Destiny Rules: The Sequel

Chapter 21

Pouring a glass of wine for Lindsey, Stevie smiled as she watched him tune Lily's guitar for her at the table. She loved watching all her bandmates interact with her daughter, but there was something especially sweet about watching Lindsey do so.

"How come you never taught my mom how to tune a guitar?" Lily asked Lindsey curiously as she watched him adjust the strings carefully.

"Your mom," he grinned up at her as she placed a wine glass in front of him, "Is a little stubborn sometimes. She doesn't like me to teach her anything."

Lily laughed and Stevie scoffed, "That is not true! He's full of it, Lily. He always wanted to tune mommy's guitar for her."

"Why?" Lily giggled.

"Because he had a big fat crush on me," Stevie grinned at her daughter playfully.

"Gross."

"I did not!" Lindsey pretended to look shocked by Stevie's words, "Actually, your mom had a crush on ME first."

"I did not!"

Lily laughed, taking the guitar from Lindsey's lap, "You're both gross."

Stevie gave him a knowing smile as he took a sip of his wine without saying a word, the grin still lingering on his lips. She pinched the back of his arm sneakily as she walked around the table.

"Lindsey, does this mean you're staying for movie night?" Lily asked.

"Uhhh," Lindsey wasn't sure what to say.

"Lily, you get 15 minutes computer time while Lindsey and I need to talk about work stuff, okay? Then we can watch our movie before bed," Stevie instructed, causing the girl to run around giddily before quickly leaving the room and heading towards the computer upstairs.

With a sigh and shake of the head, Stevie turned back around to Lindsey, who sat frozen in place looking up at her - unmistakable look of adoration in his eyes.

"Do you mind chatting in the living room?" She pointed to the other room, "I'd like to sit on the couch, my back is killing me."

"Of course," he nodded, following her into the other room.

The two of them settled side by side on her oversized, plush couch. She turned to face him on the cushion, her legs crossed beneath her and glass of wine in hand. For a moment, they sat quietly, studying each other and enjoying the final moments of peace before a conversation that was likely to be anything but.

"So, what happened?" She asked.

He took a breath, "I got home today and she was sitting there waiting for me, completely furious. I left out the early copy of the CD, not thinking she would even look at it, and she listened to the entire thing. Flipped out completely over both of our songs."

"You hadn't let her listen to any of your stuff yet?"

He shrugged, "No, it was all in the works and I don't like to get other people's input before I'm done, you know that."

She gave him a look.

"We're artists, Stevie. We need full creative freedom and liberty if we're going to create something special, and that's what we did here. Don't you think?"

"Yes, I agree."

He paused to smile at her for a second, both of them taking a moment to appreciate the fact that for once, they both agreed on something. "Anyway," he continued, "She totally flipped. Like, screaming at the top of her lungs. She started this whole thing about how she was never going to let this tour happen unless she came with me on it. Which is obviously....not the plan and not what I want. Not to mention, what the fuck is going to happen with the kids? So she storms out without another word and I thought she was just going for a drive or to her mom's or something. Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would come HERE, baby. I had no idea."