking bomb he was seeing Hayes and Luke’s little sister, Lacey, I went back to the gym for a while to meet a client. I was genuinely scared for Kurt’s safety.

The client was a guy in his thirties who was going out on a first date with a girl he met online. He was my worst client, but I had agreed to the training session even though it was a Sunday and technically a holiday, because he worked with Brad and Miranda begged me to.

“I don’t know, man,” he started, pulling in his eyebrows, “that looks really hard.”

I crossed my arms and leveled my gaze at him. “That’s kinda the point. You have to push yourself, but I promise I won’t ask you to do anything I don’t think you can do.” This was our conversation every fucking time I asked him to do something. I honestly had no clue why he bothered with personal training. I guess he knew he needed the push.

“Are you sure?”

I looked him up and down. “Just try it.”

“O-Okay.” He picked up the bar I had placed weights on and began doing bicep curls. “Oh gosh!”

“You’re doing great,” I muttered as I looked at my watch. I had a couple hours before I told Kristin to be ready. I had no clue if I was making a mistake by taking her out, but I had promised and we were friends. Actually, she was more like my best friend. She had unknowingly pushed herself into my brain and heart and I had no intentions of pushing her away. I could feel myself slipping when it came to my stance of her only being my friend. The truth was, I knew Kristin and she could never be a Sam. She didn’t toy with people for kicks. The shithead had done the same thing to her. The only problem was I wasn’t sure if she felt the same way toward me and I wasn’t really thrilled with the idea of being rejected. I loved our friendship and I didn’t want to mess it up.

“Am I finished yet?” the guy grunted toward me.

“Give me five more.” I counted them off for him. “You did great,” I congratulated as I took the bar from him. I placed it on its spot and removed the weights from each end.

I glanced over to see him flexing. “I can really see a difference in my biceps after that workout.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, rolling my eyes as I turned away from him. It was a lie, but I wasn’t going to be an asshole to the guy paying me.

“Thanks. See you next time.”

“Next time. I hope the date goes well.” He walked away and I strolled toward the front desk where Shannon was sitting. She had a game of solitaire open on her computer screen and looked bored as hell. The place was empty.

“Are you winning?” I asked as I sat on the stool next to her.

She turned to look at me. “Yep.” Shannon was a cute, shy girl with short red hair. She was very sweet, but wasn’t my type at all.

“Big plans for tonight?”

She shook her head sadly and turned back to the computer. “Nope. I’m here until eight and then I’m studying the rest of the night, you?”

“Just taking my roommate out.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes round. “I didn’t know you were gay. With the way you flirt with girls, I just assumed…”

“What?” I asked, seriously confused. My eyebrows dipped while I thought back to what I could have said to make her think I was gay. She stared at me, looking just as confused as I felt. “I’m not—why…? Oooh, my roommate,” I said, the realization dawning on me. “I see what you did there. I’m not gay, I live with a girl.”

Her face turned red and she glanced down at her hands. “I’m sorry, Carson. I just figured you lived with a guy. You know…”

I chuckled. “It’s okay. You didn’t offend me or anything. But,” I continued, “my roommate happens to be a very beautiful woman.”

“Well, she’s a very lucky girl.” She sounded sad.

“Eh, I don’t know about that. She does have to live with me.” We both laughed and I glanced at the clock on the wall. “I better get going. I’ll see you on campus or the next time I work.”

“Have a good night, Carson.”

“You, too,” I said, although I really had no idea how good of a night she could possibly have working and doing homework.

I drove home and walked inside the apartment. As I padded down the hallway, I could hear voices coming from Kristin’s room. “I just wanted you to look good for Mr. Hot Stuff. Make sure you got laid.” The voice sounded like Kristin’s friend Polly. I leaned closer to the door, but couldn’t hear Kristin’s reply.
Damn it!

I shook my head at myself for trying to spy on her conversation and headed for my room. I stripped out of my clothes once I reached the bathroom and jumped in the shower. I’d worked out before meeting with my client and didn’t want to smell like ass and sweat tonight.

After the shower, I dressed and went to the living room to wait on Kristin. I could still hear her loud friend, but nothing from her. I grabbed my laptop off the table and sat down on the couch, checking in on Facebook. Nothing was happening besides people talking about their plans for the night. Most made me gag. Others made me want to throat punch them. It wasn’t jealousy—it was just that sappiness was seriously stupid.

A handful of minutes went by before Kristin’s door opened and out came her weird friend with the blondest hair I’d ever seen. Then out stepped Kristin behind her, but I couldn’t really see her. Her friend had a wide smile on her face as they padded into the living room. She moved and my breath fucking caught in my throat.

Fucking gorgeous.

I had no other thoughts as I drank her in from head to toe. Her long, brown hair was curled at the ends, eyes smoky, lips pouty, and tits on full display through a sheer purple shirt. She was wearing a black tank top under it, but it was tight and perfect. The look continued down with ripped skinny jeans that showed off every single beautiful curve of her hips.
Fuck…me.

I tossed my laptop to the side and stood. “You look,” I stammered, “you look beautiful.”

Kristin cocked her head to the side and arched a brow. “Are you saying I’m normally not?”

“Wiseass.” I laughed. “You know you always look beautiful.” I walked closer to her, stopping only inches apart. Leaning in, I whispered in a low voice, “Sexy, in fact.”

She sucked in her breath as her friend yelled, “Oh my gosh!”

I didn’t look away from Kristin. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” she replied, then bit her lip.

“What?”

“Can we take the bike?”

I barked out a laugh and wrapped my finger around one of her curls. “What about your hair?”