Fall From Grace(14)

“You’re a runner, huh?”

I made a stupid face at him.  “I said I was going for a run.  You assumed that I wasn’t man enough?” I snapped.

Shane shook his head at me and gave me an amused expression.  “Not many people surprise me, Grace, but you just surprised the shit outta me.”

Ignoring his statement, I got out my key and unlocked the front door.

I heard him sigh behind me.  “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, for I ne'er saw true beauty ‘til this night,” he murmured.

My hand released its grip from the doorknob and I looked back at him.  One arm rested on the railing of the stairs, the other lay over his heart.

“Shakespeare,” I whispered.

He nodded a sad smile at me and turned to walk away.

I opened the front door and stepped halfway inside.

“Hey, you coming to the bar tonight?” he called out after me.

I stopped and turned around, “Maybe, I don’t know. I have to see how I feel after a shower.”

A smile burst onto his face, making him more stunning than it was humanly possible.  “Do you need help with that?  I’d like to see how you feel after a shower too...”

I slammed the door on him, but I couldn’t help smiling.  Crap.

Less than an hour later, I was dressed in a pair of jeans, an off the shoulder sweater that Lea forced me to put on, and a pair of knee high leather boots that I had forgotten I bought last winter.

I was then locked in the bathroom and again forced to endure a complete hair and face make-over from Lea, who decided it would be her mission to get me to look, as she so eloquently put, doable.

My jet-black hair looked bouncy and wild, and she did the makeup around my eyes to make them look smoky and sexy.  Oh dear God, even I wanted to take me home!  She wasn’t going to stop until I went out on a date with someone.

This wasn’t the first time she did this either, it was probably more like the fifth.  Each time, I ended up going out with some guy who was nice, but who just wasn’t for me.  I hated this game.

“Lea, I don’t want to try to impress anyone, this isn’t me,” I said.

She rolled her eyes so expressively I thought they were going to pop out of her head.  “Gray, I could cover your face in shit and make you wear tampons as earrings and you still would be the hottest girl in the bar.  Besides me, of course.”

“So why am I getting all dressed up.  Where’s the shit and tampons?”

She slapped me across the shoulder playfully.  “Look, I just think you need to feel a little sexy and try to live a little, that’s all.”  She sat down on the edge of the bathtub and a serious expression crossed her face.  “Gray, all you got is me now.  I just want you to have fun.  Make this life the best you ever had.  And, you know who was asking a ton of questions about you?”

I pretended to care, “Hmm...who?”

“Tucker.  He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”

“Sure.  Come on.  Let’s go have some fun.”  I said pulling her out of the bathroom.

When we walked into the bar, the guys were already there.  Tucker and Conner sat with their backs to the empty stage and waved at us.  Shane was sitting on the right of them in between the longhaired drummer and bass player of his band.  Leaning against his chair with a beer in one hand and his guitar in the other, he looked relaxed.  I hoped that he was utterly exhausted from the run; it would serve him right.