Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) (11 page)

I started to
laugh, but a quick terrified look from Lucas silenced me.

The man glanced
down at the red-sauce-soaked chicken ball and then at Lucas. His black boot now
had a spot of red on the edge. The man smiled and went back to his meal.

Lucas breathed
a sigh of relief.

I started to
giggle again; this time he joined me. “I guess it’s time to use this,” he said,
picking up his fork.

When we
finished our food, Lucas asked our waitress for the bill.

Later that evening, we were immersed in a
cutthroat game of Rock and Roll Wannabes. My dad and Lucas each played the
guitar. I played the drums, and my mom sang. Alex was out with his friends, so
thank God no one was around to witness me and my boyfriend hanging out with my
parents. Lucas was usually in the lead, which led me to believe he had played
many times before. It was weird; we actually had a lot of fun. My dad and Lucas
laughed at my mom’s singing and my lack of drumming abilities, while we teased
them about having nothing better to do than play video games. After about an
hour, though, I had enough.

“Well, that’s
it for me. Luke, do you want to come upstairs and watch a movie?” He and my dad
looked heartbroken. “Or I could leave you here to play while I go up and watch
one.”

Lucas smiled,
pulling the strap over his head and placing the guitar against the wall. “No,
I’ll come with you.” He turned to my dad. “That was fun, Mr. Samson. Next time
I’ll bring over my car games, and we can race.”

My dad smiled.
“Call me Jim, and you’re on.”

Holding hands,
Lucas and I headed for the stairs.

“Sarah, I’m not
sure it’s a good idea for the two of you to be in your room alone,” my dad
said, anxiety clear in his voice.

I turned my
head slightly. “Give me a break, Dad.”

He continued to
mutter complaints as we headed the rest of the way up the stairs. As I entered
my room, I could have sworn I heard my mother’s laughter.

“Are you sure you should shut the door,
after what your dad just said?” Lucas asked, once we were inside my room.

I smiled at
him. “If he has a problem with it, he can open it.”

I took a few
movies out of my collection and placed them in front of him to pick one. He
chose one of my favorites, a thriller about a teenager who finds out his
neighbor is a killer. I put it in, and we sat down on the small couch in the
corner of my room.

“Hey, how about
some popcorn or chips?” I asked him.

He thought
about it. “You probably get sick of popcorn at work, so how about some chips?”

“Good call.
I’ll be back in a minute.” I stood up and headed downstairs.

I had just
taken the last step onto the carpet when I heard, “Sarah, I like him very much,
but if he tries to push you into something you're not ready for, I will throw
him out on his ass!” My dad gestured wildly in the direction of my bedroom. He
was pacing at the bottom of the stairs.

I glanced at
him, then at my mother to explain.

She was sitting
on the couch facing him. She laughed. “He’s been pacing ever since you went
upstairs and we heard your door shut.”

I tried to
stifle my laughter. “Dad, relax, we’re just watching a movie. I shut the door
because I didn’t want to feel like you were listening at the bottom of the
stairs.” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to deny it.

His lips
pressed firmly together, and then he sighed deeply. “Fine, maybe I’m
overreacting. I’ll sit in the living room with your mother.” He raised his arms
in defeat and did what he said he would, taking the far side of the couch that just
happened to have a perfect view of the staircase. He glanced up the steps, and
then at me, showing me that he’d be watching.

I rolled my
eyes at him and strolled into the kitchen, taking out some chips from the
pantry and a couple of sodas from the fridge.

My mom came in
as I was leaving. “You two are cute together, honey,” she said, smiling. “But
I’ve got to say, I’m having a blast watching your father have a panic attack.”
She opened the coffee pot and started scooping coffee into the filter. The strong
smell of coffee filled the kitchen.

“Why aren’t you
worried like he is?”

“I trust you
both, and I know Lucas better than your dad does. Don’t worry, he’ll get used
to it.” She poured water into the machine, turned on the coffee pot, and set it
for morning.

I smiled at
her. She was happy for me, and that made me feel good. I kissed her on the
cheek. “Thank you for trusting me,” I said before heading up the stairs.

On the top
step, I stopped to listen to my parents argue quietly about letting me and Lucas
stay in my room. I laughed softly. I had never seen this side of my dad. The
closest he’d come to being so protective would have to be when he took the
training wheels off my bike. I could still remember his panicked expression
when I told him to let go of the bike after he’d run alongside me longer than
necessary.

“I’m okay,
Daddy,” I’d said, feeling close to freedom, and yet he wouldn’t let go.

“Are you sure?”
he’d asked, his eyes pained.

“Yes, let go.”

“But I don’t
want to,” he’d said.

Now thinking
back, I realized he wasn’t ready for me to grow up and be independent of him.
He had the same panicked expression when he was pacing downstairs. He was
afraid of losing me.

I fumbled with
my doorknob, afraid to drop one of the sodas. The door flew open, and Lucas
took the drinks out of my hand. “Thank you,” I said, shutting the door behind
me.

I dropped the
chips on the coffee table, and we settled on the couch to watch the movie. He
put his hand on my leg and softly rubbed; it felt nice.

“My dad said if
you try anything I’m not ready for, he’ll throw you out on your ass."  Looking
terrified, he slowly lifted his hand. “Of course, he said that after he told me
that he really liked you.” I laughed softly. Reaching over, I cupped my hand
around his and guided it back onto my leg. “I was kidding, it’s okay.”

 “He didn’t
really say that?” He was visibly relieved.

“Oh, he said
it, but don’t worry, my mom and I will protect you.” His eyes widened. “Really,
my dad likes you.”

“Okay,” he
said, still unsure. I leaned in and kissed him. He kissed me back, but cut it
short, worried my father was listening at the door.

We shifted our
positions so he was sitting against the arm of the couch and I sat leaning
against him. “Do you want to go to a movie tomorrow night?” he asked, wrapping
his arms around me. The warmth of his arms and his sweet, spicy scent made me
feel safe and content.

“Sure, I’d love
to. What time?”

“I get off at
two. Do you know when the next movie starts?”

“There’s a good
thriller that just opened that starts at seven o’clock.”

“I guess we’ll
have some time to kill. Do you mind if I come over after work and hang out
until it’s time to go?” He was leaning his chin on the top of my head. I could
hear and feel him crunching on his chips.

“Of course I
don’t mind.”

We grew quiet
as we both became wrapped up in the plot. The neighbor was starting to
terrorize the teenage boy. I shoved my face into Lucas’ arm when the psycho
took out the chainsaw and was swinging it over their heads.

I must have drifted off, because when I
became aware, I was running hand in hand in a meadow with Lucas. He tripped,
and I fell on top of him. We started kissing and rolling around on the grass
until he was on top of me. A feeling of intense love overwhelmed me, almost taking
my breath away. I took off his shirt, gazed into his eyes, and whispered, “I
love you David.”

 He smiled down
at me, his eyes holding the same intense emotion that I was feeling. “Katie,”
he whispered. “You are my life, my love, my joy.”

I woke up with
a start. Half asleep, I glanced around at my surroundings. I was still on the
couch with Lucas’ arms around me. I could hear his heavy breathing. The TV was
black; the movie must have ended and shut off on its own.

“My love, my
joy,” Lucas whispered in his sleep.

Those were the
same words I just heard in my dream. Was he having the same one? How was that
possible? This was getting spooky. Should I tell him that we were having the
same dreams? What did it mean? My head was full of questions and absolutely no
answers. My eyes widened when I saw the red numbers on my digital clock radio;
it was three a.m.

I stood up and
slipped into the hall. The house was quiet. My parents and brother were in bed.
I couldn’t believe my father didn’t wake us. I thought about leaving Lucas
sleeping, he looked so peaceful, but I was sure his mother would be worried if
he didn’t come home.

Shaking his
shoulder, I whispered in his ear, “Lucas.”

He jumped up
onto his feet with a bewildered look on his face. I laughed. I couldn’t help
it; he looked so comical, his eyes were wide, and his head was bobbing around.
“Holy shit, I fell asleep.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Your dad is
going to kill me.”

I reached up to
stroke his shoulders, trying to soothe him. “Relax, I fell asleep too. He must
have checked on us when they went to bed. I don’t understand why they didn’t
wake us up, though. I wanted to let you sleep, but I figured your mom would be
worried.”

He looked over
at the clock and frowned. “Yeah, she will be. I’d better go.” He bent down to
kiss me softly. “So I guess we slept together. Was it good for you?” he said
with a grin.

I gave him a
shove, knocking him off balance.

He laughed.
“I’m awake now. Walk me down, so you can lock the door behind me.”

I kissed him goodbye in front of the open
door. “See you tomorrow. I’ll try to call you from work,” he called over his
shoulder as he stepped through the doorway.

I turned the
lock and peeked out the small window, watching his car pull away before I went
back upstairs.

“So he’s just
leaving now?” my dad asked, standing in front of my bedroom door. He had bed
head and was wearing his red plaid flannel robe.

“What are you
doing awake? I just peeked in your room, you and mom were sleeping.”

“I woke up when
I heard you going downstairs. I looked in on you when we went to bed at
midnight, and you were sleeping, so I wanted to check every few hours to make
sure that’s all you were doing.”

“Why didn’t you
just wake us up?”

“I didn’t want
you to think I don’t trust you.”

I raised an
eyebrow; his actions earlier told me differently.

His forehead
creased. “Honey, your mother had a rather long chat with me about my behavior
tonight. I do trust you, but I’m not used to you having a boyfriend. Those
other guys you dated didn’t mean anything to you. I knew that, so when I saw
how serious you and Lucas seemed to be tonight, so quickly, I panicked. But I’m
over it.”

Leaning up, I
kissed him on the cheek. “Okay, good night, Dad.”

He grunted,
heading back to his room, and I went in mine.

I lay on my
bed, wondering if Lucas made it home yet, replaying the dream in my mind. The
memory of how I felt as I gazed into his eyes shocked me. I had never felt such
a strong emotion and didn’t realize it was possible. It was strange how strong
the feeling toward him was, since I hadn’t known him that long. The odd thing
was, although I liked Lucas a lot, more than I thought possible, my feelings
were nowhere near as strong as they were in the dream. Not yet anyway. My phone
beeped, waking me from my thoughts.

I leaned over
and picked it up off my nightstand. It read: “I’m home, see you tomorrow.
Luke.”

The next morning, after my shower, I did my
homework. There wasn’t much, since I skipped my last two classes on Friday. My
mother hadn’t mentioned it all weekend. I hoped that meant she had forgotten,
but I knew that I wouldn’t be that lucky. Sooner or later, she’d make her move.

I went
downstairs to have some cereal. The smell of bacon changed my mind.

“So what’s up
for today?” my mother asked me from the kitchen table. My parents were having
their breakfast and reading the paper.

“Not much, but
tonight I’m going to the movies with Lucas.”

She smiled,
tucking her disheveled hair behind her ear. “Did you do your homework?”

“Yes, I just
finished it before I came down.”

 “Don’t be out
too late, you have school tomorrow.” She took a bite of her toast.

“I know, Mom,
don’t worry about it. Hey, Dad, are you feeling better than you were last
night?” I asked, grinning at him. There was a plate of bacon and eggs sitting
on the counter. I picked it up and sat down with my parents.

“Yes. I told
you that I’d work on it. But just don’t stay out until three a.m.”

I laughed.
“I’ll try.”

“Emma called
when you were in the shower,” my mom said, getting up from the table to put her
dishes in the dishwasher.

“I’ll call her
when I finish breakfast.”

“Hey, what are we doing today?” Emma asked,
once I returned to my room and called her.

“Why, what’s up
with Derrick?”

“Ugh…he’s stuck
visiting his aunt for the day. I’m bored; please tell me Lucas is working so
you can hang out with me.” I could hear a familiar buzzing sound on Emma’s end
of the line, and I knew it was her cat, Freckles,, purring. I could picture
Emma sprawled back on her pillows with her legs lifted up against the wall, and
her very overweight cat lying on the pillow beside her.

“Lucas is
working, so I can hang out with you.”

“Really? Damn,
I’m good. What else will you do if I tell you to?”

“Nothing. How
about lunch, I’m buying.”

“Ooh, I knew
there was a reason we were friends. Since you’re buying, I’ll drive. I’ll pick
you up in twenty minutes.”

“Sure, I’ll
meet you out front.” I hung up and rushed into the bathroom. I didn’t have a
chance to tell her where I wanted to go.