Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (32 page)

I changed into
a T-shirt and pj pants, then went back out.

He was only
wearing his boxer shorts, leaving his chest bare. He seemed bulkier than I
remembered. He looked so sexy, I wanted to smack him. He was lying with his
arms behind his head and the blankets pulled up to his waist, grinning at me.

I shut off the
lights and lay down on the other side of the bed, on the very edge.

“You’re going
to fall off,” he said with a chuckle.

I ignored him,
facing the opposite direction.

“That was fun
tonight, don’t you think?” His voice was soft in the dark room.

“Uh huh.”

“Who knew
country music was so fun to dance to?”

“If you could
call what you were doing dancing,” I grumbled.

“Hey! I really
got the hang of it.”

It
was
a
lot of fun. “Did you see that old guy? He could have danced all night.”

He laughed. “He
looked about eighty, and most of the people there couldn’t keep up with him.”

I turned to lie
on my back. “So, should we introduce line dancing to the kids at our next
dance?”

“I don’t think
they’re ready for that,” he said with his voice full of laughter. We grew quiet
for a while, lost in our own thoughts.

“What are you
afraid of, Lucas?” I asked him, breaking the silence. I was tired of living in
fear. I wanted to know I wasn’t the only one that felt that way.

“You getting
hurt,” he said softly. Now that I knew he felt the same way I wondered what
else frightened him.

“No, I mean
like spiders, lions, tigers, or bears.”

He laughed.
“Nothing.”

“Everybody’s
afraid of something.”

He paused
briefly. “Nope.” His voice went up an octave.

“Come on, there
is something, isn’t there? I can tell when you’re lying. Your voice gets
higher. What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, tell
me,” I whined shaking his shoulder. His skin felt hot under my hand. He mumbled
a word, but I couldn’t hear him.

“What did you
say?”

“Cats, okay? I
hate cats.”

He was clearly
annoyed that I had pressed him. I started to laugh, I couldn’t help it. When
Emma’s cat Freckles was a kitten, he was so cute and tiny, white with orange
spots. You just had to touch him for a second, and he would purr. I couldn’t
imagine a big, strong guy like Lucas being afraid of him.

I put my hand
over my mouth to try to stop my laughter.

“Laugh all you
want, but they’re sneaky, and they stare. They could stare for hours at you
with their yellow eyes. Come on, that’s creepy.” I laughed even harder at his
explanation. He gazed up at the ceiling with his arms still crossed behind his
head, waiting for me to stop. But once I started to laugh this hard, it took
awhile before I could stop. A few minutes later, I had calmed down to a
chuckle.

“Are you
finished?” he asked. I started laughing again. He gave me an exasperated look
and continued to stare at the ceiling. My fit of laughter eventually subsided,
and we grew silent again.

“What are you
afraid of?” he asked.

“Bugs, I hate
them. I can’t stop thinking after I see one that they’re crawling all over me.”
I got shivers just thinking about it.

“You’re afraid
of an ant?” he teased.

“Afraid it will
crawl on me, yeah.”

He smiled and
lifted his hand, placing it on mine. “I’ve had so much fun with you tonight,
Sarah. I know we came here to find him, but it gave us a chance to get away
from it and relax. I’m really glad we had that chance.”

I smiled. “Me
too.” Glancing at my watch, I realized it was after one. “It’s getting late,
Lucas. I’m going to get some sleep.” I rolled over onto my side, facing away
from him.

“Good night, Sarah.”

I lay quietly,
waiting for sleep to come. When I remembered what he was afraid of, I smiled to
myself. “Meow,” I said, teasing him. I couldn’t resist.

“Shut up,” he
said dryly with a yawn, facing the other direction and not even moving. I
started to laugh all over again.

When I woke up the next morning, my
breathing was labored. Something was pressing down on me. I was still in the
same position, facing the dull gray wall of the hotel room, but when I looked
down, I saw Lucas’ arm draped over my waist. He was spooning me, leaning on my
side with all his weight. I elbowed him.

He jumped up,
sitting up in the bed. His eyes were glassy and confused. His hair, which was
already getting a little long, stood up in places it really wasn’t supposed to.
He looked adorable.

“What?”

“You were
leaning on me, and you are heavy.” I grinned at him. I couldn’t help it, he
looked so funny when he woke up, all bewildered and sleepy.

“Oh, sorry.” He
glanced around the room.

“You must have
been in a deep sleep, you seem very confused.” I laughed.

“I slept like a
rock.” He rubbed his eyes and yawned, his smooth muscles flexed as he bent his
elbows. I glanced at my watch before I started to drool. It was after nine.

“We should get
going. We still have one more stop to make,” I said, getting out of bed. I
picked up my bag and went into the bathroom.

I had a quick
shower. After drying my hair, I dressed and got ready quickly. Stuffing my
clothes back in my bag, I went out into the room.

Lucas took his
turn in the bathroom, and when he finished, he came out looking awake, with his
hair brushed in his usual style, the bed head gone. “I’m going to go check out,
I’ll meet you in the car,” he said, dropping his car keys into my hand.

I handed him my
share of the money for the room. He started to argue, but I gave him a look
that silenced him.

He didn’t take
long, and when he came back out, we took off for our next destination. The
weather was perfect for a road trip. Just like yesterday it was sunny and
warm—well, as warm as it could be in December.

We pulled into
the town, or should I say street. That’s all it seemed to be. There were a few
shops, a grocery store, a library, and an elementary school. The high school we
were looking for was on the outskirts, between two small towns. It was closed,
of course, since it was Sunday, so we tried the town library.

We approached
the door and saw that it was closed as well. Deflated, we turned around to head
back to the car and noticed a woman near the back entrance. She was leaning
into an open car trunk, lifting large boxes. Lucas ran over and took a couple
from her, carrying them into the library. I followed him in and stood in the
doorway. The smell of musty books floated out from the small building.

“Where would
you like these?” he asked, juggling two rather heavy-looking boxes.

“On the floor
beside the desk,” the librarian answered, setting her own on a messy desk top.
“Thank you,” she said after he placed the load where she instructed.

Her black hair
was pulled up in a tight bun. She was wearing a light blue blouse and a long
navy blue pencil skirt. She looked just like I pictured a librarian would look,
right down to the glasses falling down the bridge of her nose.

“You’re
welcome.” He turned to face her. “Um, I know you’re closed, but would you mind
if we had a peek at a yearbook from one of the surrounding schools? If you have
them.”

She sighed and
glanced down at her watch. “Yes, we do. And since I’ll be here anyway doing
inventory, I don’t see a problem.” I smiled and pushed off the doorframe. “Just
don’t be long,” she said sternly to both of us when she saw me approach.

We agreed and
set off on our way to search for the book. We found it in the back row, and
once again we were disappointed. I tried not to get frustrated, even though I
had been hopeful that we’d finally find him. I think Lucas knew that. He took
my hand and gave it a squeeze.

We returned the
yearbook, thanked the librarian, and headed for home.

The drive back
was quiet. I read my novel without Lucas throwing it in the back seat. He
listened to the radio. I smiled to myself as I was reading, because
occasionally I would hear him singing along to the songs. I glanced up at him
when he started banging his hand on the steering wheel in time to the music.

“What? I like
this song,” he said, turning his head in my direction.

I just smiled.
I was about to look back down at the page I was reading, when I saw a car
coming at us in our lane. “Look out!” I screamed.

Lucas whipped
the steering wheel to the right, just in time to miss the car. We went onto the
side of the road, but when Lucas tried to stop, the tires spun on the gravel.
Unfortunately, we were on the top of a very steep hill. He stomped on the
brakes to stop us from going down the grassy terrain, but it was too late. We
were already going so fast I had to hold onto the armrest. “Push on the
brakes!” I yelled.

“I’m trying,
they’re not working.” He glanced at me in horror.

“Watch out!”
About ten feet in front of us was a tree. Lucas stomped on the brakes, turning
the wheel at the same time. We started to spin in a complete circle, and then
we suddenly stopped, facing the opposite way we had come down the hill. “Holy
shit, are you okay, Sarah?”

I took a few
deep breaths before I slowly turned to him. “I’m fine, are you okay?” I asked
breathlessly.

“Yes.”

We looked out
our windows to see where we were. His car had stopped at the bottom of a very
steep hill. There was a large skid mark in the shape of a circle left by Lucas’
tires.

“How are we
going to get out of here?” I stared up the hill. There was no way anyone could
spot us way down here.

Lucas took out
his phone. “I’ll have to call a tow truck.” He started to dial. “Shit, there’s
no signal.”

I pulled my
cell out of my bag and realized the same thing, no signal. “Mine either.”

He was silent
for a moment, considering our options. “Let’s hike up to the road, and see if
we get one up there.”

We climbed out
of the car and strode up the hill. At the top we stood in the gravel, each of
us holding our phones in the air, walking around like idiots, the words “can
you hear me now” on the tip of my tongue. But it was no use, they still didn’t
work. We had been traveling on a gravel side road, so there wasn’t much traffic.
As we stood there, only one car drove by, and of course, they didn’t stop.

“Well, we
passed a town a couple miles back. Do you want to walk back there and see if
they have a tow truck, or we could use a phone there?” Lucas asked. We didn’t
have much of a choice, so we started the opposite way and headed back to the
town.

It was cold,
but luckily the sun was out, so it warmed us a bit. We both put on hats and
mittens to protect against the wind. The gravel under my shoes was bumpy and
uncomfortable, but since there was nothing that could be done, I didn’t
complain. What was the point?

We had been
quietly walking about a half an hour, and only a few cars passed, mostly going
in the opposite direction. “I think that was the guy that’s stalking you.”
Lucas spoke for the first time since we started our journey.

I had been in
my own world, trying to distract myself from the cold and the long walk ahead
of us by thinking about bare chests and empty hotel rooms. The sound of his
voice startled me. “What are you talking about?”

“The car that
drove us off of the road. It was gray, the same color as the one that almost
hit you.”

I had thought
it was just a careless driver passing another car, but now that he mentioned
it, there wasn’t one in the other lane. I didn’t answer him. I was thinking
about the driver, trying to remember if I had looked at him. I was sure I
hadn’t. At the time, I was staring at Lucas, feeling content and happy. I
should have known it wouldn’t last.

“You’re right,
we need to stay apart until we find out who is doing this,” he said, confirming
my earlier point. I knew if something else happened he’d change his mind.

I remained
silent, not interested in another conversation about my mysterious stalker, or
our miserable love life.

“Aren’t you going
to say anything?” he asked.

“I don’t feel
like talking right now.”

“Don’t worry,
Sarah, we’ll figure out who is doing this, it will be over soon.”

“I know. I’d
just rather not talk about him. We were finally enjoying ourselves and having a
worry-free weekend. I don’t want him to ruin it. If he does, then he wins.”

He paused
briefly. “You’re right. We won’t bring him up again.” He gave me a playful
shove. “So what have you been up to lately?”

I laughed
darkly. “Not much, you?”

He smiled.
“Apparently, we’re boring when we’re not together.”

“Your dad and
Logan said you’ve been working out a lot.”

“Yep,” he said,
picking up a rock and throwing it into the bushes.

“Well, at least
you’ve gotten out of bed. All I do is lie in my room and listen to music. I’ve been
driving Emma crazy.”

His eyes were
pained, but his lips turned upward slightly. “Are we going to compare who’s
more pathetic, because I’ll definitely win.”

I laughed.
“Don’t be so sure. I broke into my ex-boyfriend’s house and stole his journal.
Can you beat that?” I asked him, picking up a rock and trying to throw it as
far as he did, but failing miserably.

He stared at
me; his eyes taking on another tortured look. He quickly recovered by saying,
“I almost beat the crap out of Zack the night you came to the restaurant. The
only thing that stopped me was you. He’s lucky I haven’t seen him since.”

We had been
joking, only now his voice no longer held humor.

“You better be
kidding. If I hear that you hurt him because you were jealous, I’ll kick the
crap out of you,” I said, pointing at him. I was half teasing, trying to
lighten the mood, but mostly I was serious.

He stopped
walking and stared into my eyes intently. “I’m not kidding, but don’t worry, I
won’t touch him as long as you keep your distance.” When I started to protest,
he raised a hand to silence me. “No, I’m not telling you, I’m asking. We’re
getting along again. I can ask that, can’t I?”

I shook my head
in defeat. “Whatever, but we already figured out it can’t be him. He doesn’t
look like Ton—” He touched his finger to my lips. His face hovered inches from
mine. Heat rose up between us, and I was no longer cold. I sucked in a breath,
waiting for him to make a move.

“No, we’re not
allowed to discuss this.” He let go and started to walk again. My heart slowed
to its regular beat. “Now let’s get back to how pathetic we are, because I
forgot about the time I crashed my ex-girlfriend's recital, even though I knew
she didn’t want me there.” He gazed at me with a raised brow and lopsided grin,
his dark hair blowing in the wind. “See, I’m way more pathetic.”

I laughed,
glancing around; we were hiking along a dirt road, with trees on either side,
no sign of civilization anywhere. “Why did you come this way? We didn’t take
this road on the way up.”

“It’s a
shortcut. Your mom was so upset, I wanted to get you home earlier.”

“How did that
work out for you?” I teased.

“Not that
great,” he said, laughing.

“If it was you
know who, how would he know where we were, and what way we came?”

“Who knows?
He’s a psycho. I don’t even know if it was him. It just seemed like too big a
coincidence.” We turned around at the sound of tires on gravel.

A green SUV was
driving towards us, and it was actually slowing down. It pulled up along the
side of the road, and a woman with black hair leaned towards the passenger
window. “Do you kids need help?”

A wave of
relief washed over me. We wouldn’t be walking for the rest of the day like I
had feared.

“Yes, our car
went off the road about a mile back, and our cell phones won’t work. Do you
know of any tow truck drivers around here?” Lucas asked, leaning into her open
window, his hands buried in the pockets of his coat.

“I didn’t see a
car back there.” Her eyes flicked to the road behind us.

“We went over
that big hill, back there right before the bend in the road.”

“Are you guys
all right?” Her face took on a concerned expression.

“Yes, we just
missed the tree at the bottom. I just have no idea how to get my car back.” I
watched him as he spoke. His ears and cheeks were red. I was certain they were
frozen, just like mine.

“Well, come on,
I’ll drive you to Jake’s, it’s freezing out there. He has a tow truck, and I’m
sure he’ll be happy to pull your car out for you.” She leaned over the
passenger seat and opened the door. I climbed in the back while Lucas got into
the front seat. Thankfully, she turned the heaters to full blast, and I sat
back, enjoying the feel of my skin tingling as it thawed. We drove for a while
in silence. I was happy to be off my feet; the shoes I chose were not meant for
walking long distances.