When Destinies Collide Read online

  I begin to wonder if Ryan has tried calling me. I know we left things in an awkward spot, but we have been best friends since we were five years old. I would think at some point he would notice I’m not around. I would think he would forgive me for shutting him out. Ryan has a good heart, and I feel confident that he’ll eventually see that I have every reason to grieve the unexpected loss of my mother.

  I do wonder if I actually pushed him away. Then I think, if he loved me, wouldn’t he have been more supportive? And if I loved him, even if only platonically, wouldn’t this all feel even more unbearable? Losing him doesn’t feel unacceptable; at least I don’t think it does. I don’t know how I actually feel because frankly, I don’t feel a whole lot of anything anymore. I can’t. If I do, there will not be anything left of me. When I feel even a stirring of grief within me, I close it off. At least I did until Aunt Violette allowed me to lose myself in her comfort briefly. But it can’t happen again. I need to build that wall higher before it can all come flooding back into my thoughts.

  Pulling out my guitar, I gently strum my fingers across the strings. I’ll lose myself in this and not think too much, because every thought is like an ice pick chipping away at my heart. But this day seems a little less tragic…a little different.

  Drake

  I’M STANDING FROZEN IN PLACE, hidden behind a giant cypress, listening to a beautiful and surprisingly gentle voice floating through the air. I can’t see who is making the music that has me so riveted, but I need to. My heart begins to beat a little harder, and my palms are becoming clammy. It feels like fear, but I’m not afraid.

  It’s something completely different. Something foreign. Something changes as the guitar plays. This soft voice surrounds me, and that is all I know. It’s strange, but I can sense that my life is about to shift in an unexpected direction I’m not sure I’m ready for, especially now. Or that I’ll ever be ready for.

  The music suddenly ends, and it pulls me from my thoughts. I remain still because I’m not sure if I should reveal myself. I even feel a little embarrassed I’ve eavesdropped on this private moment.

  I lean against a tree as quietly as I can, so I don’t give myself away, and peek around to see what has captured my attention. Instantly, my breath catches in my throat, and a warmth begins to spread through me I’ve never experienced. It’s a girl I’ve never seen before. I watch her move around as she packs up her guitar. A light breeze blows through her hair; the highlights from the sunlight look like spun gold. It’s the most beautiful color I’ve ever seen. Her skin appears soft and delicate as I move my eyes up her body from her legs to her shoulders. My hands ache to touch it. I want to see her eyes so terribly, want to see their color. Mesmerized, I shift a little. My body involuntarily leans toward her, and a twig snaps beneath my feet.

  I freeze as her head whips around toward the sound. I hold my breath and wait. I don’t move again until I hear her resume packing up her things. Once again, I shift back to a position I can watch her from. She stands up and looks briefly out over the river then reluctantly turns as if she is about to leave someone behind on the opposite shore. Before I know it, she’s walking away from me. I want to call out to her, but what would I say? Stepping out from my hideout, I watch her silently until she disappears entirely.

  Sighing, I shake my head and try to grasp the sudden loss I feel at this mystery girl’s departure. I’m not sure what has come over me, but I know one thing is for sure: I need to find out who she is. It may sound crazy, but I’m supposed to know her. I have a feeling I didn’t walk upon her by accident, and that only makes this encounter more extraordinary.

  Selene

  BY THE TIME I GET back to the house, I’m sweating and bleeding. I decided to take the longer route home to see if the fort we built when I was ten was still standing. I ended up tripping over a rock and cutting my knee open. I’ve always been a little clumsy. It wasn’t unheard of for my mama to teasingly call me Grace. The endearing term was a sort of a joke between us. She loved teasing me, and I loved it right back.

  I limp my way up the back porch steps and through the screen door, into the kitchen. I look down, trying to make sure I’m not dripping blood all over the place, when I run into something—or should I say someone—coming around the corner from the hall with a big box. It knocks us both back. I land hard on my bottom; hardwood floors are not forgiving. I scream out as the box and all of its contents hit the floor beside me.

  “Aunt Violette, I’m so sorry,” I instantly exclaim as I look up to find a set of eyes, the most unusual shade of green, staring at me with intense familiarity. “Oh…uh…I…” I can’t seem to form a coherent word.

  It isn’t Aunt Violette, but the most stunning person I’ve ever seen. His eyes are so indescribable, I feel my cheeks heat as they freely roam over my body. It’s like they’re marking their territory, and I can feel it move through every part of my body.

  As if he suddenly remembers his manners, the stranger steps forward and reaches his hand out to me. My gaze moves from his eyes to his hand and back. My mind seems to be moving in slow motion, and finally I snap out of my thoughts and accept his hand. He grips my hand and pulls me up with such force that I’m now almost pressed entirely against him. Our hands drop to our sides. We’re standing so close I can smell a mixture of soap and sweat. I never knew the scent of sweat could be so appealing. I look up to find him gazing down at me, sending chills up my spine.

  Looking me straight in the eye, the stranger steps back a little and takes my hand again without permission. “I’m Drake…Drake Thomas.” He keeps my hand in his, making it hard for me to think. I feel like I’m on fire.

  “I…” Before I can finish, Aunt Violette walks into the room and interrupts.

  “Oh, Selene, dear, I see you’ve met Drake.” She begins pulling vegetables out of her basket and setting them on the counter before washing them off.

  We don’t take our eyes off of one another. What is wrong with me? I suddenly feel an awareness that my life is going to get a little more complicated. A fluttery sensation is moving from my chest to my stomach. I abruptly pull my hand away and take a step back, feeling immediately uncomfortable. He is staring at me so intensely that I’m not sure if I want to run or lean into him. I’m beginning to feel something…something I know is dangerous. My only thoughts are I can’t allow myself to feel this much or I will break. I need to get away.

  “Uh, yes…I did, Aunt Violette. I made him drop the box he was carrying by accident. You know how clumsy I can be.” I keep taking small steps backward, as if I’m afraid to turn my back on him.

  All of a sudden, I notice his eyes dart to my knee then back up to my face. He steps toward me before I can stop him. Dropping to his knees in front of me, he touches my knee lightly around the cut.

  “You’re bleeding, and you have a knot on your knee.” His hands begin to roam over other parts of me. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  His touch feels like it’s setting small fires all over my body. I can see the worry etched on his face, and I can’t help thinking how bizarre his concern for me is, yet I stand there frozen while he continues to touch me. I feel an internal struggle to ask him to stop and move away.

  Before I know it, Aunt Vi is at my side, saying my name and touching the back of her hand to my forehead.

  I turn my head to look at her worried face. “Selene, are you alright? You seem a bit flushed.” I push her hand away gently. Once again, I find myself taking a step back from this handsome stranger.

  “No, I’m fine. I just tripped over a rock when I was walking back and scraped my knee. In fact, I was on my way upstairs when I bumped into…Drake.” I look over to Aunt Violette and take the wet cloth she is now handing me. “I’m fine. It’s no big deal.”

  Aunt Violette shakes her head and cackles. “Oh, as you said, you’ve always been a bit clumsy. Well, go get a bandage on that before it gets infected.” She turns to Drake, who is still on his knee with his gaze trained on me
. I’m trying hard to not look at him. “Drake, do you think you can get that stuff back in the box and out in the shed for me? I believe we can finish the rest next Saturday.”

  “Uh, yes, ma’am,” he says, and I can’t keep myself from glancing his way. He is still watching me, and the shock I feel as our eyes meet has me instantly averting my attention to the floor. “You best take care of that knee. It’s a pleasure to have met you…Selene.”

  It’s as if his voice is caressing me when my name leaves his lips. I glance up, a shock coursing through me. What is he doing to me? I need to get away, but I don’t want to make it seem like he is having this strange and uncomfortable effect on me. “It was ni…nice to meet you too, Drake,” I stammer out before I turn toward the stairs.

  As I climb the steps, I can feel his eyes on me. What is it about this guy? I don’t know. Well, I can’t find out, because if this one brief encounter causes me to lose this much control over my emotions, then Drake Thomas will be nothing but trouble for me.

  I make it to the top of the landing, rush into my room, and shut the door. As I lean my back against the door, my breathing is labored, as if I just ran a marathon. I’m feeling something I’ve never felt before, and it seems out of my control. What the hell? I just ran from a boy.

  I walk over to the dresser and pick up the picture of Mama and me. I’m looking at the camera, and she is looking at me. We’re both wearing our golden hair down around our shoulders, and our green eyes are shining. We look more like sisters than mother and daughter. I wish she were here so I could talk to her. My emotions are all over the place, and I don’t know how to handle what I’m feeling.

  Carrying the picture over to the window seat, I peek out and see Drake enter the garage out back. The sight of him sends chills across my flesh. Yep, Drake Thomas is definitely going to be trouble for me.

  Drake

  THE TIPS OF MY FINGERS are still tingling from touching her skin as I carry the box across the back lawn to the shed. I can’t believe the mystery girl is Mrs. Durham’s niece. This is an unbelievable but welcome surprise. I unlock the door while propping the box against the wall with my knee.

  Walking to the back of the room, I place the box in an area I cleared last weekend for the things Mrs. D wants to keep out here.

  I’ve been helping her with handy work and other things she needs done around the house. It was always Lacey’s thing to come here. She spent at least two hours with Mrs. D every weekend, sometimes more before the crash. Lacey said it was her civic duty as the mayor’s daughter, but deep down we both knew she loved it. It was about a month after the accident I showed up on Mrs. Durham’s doorstep, asking if I could pick up where Lacey had left off. She didn’t even say a word; she just opened her screen door and stepped aside for me to enter. I was stunned at first, unsure of what to do, until she said, “Well, don’t just stand there like a bump on a log. Get in here. I need help boxing up things in the attic.”

  I had no idea her attic was full of at least forty years’ worth of stuff. I’ve been here every week since that day. We both just fell into a comfortable pattern. Although, to an outsider looking in, our relationship might seem odd. I don’t care, because helping Mrs. Durham is just one more way for me to keep Lacey close.

  I shut the door behind me and turn to lock it up and hesitate as I feel a prickling on the back of my neck. I glance over my shoulder, but I don’t see anyone. I raise my eyes to the second story of the house. I see the curtain stir against the window. They are sheer, so I can see the outline of her figure behind them. She is watching me, and I can’t help the sudden happiness I feel at the thought.

  I’m not sure what it is about this girl, but the moment I heard her voice, I knew there was something. Something that I wasn’t going to be able to ignore. The feeling only intensified when I looked at those stunning cat-like eyes up close. The way I felt being that close to her didn’t make sense. I realize that everything doesn’t make sense all the time; sometimes things have no explanation, they just are.

  I look back toward the window. This time she doesn’t pull back quickly enough. I caught her.

  Giggling to myself, I decide to see how far I can take this little game I feel we’re playing. I pull my shirt off and wipe the sweat from my brow, and then I slowly raise my hand in a sort of a wave to let her know I see her. I can barely see her face, but I can imagine that she has turned the most incredible shade of red. I grin then turn back, locking the door before walking across the lawn. I take slow strides back toward the house. Although I can feel her still watching me, I never look back up. Oh yeah. This is going to be fun.

  Selene

  SHIT. SHIT. SHIT, I CHANT over and over to myself as I continue to stare at Drake walking across the lawn. He saw me, so I’m not even going to try and hide now. I can’t believe it. He actually took off his shirt. He did that on purpose; I could see it on his face. Then he had the nerve to wave with an amused look on his face. I may be fifty yards away, but I can tell his grin says he thinks I’m watching because I want him. Well, I’m watching him, but not—not because—crap, I don’t know why. What a cocky ass. Look at him, sauntering across the lawn without a shirt. He thinks that I want to see his tan and obviously—even from this distance—hard abs. He does look good. Oh my God, what is wrong with me? I’m still bleeding, for crying out loud.

  I quickly pull the gauzy fabric closed again and back away from the window. I limp my way slowly over to the side of the bed so I can sit.

  This is just great. I’ve just been caught staring at Aunt Vi’s helper boy…or whatever he is. The scary thing is if I really feel so ‘whatever’ about him, why does my skin still feel like it’s in flames in every place he touched me?

  Putting my face into my hands, I shake my head. This isn’t what I need. For the first time ever, I feel an immediate attraction and connection to someone. I can’t even think clearly. Except one thing is clear: this boy is doing something to me, because I’ve felt more in the last twenty minutes than I’ve felt in the last four months.

  Drake

  IT HAS BEEN THREE DAYS, and Selene is still on my mind. I’ve gone back to what Lacey and I called our spot along the river every day, hoping to run into her. I want to find an excuse to stop by Mrs. D’s house, but I can’t seem to come up with even one good non-stalker-like motive. So, instead, I’m stalking her in my dreams.

  Yeah, pathetic, I know. I haven't wanted something—someone—so badly, ever. I’m just a little afraid to give in to that need. Maybe I recognize the same grief in her voice, or it could be this unexplainable familiarity when I look into her eyes. I’ve been trying to rationalize the way I feel, but I can’t exactly pinpoint it.

  Lacey would giggle at me and tell me to get over myself. It wasn’t often I left myself vulnerable, even to her. She waited for situations like this so she could tease me. I didn’t typically give them to her. Usually, she would give me shit for being a jerk. The truth is I’m an asshole. I never had to be anything else. Everyone in my life has allowed me to act this way and loved me for it. I often find myself wondering why, but I usually shrug it off because it isn’t my problem.

  My family let me because, well, they are assholes too. Every last one of us, except for Lacey. She wasn’t anything but good. We were the epitome of good twin and evil twin. Being a part of her was my only redeeming quality. Now the only part of me left is hanging on for dear life to any goodness that might be lingering in me.

  My whole life, my friends let me act like a dick because someone decided I was cool. And it allowed them to be assholes, too. For some reason, teenagers—especially guys—love to be little bastards. I was so cool I could act any way I wanted to, and I would never fall from grace. What kind of stupid shit is that? Girls let me be a dick because I was wealthy, popular, and good-looking. I don’t even have an explanation, but if it weren’t for Lacey, I would think all teenage girls were clones of stupidity.

  Regardless of how my attitude has changed, I’ll always
be the person who made those fatal mistakes. Everyone will continue to see me the same way they’ve always seen me. I’ll always see myself in that same light too, except now I don’t see it as an opportunity or as a fortunate circumstance. No, it’s just a reminder of everything that led to Lacey being taken away.

  Pulling up in front of the school, I switch off the ignition, pressing my forehead against the steering wheel. I’m exhausted by the thought of all these expectations my parents and everyone place on me. Sighing, I recognize there isn’t a choice. It’s time for me to get my classes squared away. Plus, I have a meeting with the team because two-a-days will be starting in a week. I used to look forward to the twice-a-day practices and workouts. Now they’re just another aspect to the old Drake—the Drake who thrived on being the star quarterback—who doesn’t exist any longer. Jumping out of my truck, I head for the front doors that lead to the school office.

  As I pull the door, something pushes it from the other end. Expecting a little more resistance, I pull too hard and lose my balance, falling backward and landing on my back. To my surprise, something lands right on top of my stomach, knocking the breath out of me.

  In an instant, I realize it isn’t something, but someone. It’s the very someone I’ve been unable to get off my mind. My arms instinctively wrap around her, trapping her arms and body against my chest. I stare up into her shocked green eyes. Fuck, those eyes are even more dangerous up close than I realized. It’s like my hands move of their own accord as they reach for her face, pushing the golden strands of hair behind her ear. At this point, I’m not sure if my lack of air is due to the impact of the fall or being in such close proximity to her.