Fall From Grace(34)

His eyes tore away only when Ethan’s voice cut through the room, “That was the most intense song I’ve ever heard, dude!  That was crazy!  Play that again and lemme find a good beat.”

Shane looked back at me with no expression on his face.  “Yea, sure, Ethan.”  They composed the song right in front of me.  Shane hadn’t looked at me again for the rest of the time. The strange personal moment he shared with me was over.

Sometime later, Brayden and Alex arrived and smiled at me.  Brayden walked up behind me and hugged me, “Hey, Grace, it’s nice to see a pretty face down here.”

“Dude, I resent that.  I have a very pretty face,” Ethan chimed in.

Band practice turned out to be both entertaining and relaxing.  An unfamiliar feeling of contentment settled over me.  I stayed until my hunger overtook me, having not eaten since that morning.  I said my goodbyes and walked out quietly. Shane never looked up from his guitar; just gave me a low, “Night Grace.”

As I reached the stairs, I heard Shane call from behind me.  He jogged over to me, hands running through his messy hair.  “Sorry, I get really involved in there.”

“Why would you be sorry?  Listening to you guys play was epic.  The music sounds even better without all the screaming half-naked girls,” I teased.

His smile was amazing.  We walked up the stairs to the front door.  “I’ll walk you home.”

“That’s not necessary, go back to practice,” I insisted.  Oh, but I want him to take me home.  Shut up, shut up.  Do not think about Shane like that!

“I’ll walk her home for you,” a voice said.  A cold wind whipped through the front doors that Tucker was just coming through.  His hair was slicked back and he was dressed in a long winter overcoat; unbuttoned it flaunted his Gucci suit.  His briefcase matched.  I didn’t even bother to look at his shoes, no doubt they’d be made of gold.

“That’s okay, it’s only a few blocks.” I said.

“Well, it’s dark out and a beautiful girl like you should have someone to protect her,” Tucker replied.  His smile was genuine.  Protect me?  This was coming from the guy who ripped the button off my pants?  “I’ll get her home, Shane. You can go back to practice.”

Shane’s smile tightened; again.  “Great.  Thanks Tuck.  Night, Grace,” he said walking back down the stairs.

Tucker held the doors open for me and I was blasted with icy cold air.  He ushered me out, “So, funny meeting you here,” he smiled down at me.  “Are you cold? Come here.”  He lifted his arm and wrapped it around my shoulder.

“Oh, that’s okay.  I’m fine,” I said sliding out of his grasp.

Tucker didn’t miss a beat; dropping his hands to my waist.  “I don’t mind.  It’s not every day that I get to walk down the street with a beautiful woman.”

I stared straight ahead.  “Thanks.”

“So what were you doing here with Shane, anyway?”

“I was watching the guys practice.  Why?”

“Oh, shit!  I’m supposed to practice with them after work, which is now!  Why the f*ck is it every time I have something I want to do, these *s have to depend on me to do other things!”  His anger seemed extremely misplaced.  He even threw down his Gucci bag.  Holy crap, he’s having a tantrum!

I tried to smile, “Tucker, I live like two blocks away.  You go help them, I’m fine.”