Page 4 of Daddies’ Little Cubs (Ivory Mountain Daddies #3)
CHAPTER THREE
DESTINY
I t was the first day of classes and Destiny couldn’t help the nerves that she felt. Up until now, she always had Jessa around to make sure things went smoothly.
That’s different now that they are in college and are studying different things. It was time for Destiny to try and navigate the big world as much as she could alone. Being autistic made it difficult for Destiny to function around her peers.
She didn’t always understand the jokes people made, she had trouble initiating conversations with those around her, and the hardest thing for her to do was switch up a task without any heads up.
Change was hard for Destiny, which is why starting college was overwhelming. She was determined to make the best of it and to not hold back Jessa from having the full college experience.
Destiny walked over to the dress that she had laid out the night before. It was a lavender sundress with white daisies on it. She paired it with white vans and a pretty lavender bow for her hair.
She hated wearing pants. It was too constricting, so anytime she could be in a dress she would be. It was a pretty day for the first day of class so she was going to eat up as much of the sunshine as she could on her walk to class.
Speaking of class, Destiny looked over at the clock and noted she had a little over forty-five minutes to finish dressing, eat breakfast, and walk to her first class of the day which was English 102.
Going through the motions, she finished getting dressed for the day before slipping into bed with her twin. Her anxiety was elevated this morning and cuddling with Jessa was the quickest way to help bring that down.
One day she knew that this would have to stop, but today wasn’t that day. That meant she could take as many cuddles as she needed until that day came. Destiny laid there until Jessa’s alarm went off.
Wishing her sister a farewell, she headed out to her class. Destiny loved English. It was the one class that she always excelled at since she didn’t have to talk much to people and could just keep her face in a book.
Setting off down the sidewalk that led through the gardens, she reached out to touch the roses. Destiny loved the outdoors and enjoyed spending as much time outside as she could.
Not paying attention, Destiny’s world tilted as she tripped and fell. Pushing back the tears that were threatening to pour down her face, she looked around to see if anyone had seen what happened.
She let out a huge sigh of relief when no one was around to see her fall, she quickly stood up and tried to brush off as much of the gravel that she could from her dress.
Hissing when she came in contact with her knees, Destiny quickly assessed the damage before determining that she was okay enough to continue to class.
Paying attention closely to the ground around her, she focused on getting to class without any more problems and slid into the seat about three rows in. This was where she preferred to sit in every class.
It wasn’t too close to the front where she needed to worry about the teachers calling on her for things, but it wasn’t so far in the back that she would be distracted and not pay attention to what she was supposed to be learning.
The next two hours passed in a blur as Destiny tried to keep up with the material being thrown at her.
She had always done well in school, but college was already showing that it would be a little bit more difficult and she would need to be careful to make sure neither of them slacked off in their studies.
Packing up, Destiny decided to spend the next few hours at the library. Nothing better than getting ahead and studying some while she waited on her twin to get out of her classes for the day. They were going over to Rae’s house tonight to have dinner and continue to catch up on each other's lives.
Destiny stepped into the library and was in awe. After Jessa had told her that they got into IMU, she looked up the college and everything that it had to offer. The college website said that it was known for its library, but this was more than she was prepared for.
She knew that she would be spending a lot of time here over the course of the next few years. Feeling immediately at home, she made her way towards the back of the building to grab a study cubicle.
Pulling out her books for English, she started getting to work on the paper they had due in a few weeks. It was a research paper and nothing was worse than waiting till the last minute to start researching and writing.
After reading the rubric and picking out a topic, Destiny decided that she couldn’t hide here any longer and needed to go find the material she needed. Taking a deep breath, she slid out of her cubicle and headed towards the nature section of the library.
Frustrated, Destiny finally gave up after thirty minutes of searching for books to go with her topic. With a library this big, she thought that there would have been more books about the effects of global warming on animal extinction.
Knowing she could probably ask someone if she had the courage, she would find the information she was looking for. That was way too far out of her comfort zone though and she had already had enough going on today.
She sat back down at her desk and just stared at the papers in front of her. It wouldn’t be hard for her to go and talk to the librarian. She would get the answers she needed and then could go on with the rest of her evening.
Wishing that Jessa was around to do this for her, Destiny continued to give herself a pep talk. There was nothing for her to be scared or worried about.
It was a simple question and she could do it. If only she could bring herself to stand up and walk over to the front of the library.
Bribing herself with a treat later tonight, she slipped out of the chair again and made her way towards the front. She stopped at the edge of a bookshelf and just stood there unable to move forward.
Shaking her head, she quickly turned around and started to make her way back to her table. Groaning, she stopped again, having an internal battle with herself.
She promised that she would do better about stepping out of her comfort zone and being able to function on her own without having to rely on Jessa to help.
Destiny turned back the direction she had just come from and made her way again towards the front of the library. Stopping once more at the end of the bookshelf, she began to pick at the skin around her fingers.
Her anxiety was beginning to take over and the panic was spinning out of control. Why couldn’t she just be normal and could handle even the smallest tasks like this.
Her berating thoughts were quickly squashed when the sound of sin rang through her ears.
“Hey, Little lady. Is there something I can help you with?”
Destiny turned towards the deep and very sinful sounding voice and was met with the sexiest man she had ever seen.
“Everything okay?”
She continued to blink, unable to form words to respond to the man. Finally, shaking her head and forcing herself to speak, she responded “Uh, I think so?”
“You think so or you know so?”
“I’m not sure what I know at this point. Did you ask me something?”
“Sure did. I asked if you needed help with anything. I watched you walk back and forth a few times, never making it quite far enough to ask the question I could see burning behind those pretty brown eyes of yours.”
Destiny’s eyes widened. She was an idiot for thinking that no one was watching her internal battle about asking for help. It was time for her to quickly retreat before her embarrassment could get any worse.
“My name’s Jackson, I’m the head librarian here. So if there’s something you need, I’m the man for the job.”
Clearing her throat, she decided at this point there was no reason to not get the help to find the research that she needed.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Destiny. I am looking for books on the topic I picked for my research paper.”
“Okay, I think I can help with that. What’s the topic?”
“I want to write about the effects that global warming has on animal population and extinction.”
Destiny watched as a grin stretched across his handsome face. No one should be as hot as he was, it was a crime to the rest of the population. Everyone else was inferior to his looks and it was down right rude.
“Let me show you.”
Destiny turned and followed Jackson towards a section of the library that held exactly what she was looking for. With a sigh of relief, she collected the books she needed before quickly thanking him and rushing back towards her table.
She didn’t miss the chuckle that she heard fall from his lips. Putting the books down, she gathered the points and research that supported her claim and focused on starting the rough draft of her paper.
Zoning out, she didn’t notice how much time had passed since she sat down. It wasn’t until there was a small bottle of water and a piece of chocolate placed on the table in front of her that she came back to reality.
“You hadn’t moved from this spot since you sat down and the last thing I want is a pretty Little girl like you to forget to take a break.”
Glancing at the man standing in front of her, she looked down at what he placed on the table and blushed.
“Uh, thank you. I tend to lose track of time when I’m focused on something.”
“No worries. It’s been cute to watch you working away over here.”
Destiny blushed again, turning away so that he didn’t see the grin spreading across her face. There was no way a man as hot as him was watching someone like her. She was a nobody.
Jackson cleared his throat, pulling her attention back towards him.
“Make sure you drink all of that, Little girl.”
She nodded her head and picked up the bottle before her brain could even process that she was following this man's instruction without hesitation. The smile he gave her was worth it though.
Destiny watched Jackson turn and make his way back towards the front of the library. Glancing down at her phone she realized that Jessa should be home by now and was probably wondering here she was.
Packing up her things and returning the books she was using to the return cart, Destiny headed towards the exit making sure to give a wave goodbye to Jackson on her way out. Something that the old Destiny never would have done.