Better Than Okay (4 page)

Brian chuckled. “Cornball-ish?” he repeated.

She shrugged.

“Since when don’t you like terms of endearment, Tweety Bird?” He
raised an eyebrow at her, amused.

She rolled her eyes. “‘Tweety Bird’ is a silly nickname, not a
term of endearment.”

He grinned, considering her, and she felt compelled to explain
further.

“I mean, I guess some of them are okay, but ‘boo’ and ‘babe’ and
‘sweetie’ are not cool,” she frowned.

“I seem to remember… what was that guy’s name with the big ears
that you liked in the eighth grade?”

“I never liked anyone with big ears,” she lied. She knew he was
talking about Ryan LaTroy, a guy she had a crush on in middle school. They’d
even gone to the eighth grade dance together.

He looked at her, smirking. “You know who I'm talking about, don’t
lie, you’re not good at it. What was his name?”

He looked off, thinking. “Reggie? Roland? Reynaldo?”

“Reynaldo? Seriously? It was Ryan. And his ears weren’t that big.”

He fixed a look on her and she had to laugh.

“Okay, they were a little big, but he was cute. And nice.”

He smirked again and shook his head. “I remember him calling you
‘boo’ on a very regular basis.”

She laughed and eyed him. She was kind of surprised he remembered
that. They’d gone out for all of one month. Mostly they just talked on the
phone since she wasn’t allowed to really date until she turned sixteen. He’d
come by the house a couple of times, and both Dorian and Brian had done their
best to scare him off. They were already sophomores in high school, so it
wasn’t hard for them to be intimidating.

“I was like fourteen though,” she said, sipping her lemonade,
which had just arrived. “I’m a grown woman now and cheesy nicknames are corny.”

He chuckled and met her eyes.

“So, if I said, ‘Baby, you are such a
cutie pie
, especially
when
you blush,’ you’d think I was… cornball-ish?”

His voice dropped and he studied her, his eyes dark and amused.
Her mouth was suddenly dry so she took another sip of her lemonade.

“Yes,” she said, shifting in her seat, a little unnerved.

“You’re blushing now, Destiny. So I feel like you’re lying.” He
stared at her for a long second, laughter dancing in his eyes and she squirmed
in her chair, looking away toward the paintings on the wall.

“So, what happened between you and Tamara?” she asked pointedly,
deliberately shifting the conversation to his ex-girlfriend.

She knew they’d broken up a couple of months ago, though he refused
to tell her why. She was actually kind of surprised to find out he’d even
gotten into a serious relationship. He’d never had one previously that she knew
of. She’d wondered what made Tamara so special, aside from the fact that she
was stunningly beautiful. She was almost ashamed to admit that she’d looked her
up on Facebook because she was so curious.

Brian’s eyes narrowed the way they did when he was deciding
whether or not he wanted divulge any information.
 

“It just wasn’t working,” he answered finally.

She tilted her head to the side, studying him. He’d never been
forthcoming with information about his relationship with her and it was
annoying.

“Um, obviously, or else you’d still be together,” she said
frowning slightly. “Care to elaborate?”

“Not really,” he responded, accepting his plate from the waitress
with a polite smile. Destiny waited until they were alone again before pressing
him further.

“How come you’re so secretive when it comes to her?” she asked.

“How come you’re so curious?” he tossed back. He shot her a
pointed look and took a large bite of his po’ boy.

“I was just surprised you decided to settle down in the first
place, and then it just like, ended abruptly, with no explanation.”

He eyed her, a slight grin on his face as he swallowed. “Why was
it surprising?”

 
“Because I’ve never
known you to be interested enough in anyone to actually commit,” she answered
honestly, picking up a fry and popping it into her mouth. “You and Dorian both
have a short attention span when it comes to women.”

He shrugged and nodded in casual acknowledgment. “Things change
though.”

“So, Tamara changed you?”

“I wouldn't go that far,” he said, smirking. His eyes grew
serious. “But being with her did kind of… put some things in perspective. So
maybe.”

“Then why didn’t you stay with her?” she prodded, ignoring her own
sandwich, as she studied him. “If she changed you and all of that? Why not stay
with her?”

She’d never really heard him talk about relationships or women
like this. She was still curious about what had made Tamara so special.
Honestly, she’d never thought any of the women she’d seen Brian with were good
enough for him. They were all smart and pretty, not air-headed and prissy like
Dorian’s women, but they were always missing something. That intangible thing
that she figured a guy like Brian needed.

“I didn’t say
she
changed
me,” he said, starting to sound a little annoyed. “Being with her changed my
perspective. It helped me figure out what I really wanted.”

“And what was that?” she asked quietly, her pulse increasing as
she waited for his answer. She bit her lip as she studied him.

“Who,” he corrected, his voice dropping as he met her eyes. “
Who
I wanted.”

“Then who?” she asked, blinking back her surprise at his
deliberate distinction. “Who did you want?”

He didn’t answer immediately, but the intensity of his gaze was
nearly overwhelming. He released a humorless chuckle, then grinned, nodding at
the untouched po’ boy on her plate.

“You should eat your sandwich before it gets cold.”
 

She stared at him for a long minute, slightly annoyed that he was
being so mysterious, and a little unnerved. She knew him well enough to know
that he was dodging her question and she wouldn’t be getting any answers from
him anytime soon.

“You’re annoying,” she said, furrowing her brow.

He chuckled deeply, his eyes amused with a hint of something else
that she couldn’t quite read.

“You like me anyway though,” he supplied with a half-grin.

She rolled her eyes and sighed audibly, still scowling at him and
picked up her sandwich. She bit into it and immediately closed her eyes in
ecstasy, all traces of annoyance totally forgotten.

“Good, right?” he grinned around another mouthful.

She nodded vigorously. “If I could marry this sandwich, I would.”

He laughed, stuffing another bite into his mouth.

“So,” she said, releasing a breath and changing the subject,
although she was still curious about his mysterious love life, “I talked to
Lexi about a week ago. I had to cut the conversation short though because I was
headed to do an interview. How is she?”

Brian’s little sister, Alexis, was fifteen and totally had him
wrapped around her finger. He stared at her for a second longer then smiled and
shook his head ruefully.

“Giving Clara problems.”

He said it with a slight grin so Destiny knew whatever problems he
was referring to couldn’t be that serious. Brian had moved in with his great
aunt Clara and her husband Alfred when he was fourteen after his mom
disappeared on one of her binges. Rather than let the state take them, since
neither one of their dads was in the picture, Clara had volunteered for the
job. Although Clara took them in, Brian was ten years older and had always
acted more like Lexi’s dad than her brother.
 
Destiny knew without asking that he was
going to have a really hard time leaving Phoenix.

“Does she know you’re moving yet?” she asked gingerly.

His expression shifted, the amusement leaving his eyes. He sighed
and ran a hand over his head.

“Yeah, I told her right after I took the offer.”

He fell silent, his expression stoic.

“I guess she took it hard,” Destiny said, not really even needing
to ask.

She knew Lexi well enough to know what her reaction was. She’d
babysat her every day after school all throughout high school and kept in touch
with her regularly even now. She’d be heartbroken that Brian was leaving.

“She cried… a lot,” he finally said, fixing his eyes on his
lemonade. “You know how Lex is. So emotional.”

Destiny studied him, biting her lip. As controlled as he always
was, the one thing that always got to him was Lexi’s tears. She hadn’t even
thought about the mixed emotions he had to be experiencing. Landing this job
meant he was leaving his little sister.

“She’ll be alright, Brian,” Destiny said softly, hoping her tone
was reassuring. “She’s smart. And she has Clara. She just needs time to digest
this and like, adjust.”

Brian nodded and sighed before finally glancing up at her.

“I’m not sure if this is the right thing for her, ya know? There’s
only so much that I can do, being so far away. And now she’s getting older and
she got a bunch of dumb-ass little dudes coming around. Somebody needs to be
there to keep them in check.”

He shook his head, scowling and Destiny tried to suppress her
grin. Brian was really overprotective and it was a little funny. She felt kind
of bad for Alexis.

Loud laughter suddenly rang throughout the restaurant and they
both turned to look at the group of drunken twenty-somethings that had just
entered the restaurant, whooping and hollering like it was Mardi Gras. Destiny
glanced at the Charlie Parker painting that was hanging on the wall next to
Brian then looked back at him, weighing her words.

 
“Well, I mean, she has
Clara,” she said carefully. “I know you feel like the parent. I guess you kind
of are in some ways. But you have to be able to live your life too, Brian.”

She met his eyes, trying to read his expression. She couldn’t and
she sighed.

“For real,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. She leaned
forward a little forcing him to meet her eyes. “We’ll keep tabs on her and
she’ll come visit us on all of her breaks.”

His eyes widened and he lifted an eyebrow. “Us?” he repeated with
a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes, glad that he was at least smiling.

“You know what I mean.” She waved a hand dismissively.

They both grew quiet again and Brian shifted his gaze to the
window, looking out at the foot traffic on the street. It was getting busier by
the hour. She took another bite of her sandwich, chewing in silence. One of the
main reasons she liked hanging with Brian so much was because their silences
were never uncomfortable. He didn’t expect her to entertain him and vice versa.
He returned his attention to his nearly empty plate, polishing off the last of
his sandwich. She caught herself studying his features still trying to figure
out what it was about him that had changed so much in the year since she’d last
seen him. He glanced up at her and caught her staring at him. He met her eyes,
his gaze serious.

“You cool?” she asked, a little frazzled by the intensity in his
eyes.

He grinned and nodded his head. He paused, openly studying her
face.

“I just really missed you… exclamation point.”

His tone was playful and she smiled.

“I really missed you too, Brian.”

She took a sip of her drink and waited for their check to come.

Chapter
3

Destiny stood in the bathroom looking at her freshly washed face
in the mirror. She had to be at the show in thirty minutes and needed to wash the
humidity off her skin after hanging out with Brian all afternoon.

After they’d finished eating, they’d decided to walk around a
little longer. She wanted to get some shots of the scenery before she left.
Gabe wanted to cover the festival from a different angle this year, so she was
writing a personal narrative about her first time at the festival. Because
their budget was so tight and they couldn’t afford to hire a photographer, they
were relying heavily upon her photography skills to round out the piece.

Brian’s mood was significantly lighter after their talk about his
sister in the restaurant, which made her happy. He was so serious and
responsible most of the time. It was good to see him relaxed. Hell, it was good
to
be
so relaxed. She couldn’t remember
the last time she’d had so much fun just hanging out. As usual, they’d talked
about everything, from their old friends in Phoenix, to their jobs, to her
non-existent dating life.

She hadn’t seriously dated anyone since Jamal—if you could
call that dating. She’d been infatuated with him in college. He was a senior
who enjoyed games and she was a freshman with bad judgment. He was majoring in
engineering and had offered to help tutor her in calculus, which led to many
study dates because she sucked at math. Many study dates led to many
ill-advised make-out sessions in her dorm room.