Chasing Destiny (3 page)

“Me, too,” I said, placing my arm around her shoulder. “Did you have fun last night at the party?”

She groaned. “I drank way too much and went to a ‘haunted house’ with Holly and some guys,” Kristin said, making air quotes.

“Was it not haunted?”

She laughed, sounding a little sardonic. “I don’t know. Maybe. But someone was living in it. The worst part was Holly puking her guts out on the sidewalk. Kinda ruined the night.”

“Oh, man.”

We both climbed inside the truck and I cranked the engine. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until we crawl in bed for a nap.” I swung my gaze toward her to check her reaction.

Eyebrows raised, her mouth parted slightly. “What?” she asked, laughing.

“I can’t wait to crawl in bed with you and nap…while we snuggle.”

“Are you serious right now? I am never crawling in bed with you. Your bed has had way too many naked girls on it.”

“Okay,” I said, “we’ll just nap on your bed.”

“Um,” she said, but didn’t object.

Yep, it was going to be nice having a female roommate.

Kristin

What the hell is that knocking noise?
I lifted my head from my pillow to look at my alarm clock. It was just after two in the morning. Then I heard the moan and knew exactly what the noise was. I had been living with Carson for two weeks and this was becoming my new normal.

I should’ve expected this, but I had a horrible migraine and decided to stay in and sleep instead of going to the party. I was guessing the party had been…fun for Carson—the girl sounded fun at least. The sad part was I knew I’d hear some shouting followed by the front door slamming in about five minutes. Same routine, different girl. I almost—
almost
—felt sorry for them. But what did they think was going to happen?

Not my problem.

My head started to throb a little and my throat felt dry. I flung the covers off and figured I'd get some Gatorade from the fridge since I was already awake.

I had just opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle when I heard, “What!” shouted from Carson’s room.

Laughing to myself, I poured the drink and listened. “You’re an asshole!” I imagined Carson lying in bed, shrugging. That was his typical attitude about most things in life.

One minute later, his door opened with a bang as it hit the wall and stomping quickly followed. The girl’s red hair was disheveled along with her clothes, but the best part was the anger radiating from her face, veins bulging. She stopped suddenly when she saw me standing at the kitchen counter. “Who the hell are you?”

“Kristin,” I replied. I knew she wasn’t asking my name, but my head was hurting and I didn’t feel like being nice. Plus, I kinda wanted to see if she would get mad enough to burst the vein popping from her forehead.

“Are you his girlfriend?” she asked.

“She is,” Carson replied as he walked down the hallway toward the living room. “She’s totally cool with us having sex in the room next to her.”

“What?” she asked, spinning around to stare at him. “You’re a bigger asshole than I thought!”

“And you’re stupider than I thought.” He pointed to the door. “There’s the exit.”

“You really date this jerk?” the girl asked, turning to look at me again. Why she didn’t just leave was beyond me.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I can’t…I can’t…” I let out a fake sob and lowered my head, trying to think of something to say and not laugh.

“Get the hell out!” Carson shouted, causing me to snap my head up. He walked toward the girl and then gently placed his arm on her back. Yanking open the door, he made sure she walked out. “And don’t come back,” he grumbled as he slammed the door.

“Why the hell did you say we were together?” I asked before gulping down the Gatorade.

“I thought that would make her leave quicker, but then she kept asking questions.” He sighed. “And you couldn’t even come up with a reason why you’d let me sleep with someone else.”

“Well, you do know that would be bizarre, right? Not a lot of reasons out there.”

“You could have told her you have herpes or something.” He grinned, then walked over to the fridge. “How’s your head?”

“It would be better if I were still asleep.” I turned around and leaned back against the counter.

“Why are you awake?” he asked as he took a swig out of the orange juice bottle.
Note to self: don’t drink any orange juice in the morning—or ever.

“Because of your loud ass,” I replied.

“Oh,” he said, his lips twitching upward. “Sorry about that.”

I pushed myself off the counter. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Want someone to snuggle with?”

“Gross. You haven’t showered!” I shook my head and walked back to my room. If I didn’t love him so much, I’d strangle him sometimes. I crawled in bed, and a few minutes later, I heard the shower turn on in Carson’s bathroom. At least he was going to wash her off before going to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, the bed dipped and I was pulled against a warm body, which had become our normal more often than not. Damn, I wish he weren’t so comfortable.

***

The next morning, I crawled out from under Carson’s warm body and made my way to the shower. My head still felt hollow from the migraine the night before, but I felt better. Once the water was warm, I climbed inside and let it cascade over my body.

My mind began to think of all the things I needed to tick off my list since it was Saturday and I’d actually have some free time. My car needed an oil change, I needed to stop by the library and check out a book for a paper I was writing, I needed…my thoughts drifted as the shower curtain moved from the other side, and I heard, “Hey!”

“Carson Janson! What the hell?” I grabbed the curtain and forced it back toward the wall, covering my body while keeping my face visible.

“What? I needed to talk to you, Kristin Wright.” He shrugged, but he had the biggest grin on his face.

“I’m naked! I’m showering! I’m busy, you asshole!”

He shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said as his eyes traveled down my curtain-covered body. I was pretty sure he could still make out my outline though, given the fact he was biting his lip and adjusted the way he was standing. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’d seen my lucky shirt?”

“Your lucky shirt?” I asked as I closed the curtain completely. He was
lucky
I wasn't wrapping my hands around his neck and placing him under the spray of water until he drowned. Okay, maybe that would be a little harsh and I was naked, but seriously, the audacity of this man. “I don’t know which one is your lucky shirt.”

“The gray one that says
Sooners
on the front. Big hole in the armpit.”

“Nope,” I said, grabbing the shampoo bottle. “I still have no clue.” Had he really come in here to ask me that? Yes, he had. This was Carson, after all.

“Great. Just fuckin’ great,” he muttered before I heard the door close.

I cleared my head and continued with my shower. Once the water turned cold, I stepped out and dried myself off. I slipped on some clean clothes—jeans with a few holes and a Kenny Chesney t-shirt—put on some mascara, then went back into my bedroom, leaving my hair to air dry.

I wasn’t sure why, because I didn’t really care, but I yelled out, “Did you find it?”

“Yeah,” Carson mumbled back.

“Why do you need that shirt so badly?” I asked as I gathered up my money and shoved it in my purse.

“Hayes and I are playing a game of basketball against Ryder and Mark.” I glanced up to see Carson leaning against my doorframe and my mouth went dry. Oh…holy shit. He looked good—no, he looked sexy. His brown hair was a mess, like usual, his scruff had somehow gotten sexier in the last twenty minutes, and his “lucky” shirt was hugging his muscles in a way that put them on full display and accentuated his beautiful sleeve. His tattooed legs were peeking out of a pair of athletic shorts hanging low on his hips.

“You gettin’ a good look? Need me to turn around?”

His asshole voice shocked me out of checking him out. “No!”

“Sure about that?” he questioned with a smirk on his face, highlighting his dimple.

“I’m…” I cleared my throat, “positive. I was just thinking how cold it’s going to be playing basketball outside in the middle of January.” That was a lie, but I’d never admit to checking him out.

“If it makes you feel any better, I check your ass out all the time. Your tits, too.”

“Carson!” I shouted. “Get the hell out of here!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be back later.” He turned and walked away.

“Wait,” I called after him, “did you need something?”

“Nope. I was just hoping you were still naked.” And with that little statement, the front door opened and closed.

How in the hell had Carson, of all people, become my roommate? And why in the hell am I smiling like a loon?

After finishing all my errands, I was tired. I pulled into a space at my apartment complex and put the car in park. My cell phone beeped and I dug it out of my purse.

Adam: Are you busy?

Shit! I wanted to pull my hair out. I really wasn’t in the mood for Adam. Even though we said we would still be friends and I did care about him, I didn’t feel like dealing with him.

Me: What do you want?

He answered back within a couple seconds.

Adam: We need to talk. Can we meet somewhere?

I groaned audibly in the confines of my car. I didn’t really want to, but I knew Adam and he wouldn’t give up.

Me: Sure. When and where?

Adam: Just come to my place in an hour.

Me: Okay.

I tossed my phone back in my purse and let my forehead fall onto the steering wheel. I had no clue what Adam wanted, but I guess I was about to find out.

***

I arrived at Adam’s place two hours later. He told me an hour, so I took longer just to tick him off. I rang the doorbell and the door swung open. Adam stood on the other side with a pair of tight jeans and a white t-shirt, both spattered with dried paint, his blond hair hanging in front of his eyes.

“Hey,” he said as he swiped a hand through his hair. “I’m glad you came.”

I rolled my eyes and walked past him. “Well, you wouldn’t stop calling and texting so I decided to see what the hell you want.”

“Kristin…” he started as he closed the door and followed me to the couch. Once we both sat down, he continued. “I thought we were still going to be friends?”

I pursed my lips and sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m in the mood today.”

“Think about our history,” he stated, turning to face me. “I miss you.”

Shaking my head at myself, I gave in. “I guess.”

“Thanks. I thought we could watch some Netflix and catch up.”

I placed my feet on the coffee table and nodded. “That sounds good. How was your last show?”

He shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I really don’t want to talk about that right now.”

“Why not?”

“I just want to talk about you. It’s been a while, and like I said, I’ve missed you.”

Something was off. Adam loved talking about two things more than anything: himself and his paintings. I decided not to call him out, though. “I haven’t been up to much.” I picked at a rip in my jeans, and added, “I did change my major.”

“What?” he almost yelled. “Why would you do that? You love flowers and all that shit.”

And all that shit.
“That’s exactly why. I don’t want to start hating the one thing in life I love.”

“Ouch. You used to love me.” Before I could comment on that statement, he pushed up from the couch. “I’m thirsty. You want something?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

After a few minutes, Adam came back into the room carrying two cans of Dr Pepper. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking a can from him. “Are you low on glasses?”

His eyebrows drew in as he sat down. “No. Why?”

“I was just asking.”

“Oh, did you want a glass?” He stood back up. “I’ll go get you one, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I replied, but he kept going into the kitchen. It was super weird for Adam to act this nice.

“Here you go,” he said as he handed me the glass.

“I was really fine without one. I was just being a smartass.” I poured the drink into the glass. Thankfully, the can had been in the fridge and it was cold. “But thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Anything you want to watch on Netflix?”

“Whatever is fine,” I replied before taking a sip of the Dr Pepper.

The rest of the night was spent watching several episodes of
Lost
we had both seen multiple times before. We both laughed as we retold past experiences in between episodes, and by the end of the night, I was glad I had gone over to his place. Maybe we could be friends.

Carson

I bent over to catch my breath after Hayes and I won the second game in a row against Ryder and Mark. It hadn’t been the easiest, but definitely hadn’t been the hardest two basketball games of my life either.

“So, um…what are you doing for spring break? Specifically, the first Saturday,” Hayes asked as he walked up beside me.

I stood up straight. “I have no idea. That’s a few weeks away.” I usually lived day to day. Sometimes day to tomorrow if I was really trying to be on top of things.

We both started walking toward our water bottles as he stared at the floor. “How about you pencil in being my best man.”

I grabbed the bottle and guzzled some water before replying. “Didn’t I already do that back in December?”

“Yeah,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “but I promised Mac a real wedding and something has come up. We don’t want to wait much longer.”

“What the hell came up?” I swear, if he ran his hand through his hair one more time, I was going to throat punch him. He needed to stop acting so weird.

“Well, um…” his lips spread into a wide grin, “Mac’s pregnant.”

“What?” I shouted, then looked around to make sure I hadn’t caused a scene. “Don’t you know how to wrap it up? Two fucking kids!”

“Yes, I know how to wrap it up. I just didn’t want to!” He sighed. “Look, will you be my best man or not? Mac doesn’t want to wait much longer. She wants to do it before she starts showing.”