Fall From Grace(68)

Behind the bar, Ryan lined up the shot glasses and set out salt, lemons and limes.  An onslaught of beautiful girls surrounded us, and our conversation ended when Alex noticed them.  Tucker and his work buddies also walked over to take advantage of the crowd of ladies that was forming.

With the swam of busty bimbos bombarding us, I felt claustrophobic.  Lea seemed to feel it too and she yanked Conner and me out of the middle of the crush of bodies. She elbowed me hard in the ribs and pointed to the far end of the bar.  Shane.

He stood alone, leaning his elbows back against the bar.  A bottle of tequila stood beside him with a single shot glass.  His hair was tousled, messy and incredibly sexy.  His dark tee shirt was tight and a tad raised from the way he was leaning.  A perfectly toned stomach peeked out.  He looked like a Greek god.  A Greek god whose eyes were glued on me.

A dark haired girl slithered up to him and brushed a piece of hair from his forehead, blocking his view of me.  They spoke for a few seconds and I watched his head shake and the girl walked away.  My guess was that she was ugly, but when she turned around to walk off, I saw that she wasn’t.  Another girl followed in her wake, a platinum blonde this time.  She also walked away with a rejected look on her face.

Lea gripped my arm and nodded towards Shane, “What do you think that’s about?”

I shrugged and looked to Conner for an answer.

Conner’s eyes squinted.  “Maybe he realizes that he wouldn’t be allowed to take someone back to your apartment, since that’s where he says we’re staying until that nut is caught.”  Now, that made sense.

Lea eyed me.  “Nah, I don’t think that’s it at all.  I think he’s got it bad for his new guitarist.  Did you see them up there, Conner?”

“No way,” I said.  “I like Conner’s explanation much more than yours.  It’s much safer for everyone involved!”

The three of us walked over to him.  He reached over the bar and pulled up three more shot glasses.  He slid them over the bar to us and reached over the bar again for the salt shaker and a handful of limes on a napkin.

The four of us each salted the back of our hands, took a shot and popped a lime in our mouths.  Lea pinched my waist and patted me on the shoulder.  She pushed Conner away from us and started a private conversation with him in whispers.  Giggling to each other, they walked off a bit down the bar to be more alone.

I knew exactly what she was up to; she wanted me to be alone with Shane.  Nice best friend, throwing me to the sharks.

Shane poured me another shot and gently took hold of my hand.  He stuck his pinky into my shot glass, slid his wet finger over the back of my hand, and then salted it.  I watched his hands on mine.  This is going to go from bad to holy crap in a minute.  My eyes rose to meet his.  I licked the back of my hand and tilted back my drink.

“I bet you make that taste like heaven,” he said.

I placed my glass back on the bar and looked down at it.  I turned back to him, tilting my head up, our faces so close.  “Shane, I watched you before.  You didn’t have to say no to those girls because you think you have to stay with me tonight.  You don’t have to stay over to babysit me instead of doing your usual thing.”

His face paled.  “That’s what you think?”  He turned around to face me; shifting his body closer to mine.  He blinked back a sullen look.

My cheeks burned.  “It’s what Conner said when he saw you standing here letting those girls walk away from you.”