Chapter 6
JJ
“It’s like tryin’ to scratch your ear with your elbow.”
~ Grandma Dixie
The second the name I’d called Destiny since she’d been in pigtails and reminded me of one of my all-time favorite characters, Pippi Longstocking, left my lips, I knew I’d just stuck my boot in my mouth. But, before I’d gone and stepped in it, Destiny’s body responded beneath my touch. A tremor ran up her spine, her lips parted as she sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyelids grew heavy—all very good signs when you touched someone.
I hadn’t even thought about what to say when I’d opened my big mouth. The only thing I’d been able to think about all night was how damn beautiful she looked. I’d seen her over at a table with her cupcakes when I’d gotten here almost two hours ago, and every minute since then, I’d been trying, and failing, to make my way over to her. It had been a good hour before I’d realized she was intentionally dodging me. That’s when I’d gotten the brilliant plan to enlist the one person Destiny would follow anywhere without question.
Grandma Dixie.
It had taken some doing, but I needed to get this conversation out of the way anyway, so I figured, two birds. Dixie had had some straightforward and tough questions for me. It didn’t surprise me that she knew what had happened the night of Destiny’s prom. Those two were closer than any mother, daughter, sister, or best-friend duo I knew. Now Grandma Dixie knew that I felt horrible about what had happened all those years ago and that I wanted to make things right with Destiny, starting with getting her on the dance floor. She signed on as a co-conspirator in my plan, which—like those MasterCard commercials said—was priceless.
“Thank you,” Destiny snipped as she began walking away from me.
On instinct, I gently wrapped my fingers around her delicate wrist. “Dance with me.”
“No, thanks.” There was a tremor in her sweet voice. Clearly Destiny was trying to sound casual and unaffected—upbeat, even—but she wasn’t doing that great of a job at it.
Grandma Dixie winked at me before leaning over to Destiny and whispering loud enough that I could hear, “Brady’s hightailing it over here. You may want to fill up your dance card with the lesser of the two evils.”
‘Lesser of the two evils’ was not the highest praise—but I would take it.
“Fine.” Destiny stiffened as she shot her gaze up to me. “One. Dance.”
That hadn’t been the most flattering acceptance—but, again, beggars can’t be choosers, and I would take it.
Now that she wasn’t a flight risk, I dropped her wrist, placed my arm around her waist, and led her to a secluded alcove in a dimly-lit area of the dance floor.
The timing couldn’t have been better. The second I pulled her close to me and she rested her hands on my shoulders, the song I’d requested from the DJ began playing. It was “More Than Miles” by Brantley Gilbert, who happened to be one of Destiny’s favorite artists.
I’d listened to that song more times than I could count while I’d been ridin’ on the bus, headed to one city or another. When he sang that there were more than miles in his rearview, it reminded me so much of the feelings I had for Destiny. These past four years, I’d felt like, even though I’d played to the best of my ability, my heart hadn’t been in it. There was no way it could have been since my heart was still in Wishing Well, in the hands of the girl I was holding in my arms now.
The song wasn’t a traditional slow song, but that didn’t stop me from gently swaying back and forth. I intentionally kept my hold loose, putting a small amount of distance between us. One wrong move, pushing her even slightly too fast, would send her stomping off this dance floor so fast it’d make my head spin. Slow and steady. That was the pace I needed to go.
“I’m sorry.” I figured that an apology was not the worst way to start. Lord knew I had a lot of apologizing to do.
Destiny’s eyes shot to mine blazing with challenge. “For what?”
My lips twitched, but I did not let them turn up into the smile that wanted to break out. That would not go well. This particular girl would not appreciate that I thought she was so damn cute when she was irritated, but that didn’t take away from the fact that she was. Still—better to keep it to myself.
“Calling you Pip,” I figured I would start with my latest. “I didn’t mean to. It slipped out. I honestly just wanted to tell you how amazing you look tonight.”
When a tiny wrinkle creased between her brows, I knew she was wrestling with whether or not to accept my apology. I waited while the jury was out.
Finally, she sighed. “It’s fine. It’s just a name. A stupid name, but I shouldn’t let it bother me.”
I was tempted to pinch myself because I must’a been dreaming. That admission had been borderline acceptance that Destiny had been in the wrong. Never in my life had I thought that would happen, so I wasn’t sure what to say to that. No way had I expected that to go so easily.
“Wow.” Her blue eyes lit up, and a smug grin pulled at her full, pouty lips. “So that’s what it takes to shut you up, huh?”
Shutting up was the last thing I planned on doing. “I asked the DJ to play this song because I listened to it hundreds of times, thinking of you. In fact, I’ve never stopped thinking about you. Missing you. Wanting you.”
Again, that wrinkle appeared on her forehead as her baby blues grew as large as baseballs. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. It seemed that Destiny Porter was speechless, which did not happen often. I thought about repeating the same sentiment she’d just said to me, but instead of gloating I decided to simply enjoy it. Her long, dark lashes blinked up at me several times as her breath came in uneven pants and her hands felt like they’d gone all rigor mortis on my shoulders.
I had a truckload of other things about the past, present and possible future I was dying to tell her. But, knowing that now wasn’t the time, I decided I would let my words sink in while the lyrics drifted through the air. I gave her time to process while she stared up at me, looking more confused than a baby in a titty bar.
Finally, when her gaze softened, I flattened my hands over the velvety skin of her lower back and pulled her body against mine, closing the few inches of space that separated us.
She came willingly, but her posture remained stiff. I could feel her heart pounding as her chest rose and fell against mine. Her feet shuffled as we moved to the music, but the rest of her body stayed rigid as a mannequin.
Then, finally, she rested her head on my shoulder and swayed her hips against mine. When she melted into me I felt like I’d hit a walk-off homerun.
The scene was straight out of a movie and the song was the soundtrack as the music seamlessly transitioned into another Gilbert song, “Fall Into Me.” It could not have been more perfect if I’d planned it myself. The lyrics of the song mirrored what I felt to a tee.
As I held Destiny in my arms on the dance floor, the entire world faded away. All that existed was the two of us. My thumb rubbed circles on her smooth skin as I tightened my hold on her. A feeling I didn’t even recognize flooded me, mixing with the intense arousal flowing through my bloodstream.
At first, I thought the foreign emotion was excitement, but it was more than that. Then I figured it was happiness because I was finally holding the only girl I’d ever wanted in my arms. It was definitely part anticipation for what would happen next. And I was feeling all three of those things: excitement, happiness, and anticipation. But I knew what those felt like, and this was different.
Then it hit me. It was contentment. It was feeling like I was in the exact right place at the exact right time, doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I couldn’t remember ever having felt like that.
My body was responding naturally to the fullness of Destiny’s breasts pressed against me. Her hipbone brushing mine as we moved to the music. I was so hard that, if I didn’t have a permanent imprint of my zipper on my shaft, I would be shocked. But it would be worth it because this was exactly where I was supposed to be.