Saving Grace (30 page)

Lea snickered, "I'm going to hit that girl so hard she'll have to take off her shoes to shit!"

Mollie and Marie crowded in next to us at the bar. Marie gave me a tight smile, "He's a jerk."

Two blonde
girl
s,
who were standing next to us listening t
o everything that just happened,
giggled loudly. The taller
one
leaned across Mollie and asked me, "Is that Shane from Mad World?"

We all nodded
still looking in the direction of the back rooms.

The smaller blonde sighed loudly, "Wow, he's like, a real rock star."

She looked up to the taller blonde who was smiling dreamily towards the back rooms, "Uh huh, I'll have two of them, please." She craned her neck to look at me, "Was that his girlfriend? How hard do you think it would be for me to get him
to take me home
?"

"Are you serious right now?" I asked. "You could probably open a damn seafood house with all the crabs he probably has," I hissed.

Lea smiled sweetly at the girls, "Honestly
,
he has a really tiny penis, believe me I've seen it. It's like, smaller than my pinky. He's my boyfriend's best friend and he stays with us all the time.
I've
seen it
.
" She held up her pinky for the two girls to see.

Marie leaned in, "
Wel
l,
you know he's gay, right?"

Mollie nodded her head, "Yeah, he's in a serious relationship with his keyboardist Alex." She shrugged her shoulders, "Don't tell them
we're saying anything to you, they don't want their fans to know."

The two girls walked away shaking their heads.

"Wow, we are four insane, petty, little liars. Aren't we?" I laughed.

Mollie crossed her arms and huffed, "Girl, I'd just about say anything to keep any of those disgusting barflies away from Alex."

I smiled at Mollie, "Looks like he's checking you out right now," I nodded towards our table to Alex who was eyeing Mollie. "Go on, Mollie. Go
take
his order," I laughed. Lea, Marie and I
pulled her to our
table, untied her apron,
and sat her next to Alex. "You're on a break for a few minutes," I winked at her and sauntered back up to the bar
alone
.

Ryan held an empty shot glass in front of my face and waved it back and forth in front of my face. "You look like you need a shot. Everything okay?"

"Yes to both questions," I
replied.

He poured my favorite whiskey into the glass and I watched the lights of the bar reflect off the surface of the liquid. I slung the drink back and cherished the burn as it slid down my throat. I motioned for Ryan to give me another one, there was no use staying sober tonight, I didn't want to remember anything that happened or was happening with Sha
ne and any girl other than me
. I drank my next shot and slammed the glass hard against the bar.

"Damn
,
what did that shot glass ever do to you?"
Shane
's
voice asked next to me. A loud cursing Bliss was behind him, I swear
,
frothing at the mouth.

"
Ew
, Shane," I said pointing at Bliss's weird expression. "Was your dick just in that?"

"Definitely not."

"Don't
li
e
,
Shane. Let's go back there and finish what you started," she purred to him as she slid h
er
hands up his chest.

His whole body stiffened at her touch and he yanked her hands off him. "Why don't you stop lying and go get ready for your show. And stop the junk
you
're
shoving up your nose
too, you're driving us all crazy."

She pushed at his chest and stormed off cursing at him.

"Wow, what did you do to her that got her so angry with you?" I didn't want to make a scene, but holy crap did I want to start screaming at him.

Shane rolled his eyes at me and shook his head. "It's not what I did
Grace;
it's what I wouldn't do with her."

I slammed back my third shot wanting him to shut the hell up.
"Shane Maxton
saying no to a girl,
isn't that unheard of?
She's pretty
hot
Shane
,
what gives?" I said as I stood up to face him. My hands clenched into fists at my sides and it took everything in me to stand there and wait for him to break my heart
,
to my face.

"She's not you," he whispered looking right into my eyes. He slanted his body so close to me I felt heat burn off his body into mine, "Grace, I still
have the taste of you on my tongue and the
feel of your body in my arms, you're not easy to get off my mind. As a matter of fact
,
I haven't thought about anything else since I first laid my eyes on you."

I stepped away from him just from the sheer intensity of the look he gave me. It rolled over my entire body like slow waves and I wanted to swim in the waters forever.

He raked his hands through his hair, "No matter what I say Grace
,
you'll never believe in me, you'll never know the real me." Shane
dropped his hands heavily to his sides and walked away backwards from me
,
giving me a look
like I just kick
ed
his puppy clear across the bar.
What the hell just happened?
I needed to find if there was anything that happened between him and Bliss
before I r
a
n after him
.

In the background, somewhere in the rest of the bar, Vixen4 took the stage and started playing a mix of hard rock and alternative
shitty
music. Bliss's voice screamed into the microphone and I truly wondered if all the people here in the bar that paid to see them were deaf.

I turned around to the bar again and without saying a
word,
Ryan placed another shot in front of me. I grabbed the glass and walked over to the
table w
he
re all my friends sat, all my friends except for Shane. I had no idea where he walked
off to.

Slumping into the chair next to Ethan
,
I placed my drink on the table and stared at it.
A thick arm wrapped itself heavily around my shoulders and Ethan's head appeared
in front of
mine. "
You okay?
Let me guess, Shane? Are you still pissed at him? I thought you guys were tight again.
"

I fixed an unblinking stare at him trying desperately not to show any reaction.

"What happened last band practice anyway? What the hell was that about?"

I shrugged. Everyone around me was drinking, laughing and talking. I just wanted to go home, but I knew I wouldn't be alone. Gabriel would be there. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Just waiting for you to answer me about Shane. Last time I saw you two together was at band practice and I thought you were going to kick his ass every time he talked to you.
Then he's taking care of you when
you're
sick, and now you look like you're fighting again.
" He pulled his chair closer to me and nudged me with his elbow. "I thought we were like best buds. Talk."

I cracked up. "You sound like Lea now." I looked in his brown eyes hoping he wouldn't start making fun of me then just sighed and went for it
, "
I got pissed off because he messed around with Bliss." I held my hand up to him
so he wouldn't say anything, "And before you start yelling at me about it, believe me I know I'm an idiot, I've turned into one of his stupid groupies."

Ethan slumped his huge shoulders closer to me
, "
Grace, you two have some sort of unspoken thing between you. Everybody can see it. You guys do more than write music together, it's like everyone is watching you have this intense sexual experience with each other through your guitars. Put yourselves out of misery and just get together already." He sat back and smirked, "Oh, and sweetheart
,
I know for a fact Shane never touched Bliss, not even when we were kids. They are like our annoying little troublemaking sisters."

I was rendered speechless. Not like me at all.

"You know, he thought that's why you were pissed off at him
at practice
. And you know what, I know I said a lot of crap about him to you, but Grace, I've known him my whole life, he's met his match, he's done. He hasn't even noticed any other girls since he saw you that first night. An
d I think he's tried to, but he
just can't, it just always comes back to you."

"Well, she just hauled him into one of the back rooms and he went with her and..."

"
Sto
p,
Grace, I was with them.
Nothing
happened.
That man hasn't been with anyone since he made me chase after the beautiful girl he saw with the silver eyes. He may have stupi
dly kissed girls in front of you
t
o get you
pissed off, but only because he thought you were with me.
Grace, I've talked to him. Trust me.
"

I gave Ethan a small tight smile; my body was in complete shock.
Shane wasn't with Bliss. Holy crap. Holy crap. I was so in love with him I felt
lightheaded
.
I couldn't catch my breath and I sat there panting.

Vixen4 continued their assault on my ears
.

Noticing my zoned out demeanor
,
Lea, Mollie and Marie dragged me onto the dance floor and
made
me dance. Bliss screeched into the microphone about how much love hurt and I couldn't believe
it, but
I
agreed with her.

After a few
songs,
Ryan jumped over the bar and riled the guys
up
enough to dance with us. Mollie grabbed Alex, Lea danced with Conner (of course) and Marie jumped in
Brayden's
arms. Ryan
gripped my waist and pulled me up against him. I danced one song with him and feigned needing a drink to get away. When the song
ended,
Vixen4 said their goodnights, anyway. Bliss screamed a
slew
of profanities at the audience and they cheered her on.

I asked Lea to go to the bathroom with me and I told her everything Ethan said.
Her lips curled up into a smile and shoved me out of the bathroom, "Then what the hell are you still doing in here with me? Go snag your Badass!"

We walked out of the bathroom arm in arm and stopped when we reached the dance floor. The crowds thinned out a bit and most of the people sat at tables drinking and talking
. Shane leaned up against the bar
,
a bottle of tequila next to him.
And
I'm struggling for air as soon as I see him
.

"Oh shit," Lea snapped.
I look at her to see what she was cursing about but she was
looking st
raight at Shane. And then I saw
her
.
Bliss wa
s standing next to him. She
held his hand and sprinkled salt over it then bent down to lick the salt away. His eyes shot straight to mine, a slow
seductive smile played on his lips. Bliss tilted her head
back, drank her shot, squeezed the lemon over her mouth,
and licked her fingers. His eyes were still locked on mine
ignoring everything she did
.

"Oh, that's it," Lea said.
"I'm
gonna
..."

I placed my hand over her mouth and she looked at me wide eyed. "I got this," I said smiling. "Come on, watch."

I sashayed over to him, never taking my eyes off his. When I got close to
them,
he nodded at me and Bliss defiantly crossed her arms and widened her stance. "Get
los
t,
Grace, Shane and I want to be alone."

I slithered up closer to him until I could feel his breath
hot
on my skin. "Well, I was just going to tell you that you're doing your shots all wrong." I reached my arm past his body for a lemon leaning my chest against his. His breath faltered. I reached behind him with my other hand, sliding my chest along his, and poured some tequila into his shot glass leaving it on the edge of the bar.