Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series)

by Christina Smith

  “You are grounded, that’s why,” his mother answered him sternly.

  “For what, harassing Sarah? You took my car away, I’m on dish duty at the restaurant, and I apologized to her. What do you want me to do? Give her my firstborn?” He was starting to yell.

  “Don’t you raise your voice to me! And no, this has nothing to do with Sarah. I’m proud of the way you apologized to her on Sunday. This is about picking on some poor kid at lunch a couple of weeks ago, and ditching four classes.”

  I heard a frustrated moan. “How do you find out about everything?” he growled.

  She ignored his question. “When are you going to grow up and act like a man? Finally become the good person I know you are?” As she said this, I could see her point; I believed he was better than he pretended to be.

  Finally, Lucas had enough. “Uh um…” He cleared his throat, trying to let them know we were there.

  “Oh great, the golden boy and his perfect girlfriend are here to prove how much of a letdown I am.” Logan didn’t give his mother a chance to respond before he stomped out of the living room. I could hear him all the way down the hall as he slammed his door.

  Karen turned toward us, her face looking strained. “Oh, Sarah, I’m sorry you had to witness that. I don’t want you to think we’re a bunch of animals.”

  I laughed nervously. “Are you kidding? I’m a teenager; I’ve had my share of tantrums.” I was trying to ease the tension that I could sense from her.

  She smiled at me then turned to Lucas. “Why don’t you show Sarah the rec room? Dinner won’t be done for a while yet.”

  “Okay, Mom, call us when you’re ready.” He handed her the milk and then led me through a door off the kitchen. I waved at Nick, who was busy chopping. He sang along to a song that pumped out of speakers above the cupboards.

  The basement was big, the size of the house. It had comfortable-looking brown leather furniture, all positioned towards another big-screen TV. At the back of the room was a pool table and beyond that was Lucas’ heavy bag hanging in the corner. He turned to me, smiling. “So, you want to play pool, or hit the heavy bag?”

  That sounded like fun. I stepped over to it and pulled my fist back. “Wait!” Lucas yelled. I froze mid-swing, and turned around to see him walking toward me. “You need gloves, or you’ll hurt your hand.”

  “Oh,” I said, a little embarrassed.

  He took a pair of boxing gloves off of the back of a chair and held them up for me to put my hands in. Once I did, he tied them really tight around my wrists, and slapped them a couple times. “Now give it a punch.”

  I grinned at him, then pulled my hand back and punched it. The bag moved ever so slightly, but the point is, it moved. I turned in his direction at the sound of a low chuckle.

  He was smiling at me and putting a pair of gloves on. “You need to bend your arms at the elbows, and hit with little jabs.” He punched it a couple of times, and each time he hit the bag, I noticed his biceps bulge. It was extremely sexy. I never noticed before, but he was very muscular.

  As he was demonstrating, I sat down on the closest chair, enjoying the view. He punched the bag for a while, and then looked around for me. When his gaze found mine, his lips turned up slightly. “What are you doing?”

  “Just enjoying the view. You have very nice muscles. It’s kind of sexy.”

  “You like that, do you?”

  I nodded, grinning wickedly at him.

  “Are you going to give it another try, or just watch?” he asked.

  I sighed. “Ugh…fine.”

  I tried bending my elbows and punched with little jabs, like he showed me. It was actually kind of fun. I could imagine doing this when I was frustrated. I punched it a few more times, really getting into it. I heard a sigh.

  “Talk about sexy, I’ve never seen a girl look as hot as you do right now.”

  I turned my head to see him sitting on the chair I had vacated. He was staring at me with an intense gaze. I knew that look; he was about to get frisky in his parents’ basement. Not interested in getting caught by his family, I decided to distract him. “How about a game of pool?” I suggested innocently.

  He was staring at me with the same expression, but now his eyes darkened. I moved away from him, over to the pool table. “So how do you get these things off?” I asked, pulling at the gloves.

  He laughed at my pathetic attempts. Bending his head, he demonstrated with his own by pulling the laces with his teeth. Once they were loose, he pulled the glove off. When the first hand was free, he used it to pull the other one.

  “Would you like some help?” he asked, his voice low.

  “No, you stay over there.” I tried to loosen the strings like he had.

  His arms were suddenly wrapped around me. “Why don’t you want me near you?” he whispered in my ear. His hot breath gave me chills. His sweet, spicy scent made his offer tempting.

  “Because your parents are right upstairs.” My voice was not as strong as I had intended.

  He leaned in and kissed me, trying to prolong the kiss, but I pushed him away. “No, I don’t want your mother to catch us.”

  He tried to pull me in again, so I punched him in the arm, forgetting I still had the gloves on. He lost his balance, and stared at me with his mouth hanging open in shock.

  I smiled and punched him again. It was fun with the gloves on.

  His mouth twisted wryly. “Oh really? You want to go there, do you?” He bent down to pick up his gloves that he had tossed on the floor.

  I suddenly changed my mind. “Ah…maybe we should go upstairs and see how dinner is coming.”

  “Oh, no you don’t, you started it.” He stalked toward me.

  I backed up, bumping into the chair, and moved around it. “I changed my mind. Why don’t we play pool?” My voice sounded panicked.

  He started to laugh. “What’s wrong, Sarah? I thought you wanted to fight. Come here, I won’t hurt you.” He took a few steps toward me, and I started to run. I could hear his footsteps thudding into the plush carpet, chasing me. He wrapped his arms around me and tackled me to the floor.

  I was giggling so hard, I began to cramp. We rolled around, trying to hit each other, but it was difficult since our hands were in the gloves, and our bodies were so close together.

  “Uh…um,” Someone cleared their throat.

  We froze in mid-roll on the floor, both of us laughing.

  Logan was leaning against the dull green walls, watching us. “What are you doing?” he said, with a hint of amusement.

  “I’m teaching Sarah to box, what does it look like?” Lucas explained.

  “Foreplay,” Logan replied.

  We sat up. Lucas took his gloves off and then helped me with mine. “What do you want, Logan?”

  “Mom said to tell you dinner’s ready.” He turned around and disappeared up the stairwell.

  “Well, that was fun,” I said, extremely embarrassed that Logan had caught us not once, but twice in a very intimate position.

  “Come on, let’s eat,” he said, taking my hand to pull me up.

  Dinner was delicious. His dad had made chicken cordon bleu with seasoned potatoes and a tossed salad that had lettuce in it that looked like weeds he picked out of the backyard. Everything was delicious. “This is so good, Nick. Thank you for having me.”

  Lucas laughed. “Sarah, will you come to dinner every night? We never eat like this.”

  I looked at him, confused.

  “Yeah, it’s usually hot dogs, or grilled cheese that we make ourselves, or we eat at the restaurant,” Logan added.

  “You could learn to cook for yourselves, I’ve offered many times to teach you,” Nick said, before taking a drink of his coffee.

  “No thanks,” the twins said together.

  As we ate, I sat back and listened to the four of them talk. They liked to pick on one another, but I could tell they were a close family.

  “So Sarah, do you have any hobbies?” his mother asked
after she finished the last of her chicken.

  “Yes, I play the piano. I want to teach music when I finish college.”

  Lucas glanced at me, surprised. “You never told me that.”

  I shrugged. “It hasn’t come up yet.”

  “How can she tell you anything, when you always have your lips stuck to hers?” Logan laughed at his own joke, and his dad joined him.

  I blushed, and Lucas looked deep in thought.

  “Could you play a song for us after? We have a piano, but no one plays. I’ve tried to get one of these bozos to learn, but they wouldn’t.” Karen pointed to the twins.

  “Sure,” I said, and she smiled. Of course, now I was nervous. I’d preformed for people before, but never for a boyfriend’s family.

  “So what college are you going to, Sarah?” Nick asked me, leaning his elbows on the oak table.

  “NYU.”

  “Really? That’s where both boys are going. Except Logan doesn’t know what he wants to be yet,” his mother added.

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Mother, I’ll figure it out in school.”

  Karen let it drop, but it was obvious she had more to say on the matter.

  After we were finished, Nick brought out dessert, baked Alaska.

  “You made this? I had it once at a restaurant when I was a kid. I’ve wanted to try it again, but I could never find it anywhere.” I wasn’t sure what my expression was, but they all laughed at me. My cheeks reddened, and I wished I could take back what I had said.

  “Then you get the first piece.” Nick placed a generous slice of meringue, cake, and ice cream on my plate. The combination of the three flavors tasted like heaven on my tongue.

  When we finished dessert, I helped clear the dishes.

  I began to wander around the kitchen and hallway, looking at the childhood photos of the twins growing up. They were displayed on the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. Lucas and Logan were identical as children, but as I moved down the hall, the pictures became more recent and I could start to see when they changed their looks. They found their own styles and started wearing their hair differently. It made sense. As kids they wouldn’t mind looking exactly alike, but as they grew older, I could see why they would want to have their own individual style, even if Lucas’ reasons were because of Logan’s behavior.

  At the end of the hall, I noticed a picture of the waterfall. It was breathtaking; whoever took the picture seemed to capture the moment. As I stood looking at it, I felt like I was standing right in front of it. I could almost smell the crispness in the air and hear the waves crashing against the rocks. “This picture is amazing. Who took it?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off of it.

  Logan laughed. “Do you guys ever speak, or are you too busy making out?” he asked his brother.

  “Shut up,” Lucas snapped.

  Karen laughed along with Logan. “Luke took it. Didn’t he tell you that he takes pictures?”

  I was shocked. I had no idea he had this much talent. “No, he didn’t.” We stared at each other, both of us surprised at what we were learning about the other. “Lucas, this is wonderful, can you show me more?”

  “You first.” He nodded toward the piano.

  His parents gathered on the sofa so they could listen. Logan stayed where he was, leaning against the door frame.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Pictures

  Lucas took my hand and led me to the piano, sitting next to me on the wooden bench. “Go ahead,” he encouraged.

  I touched a few keys to make sure they were in tune, let out a breath, and began my song, Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” In my opinion Beethoven was the master of classical music. My fingers danced over the keys as if they had a mind of their own.

  Before I knew it, I had played the last few notes, and the song was over. I spread my hands over the keys when the final note fell silent, and reluctantly lifted my eyes to see their reaction. The room was quiet, and all four Tates seemed to be frozen in position, their eyes wide with shock—or terror? I wasn’t sure.

  I sat up straight, fidgeting slightly on the uncomfortable bench…waiting. My eyes fixed on Lucas, hoping he, or someone else, would break the silence.

  Finally, Lucas smiled, bent down close to my ear, and whispered, “That was beautiful.” His hot breath tickled my ear.

  I ducked my head, feeling suddenly shy. His hand rested on mine as applause erupted behind us. His parents clapped loudly from the sofa.

  Logan pushed off from the door frame he was leaning on, and nodded to me with a slight grin. Then he turned into the hallway, where he disappeared to his bedroom. That was as much praise as I would get from him, which was fine by me.

  “Wow,” his dad said. “That was amazing.”

  I stood up from the bench, feeling a little uncomfortable with their applause.

  “Sarah, you must be so proud of yourself, I would love to be able to play like that,” Karen said. A wistful expression appeared on her face.

  An idea came to me. “I could give you some lessons if you want.”

  She looked very surprised. “You would?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “I would like that, thank you.” She stood up, and before I knew it, I was wrapped in her arms. She smelled like gardenias.

  Lucas took my hand, pulling me from her embrace. “I’m going to steal Sarah. Let’s go hang out in my room.” I nodded to Karen, and let Lucas led me away.

  In his room, I sat on the bed while he stood in front of me, leaning against the dresser, staring at me. “What?” I asked, feeling self-conscious.

  “You keep surprising me. Really, I had no idea you could play so well.”

  “Well, I had no idea you took pictures. We made a deal, let me see them.”

  His lips turned up into a nervous smile as he bent down to open his nightstand drawer. A brown notebook lay on top. He took it out, shoving it into the lower drawer so quickly I didn’t get a chance to see what was written on the top. Under that book was a plain blue album. He pulled it out and handed it to me, avoiding my eyes.

  He sat down on the bed beside me and chewed nervously on his lower lip while I opened it up. I was amazed. There were pictures with vibrant colors of the trees in the fall with the leaves red, brown, and gold. Pictures in the woods in the winter, with snow-covered maple and pine trees. I flipped through a few more nature shots, and then came upon some of children at a park, some posed, some candid. My favorite was a black-and-white photo of a mother and baby, staring into each other’s eyes. You could see the love coming through the picture. “This one is awesome, Lucas. You’re really good.” I looked at him with the same amazed expression he had given me after I played.

  “Thank you.”

  I turned to the next page and saw a black-and-white photo of me. I was sitting in the cafeteria alone, reading a book. In the picture, I looked lonely, but at the same time, content in my reading. I glanced up at him. “When did you take this?” I was sure it was before we started talking to each other.

  “Last year, but don’t worry, I’m not a stalker. I take a lot of pictures of kids at school, but I only have my favorites in this book.”

  Seeing a photo of me taken from a distance, without my knowledge, made me feel anxious. Goose bumps broke out along my arms as I became entranced with my own image. I was wearing jeans and a dark-colored short-sleeve blouse, and my hair fell forward, covering half my face. I was engrossed in the pages lying on the table, totally unaware of being watched. It made me appear vulnerable in some way.

  Lucas turned the page, breaking the spell. The next one was of his parents cooking together. I couldn’t shake the wariness, so I closed the book and placed it on the bed.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, but I should probably head home.”

  He didn’t look convinced; his eyes were clouded with worry. “Sure, let’s go,” he said softly.

  When we arrived at my house, he turned to me. �
��You’ve been quiet since you saw that picture. What’s wrong?”

  I didn’t want the photo to bother me, and as hard as I tried to see Lucas as I had a few hours ago, the picture somehow changed my view of him, so I lied. “Nothing, I was just so surprised at how good you are. Is that what you want to be, a photographer?”

  He nodded, knowing that my change of subject was deliberate. “Are you sure that’s it? I don’t want you to be upset with me.”

  I smiled and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Good night, Lucas, I had a great time with your family. See you tomorrow.” I pulled away and escaped into the night.

  “Good night Sarah,” I heard him say just as I slammed the car door behind me.

  I felt guilty walking into the house because his face had looked so sad. But right now I couldn’t reassure him. The picture freaked me out, and I didn’t know why.

  Inside, my parents were watching TV. “How was it?” my mom asked, not turning her head from the screen. Some reality show was on.

  “Great, his father’s an awesome cook.” I took off my coat, hanging it on the hook next to the door, and turned to face them. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

  “Good night,” they said absently.

  Up in my room, after I had changed into my pajamas, I lay in bed thinking about my evening at Lucas’. I felt like I knew him so well, but I hadn’t even been with him a full week. There was so much more we had to learn about each other. He was so talented. I wished I had finished looking at his book, but once I saw that picture of me, I panicked. Ever since that first night in the parking lot when I realized someone was watching me, I’d been a little paranoid.

  But now that I had some distance from Lucas and the photo, I knew I overreacted, and I wanted him to feel better.

  I made the decision to talk to him on the phone. That way I’d only need my voice to convince him. I waited about a half an hour before I called.

  He picked up after one ring. “Sarah, are you okay?”

  “Of course I am. I just wanted to call and tell you that I had a really good time tonight. I’m glad I came over.”