Destiny Rules: The Sequel

Chapter 22

Just a short update. Hope you're having a good weekend <3

Stevie bit her lip, pacing the hallway back and forth in the pitch dark. It was nearing 2 AM and she just finished journaling, running downstairs to get a cup of tea. But she couldn't quite relax knowing Lindsey was laying down in her guest bedroom 20 feet away. About an hour ago, she showed him to the room and made sure he had everything he needed before leaving him. Now, she was fighting every bone in her body not to check on him again.

Finding herself lingering outside the guest bedroom door, she knocked two fingers ever so lightly on its hard surface. "Come in," his voice whispered from the other side. Slowly, she crept in, her face lit only by the outside light of the moon coming through the windows. He sat up slightly against the headboard, waiting for her to say something as he watched her with a soft smile on his face.

"Are you awake still?" She whispered.

"Well I am now...."

"Can I come in?"

"Always."

She closed the door behind her very slowly, careful not to make any extra noise. Lindsey watched as she slowly made her way towards the bed, stopping at the foot of it to look up at him for a moment.

"Do you need anything?" She whispered.

He smiled, stifling a laugh, "You know, you could just say that you wanted to come in here with me instead of asking all these ridiculous questions."

"I'm just trying to be a good host."

"Well if you want to be a good host, come under these covers with me."

She thought about it for a second, standing at the foot of the bed apprehensively before finally placing her hands down on the mattress and crawling up towards him. He lay very still as her body snaked up next to his, settling on top of the covers while his lay beneath the sheets. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her as she lay a hand across his chest.

"I'm not staying. And you need to make sure you wake up and are gone before 7. Lily cannot know you slept here," she clarified in the dark.

"I know, Steph. I know."

"I couldn't sleep. Knowing you were in here."

"Me either. This is much better," he groaned, pulling her tighter against him. "Come under the covers, sweet girl."

She froze at the quiet term of endearment, something he hadn't called her in quite some time. It instantly sent her back all those years ago when things between them were a tiny bit simpler. Against her better judgment, she listened and slipped under the blankets, feeling his warm bare skin pressed against her long silky nightgown. She slipped one of her legs in-between his as their limbs naturally tangled.

"Steph?"

"Hm?"

"This was really nice...being here with you and Lily tonight. I liked it."

"It was," she mused dreamily, her fingers tracing patterns on his bare chest. "Lily loved having you."

"It almost felt like...home. More right than my own home does sometimes. You know, how it—"

"Lindsey," she cut him off, "Please don't."

"I'm just saying. And you said Lily loved it, I'm sure it's different for her to feel like she's got a dad figure here...and we had fun."

"You have three children at your own home that you are the actual father of."

"I know. It's just hard not to let my mind wander sometimes. Especially now."