Boycotts and Barflies (6 page)

He seemed amused as she stood in front of him, temporarily rendered mute by  his presence. “Yeah, I know. You already said that. Actually, you more or less  yelled it at me, but I still got the message. No harm. Apology accepted.” Two  people came up and stoo d behind him. Grace immediately recognized them as  his friends from the library, but the big guy with the black hair now sported a  nasty black eye. The one with the long blond hair leaned against the wall and  watched.

“Hey, Playboy, long time no see.” Grace laughed as the big guy came and stood  next to her. Playboy was the nickname that Meg and Bianca had given him after  she told them the story of his ridiculous quest to find porn at the public library. The look of confusion on his face was priceless, and it quickly changed into one  of panicked concentration. Grace could tell he was racking his brain trying to  place where he knew her from … a one night stand, school, the supermarket,  his apartment building … She could see him ticking off the possibilities in his  head at a rapid rate with no success.

In his defense, the last time he’d seen her, Grace’s hair had been up in a tight  bun, she’d had her glasses on, and she’d been standing on a stool in baggy  everyday clothes. Her loose ponytail and the much tighter gym clothes she was  currently wearing were likely throwing him off. Needing help, he looked over  at his friend with the baby blue eyes. But his friend was too busy looking

curiously at Grace as if he too was trying to figure out who she was. Grace

blushed under the intense scrutiny.

Needing a distraction, Grace glanced up at the tall blond who suddenly started

smiling widely. Apparently, he remembered her and was happy to sit back and

watch this little scene play out for his own amusement.

“Do I … did we … have we met before?” The big guy stammered after a few

hand gestures back and forth between himself and Grace.

“Yep,” she said smugly, nodding her head and dragging out his torture a bit

longer by not offering any additional information.

“Where did we meet?” he asked, completely puzzled.

“Well, you said it was your first time—” Grace started, stopping abruptly,

trying not to give too much away and also trying not to break out into a fit of

laughter when she realized the double meaning in her reply. She mea nt his first

38

time at the library, but then she stopped, making their acquaintance sound

rather … intimate.

The tall blond was leaning against the wall, openly laughing now. Grace saw his friend with sexy blue eyes glance over at him and then glance back at her, still trying desperately to put the pieces together and figure out the joke he was missing out on before Playboy caught on.

Grace gave him a quick wink and a smile and that’s when it all clicked.

Recognition washed over Blue Eyes’ face as he made small ‘o’ with his lips and ran his fingers through his thick, brown hair. Rather than help Playboy out, he decided to join in on the fun and egg her on a little more. “Come on, Jack, don’t tell me you can’t remember your  first time?”

“Suzy Linert from West High?” he asked, his brows furrowed together as he looked at Grace. “I thought you were taller.”

“Nope, sorry. I’m not Suzy.” Grace let out a fake, frustrated sigh. “You’re such a playboy. I guess I didn’t make that much of an impression on you. Oh, well.

Congrats to whoever gave you that black eye. Enjoy your workout, guys.”

And with that, she headed off to the upper body machines to end her workout.

She didn’t dare turn around to see Playboy’s face or his friends’, but  Grace smiled when she heard the deep laughter coming from behind her, knowing they had finally decided to let him in on the joke.

y

“What the hell just happened? Did I sleep with her or something and I can’t  remember it? She’s pretty hot. I doubt I’d forget that …” Jack said, scratching  his head in confusion.

Ryan was the first to find his voice. Michael was distracted by the mystery woman as she walked away. Her long, glossy black hair bounced behind her while her curvy hips swayed gently from side to side, mesmerizing him.

“She’s the girl from the library, you idiot! The one you asked for the Playboys,”  Ryan managed to croak out.

“Damn, she’s much hotter without the glasses,” Jack said absently as he looked over his shoulder at her retreating form. “Think  I have any chance with her?”  Michael and Ryan shook their heads no.

When Michael finally caught his breath and was able to pull himself together, he filled up his water bottle and headed back over to the weights.

39

y

Through the rest of their workout, Michael found himself completely distracted  by the woman from the library. He was pleasantly surprised when he caught  her looking over his way on more than one occasion. For some reason, when  their eyes met, he couldn’t look away— especially when her cheeks flushed

with embarrassment. Intrigued, he wanted to know more about her, at the very  least get her name and number before she disappeared again.

Staring at the woman instead of spotting Jack as he bench pressed some  ridiculous weight, Michael nearly killed him. He was so distracted by her that  he didn’t notice Jack’s face turning purple until he felt a quick kick in the shin. “Damn it, Michael, I could have died here, and all because you have the hots for  the ‘naughty librarian,’” Jack teased as he followed Michael’s gaze and found  her bent over a machine doing arm curls. “Check out the rack on her.”

Michael punched Jack in the arm. “Quit staring.”  They watched her hop off the  machine then head toward the women’s locker room.

Jack smiled. “Yeah, you don’t have a thing for her at all, do you?” He teased  Michael and then yelled, “See you around, Suzy!” Jack waved his hand in the air  when she turned around to see who could possibly be shouting.

She just smiled wide, showing off her dimples, and waved as she walked

around the corner, disappearing into the locker room.

“Come on, Mike, you should ask her out. She’s not a barfly.” He turned to their  friend for backup. “Ryan, come talk some sense into him; he listens to you.”

Jack waved Ryan over into their little conversation.

“Michael, go for it. She seems smart and funny and she doesn’t take crap from  any of us which, I have to say, is rather refreshing. Just think how much fun it  would be to watch her confuse Jack again.” Ryan couldn’t resist getting one  parting jab in at his friend who was fixing his hair—again—in the mirror. “Well, I hate to break up the ‘slam on Jack’ fest that’s going on, but I’m hitting  the showers. Let’s be ready to leave in fifteen, ‘kay?” Jack grabbed his towel  and started walking away. “Oh, and Michael, you better ask her out. If you  don’t, I will.” He gave Michael a sinister grin and headed to the locker room. “She thinks you’re a  pervert! She’d never go out with you,” Michael yelled,  causing a few people to stop their workouts and stare at Jack as he walked  away laughing.

40

Ryan put a comforting hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Jack’s right, you shoul d ask her out. She seems like a normal human being. It might be a really nice change of pace for you. And, if you or Jack don’t ask her out, I just might,”he finished with a smile. “I’m done. My suggestion is to hang by the women’s locker room and see if  you can catch her on her way out.”

“Thanks.” Michael nervously walked in the direction of the locker room and sat down against the wall. He nervously ran his hand through his hair and waited. Ilook like some kind of stalker lurking outside the women’s locker room, he thought to himself with a laugh. What is wrong with me? He was rarely put in the position of pursuer, but something told him that this time would be different. It was his turn to do the chasing, and this woman was the one he wanted to catch.

y

When Grace sat down on the bench in the cramped locker room, she had the  biggest grin on her face. The last twenty minutes of her workout she had spent  shamelessly checking out the guys from the library. Whenever she found  herself peeking over at them, the one with the gorgeous blue eyes would catch  her staring and flash her a smirk. Every time he smiled at her, Grace’s stomach  filled with a thousand butterflies. She blushed as she remembered how

delicious he looked in his tank top and those gym shorts that left little to the

imagination.

Remember the boycott, Grace, remember the boycott, she would repeat to

herself as she worked the machines. But for some reason, she couldn’t stop

herself from glancing over, just to see the sweat glisten off his shoulders as he

thrust the weights into the air or the delicious sliver of his abs that his raised  shirt exposed.

She skipped to the showers and quickly jumped in, letting the hot water run  down her back, soothing her stressed muscles. Grace scrubbed the sweat from  her body and her hair as the scent of coconut filled the shower. Under the  water, she found herself smiling whenever she thought about him … his eyes,  his muscles, his hair falling into his eyes, the sweat. She couldn’t help but  remember how good it felt to be pressed up against his body, the feel of those  strong arms of his as they held her tight against his chest.

The boycott, Grace, a great pair of shoes and eternal bragging rights … plus

he’s way out of your league, she told herself, snapping herself sharply back to

reality as she climbed out of the shower.

41

She threw on a tight black T -shirt and some jeans. As she dried her hair, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss those full lips of his.

I can fantasize, can’t I? No rules about that in this damn boycott. She finished dressing and then put all her toiletries and sweaty clothes into her backpack. With a sweatshirt around her waist, she took one last glance at herself in the mirror and headed out of the locker room.

I wonder if they’re stil here. Grace thought to herself. Bad Grace! Bad Grace ! Her breath caught in her lungs when she turned the corner and looked up to find a gorgeous man leaning against the wall outside the women’s locker room, waiting  for her.

“Hey,” he said pushing himself off from the wall, moving toward her.

“Hi,” Grace said shyly, praying that she wouldn’t blush too badly as she talked to him.

He was perfection. Bianca and Meg’s league of perfection. Even now, covered in sweat, he was beyond handsome. His hair had that intentionally messy but still perfect look to it. His body was toned and fit, and Grace knew that because she remembered exactly how it felt when she was pressed against it earlier. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way his arms felt wrapped around her or the heat that radiated off his chest. The butterflies returned full

force and her face turned red.

“Sorry about Jack. He can be an ass sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually.  I just hope he didn’t offend you the other day at the library,” he said with an  apologetic smile on his face.

“No, he was fairly harmless. But thanks,” Grace said as she flung her  backpack

over her shoulder.

Her light-hearted answer made his smile grow wider. “So, if you want to wait a few minutes, we can go grab a coffee.”

She was too stunned to speak. Her entire body screamed yes, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Grace’s brain quickly silenced the chorus. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m boycotting men until the new year.” Grace smiled playfully as she forced herself to walk away from him, even though all she wanted to do was stay there and get lost in his eyes a little longer. She only got a foot or two away when she felt his strong hand touch her shoulder.

“Wait, can I at least get your name?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“Call me Suzy,” she laughed. And with that, Grace headed out the doors of the gym and hurried off to her car.

42

y

Michael stood there, too stunned to move. Wel , that went wel , he thought as

he slumped back and banged his head against the wall.

“Ha ha, looks like Mikey’s sleeping alone tonight. She’s immune to your charms,  isn’t she?” Jack boomed from behind him. “I like her even more now.”

“Shut up, Jack. I was sleeping alone anyway thanks to our little bet. And, I may  have been shot down by ‘Suzy,’ but at least I didn’t let a girl give me a black  eye!” Michael shot back.

“How many times do I have to tell you the whole thing was an accident?”

Jack fumed as he stormed toward the exit.

“Sure, Jack, because that kind of thing happens all the time,” Michael scoffed as  he grabbed his bag and followed him to the car.

43

Chapter 5

Oh, Susan, she just walked in the door. Hang on; I’ll get her for you.” Meg sighed  in relief as Grace opened the door of their apartment. As always, she tossed her  keys into the basket on the counter and grabbed the phone from Meg’s  extended hand.

Meg simply shook her  head and laughed, mouthing the words ‘good luck’to Grace.

“Hi, mom. How are you?” Grace asked tentatively. Her mother typically called  every day, most of the time to share some random gossip from back home  about people Grace vaguely remembered or ones she hadn’t seen since high