For the Love of Gracie (8 page)

"Like I said, he didn’t really react. It was more like I smushed my face against his." 

Angel replied sarcastically, "That's hot." 

I laughed and nudged her playfully. "I'm mortified." 

She patted my shoulder. "What did Ash say?"

I smiled. "He said it was nice." 

She stared at me for a moment. "It was nice? That's it?" 

I nodded.

She shrugged. "That's positive at least.  Better than him saying you kiss like a dead fish or that you slobbered on him."  

I raised my hands up. "I get the picture."  I sighed dramatically. "Angel…I really,
really
like Ash.  What am I supposed to do?" 

She swallowed the bite she had just taken and said, "Tell him how you feel, you never know." 

I cringed. "I saw him with his boyfriend today, or at least a guy he looked cozy with. You know it's not like I can make him like women." 

She wiggled her body at me. "You can try. Work that body, girl."

I laughed and punched her arm lightly. "Please! Cameron would so kick your butt for even trying to convince me of that. You can't just make people…'not gay'." 

She shrugged. "Well, the best way to get over a guy is to fall for another guy. Is Hudson really bad news or is there promise there?"  

Hudson wasn't what I wanted, I knew that now. He had shown a romantic side today, for like five minutes.

"He's not abusive. He gets angry a lot though. I'm not sure what to think of him. He's definitely good looking and the sex is good,
but is that enough?" My phone beeped, I looked at the text. "Speak of the devil." 

Angel peeked over my shoulder. "He's apologizing for being a jerk. That's promising."

She cleared our bowls and came back over to stand beside me. She bumped me with her hip. "Go see him. Get your mind off Ash. If you really think there is no chance for the two of you, then what do you have to lose?" 

I thought about it for a moment, then texted to Hudson.
Is it too late to come over? 

He replied instantly,
Never too late.

Chapter Six

The weekend was upon us. Hudson was going out of town for the night to see his favorite band in Atlanta.  The girls, Angel and Mary Jane, both had dates.  Cameron, Gavin and I were going to play pool downtown. I had invited Ashton, but hadn't heard from him since he dropped me off that night after the restaurant rescue

.  When I showed up at Cameron's, I
had hoped Ashton would be there with them.  Gavin opened the door. "Hey hot momma." 

It was a chilly night, only in the
mid-forties. I had chosen black jeans, my black corset with long sleeves and red ribbons up the front, and my new favorite cherry ribbon shoes.

I also wore Ashton's jacket, though it was a little big on me and didn't offer as much warmth as one my
own would have. What can I say, I wanted to look cute and I liked how it felt to wear something of his. 

"Hey yourself, handsome." I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I stepped through the door. 

Cameron peered up at me and whistled. "I thought you were coming alone?" 

I raised my eyebrow. "Huh?"

He pointed at my highly pushed up cleavage. "The girls are making their appearance known tonight." 

Of course I wore this in hopes that Ashton would be here.  Tight jeans, ample cleavage, high heels, a straight man would show if he liked it. This was my final test to figure him out. Probably would have been much easier if I had asked him outright instead of trial and error.

Deep down, the only reason I hadn’t ask him outright was because I was afraid of the answer. If he was gay, there would never be a chance for us. Then there was the possibility that he wasn't gay and he was just not that into me. 

I wanted to pout when I noticed Ash wasn’t here.  "Hey, Gavin, I invited Ashton, is he still coming?" 

Gavin shrugged. "Maybe.  I haven't talk to him today."

Cameron poked my cleavage, "Are these for Ash?" 

I scoffed, "What? No. I'm with Hudson, Cam.  Ashton and I are friends, and that's all we'll ever be." 

Gavin smiled. "Leave her alone, Cam. For what it's worth, Gracie, I know Ashton really enjoys hanging with you." 

We all rode together. Gavin agreed to be the designated driver for the night, and I was going to sleep over at Cameron's afterward.

We met up with a few of Gavin's friends. It was mostly me with a bunch of guys.
That was fine with me, especially considering they were all gorgeous. 

Cameron challenged me to a game of pool as soon as we arrived. No one else would play him so
, I caved. He stepped up to break for me.  Surprising, no balls went in on his first shot.  It was my turn. My pool stick was lined up for the easiest shot I could find. I aimed for the yellow striped ball, but instead, I hit the green solid that was to the right of it.

A gently placed hand on my hip was followed by a voice that sent waves of
ecstasy throughout my body. “Want some pointers?”

When I turned, Ash’s face was beside mine. I smiled excitedly. “You made it!” I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down in an embrace. 

He chuckled in my ear. “Told you I’d be here.”

Cameron took his turn next and, of course, ended up knocking in three. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Show-off.”

He snickered. 

"Don't be so cocky," I said, feigning annoyance.

He flicked his shirt. "It ain't bragging mother effer if you back it up."

I rolled my eyes. "That only works for Kid Rock. Nice censorship by the way." 

He shrugged. "I can't use the real
phrase; it's too graphic and makes me think of my mother in ways I don't wanna."  He shuddered with disgust and I laughed.

Ashton came up behind me again. He patted my hips, leaned to my ear so I could hear him over the music, and said, “Spread your legs.” 

I jumped, dropping the pool stick on the table, as my head bounced back, hitting him in the chin. I squeaked, “What?”

I quickly covered my mouth when I saw him rubbing his chin.
“I’m sorry.”

He laughed, his cheeks flushed as he cleared his throat. “Your stance needs to be wider.”

That familiar tug in my stomach told me I liked the other way he said it better. I took his advice. His left hand rested on the pool table next to me, his arm across my back. His right hand sent electric tingles across my skin as he moved it along my arm to help me aim. His breath was on my neck as he instructed me on what to do. I had no clue what he said. All I could hope was that he didn’t notice the drool on my face.

His hand tickled my stomach and I jerked back laughing.

“What was that?”

He chuckled. “You zoned out. I needed to get your attention.” Apparently he
had
noticed something was off about me.

“Sorry, I was distracted by.
..the...balls?” I said, suddenly mortified as to how that sounded.

Cameron snickered. “Gracie gets distracted by balls pretty easily.”

Ashton leaned up against the table and put his hand on my hips. "You alright, Gracie?"

His eyes dipped down briefly to my cleavage and back up. 
Hmm, that was a good sign.
One more test should do it. I knocked the chalk from the table. I bent over slowly in front of him. When I turned to see if he was looking, he had turned to hug some guy that had walked up. I knew he was too good to be true for me. 

Slipping away, I
walked up to the bar to grab two beers. While I was up there, a man approached me. 

"Hello beautiful," he said, as he drew circles with his fingers on my shoulder.

I took a step back from him. The bartender was distracted by another customer. I wished he'd hurry with my beers. 

"My name is Wes, what's yours?"

I glanced over at my friends, who hadn’t noticed my dilemma yet.  "I'm seeing someone, Wes." 

He glanced around. "You look alone to me." 

The bartender brought me two beers, I handed him a ten and told him to keep the change.

Holding up the two beers, I said, "See?" 

He put his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.  Before I could protest, he let go as he backed away with his hands up. An arm came around my shoulders.

"You gotta problem, man?" 

Wes shook his head. "No, man I'm good." 

Ashton's voice became deeper. "Well, I gotta problem with you putting your hands on my girlfriend." 

The deepness of his voice, the possessive way he claimed me, it was all too much to handle. The image that flashed in my head was of Ash ripping my corset open, lifting me onto the pool table and giving me some horizontal refreshment.
Snap out of it, Gracie!
I shook my head back and forth to erase the steamy thoughts.

Wes walked away. 

"Your girlfriend?" I inquired. 

Ashton didn't smile. He looked pissed, actually.  "He had no right to put his hands all over you. I hate guys like that." 

I placed my hand against his heart. "It's okay, I'm used to it."

His jaw clenched. "You shouldn’t have to be used to that crap, Gracie. He needs to learn to treat women with respect." 

With my palm against his face, I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, for protecting me.  You're an amazing friend." I held the beer up to him. "Here, payback for the pool lessons." 

He smiled
, taking the beer and pressing it to his lips for a taste. I watched his moist lips wrap around the bottle, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed it down. I'd never been so jealous of a beer bottle before. 

"Come on, you still have a shot to make."

His hand stayed against the small of my back as he led me back to the table.  We resumed our positions. Ashton's hands were on my body, his lips next to my ear.  I closed my eyes as his breath warmed my ear with the instructions he gave. I bit my bottom lip when his hand pressed against my hip guiding my stance. 

"You want
to hit the red striped ball. It's in an odd position, so aim for the eight ball at this angle.  It should ricochet off at the right angle to bump the red striped ball into the corner pocket."  

Ashton moved to let me shoot. I followed his directions and watched, in shock, as it actually worked. I squealed,
then wrapped my arms around his neck, and jumped up and down excitedly. After I jumped three times, the fourth time I came down hard on my heels and my foot turned.  Ashton caught me before I fell over. 

I glanced down. "Damnit, my shoe broke." I pouted. "I love these shoes." 

He helped me over to a stool and lifted me up on it.  His hand gently lifted my foot as he checked out my shoe. "I think it's pretty much ruined. Stay here, I'll be back in a few." 

Cameron stepped over after Ashton left. "Where'd he go?" Then he gasped. "What did you do to those heels?" 

My phone beeped. Ashton had texted me and asked,
What size shoe do you wear?

I texted back stating,
size nine
.

"Ok, I think Ashton is buying me new shoes…somewhere." 

Cameron wrapped his arm around me. "You better hope he hurries if you expect to win this game of pool." 

Ashton was gone for about forty-five minutes.  When he returned he had a long box in his hands.
His large muscular hands lifted my foot; he untied my shoe, and then slid it off.  He opened the box and pulled out…

"Cowboy boots?" 

He smiled. "It's downtown Nashville, what other shoes would I find to go with your kickin' outfit?" 

They were black cowboy boots with red stitching in the shape of flowers. "These are actually pretty badass." 

He grinned. "Glad you like them." 

They matched my outfit perfectly.  Ashton had great fashion sense, damn it.  Ashton placed the boots on my feet for me. I paced back and forth, breaking them in a little.  

"Them's dancing shoes, Gracie," Cameron said with his best country twang.  "Let's head downstairs and dance on the bar." 

Cameron, Ashton, Gavin and I left the rest of the guys to run downstairs to one of the country bars below. Cover was free for ladies and the guys got in free
too because Ash knew the bouncer. 

The music was blaring; it was a fast country song. A squeal flew from my lips as Ashton lifted me up to place me on the bar to dance. I swayed my hips, tapping my boots against the bar top. One of the bartenders got up to dance with me. She put her hands on my hips and swayed with me.  

She was wearing a cowboy hat that she moved to my head and yelled in my ear, "Love your corset!  And those boots are smokin’!"