Fall From Grace(25)

He looked over at me and smiled, “Ready?”

I tried to hide my horror of being stuck with him.  I don’t think I did a great job. “Uh...yeah...sure.”

He chuckled, grabbed my coat and handed it to me.  “Don’t worry, I won’t try anything, unless you’ve change your mind.”

I shot him a look.

He put his hands up in the air as if a surrender.  “Yeah, Grace I got it.  You’ll never have sex with me.  Right.  I know.  Maybe I’ll make up a few tee-shirts so there’ll be no confusion for anyone who thinks my dysfunctional ass can’t just innocently flirt.”

I put my coat on, stuck my tongue at him and walked out the door with everyone.  Could he even be capable of flirting innocently?

Shane followed me down the steps and we walked down the block in silence until we got to the corner.  “Thank you for helping.”

I looked up to him to see his expression, but there was none.  No hidden meaning.  Just a thank you.  “No problem.  Conner and his friends are very special to Lea, and I’d do anything for her.”  I looked ahead again.  “Besides, it’s just handing out a few flyers.  I’m not playing a guitar for him, just helping you guys find someone who can.”

“Yeah, that would be a hoot.  Watching those delicate little hands of yours playing Alex’s heavy riffs, now that would be hysterical to see.”

I glanced up at him, but made no attempt to tell him I could play.  I walked right over my pride and kept my mouth shut.

Taking Alex’s place would cause people to ask questions about my past, and I just needed to move forward to find what I was looking for. Lea’s friends were nice enough, but not worth me baring my soul in front of everyone.

We walked through the East side, hitting all the bars that held live bands.  He regaled me with stories of all the guys when they were in high school, but never talked about himself.  Before I knew it, we were sitting in a quiet corner in Boozer’s, sipping beers and snacking on cheese fries with Alex who never went home, just straight to the bar.  The waitress had given him a straw for his beer, so he wouldn’t hurt himself any further.  Not long after we arrived, Conner and Lea showed up.  Brayden and Ethan strolled in last, followed by Tucker, who was feverishly trying to explain to the both of them that he couldn’t play guitar for them on Friday, because he had a date with the hottest girl of his dreams.  When he saw me, his cheeks turned deep red. He obviously hadn’t known I would be there to hear that.

“Hey, Tucker,” I nodded.

Tucker’s eyes brightened when I said hello.  He smiled broadly.  “Hey, Grace.”  He moved through everyone, pushed Shane’s chair over, with him still sitting on it and pulled up a chair next me.  “Hey, Shane, you don’t mind right?”

Shane shrugged Tucker off, but for a fleeting second, I saw a tightness settle around his ice blue eyes.

Tucker’s expression was full of elation at the sight of me.  A brief thought flew through my mind. Could Tucker be the one I was looking for?  Maybe I needed to give him a chance; maybe I had missed something?

“Wow, Tucker.  What are you, like 12?” Alex teased.

Tucker smiled bashfully at me.  “Dude, I just want to sit next to the prettiest girl in the bar, that’s all.”

I smiled up at him.  He couldn’t be the one I was looking for, could he?  Give him a chance.  Give him a chance.

Alex laughed at him.  “Tuck, you think she looks pretty now?  God, you should have seen her in her little pink teddy bear pajamas before.  It made me start thinking of very indecent things,” Alex whistled and gave me a wink.