Imaginary Grace

by Anne Holster

  Now what? I thought. I didn’t want to fall asleep and miss even a minute of the way his arms felt wrapped around me. I also knew that I should probably get back home before my parents noticed that I was missing.

  Heck, who was I kidding? There was no way I was leaving. I’d deal with the fallout from my parents later. Try as I did to stay awake, sleep eventually overtook me. I woke the next morning still wrapped in Tanner’s arms, the sun peeking through the slits between the heavy dark curtains.

  I looked over at the small digital clock on the night stand: 9:22. Holy shit! I slipped out of Tanner’s arms and gathered my things, sliding my sweatshirt over my head and slipping on my sneakers.

  I nudged Scott awake and asked him if he wanted me to drop him off at his truck on my way home.

  For a second he just stared at me groggily, like he didn’t know who I was. Then he said, “Yeah, sure, okay, thanks,” and crawled out of bed. He moved slowly, pulling his jeans on over his boxers and throwing on a sweatshirt. Then he grabbed his keys and put on his boots, and we quietly slipped out the door.

  We didn’t say much on the way to the parking lot, and I figured Scott was too hung over for conversation. But as I pulled up next to the truck he turned to me and said, “Grace, I really appreciate you helping us out.”

  “No problem,” I said, smiling, and I meant it. Lying next to Tanner all night more than made up for it.

  He was about to get out of the car when he turned to me and said, “Tanner doesn’t know how lucky he is.” Then he gave me a half-smile and opened the door to get out. As soon as he was in his truck, I pulled out of the lot and headed for home. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t dwell on the night before. My parents were going to be furious with me when I got home. Although, now that I thought about it, it was kind of odd that no one had called me, not even Ryder.

  I grabbed my phone from my purse and dialed Ryder’s cell. She picked up on the first ring. “Grace! Is everything okay? Tell me everything!”

  “Yeah, Ryder, everything’s fine. What happened with Mom? Does she know I was out all night?”

  “No,” she answered proudly, “she doesn’t know a thing. She didn’t even notice you were gone until about eight thirty, and when she asked me about it I told her that you were meeting Tanner and Scott for breakfast before they headed home. Quick thinking on my part, right sis?”

  “Yeah, that was quick thinking, thanks. I’m on my way home so I’ll see you in a little while,” I said, and then I hung up and put my phone back in my purse.

  That had been close. My parents would have freaked out if they noticed me missing during the night, if only because it was so uncharacteristic of me. I felt bad that Ryder had lied for me. I’d never lied to either of my parents before, probably because I’d never done anything to lie about. I had been a bona fide goody-two-shoes since birth. Was this the start of something? Was this the beginning of my slow decent down a very slippery slope?

  Chapter 16

  Tanner

  I woke up to the sound of the door opening. When I glanced up, Scott was coming in. That’s weird, I thought, he’s never up before me. What time was it, anyway?

  The clock on the nightstand read 10:12 – that couldn’t be right. I hadn’t slept past seven in years. There was a dull ache in my head, but aside from that I felt refreshingly well-rested.

  I slowly sat up and swung my legs out of the bed. Rubbing my forehead, I said to Scott, “Where are you coming from? Did you just get in?”

  “Just get in? No, Grace drove me to pick up my truck,” he answered.

  “Grace? You called Grace this morning to take you to pick up your truck? Wait a minute…where was your truck? Did it break down? How did we get home?” I shot him question after question.

  Smiling like the cat that had swallowed the canary, he sat down at the small round table and started taking off his boots. “Sooo many questions,” he said. “Where, oh where, do I begin? Let’s see, why don’t we start by you telling me the last thing you remember about last night?”

  “Well…” I began, trying to make sense of the disjointed series of images flashing through my mind. “After the show ended, I was at the bar with some girl. The bartender gave me a bottle of Jack, and I was downing shots with her. Then she said something about giving great head.” I shook my head and laughed. “We walked out to the parking lot, and that’s when things get fuzzy.”

  “Dude,” he said, “how much did you drink? I’ve never seen you that shit-faced.”

  “A lot,” I answered, “but I was on such a high after the show.”

  “Well, do you remember that I ended up at the police station? We had no way to get home and when you called me, I told you to call Grace to come and get us?”

  I sat for a minute, rubbing my temple as if it would make the memory surface. It was all starting to come together. “Yeah, I remember now. Grace came to pick me up,” I said, “but that’s all I remember. You mean to tell me that you actually called her again this morning to take you to your truck! I’m sure we could have found a way there ourselves.”

  Scott’s face split into what I called his ball-busting grin. “Well, loverboy, that’s only a mere portion of the events that unfolded last night.”

  “Cut the shit, Scott, and tell me exactly what happened,” I growled warily.

  “Well,” he began again, “I didn’t have to call Grace this morning because she spent the night right here.” He pointed to the bed I was sitting on. “Next to you…all snuggled up together.”

  I looked down at myself. My shirt was off, but my jeans were still on so I figured it was safe to assume that nothing had happened. “Oh, man,” I said with my elbows on my knees, rocking back and forth and rubbing my hands across my forehead.

  “Yeah, keep rubbing your head like that. That’ll turn back time,” he joked.

  “Oh, shit, this is not good,” I mumbled, more to myself than to him. “I’m gonna take a shower, and then let’s get out of here.”

  “Sure thing,” Scott said, as he moved over to his bag and started throwing things into it.

  I grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. I turned the water on and stood under the warm stream, hoping that some piece of what had happened last night would come back to me, but nothing did.

  I had absolutely no memory of Grace being there last night. By the time I came out of the bathroom, Scott was all packed up and ready to go.

  “I gotta get something to eat before we hit the road.”

  Scott nodded, still grinning, but wisely said nothing. We drove the couple of miles to the diner in silence. When we got there I ordered the biggest, blackest cup of coffee they had, then I sat back and looked at Scott. “You had to have seen something or heard something. How did she end up in bed with me? Was it my idea or hers?”

  “All I know is that before I went into the shower she was standing in the middle of the room, and when I came out she was in bed with you.” He took a sip of his water and added, “I didn’t feel like analyzing the situation at the time.”

  I needed another coffee. I looked around for the waitress, but she was nowhere to be found so I got up to get my own. When I was walking back to the table I saw Scott grab my phone. As I sat down, he said, “Incoming text from Jan Brady.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Grace, a.k.a. Jan Brady from The Brady Bunch,” he said, laughing as he handed me my phone.

  I looked down at the text: what time r u heading back?, then typed: now, and pressed send. I looked at Scott and said, “I’m just gonna pretend I don’t remember anything, because I don’t. End of story.”

  “You’re crazy,” he said, “When you’re done with this charade, I’m swoopin’ in!” He looked like he was joking, but I wasn’t sure. “Then it’ll be homemade sandwiches, lemonade and Xbox all summer long, with Grace sitting right there on my lap.”<
br />
  “All right, enough, are we done?” I said, as the waitress returned to take our food order. “’Cause I’d like to just eat and get out of here.”

  We didn’t speak much while we ate, probably because we were too busy shoveling the food into our mouths like two starving men. I thought about ordering another short stack, but my desire to leave this town overshadowed my appetite. We just got our bill, hit the bathroom, and headed out to the parking lot. As we walked to the truck Scott pointed to the passenger side, indicating he wanted me to drive so he could smoke up again. Half an hour later, he was passed out and I was once again alone with my thoughts.

  I did call my mom to see when my cousin’s wedding was – the sooner the better – and she said that it was sometime in January. I figured I should probably mention it to Grace.

  The drive home seemed to take forever. I spent most of it racking my brain about how I’d ended up in bed with Grace, but still came up with nothing. Could have been worse, I reminded myself, you could have screwed her. Nearly four hours later, we arrived back at our apartment. After unpacking the car I went straight into my bedroom, shut the shades, and crashed for a few hours.

  When I woke up, I was still slightly hung over and not in the mood to go partying, but Scott was already getting dressed. I sat on the couch with my feet up and a beer in my hand, watching him. The last time I had gotten laid seemed like ages ago.

  “So come with me to J.D.’s,” he said, when I told him my dilemma.

  “Nah, man, just can’t do it.”

  Scott grinned. “We all get old sometime.” He ducked out of the path of the pillow I’d flung his way, then slid out the door.

  After a few more beers, I got the idea that maybe I would call Amber and ask her to come over and ‘hang out’. Nobody would find out, and Grace wouldn’t be home until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I wouldn’t even tell Scott about it.

  To say that Amber was shocked to hear from me was an understatement because, after all, I’d never called her before.

  “To what do I owe this little surprise?” she said in a snippy tone.

  Hmm…so she was gonna play hardball and make me work for it. I was up for it, so I said, “I don’t know. I guess I’ve just been thinking about you. I was on the road with the band last night, and didn’t feel like partying again tonight. So anyway, I said to myself, ‘Why not invite Amber over and we could hang out on my couch and watch a movie or something?’ Maybe I’m just getting tired of the singles scene and going out all the time…” – I knew that last line would win her over.

  There was silence on her end for a moment as she debated whether to believe me. Finally, she said, “Okay, Tanner, I’ll come over and ‘hang with you’.”

  She sounded like she was on to me, but who cared? Score!

  “Great, I’ll see you soon,” I said as I hung up. I didn’t even bother changing, just left on the sweats and t-shirt I’d been wearing all day. They’d be coming off soon after she arrived anyway.

  By the time I heard her knock at the door I had a decent buzz going. I realized that I had never been with this girl straight and tonight would be no different. I got up to let her in. When I opened the door, she immediately snaked her arms around my waist.

  “What movie did you get?” she asked, all chipper.

  “Movie? Oh, yeah, well I just figured you can pick from one of the ones we have lying around,” I said. “Do you want a beer?”

  “Sure,” she said as she started looking through the DVDs we had stored underneath the television.

  I grabbed her a beer from the fridge and another one for myself, then hopped back on the couch. I caught a nice view of her ass as she popped the DVD into the player. I had to hand it to Amber, she always looked totally hot. She had on a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on, boots with heels at least three inches high, and a very low cut, very sheer, tan and red top.

  She took the beer from my outstretched hand, then tipped her head back for a long drink before sitting down next to me. As the movie (some chick flick one of Scott’s girls had left behind) began to play she moved in real close, leaned her head on my shoulder, and put her hand on my stomach. I put my arm around her and wondered to myself how long I’d have to do this before I got her into bed. Ten minutes? Possibly fifteen?

  I waited eighteen, just to be on the safe side, before I turned to her and slowly pushed her back onto the couch. When she didn’t resist I lowered my lips to her neck. And I gave it another five minutes before I stood up, put my hand out to her, and led her into my room.

  I stripped off my t-shirt and lay down on the bed, my arms resting behind my neck. This was my favorite part—well, one of my favorites—watching a girl strip down to her underwear, which, in Amber’s case, were always a perfectly matched set. I idly wondered whether she matched them every day or just when she thought she might have an audience. Now only in her bra and thong, she crawled on all fours to the middle of the bed, straddled me, and then ran her hands along my shoulders, up the back of my neck and through my hair. I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment…feels so fucking good…

  Suddenly I gasped and my eyes flew open as the memories of the night before came crashing in. In that moment it wasn’t Amber looking down at me, it was Grace. Grace dressed in the blue plaid flannels and the thin white spaghetti strap tank top as she ran her fingers through my hair.

  I felt a powerful rush of relief that my temporary amnesia was over. Even better was the realization that I hadn’t done anything to lure Grace into my bed. She had come to me. I laughed to myself, or so I thought.

  “What’s so funny?” Amber was looking down at me with a combination of annoyance and insecurity.

  “Nothing,” I said, shaking my head, and then I reached up, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down next to me.

  As I did, I remembered pulling Grace down next to me, her trying (not very hard) to get away and me pulling her back. I also remembered it being really hot in the room and me taking my shirt off, and then I think I grabbed her again and wrapped my arms around her before she could get away again. Oh shit, this was not good.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Amber said, poking me, “you seem like you’re somewhere else.”

  “No way, baby, I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

  I slipped out of my sweats, then grabbed a condom from the drawer of my nightstand and handed it to her. She ripped it open with her teeth and once again worked it like a pro.

  She climbed back on top of me and even though I was very distracted with the events of the previous evening, it didn’t seem to hinder my performance. But afterward, my thoughts returned to Grace and trying to figure out what my next move should be.

  Grace was definitely going to think we were like together now, which I guessed was supposed to have been the plan anyway, but I hadn’t planned to take it this far. I didn’t want to actually have sex with her. I’m not a total douchebag.

  Just then I felt Amber start to sidle up next to me, wanting to cuddle or something. I decided I’d let her stay for a while and then go for round two before I kicked her out. I guessed I’d just have to play it cool with Grace, but try not to end up alone with her anywhere. Yeah, that should work. It wouldn’t be too much longer anyway.

  Well, now that that’s settled... I reached over to grab another condom from the nightstand drawer, then gently shook Amber’s shoulder. She wouldn’t know what hit her.

  Chapter 17

  Grace

  “I slept with him!” I blurted out the minute Beth walked into our room. I couldn’t wait to tell Beth everything that happened, but I wanted to tell her in person, not over the phone so I could see her reaction.

  “No effing way!” she said, eyes as wide as saucers. “Spill it, slut,” she added jokingly.

  “Okay, but before I tell you everything that led up to me sleeping with him, you sh
ould know that nothing actually happened. When I say I slept with him I meant it literally, like I fell asleep next to him.”

  “Oh…well, that’s a let-down,” she said as she plopped down onto her bed. “Well, go ahead, let’s hear it anyway.”

  I then proceeded to tell her all about what had happened and how I’d ended up in bed with Tanner.

  “So,” she said when I finished. “It was you who made the first move.” She reached over to give me a high-five.

  “Yeah, I guess I did,” I said, smacking my palm against hers, “but I didn’t plan it. All I wanted to do was touch his hair, and the next thing I knew he grabbed me and pulled me down.”

  “So it sounds like maybe he’s been waiting for you to make another move,” she drawled suggestively.

  I pondered that thought for a moment. “Do you think? Wow, all this time he’s been waiting for me to make a move. Now what?”

  “Now, nothing,” she said. “Next time you’re alone with him, he’ll probably make a move since now he knows you’re into it. So you better decide if you’re ready for this.”

  “I think I’m ready,” I said. Was I? “Hey,” I said, changing the subject, “I thought Thomas was driving you back to school. Where is he? I was looking forward to meeting him.”

  “He had to stay a few more days to help his dad out with some things, so I took the train back, but he’s coming this weekend so you’ll meet him then. Hey, maybe we can meet up with Tanner somewhere, hang out.”

  Just two couples, hanging out, I thought with a grin. “Sounds good to me!”

  On Monday, Beth and I decided to meet up at the gym after class since neither of us had done much in the way of working out while we were home. I got there before her so I decided to run on the treadmill until she arrived.

  When she finally made it, she waved me into the weight room, but by the time I finished up on the treadmill, she was talking to Gary.