Love's Destiny (Love Trilogy #2) (6 page)

“It smells great.” I said rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“You’ll have to give me some recipes Destiny.” My mom laughed. “I haven’t seen Tyler out of bed before noon on a Saturday in years!”

“Aw Mom.” I mumbled, running my hand through my tangled hair.

Destiny giggled as she set a plate on the table for me. I was still half asleep as I ate. I’d never been much of a morning person. Mom and Destiny talked quietly over coffee while I finished breakfast then I stumbled into the bathroom to shower.

When I saw my reflection in the mirror I was mortified. No wonder Destiny was giggling, I looked ridiculous. My hair was matted down on one side and sticking straight up on the other. I still had red lines across one side of my face from being pressed against the seams of the couch cushions. I had never had to worry about how I looked in the morning before. I wasn’t exactly sure why I felt the need to worry about it now, but I decided I would definitely shower before breakfast from now on.

Once I was clean and dressed and not so hideous I went back out to the living room and found Destiny waiting for me.

“So are there any good music stores around here?” she asked practically bouncing on the couch as she spoke. She was definitely a morning person, this was going to take some getting used to.

“Uh… yeah… there are a couple.” I said

“Cool, let’s go.” She jumped off the couch and grabbed my hand.

“Why?” I asked.

“You’re going to help me pick out some new CD’s.” She told me pulling me towards the door.

“Uh… okay.” I said still baffled by how anybody could be this hyper in the morning. I usually spent the first few hours of my morning staring at a television.

“Aunt Claire, we’re going out for a little while.” Destiny called into the kitchen.

“Okay, you kids have fun.” My mom called back.

I was surprised she hadn’t asked where we were going. I supposed it was just because Destiny was with me, but then again I hadn’t really tried to go anywhere lately and I wondered if she would have been just as lenient if I was going alone.

Destiny held my hand as we walked down the street. Her hand felt warm and soft in mine. I led her to a music store that was a couple blocks away and helped her pick out a few CD’s that I thought she might like, she even picked out a classical CD for me. She said I needed to expand my musical library. I laughed but humored her request even though I knew I’d never listen to it. She held my hand again as we walked back toward my apartment and I couldn’t help but notice a few guys looking at me enviously.

“Ready to go swimming?” she asked as soon as we got back to my apartment.

“Is this what you call doing nothing?” I laughed.

“Come on, you do remember how to swim don’t you?” she taunted.

“I could swim circles around you.” I challenged.

“We’ll see about that.” She laughed as she went into my room to change into her suit.

I grabbed mine and changed in the bathroom. I was ready in less than five minutes. I waited another five before knocking on the bedroom door.

“Chickening out?” I asked through the door.

“Couldn’t find my suit.” She called back “But I’ve got it now. I’ll meet you down by the pool.”

I grabbed a couple towels and headed down to the pool to wait for her. As I sat on the edge of the pool I wondered why I had never come down here before. It was a nice pool, and I used to love to swim. I used to love to do a lot of things. I guess I just stopped doing anything once we moved here. It was kind of nice to be doing something again.

“Are you ready to get beat by a girl?” I heard Destiny’s voice from behind me.

I got up and turned around to face her. All of the anxiety I had felt that night in the parking lot of the concert hall came back with full force. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Destiny stood in front of me wearing a tiny little hot pink bikini and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was beautiful. It was much easier to think of her as my childhood friend when she was wearing her baggy sweats. Right now she was a beautiful seventeen year old girl and suddenly my palms were sweating. She had stopped just a few feet away from me and she was staring at me too.

“I thought you said you were out of shape?” she asked staring at my chest.

“I said I was out of practice, not out of shape.” I said a little embarrassed.

“Those weights are doing you some good.” She said still looking me over. Now I was the one blushing.

“Last one in is a rotten egg!” She yelled as she ran past me and dove into the pool.

I waited for her to surface and then I cannon balled right next to her. When I came up she was waiting for me and grabbed my shoulders dunking my head under the water. I grabbed her by the waist and pushed my feet against the bottom of the pool propelling myself up and throwing her into the air. She came down with a huge splash. We were both laughing so hard we had to stop horsing around because we’d both swallowed a mouth full of water.

After we caught our breaths Destiny challenged me to a race. Three laps and whoever won got to sleep in my bed tonight. By the third lap I was a good body length ahead of her so I slowed down to let her win. It wouldn’t be right to make her sleep on the couch. Although I regretted throwing the race once she started getting a little cocky.

“Did the big muscle man get beat by a girl?” she teased.

I wondered if she really thought I had big muscles.

“You just got lucky.” I told her, but I didn’t tell her I let her win.

We swam for several hours sometimes racing, sometimes playing around and other times just floating on our backs looking up at the clouds. For a while it was easy to forget I was swimming with a gorgeous girl and just think of her as my friend Destiny. Until she got out of the pool.

She had a great tan that really stood out against her hot pink bikini. Her body was long and slender with sleek subtle curves. I tried to remind myself that she was supposed to be like a sister to me, but a voice in the back of my head kept reminding me that we weren’t actually related.

“I’m starving!” she said as she dried off next to the pool. I tried to stare at anything but her body.

“Me too.” I said trying to concentrate on drying myself off.

When we got upstairs Mom had sandwiches waiting for us. We ate at the kitchen table laughing and reminiscing. I was having the best time of my life.

After lunch we decided to watch a movie. I was relieved that she actually watched TV sometimes. She was wearing me out! I was also relieved that she had changed out of that very distracting swimsuit. She had on a very safe pair of sweats and a tank top. A big t-shirt would have been better, but it was still an improvement over the bikini. I was uncomfortable with the way she made me feel sometimes. I’d had crushes on pretty girls at school before, but I’d never really looked at Destiny that way. Not until now and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

I popped in a DVD and we both settled down on the couch. About 30 minutes into the movie Destiny scooted a little closer to me and rested her head against my shoulder. All of a sudden I was aware of every little move she made. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but now I was wondering what it meant.

She had admired my muscles by the pool. Did she think I was cute? Did she see me that way? Was she feeling the same way about me that I was starting to feel about her? How was I feeling about her? I didn’t pay any attention to the rest of the movie I just fumbled around with all the new questions in my head.

Just a little before the movie ended I realized Destiny had fallen asleep. Her head was still rested against my shoulder and I was able to carefully slide my arm around her shoulders without waking her up. It felt great to cuddle with her like this but not in the familiar way of childhood friends, it felt good for different reasons this time.

That’s how my dad found us when he got home from work that night. Destiny was still sleeping, and my arm was still around her. I had managed to reach the TV remote with my free hand and was flipping through the channels when he walked through the door.

“Well what’s going on here?” he asked a little too loudly.

Destiny woke up and looked around the room confused for a minute then she sat up stretching and yawning.

“Wow, I guess I fell asleep.” She said. “What time is it?”

“Almost time for dinner.” Mom said walking into the room. She must have heard my dad too.

“Claire can we talk for a minute?” My dad said motioning to the other room. My parents left the room and Destiny turned to face me.

“Sorry I fell asleep.” She said “I guess I missed the last half of the movie.”

“You didn’t miss much.” I told her “Besides after winning all those races today I’m sure you were tired.”

“I know you let me win Tyler.” She frowned at me.

“What do you mean?” I asked feigning innocence.

She just rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be right back.” I told her and headed for the bathroom. But as I passed my parent’s bedroom I could hear them talking.

“She’s good for him Charlie, I haven’t seen him smile this much in years!” my mom was saying.

“It won’t be good for him when she breaks his heart!” my dad said.

“What are you talking about? They’re just friends.”

“You didn’t see them on the couch!”

“Stop it!” My mother insisted. “Tyler is still just a boy, Destiny is too old for him. They both know that.”

I stopped listening and went to the bathroom. Did Destiny think I was just a boy? Why did that seem to matter so much all of a sudden?

I was so excited when I found out I’d earned a seat in the orchestra. This was the first step towards my ultimate goal. I was going to be a professional concert violinist. This was the perfect start. Everything was falling into place.

I also had another reason to be excited about this summer. Ever since I’d seen Tyler a month earlier I had been haunted by how sad he’d seemed. Earning a spot in the orchestra also meant that I’d be spending the summer in LA. I’d be spending the summer with Tyler and I had a plan. I was going to make him happy again. I was going to show him that it was ok to be happy, even in LA. Yes, I had a plan… and it backfired.

It was easier than I had anticipated getting Tyler out of the apartment, he was eager to go along with whatever I suggested. We swam in the pool, walked around his neighborhood, and even went to the mall. He didn’t argue, complain or resist. If I wanted to do something he was game. I was trying to show him how much there was to do. That he didn’t have to sit around in his room all the time. I was sure that he had just locked himself in his room to spite his parents at first and then maybe he just forgot how to have fun. I was going to remind him.

Of course I had violin practice three days a week, but he even helped me with that. He was my eager audience back at the apartment and even when I completely messed up a new piece he swore that it sounded perfect. He never missed a weekend performance and it was comforting to have him there in the front row every weekend. He was my good luck charm.

We were practically inseparable all summer. The only time we were apart was when I was on campus practicing. Their apartment was walking distance to the UCLA campus. Tyler would walk me to practice every day and he would always be waiting to walk me home when I was done. Sometimes I wondered if he just waited around for me all day, but I didn’t ask.

I insisted on cooking dinner every night. I figured it was the least I could do to repay their hospitality. Aunt Claire tried to refuse at first, but eventually she gave in. She said I was as hard headed as my mother and almost as good a cook. I definitely took both comparisons as a compliment.

No matter how much I insisted Tyler wouldn’t let me sleep on the couch and I felt terrible about it. He was so tall I knew he had to be uncomfortable scrunched up on the couch every night, but he didn’t complain. I actually hadn’t heard him complain about anything since I’d arrived. He seemed happy enough to me and I began to wonder if the conversation I’d overheard between A
unt Claire and my mom had just
been an example of Aunt Claire’s overprotective worried nature.  But then I remembered how Tyler had looked at my recital in San Diego, he has seemed so withdrawn. Maybe it was my presence here that was making him so happy now. Regardless of the reason I was glad to see it.

He seemed much more like my childhood friend now, even if he didn’t look like it. I still couldn’t believe how much Tyler had grown in the few years since I’d seen him last. He was actually taller than me, when he wasn’t slouching.

Tyler wasn’t much of a morning person so I spent my mornings off with Aunt Claire while he slept in. She was a kindergarten teacher and so she was out for summer break too. It was nice getting to spend time with her again. I was only 14 when they moved away from San Diego, so my memories of her were those of a child looking up to an adult. I was really enjoying getting to know her on a deeper level. We would eat breakfast together and most mornings we played cards. She would tell me stories about what my parents had been like when they were younger, and I could tell she really missed my mom. She seemed almost as lonely as Tyler at times, she just hid it better. It didn’t seem to me that the move from San Diego had been very good for any of them.