Fall From Grace(26)

Tucker looked down at me and raised one eyebrow.  “Hmmm.  Damn, I miss all the good stuff.”

“Oh yeah,” Alex continued.  “She looked all sweet and innocent.  I just wanted to corrupt her.”

Lea softly chuckled, watching Alex flirt with me.  “Corrupt her?  What were you thinking of doing?  Show her the smallest penis in the world?  Make her dislike men forever?”

Shane choked on his beer laughing.  “Yeah, dude.  One night with you and she’ll run screaming to a convent.”

Alex laughed along with Shane, “Ahh.  You’re probably right.  But, sorry Grace, watching you in those little pink pajamas, put pictures in my mind of how freaky I’d get with you.”

Everyone laughed.

As always, Lea took it a step further.  “So, Alex, what kind of freaky things go on in your place?  Hmm?  What’s the freakiest thing you’ve ever done?”  I think she asked the question to embarrass him, but it didn’t work well.  His face reddened, his eyes widened, and a huge smile broke out on his face.  This was going to be a horrible conversation!

“I love bondage. I’d love to spank you, Lea,” he said to embarrass her right back.  “But what I’d really love is to know what freaky things you get up to, Lea,” Alex replied politely. “And you too, Grace.”  Somehow, I knew this line of questioning was going to turn to us.

I laughed and gave him a wink.

Conner threw a handful of cheese fries at Alex.  “Leave my girl’s freakiness outta your thoughts!” He laughed.

Shane leaned across the table and crossed his arms.  “Okay, Lea’s off limits, because she’s Conner’s girl.  I’d like to hear about Grace, though.”

Tucker pushed Shane so hard that he almost shoved him off his chair.  “Real nice, ass!”

I glared at Shane, who gave me an innocent look.

With the most serious expression I could make, I joked, “Some of my close friends have called me Black Widow, because after I sleep with someone, I kill them.”

Shane looked at me evenly, matching my serious expression, “I have no doubt in my mind that you have had that effect on men, since I feel like I’ve died every time you’ve smiled at me.”

I looked away and tried to gather up my composure.  The way Shane just said what he did had made me feel uncomfortable.  It felt more than some guy just trying to get in my pants.  I grabbed a few of the empty bottles off the table, walked toward the trash, and tossed them in.  I walked up to the bar and ordered something a little harder than beer; I wanted my insides to burn.

“May I have a shot of Jack, please?”  I threw a few twenties on the bar.  I figured I’d stay at the bar for a few minutes.  It felt safer to do a couple of shots than try to figure out why Shane was trying to make me feel uncomfortable.  Or, why it was getting me uncomfortable.  How many times have I smiled at him?

“Hey, you okay?” Tucker’s voice materialized beside me.  He placed his hand on the small of my back and motioned for the bartender to pour two more shots.  “Shane just says things to see how people react to them.”

I picked up my second shot and he clinked his glass with mine.  “Shane doesn’t bother me.”

He nodded and smiled down at me, “Well, that’s good.  He just hardly ever meets a girl that doesn’t think he’s a rock star.  He’s a good guy, he just knows that there are a lot of women who want to be with him because of what he does, not who he is.  He’s not used to beautiful girls not paying attention to him.”