Saving Grace

  Shane leaned his back on the wall and folded his arms over his chest, "And don't forget offering naked lunch breaks in your office."

  Tucker stormed out of the kitchen, "You can't have all the beautiful girls Shane, it's not fair. I'm going out to the bar to hang out with Bliss; you guys are boring the shit out of me!"

  Shane looked at me and laughed, "Oh, and to answer your question, I think his mother definitely threw him against the wall. And I fucking love that your hands are balled into fists about to bash his face in." He grabbed the soda that Tucker left and helped me bring the bag of half-popped popcorn and some bowls of chips into the living room.

  Before Conner started the third movie, Silence of the Lambs, I ran to use the bathroom. As I walked into the hallway, I could feel the temperature drop and the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. I opened the door to Gabriel leaning against the wall; eyes ablaze, "Do you think having a babysitter everywhere you go will stop me?"

  I slammed the door in his face. I walked back into the living room and Lea gave me a curious look. "Can you ... um ... come with me into the bathroom for a minute?"

  She arched her brows and nodded her head.

  Gabriel wasn't there when we went inside. Interesting. I think I may never want to pee alone again. I told Lea, and of course being my best friend, she agreed.

  The last thing I remembe red was the ending credits to the next movie and Shane laying a soft blanket over me as I curled into a ball on the chair. I had the best dreamless, Gabriel-less sleep of my life.

  I woke to the sound of rain pelting against the old glass panes of my living room window at nine in the morning. The room was lit only by the soft glow of the cloudy sky that peeked through the open curtains. Sleeping bodies lay around the room, quietly snoring. Shane was on the chair across from me, his head leaning back, eyes closed. His shirtless chest rose and fell slowly with each sleeping breath. It was hard to look away from him.

  Alex was stretched out across the couch hugging a pillow and Brayden was on the floor next to him. I wanted to ask these guys to sleep here every night so Gabriel would leave me alone.

  The light in the kitchen was on and I smelled my favorite morning aroma: coffee. Ethan was sitting at the table with a giant brown paper bag full of fresh bagels. He was slathering one with butter when I walked in. "Hey you," he smiled looking up at me. "How are you feeling?"

  "Like I was never sick," I replied laughing back at him.

  "Everything okay between you and Shane now? Doesn't look like you two are trying to kill each other anymore," he asked as he placed a plate in front of me. "I just bought them, they're still warm and you need to eat. I'm starting to see right through you."

  I poured myself a mug of coffee and sat at the table with him, completely ignoring the question about Shane. The last thing I needed was for Ethan to make fun of me for being one of those stupid girls that fall all over Shane's feet. Choosing a plain bagel, I sliced it open and buttered it. I cut it in half and dunked it in my coffee and then took a bite.

  "You dunk your bagel?"

  "Yeah, I could dunk just about anything in coffee or milk, don't knock it 'til you try it," I smiled, mouth full of food.

  He laughed his deep bellowing laugh, dunked his own bagel in his coffee, and took a bite. "Umm...pretty good," he laughed.

  The sharp ring of the doorbell interrupted our conversation, thank God, because I didn't want to hear anything Ethan had to say about Shane.

  I heard Shane's voice talking to someone at the front door. I dropped my breakfast and walked out into the hallway to see who was at the door.

  Shane stood in the front doorway, eyes brilliantly blue against the cloudy background of the street behind him. Two muscular men were carrying in what looked like a piece of boxed up furniture. "Down the hall last door on the left," Shane was explaining. Um, that would be my bedroom. Why was he sending strange muscular men into my bedroom with giant boxes? Not that a girl should be complaining about that...

  Noticing me in the doorway to the kitchen, Shane's face lit up with the most amazing smile I'd ever seen on him. Oh crap, I'm so far gone my knees are weak. "You have a delivery," he smirked as he strolled over to me.

  I could still hear Alex snoring in the living room. "But, I didn't order anything," I explained.

  Shane grabbed me by the waist and planted a soft kiss on my temple, "Yeah, but I did." He directed me back into the kitchen, hands stills holding onto my hips, "Finish your breakfast." My waist tingled when he took his hands away.

  Ethan nodded to Shane when we walked back into the kitchen, "Bagels," he grunted. "We were just going to have a nice little discussion about you," he winked in my direction.

  Why was it that it was such a joy in all my friend's lives to be so much in my business?

  Shane paused and his eyebrows raised, "Do I even want to know?"

  Ethan's smile widened and he sat back folding his arms behind his head, taunting Shane. "Probably not, dude." He smirked at me and asked, "Hey, you're going to the show tonight right?"

  "Ugh, I don't really want to," I groaned.

  Ethan gave Shane a weird look and Shane just shrugged.

  "What the hell is all the banging?" Alex yawned as he walked into the kitchen with Brayden following. "Bagels! Damn I'm staying here tonight too, if we get breakfast every morning!"

  "I got the bagels, dilweed," Ethan laughed. "And I bought them for Lea and Grace to thank them for letting us stay here."

  Alex gave me a little puppy dog smile, "Oh yeah, thanks Grace. That was the first night this whole week I've slept."

  Brayden sighed, "Well, I'm definitely going to stay here until those crazy girls leave, I can't take much more of the partying."

  "You guys are always welcome to stay here," I said.

  One of the muscular guys who went into my room came into the kitchen, "Excuse me, sir?"

  Shane jumped up, walked the gentleman into the hallway, and disappeared for about twenty minutes while we all laughed and finished our breakfast. Within five minutes of watching me, I had all the guys dunking their bagels into their coffees. Ethan leveled a stare at me, "I guess we'll continue our discussion later."

  When Shane came in all the guys looked to him waiting. Okay, what the hell is going on?

  A huge smile broke out across his face, "Okay boys, bring her in!"

  I was then carried, YES CARRIED, by Ethan, Brayden and Alex (who I swear copped a feel of my boobs) into my bedroom, which was newly furnished with a brand new cherry wood sleigh bed and dresser. I was thrown onto the bed. Did I mention it was king sized? And had new sheets and a pale pink comforter on top.

  "Surprise!" the idiots yelled.

  My band chipped in and bought me a new bedroom set. Holy crap, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

  We spent the rest of my day, the five of us, my band, my friends, my boys, jumping on my bed and singing along to Shane and I playing guitar. So far, best day ever.

  Around three o'clock, Shane disappeared into the kitchen and thirty minutes later the smell of onion and peppers frying wafted through the apartment. Alex, Ethan, Brayden and I, eyed each other and ran for the kitchen. Shane stood in front of the stove pouring a can of dark red kidney beans into a pot and stirred.

  "Yeah, bro!" Alex cheered. "Is that your chili I smell?" He ran up behind Shane and looked into the pot. "Woowhoo, Shane's showing off his cooking skills, and we're reaping the benefits!"

  Lea came home from work with handfuls of shinny glittery bags from her favorite clothing store. I knew I was going to get in trouble with something in one of those bags, Lea and I always bought each other clothes when we shopped alone. "Holy delicious aroma, Batman! What is that smell?"

  It was the best damn chili I'd ever tasted.

  Shane sat next to me and stole glances at me the whole time. When he was finished eating, he leaned back against his chair and hooked his ankle around mine under the table. Every now and then, he would lean a little closer to me and touch his
hand against mine under the table. My heart swelled every time he did, but I also couldn't help notice that he went out of his way to hide every time he touched me from the others. And I sat there and thought back to all the other times he touched me, it was always like that, he hid it from the rest of the band. Even when we went out with Conner and Lea, he hadn't kissed me on the dance floor, only in the dark living room when everyone was asleep. Even waking up with him yesterday, when everyone was there, all he did was whisper things into my ear; he made it always look so innocent. The only person who had ever witnessed anything was Lea.

  After dinner, Brayden and Alex left to help Vixen4 set up for the show. Lea and I took turns showering in the back bathroom and honestly, I don't even want to know how the guys got ready.

  As soon as I stepped out of the shower, she was in my face, "Did you sleep with him? What's going on?" she squealed as she jumped up and down wrapped in her towel.

  "Almost, but someone interrupted us when the pizza came," I scolded.

  "Oh, sorry. Wow, I thought you guys looked a little flushed." She narrowed her eyes at me and pursed her lips, "Wait, so what happened with Bliss? Didn't you say...?"

  I ran the towel through my hair and brushed the tangles out. "I didn't ask him." She gave me a disgusted face and I sighed, "Lea, do I really want to know exactly what happened? He had to have slept with her, he's Shane. Yes, I was beyond pissed at him. But then, he does crap like stay with me for three days, holds me all night and buys me a new bedroom set. I'm so confused my damn head is spinning."

  We wrapped ourselves in our robes and I let her drag me into my room where my bed was piled with shiny new clothing bags. "What do you think you're going to do?"

  "Crap, Lea, I have no idea. Part of me wants to run away from him so it doesn't hurt when he stops the attention. But a bigger part of me is scared that Gabriel is going to do something crazy and I end up really only having a week left, and Lea, I want to spend every last minute with Shane."

  "Holy shit, you're in love with him," she whispered.

  I stared back at her, not blinking and definitely not denying her words.

  She cleared her throat and a wickedly devilish smile spread on her lips, "Then you'll definitely need to wear the new outfits I bought us today."

  I giggled, "Yeah, why is that?" I asked reaching for the first bag.

  "Because, then Shane's not going to even know any other girls exist when he sees you tonight."

  The first thing I pulled out of the bag was a sheer tank top and matching panties. Holy see-through undies! I, um, tried it own right away and gawked at myself in the mirror. Did Lea shop at an adult porn store?

  Sheer naughtiness sparked in her eyes when we heard Shane call my name and knock on my door. She nodded her head and whispered, "Open it. Let him take a peek at you in that outfit before he goes to the bar." She pushed me towards the door (like I needed to be pushed, I practically jumped in front of it!) "Believe me, no girl will ever be able to erase the memory of you wearing that!"

  Lea wrapped herself in her robe and pretended to busy herself in my closet. I swung the door open and seductively leaned against it. The ultimate badass looked like he was having a heart attack. Shane's eyes glossed over and his lips parted. His gaze looked frantically over my body like he needed to see every part of me all at once. He sucked his breathe in and bit down on his bottom lip. I walked out into the hallway with the tiny sheer tank top on and strutted past him. I knew exactly what I was doing; I had no bra on, and the man bit his bottom lip harder looking at me like his next meal was being served. My fingers brushed along his as I walked past and a burst of prickly heat spread across my shoulders and chest. I didn't yank my hand back and neither did he, we just watched each other. His eyes were so intense my body trembled. "I was just getting dressed, what did you want?" I whispered.

  Shane's eyes traveled slowly down my face and my neck, settling on my breasts. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and took a long deep breath. When he opened them again his eyes were so dilated, I could see no more blue. "I was going to run home to change and meet up with you guys at the bar," his breath was low and husky. "Damn, Grace. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you. You're beyond exquisite. You're perfect."

  I knew damn well that this man probably held a PhD in complimenting women, and had major practice making every girl feel desirable, but God forgive me for being weak, the pleasure of his words surged through my flesh.

  I leaned in closer to him and smiled, "Okay, I'll see you there."

  "Please don't wear that shirt to the bar," he begged.

  I closed the door smiling at him, "See you at the bar, Shane."

  I leaned up against the closed door panting. Lea ran over to me giggling, "Holy crap, Grace! You are a PORN STAR!" She jumped up and down, "He is so yours! Oh, my God what are you going to do?"

  A loud thump slammed against the door and I knew Shane just whacked his forehead against the wood. We heard him growl and storm down the hallway yelling for Conner not to let me out of the apartment if he could still see my goods when I was done dressing.

  Lea giggled and threw herself on my bed, "What are you going to do?"

  "I think I'm about to press my self destruct button," I laughed.

  Lea smiled, "You know, Grace, I don't care what you think and what you say. I don't think anything happened between him and Bliss and we know he didn't do anything with Marie. I think that man doesn't see anybody but you." She folded her hands on her lap and her eyes softened, "You know, that's the fairy-tale I'd write for yo u, Grace. You and Shane. One hot rock star badass and one beautiful rock star badass with a happily ever after."

  I walked past my closet laughing at her romantic thoughts. From the opening of the door a cold breeze washed along my arms and Gabriel's dark voice whispered into my ear, "Oh Grace my love, don't forget my part in the fairy-tale. I'll be the character that slaughters all your friends and captures your heart. The End."

  Chapter 25

  From Lea's goodie bags, I chose a small ripped up denim skirt that hung low on my hips, and a deep purple halter top that tied into a knot behind my neck and along the small of my back keeping my whole back completely bare. Thank God, it was skin tight to hold me in because there was no wearing a bra with a shirt like that. I was terrified to look at myself in the mirror thinking the outfit would be way too slutty, but it looked elegant, especially when my wavy hair cascaded down around me to my waist like a fancy silky black shawl.

  "I hate you," Lea teased fixing her long dark blonde hair like mine. I thought she looked even better than me. She wore almost the same outfit as I did, but a darker denim skirt and a crimson red top. She looked stunning.

  By the time we finished putting on our make-up, Conner was waiting by the front door with three gigantic umbrellas, lightning brightened the sky through the open door behind him. Venturing out into the rain, I took a deep breath of the moist city air and my butterflies woke up. I loved when it rained in the city, the smell of the grass and trees from Central Park hung thick in the air and the hint of the first wildflowers of spring tickled my nose. We walked to Boozer's silently, all three of us knowing all too well that an entire night with Vixen4 was going to be the longest night of our lives. Thank God I could go home anytime I wanted to, and hopefully not alone. But I wasn't stupid, this was the last night Vixen4 was going to be in New York. They were continuing their year-long tour in all the major cities of the U.S. and I knew Bliss was going to try her best to keep Shane and me away from each other all night and all to herself. The thought of his hands on some other girl, especially Bliss, made the vomit rise to my throat.

  Outside of Boozer's, a line of people getting soaking wet wrapped around the block while music spilled out of the front doors. Marty the front door bouncer waved us in and patted Lea and I on the ass as we walked past. "Looking good ladies," he called. Ew. I swear Conner just laughed.

  Brayden and Alex sat at our usual table and Conner walked over to them while Lea
and I went right to the bar.

  Ryan sauntered over and slid us two cold beers. He leaned over the bar and planted a kiss on my cheek. "You two look amazing," he said.

  "Thanks Ry," we both said at the same time. He laughed and walked away to make drinks for the rest of the patrons. Lea and I turned around leaning on the bar and looked out into the crowd.

  "Wow, Boozer's hasn't been this packed since the last time you played. Business really slowed down for them while you were in the hospital and Shane was away."

  I listened to her talk as I watched a spiked-hair browned eyed guy try to make eye contact with me. He smiled when he finally caught my attention and pushed his way through the crowd to come over to me. "Holy Playgirl Batman! Do you ever attract normal looking guys? Damn, if Shane sees this guy talking to you he's going to flip," Lea whispered to me.

  "Huh? What are you even thinking right now? Like I'm the type of person to forget about someone I'm in love with and let a guy pick me up in a..." I stared at Lea. "Wait a second. You know something and you're not telling me and holy crap, I just said I loved Shane out loud." I brought my beer to my lips and gulped. Very un-lady-like, I know.

  She smiled at the oncoming stud and hissed, "I told you, I really think Shane is in love with you."

  "Think or know," I tightly smiled back, butterflies wreaking havoc along my insides.

  Spiked-haired stud leaned against the bar and smiled down at me with twinkling eyes. He looked at me from head to toe smirking and then said hello to my chest. I'm not lying, he talked right to my chest and didn't look back up. God where is Shane?

  Almost like he could feel my thoughts of him, Shane walked through the crowd but stilled when he saw me. I smiled at him and his body relaxed.

  The man standing next to me lowered his face to my chest; again, I'm not lying, and said, "Hi, I'm Luke."

  I glared at him. "Are you actually hoping my boobs are going to talk back to you? Do you think they'll tell you my name?"

  Lea laughed so hard she spit her beer across the bar, and it didn't even faze me because it's not the first time that's happened.