Instead the alcohol only made them burn hotter. “What do you do, Drake?” she asked finally as she felt able to formulate a sentence coherently.
“I'm a teacher,” he said simply, pointing with his free hand up to the stage. “Look, they are about to start.”
Grace sat and mentally calculated how old Drake had to be. If he was a teacher, he was at least twenty-two, and finished with college. Okay, four years isn't so bad, and oh my God could the man kiss. She clenched her thighs, ignoring the throb that had set up residence there. The band came on stage and she watched as they began to play a song she'd never heard before.
Drake was matching the tempo of the slow, pulsing song with the stroke of his thumb against her shoulder and Grace shivered involuntarily. He leaned over and murmured in her ear, “Cold?” Grace shivered harder. Goosebumps popped up along her skin and she shook her head.
“Yeah, a little,” she lied.
Drake withdrew suddenly and she felt lost, floundering alone until she realized what he was doing. He shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it around her shoulders. Grace drowned in the masculine, rich scent she would always associate with him now. The jacket did little to quell the shivers that coursed through her from the pure excitement she felt, but she still snuggled into the rough fabric. Drake slid closer again and wrapped his arm around her. They sat that way for a little while as the music played.
Grace knew she was in way too deep, but after the margarita she suddenly didn't care anymore. Her hand slid to his knee and she jumped slightly as the muscles of his leg flexed under her palm. She glanced at him and pulled her hand away. Drake grinned and caught her hand, placing it higher up on his thigh.
Grace blushed hot and didn't move a muscle as her fingertips memorized the feel of the corded muscles beneath them.
“Are you having a good time?” Drake whispered in her ear and Grace closed her eyes.
“Yes,” she managed to reply.
Her breath caught in her throat at the feather-soft touch of his mouth against the column of her neck. “Me too,” he said simply, withdrawing a little.
Grace struggled to breathe and she gripped his leg nervously, forgetting her hand was on his thigh and not on the seat. He jumped a little and chuckled. “Be careful there.”
She pulled her hand away and giggled nervously. “Sorry.”
“You're really tense, Grace.”
“Yeah, it's uh, been a long week at the practice,” she lied again, biting her bottom lip.
“That's sexy,” Drake mumbled.
“What?”
“When you bite your lip like that.”
Grace bit it again without thinking and Drake suddenly pulled her in close, his hands tangling in her hair, and he kissed her. Grace gasped again at the press of his mouth against hers and when his tongue slipped into her mouth, she instinctively suckled it like a piece of candy, and a perverse pleasure filled her as he groaned. One margarita in and Grace wanted more of this beautiful man. She shifted in the seat and her breasts pressed against his chest. She found herself groaning, then the sound shocking her.
One of Drake's hands left her hair and she gasped as he cupped her breast through the dress. Her nipple tightened, pressing out against the tight material and Grace squeezed her legs together as he gently pinched the hardened nub.
“Grace?” Christina's voice filled her brain, but she ignored the phantom voice as she kissed the beautiful man in front of her. His hand seemed to be everywhere at once, her breasts, sliding up her thigh where a wanton beat strummed just a little higher, begging to be touched.
Grace was jerked from her passion by a hand gripping her arm. “Grace!” She heard Christina's voice call again and she blinked rapidly as she focused in on her friend.
“Christina?”
“Um, is there a problem?” Drake asked.
“Yeah, I need my friend,” Christina replied and Grace found herself jerked from the booth. As Christina propelled her through the crowd, she glanced back over her shoulder at the man she had just kissed. He was frowning but waved goodbye.
“What is wrong with you?” Grace yelled as Christina pulled her outside. The sticky August night made sweat break out on her forehead and she realized she still wore Drake's jacket around her shoulders.
“I got lost in the bar, the line was so freaking long and the bartender didn't want to just give me Cokes. I come back and you're sucking face with some guy! What the hell?” Christina propped her hands on her hips.
“I-I thought you left me!” Grace spluttered, hugging the jacket around herself.
Christina's eyes widened. “You've been drinking!”
“Have not!” Grace lied.
“We're going home.”
“I want to go back in there!” Grace argued as Christina grabbed her hand. She pulled her hand away and frowned.
“What, so some bar guy can pop your cherry in a booth at a bar? Fucking be serious, Grace.”
Christina's words slapped her hard and Grace suddenly felt very sober. “Oh my God.”
Christina left her on the sidewalk and walked to the bus stop. Grace followed, her shoulders bowing in as she realized the magnitude of what she had nearly done. I spent eighteen years protecting my virginity and one drink and some kisses later, I would have let him have it. The bus pulled up in front of them and they climbed on the bus. As Grace sat in the seat, her heart broke into a million tiny pieces seeing Drake step out of the bar. She turned her face away so he couldn't see her and breathed in his scent from the jacket.
Thanks for the memory.
Chapter Seven
Her phone buzzing incessantly in her ear woke her the next morning. Her nostrils flared at the pain of sunlight touching her eyes. “Ow,” she whispered. Picking up her phone she slid her finger across the screen. “Hello?”
“Gracie? Why aren't you up and ready for church?” Her father's voice boomed into her ear.
“I slept a little late, Dad. I'm getting up right now, okay?” she promised him.
“You promised me you'd be in church every Sunday. Where were you last night?”
“I-I went to a poetry reading with my roommate,” she lied, grimacing even as she spoke.
“Oh, well, okay then. I love you, Gracie. I'm proud of you,” Archie said quietly and Grace cringed, dying inside at the lies she told.
“Love you too, Dad,” she mumbled. “Gotta go.”
Grace hung up the phone and slid from between the sheets. Her head throbbed and she rubbed her temples, seeking to soothe the dull ache there. Reaching under her pillow she pulled out her diary. She glanced over at Christina, who snored softly while she slept and tapped the end of her pen against the paper as she thought about what she wanted to write.
Dear Diary,
I met a man last night, a man who took me somewhere I'd never been, even though my body never physically left the bar. The way he touched me...his kiss was like a branding iron and I was the willing recipient to be burned. My blood pumps through my heart with each thump, singing his name. Drake. Drake. Drake. But Christina is right. I was a fool. I was no more than an easy conquest in the dusk of the bar. I was alone, I was easy. I was lost from the first time he smiled. If Christina hadn't left me alone none of this would have happened. But in a sick way, I am glad it did. I feel like a different person this morning, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I feel dirty but clean. I feel whole but empty. I feel alive but dead. I feel like screaming through the streets but hiding away. I am lost and the only way to find myself is to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Grace
She closed the diary and slipped it back beneath her pillow before glancing down at the end of the bed where Drake's jacket lay. Picking it up quickly she held it to her chest and breathed his scent in deeply. Her eyes closed and she stifled a groan as pleasure shot through her. The memories of the night would be forever etched on her brain. Drake had been a hell of a first kiss...and almost more. The thought of losing her virgi
nity to him in a bar made bile rise in her throat. She stumbled to the bathroom, barely closing the door and making it to the toilet in time to retch.
With a shaky hand she flushed the toilet and stood, turning the water on to rinse her mouth. Glancing up into the mirror she frowned at the smudged makeup and began scrubbing it off with a damp washcloth from the top of the toilet. Tears filled her eyes as she scrubbed. I'm not doing this again. It was stupid and foolish...
Once her face was clean, she brushed her teeth, then her hair. Tiptoeing back into the room, she rummaged through her clothes until she found her simple summer sun dress, one she had multiples of and wore every Sunday to church during spring and summer. She pulled off her pajamas and with a sigh slipped the sundress on over the bra and panties she'd worn to bed because she was too tired to remove anything more than her dress and shoes.
She found her sneakers by the door and pulled them on her feet before slipping out the door and down the hallway. Grace kept her head low as she walked, not wanting to be seen by anyone. Checking her phone she found the church was less than half a mile away and she could walk the distance from her dorm.
Striking out in the muggy morning, she hurried along the sidewalk. A bell gonged and she moved faster, wanting to make it to church on time. The small church stood on the right side of the street, the stained glass windows glistening in the soft morning light. A smile touched her lips as she crossed the street and moved up the wide stairway and into the cool church.
She sat in a pew in the back and closed her eyes as she listened to the organist play a familiar song. Tears filled her eyes and she sighed. I forgot my Bible...
Reaching into a small cubby at the end of the pew, she found a Bible there and flipped through it, frowning as she found a lewd drawing of a penis in the book of John. Kids...
After a few more songs, the preacher came to the pulpit. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Grace whispered back, her voice lost in the crowd.
“This morning I'd like to ask you to flip to Ephesians 2:1-10. We're going to talk about something I think a lot of you need to hear today.”
Grace flipped in the borrowed Bible to the verse and her throat closed as she read the verses. Oh man... She waited for the familiar turn and burn message that her father would spew, but was shocked as the preacher took a different path.
“Have you ever wondered if you're worthy of love if you do wrong? Well, I'm here to tell you that you are. We're all human and imperfect, but we're saved by the love of Jesus. Do you understand what that means? I'm here to tell you that you are loved, even though you are floundering and dead in your sins.”
Tears poured down her cheeks and Grace listened with rapt admiration as the preacher continued his sermon. Dad would have never talked like this. He would not be okay with this preacher's interpretation of these verses, but it feels just right to me.
As church came to a close, she prayed alone in her seat, not for forgiveness, but for help finding out who she was, and coming closer to being the best she could be.
Grace left church that morning with hope in her heart. The rest of the day she spent away from the dorm and her thoughts. She became a tourist in the town, meandering through some shops and having a late lunch at a little Italian restaurant. A family sat at a table next to her and she couldn't help but sneak glances at them as she ate her mushroom ravioli. The father was attentive with his little girl and obviously very in love with his wife.
Maybe one day I'll have that. Her mood dropped again. To soothe her sadness she ordered a slice of tiramisu and ate it slowly, savoring the creamy taste. Licking her spoon, she placed it beside her saucer and pulled money from her wallet to pay her bill, leaving the waitress a nice tip. The late afternoon was hot and Grace walked to the bus stop. Sitting on the bench, she waited for a bus to take her back to the dorm.
I have to get ready for classes tomorrow. Her day would be packed, from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, with just an hour break for lunch. Mondays and Wednesdays would be the absolute busiest, but the rest of the days would be slower, and Grace thought about getting a job on campus to help her bide her time.
The bus pulled up and she climbed on. Within a few minutes she was back on campus and near her dorm. After meandering along the paths and wasting more time, she decided to go back to the dorm. Music pumped from their room and she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. Unlocking the door she walked in to see Christina curled up on her bed, reading a book. Christina jumped up and Grace found herself enveloped in a hug.
“Oh my God, I didn't know where you were!” Christina wailed.
Grace patted her back and suspired. “I went to church this morning and just needed some time to get myself together.”
“I am so sorry I yelled at you last night. I just didn't want you to do something you'd regret.” Christina stepped back and worry seemed to fill her eyes.
Grace shrugged. “You saved me from myself. I was being foolish and I should’ve known better. I appreciate you doing it for me. But I think this experiment is over, Christina. It's been a fun weekend and all but this girl, she's not me, and I’m not interested in partying anymore.”
Christina nodded. “Fair enough. Can we still be friends?”
“Of course.”
Christina hugged her again, and Grace hugged back this time. “Thanks for not being mad, Grace.”
They stepped apart and Grace moved to her bed, where she kicked off her shoes and crawled up on the mattress. “I'm going to get ready for classes tomorrow. Maybe read the first chapter for my classes. You know, be ahead of the game.”
Christina smiled. “Yeah, I should probably do that, but I'm wrapped up in a good book I picked up at the library.”
“Oh, okay.” Grace smiled back tightly, not wanting any further conversation.
Christina seemed to pick up on the 'don't talk to me' vibe that Grace was putting off and Grace sighed in relief as she put headphones on and went back to reading. After making sure her friend was busy, she pulled her diary out and wrote again.
Dear Diary,
Two entries in one day. I haven't done this in forever. I just can't pretend to be someone I'm not. The clothes are awesome, the hair is awesome, but I don't party. This is why I get hurt and wrapped up in stuff I shouldn't. Maybe just putting one foot in front of the other and never looking back at what was, and what could have been, is the secret to finding yourself. Or maybe it’s pretending that your whole world didn’t just implode, and wrapping yourself up tight to hold all your shattered shards together. I haven’t figured it out yet. I know I will never be the same after meeting Christina...or Drake, and I'm not sure if I'm okay with that yet. I don't know who this Grace is anymore.
Grace
With a soft sigh she slid the diary back under her pillow and pulled her history book from her backpack. She spent the rest of the evening reading about the American Revolution and taking notes for tomorrow's class. Finally, at midnight, she closed the book, got under the covers, and prayed for sleep. It didn't come.
Chapter Eight
Grace’s alarm blared at six forty-five and she rushed to shut it off so she didn't wake Christina up. Moving quickly, she took a shower. She dressed simply in her trouser jeans and a blue polo shirt Christina hadn't chopped up yet. Pulling her hair into a ponytail she smiled at the girl looking back at her in the mirror. Finishing up in the bathroom, she slipped her glasses on and jammed her books into her bag. Hefting the heavy pack on her back, she bent to find her shoes and put them on.
Christina slept soundly as she moved through the room and Grace smiled fondly at her friend as she slid out the door. Rushing through the hallway she followed the directions to the cafeteria. Coffee and a blueberry muffin made it onto her tray and as she sat down to eat, she couldn't stop a silly grin from crossing her lips as she thought about having her muffin buttered.
She inhaled the muffin and winced as the hot coffee burned her tongue. I wi
sh I could see Drake again. Maybe one day I will. There was no denying the attraction between them, and she wondered if it was something that could burn hot and steady or if it was something that would flare then sputter out, leaving everyone singed in its wake.
Her phone buzzed, reminding her that she had ten minutes to make it to class, and she stood from her seat. Tossing her trash in the can by the door, she rushed to English 101. The class passed quickly and she left the two hour class knowing nothing new. But unfortunately it was a class she had to take. The next class was Statistics, and she made it there on time.
She wrote down notes and found herself doodling Drake’s name along the margins of her notebook. Stop it! she told herself. As the class ended, she ambled back to the cafeteria and ate a turkey and cheese sandwich, and a pickle. Her next class was American History and she couldn't wait for it to start. History had always been her favorite subject, and she was excited to have it presented to her by someone else.
Finishing up her lunch, she checked her phone and found she had just a few more minutes before she had to hurry to class, so she decided to people watch. Her peers sat in groups through the cafeteria, and even though high school was long over, you could still pick out the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the artists. Grace realized she sat alone here too. She had never really fit in with any group. In a way she preferred it like that.
Christina was the most unlikely friend she would have, but she still appreciated the friendship. Finally, she pulled herself up from the table and tossed her trash, hurrying down the hall to the next class. Room four-thirteen. Her hand came to the knob and she turned it, pushing the door inward. Keeping her gaze down she hurried to her seat and pulled her book and notebook out. The rest of the class filtered in and she glanced around, smiling to people as they sat.
Saving Grace (Wild Rose Book 1) Page 6