Boycotts and Barflies (11 page)

“How scary is this movie supposed to be?” Grace asked when the creepy music started with the opening credits.

“It’s a horror movie, Grace. You’re guaranteed to have nightmares for a week,”  Bianca whispered in her ear. Grace began nervously munching on her tray of nachos as mysterious shadows crept across the screen. To her right, Meg 76

was shaking her candy around in the box, and on her left, Bianca was balancing  a huge bucket of popcorn on her lap while clutching a package of licorice in one  hand and reaching for h er soda with the other.

A few minutes into the movie, the eerie music returned and Grace started to  tense up, knowing something scary was about to happen. She was completely  engrossed in the movie when a couple of hard candies whizzed over her  shoulder and bounced off the seat back in front of her, landing in her nacho  cheese.

“What the hell was that?” she hissed to Bianca. “Damn kids,” Grace mumbled as  she turned around in her seat to find the little culprits. There was no one  directly behind them, but three rows back a young couple was laughing.

Grace gave them a dirty look, and then turned back to the movie.

“This movie is kinda intense, don’t you think?” Meg whispered in her ear as yet  another person disappeared into the mist. With her hands pressed tightly  against her eyes, Grace nodded her head while peering at the screen through a  small gap in her fingers.

“Why the hell do these stupid people always go off alone when people are  disappearing?” Bianca mumbled, gnawing on her long licorice rope. As Grace  reached over to grab one from her bag, a handful of popcorn sailed over their  heads and scattered into their laps.

“What the hell?” Bianca’s loud exclamation caused the woman down the aisle

to start shushing them again. “Hey, someone’s throwing popcorn at  us, lady. So  mind your own business,” she snapped at the woman.

Grace spun around in her seat to search for the culprits and again, the only  people laughing were the young couple three rows up. She flipped them off,  which for some reason made them laugh harder, and then she turned back  around in her seat.

“Who’s throwing stuff at us?” Bianca growled. Meg was giggling in her seat as  her friends fumed. Apparently, she was safely out of range of the popcorn- throwing lunatics behind them and found the whole thing rather amusing.

“There’s a couple, three rows up, who keep laughing. They’re the only ones  around,” Grace whispered, getting even more irritated.

The girls turned their attention back to the screen, hoping the shenanigans  would stop. In the movie, the white clouds of mist were still rolling in. More  people disappeared as they were climbing through a pitch black building,  trying to elude the mist. Terrified, Grace was clutching her tray of nachos with  both hands, holding her breath. The mist came closer and closer, and then, all  of a 77

sudden, she felt something warm blowing on the back of her neck and broke

out in goose bumps.

It’s your imagination, Grace, chill out! It’s a movie. No deranged killers are in

the theater, her brain tried to tell her body, but her frantically beating heart

refused to listen. Her hands were trembling and she was about to turn around

when a deep voice said in her ear, “Who goes to a movie and orders nachos?”

That was all the scare her heart could handle, and Grace screamed. Not just any

scream, but a bloodcurdling ‘someone’s killing me’ scream as she tossed her

nachos up into the air. Her outburst startled Bianca so badly that she knocked

the popcorn off her lap and onto Grace. Meg, on the other hand, was laughing

so hard, she dropped her box of candy, sending chocolates cascading all over

the floor.

Grace spun around in her seat to find Michael, Ryan, and Jack howling in the row directly behind them. Where the hell did they come from? Then she realized most of the people in the theater had erupted into hysterical laughter, including the couple she had flicked off just minutes ago.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Were you trying to give me a heart attack?” Grace snarled as she threw two huge handfuls of popcorn at them.

“I didn’t know you were that scared … oh my God … the nachos … they went everywhere …” Michael laughed the words between gasps.

“You suck! And you owe me some new nachos —and refill the popcorn, jackass.” She threw the now empty large popcorn bucket back at him. Michael was still laughing as Grace watched him stumble out of the theater.

Jack leaned over to Bianca. “Are you scared? If you want, I could come sit next to you, and help you feel safe …” His voice trailed off, ho ping she would take the bait.

“I can promise you, Jack, that I wouldn’t feel the least bit safe sitting next

to you in the dark. I’ve seen the crap you’re capable of in broad daylight, let  alone a dark movie theater. Stay back there. That will make me feel safe,”

Bianca quipped without even turning her head to look in his direction. The girls heard him huff and crash back into his seat. Grace glanced over at her friend, and Bianca gave her a quick wink.

On the other side of Grace, Meg and Ryan continued whispering back and forth with their heads tucked together. Every so often, Meg would let out a loud giggle, causing the shushing to begin all over again.

Michael returned a few minutes later with the new bucket of popcorn and some nachos. “Here you go, Grace, one tray of nachos, the strangest movie food  78

ever sold. Did you know that you’ve been the only person all day to order  nachos?

I asked the girl. She said it typically takes them three weeks to go through a  whole vat of liquid cheese.” He kept rambling on about how gross the nachos  were, so Grace did the only thing she could. She dipped one of the corn chips  into the bright orange cheese and crammed it into his beautiful, open mouth. “Taste the deliciousness that is liquid cheese, Michael.” Grace laughed, as she  turned back to face the screen. She could hear him still mumbling behind her. “Disgusting …”

Bianca swatted Jack’s big hand away as he reached over her shoulder trying to  sneak some popcorn from the freshly filled bucket.

“Ouch,” Jack whined, but Bianca just glared. “Hey, I’m hungry.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have thrown all your popcorn at people.”

Wisely, Jack changed his approach. “May I please have some popcorn, Bianca?”  His good manners won her over, and she relu ctantly held the bucket up so he  could reach the buttery kernels. “Thank you, B.”

Grace felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, Michael’s face  was right there, his lips curled into a sexy smirk. The light from the screen  accentuated the  two dimples that framed his smile. She was caught off guard  by how close he was and just how delicious he smelled.

His breathtaking smile broke her out of her trance, and she stammered,

“Wh- What?”

“I still have the horrible taste of molten cheese in my mo uth. May I please have  a sip of your drink?” he pleaded with not only his voice, but with a pout of his  full, bottom lip that Grace suddenly wanted to take a bite out of.

Grace couldn’t help teasing him a little bit. “You don’t have any com -municable  diseases do you? When was the last time you sucked face with some skanky  barfly?”

He rolled his eyes. “My lips are clean, I swear. Would you like to check for yourself?” he asked wickedly as he puckered up.

“Ew. No thanks. Here you go.” Grace handed him the soda. “Now if you don’t mind, I would like to see the end of this movie.”

Grace settled into her seat and looked up at the giant screen, trying to focus on the end of the movie, but her mind was only interested in one thing: Michael. Just knowing he was sitting directly behind her, whispering to Jack, was driving her crazy. She strained her ears to try and hear what they were talking about, but with no luck.

79

Then he started tapping his foot into the b ack of her chair. When he realized she was annoyed by it, he leaned up again and whispered “Sorry” into her ear. Feeling his warm breath on her neck made Grace shiver. She began imagining him sitting next to her and burying her face into his chest during the scary parts of the movie. He would put his arm around her protectively and it would be … perfect.

Boycott, money, shoes, boycott, money, shoes. Grace repeated her new mantra in her head.

She heard Bianca let out a frustrated sigh beside her. Neither of  them was the least bit interested in the movie now. They had something far more interesting sitting behind them, capturing their complete attention. Having no idea what was going on in the movie any more, Grace leaned over to Meg who still had  Ryan whispering in her ear.

“I’m going to go pee. I have no idea what the hell’s going on in the movie anyway.”

Meg snickered. “Paying attention to something other than the movie, are you?” she teased.

“Go back to whispering with Ryan. By the way, you know you want to kiss him; too bad you can’t,” Grace snarled before she stood up. Meg stuck out her tongue as Grace stormed away.

She ran to the bathroom and glanced in the mirror as she washed her hands and sighed. Had I known we would be seeing Michael, I definitely would have

worn something different. Unfortunately, as Grace looked at her reflection, she  was just in an old pair of jeans and a T -shirt, nothing spectacular. She ran her  fingers through her hair quickly to try and make minimal improvements to it.  As she applied a fresh coat of lip gloss, Bianca stormed into the bathroom.

Thank you for evaluating PDF to ePub Converter.

To get full version, you need to purchase the software from:
http://www.pdf-epub-converter.com/convert-to-epub-purchase.html

She paused when she saw Grace’s primping and smiled. “Prettying ourselves up, are we?” She placed her purse on the counter.

“What are you doing in here, Bianca?” Grace asked, trying to change the subject.

“Same thing as you—hiding and beautifying.” She leaned back against the sink and sighed.

Grace put an understanding hand on her shoulder and mumbled, “I know.

Trust me, Bianca, I know. A little scary, isn’t it?”

“He’s just so damn irresistible.” Bianca swept the tube of lipstick across her lips and then tossed it back into her purse. The pair put the finishing touches on their faces and headed back to the movie.

80

When they opened the doors to theater twelve, they stopped dead in their tracks. Michael and Jack were leaning up against the back wall in the dimly lit hallway, smiling.

Grace took a deep breath to try and keep from blushing but failed terribly. Michael chuckled and waved them over to where they were standing.

“Hey,” she said casually as she dug the toe of her shoe into the carpet.

“Hey. So, I take it you are not enjoying the movie. Is it too scary for you?”

A teasing grin spread across his face.

Grace glanced over at Bianca and laughed. “Something  like that, yeah.”

“So, what are you ladies doing after the movie?” Jack asked, trying to sound casual. Grace laughed, Michael just rolled his eyes.

“We’re going to go get something to eat,” Bianca answered quickly. “What about you?”

A huge grin broke out on Jack’s face. “What a coincidence. We’re going to get something to eat, too. Would you ladies like to join us?”

Grace guessed they could have said they were getting pedicures and Jack would have insisted that was what they were going to do too. She could see in his face just how much he wanted to spend time with Bianca.

“That would be fine with me, but Bianca, we’d better check with Meg and see,”  Grace said hesitantly.

Just as she said that, the movie ended and a mob of people started crowding the hallway they were currently standing in, trying to get to the exit. Grace felt  Michael grab her hand and pull her close to keep track of her in the crowd. She felt his hard body press against hers as they navigated through the narrow

space.

Breathe, Grace, breathe, she said in her head.

They lost Bianca and Jack in the crowd, but Michael found them standing over in a corner and waved his hand up in the air. Grace looked back over her shoulder, trying to find Meg and Ryan, who should have been exiting the theater any minute, but there was no sign of them. Michael continued leading her over to Bianca and Jack, her hand tightly clutched in his.

“Did you two see Meg yet?” Grace asked.

Instead of answering, Bianca looked down at Grace’s hand which  was still entwined with Michael’s and smiled. Suddenly self conscious, Grace slid her hand out of Michael’s grasp and glared back at her friend.

“Don’t look for them anytime soon. Ryan has this thing for staying until the very last credit rolls, something  about acknowledging the hard work of everyone 81

involved in the filmmaking process. I don’t get it. All I know is he’s the last guy

out every time.” Jack laughed.

While the four of them stood there waiting, Jack nonchalantly slipped his arm

around Bianca’s shoulders. A small grin crossed her face as she snuggled up

against his chest. When she saw Grace looking at her cozied up to Jack, she

scowled and shrugged off his arm.

The door to the theater swung open one final time, and out came Ryan with a

very chipper Meg perched on his back getting a piggyback ride. Grace looked at

Bianca, who returned her stunned expression; then they burst out laughing.

“Is that against any of the rules?” Grace asked between laughs.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so,” Bianca chuckled.

“Damn. Thought we had her for a second.”

“What are you two talking about?” Michael asked as he and Jack exchanged a

confused look.

Grace skirted the subject. “We’ll tell you about it at dinner, right, Bianca?”

Bianca nodded her head in agreement.

“You don’t want to check with Meg anymore?” Michael asked, pointing over in

her direction.

“No, she doesn’t get to decide this one.” She grabbed Michael’s hand this time

and led him over to Meg and Ryan, who were laughing at a  poster of a coming

attraction.

“Hey there, love birds, are you guys ready to go?” Grace asked, giving Meg a big  smirk. She immediately hopped off Ryan’s back and put her hands on her hips. “Where are we going?” she asked with a suspicious tone to her voice.

“We’re going to get some food and, guess what, so are the guys! What a

coincidence,” Grace said with over-exaggerated surprise.

Meg shook her head side to side. “I know you two desperately want to go get

food.”

“There’s nothing ‘desperate’ about the need for sustenance. Why don’t you

just cling back onto Ryan and we’ll head to the car. I think a good table for six

people is hard to get,” Bianca sneered. She raised her eyebrow daring Meg to

say no to her request,  but even Meg knew to back off when Bianca was this

adamant about something.

“Fine. Where are we meeting?” Meg asked. Grace looked at Bianca in confusion.

They hadn’t gotten that far in the planning yet.

82

The first restaurant that Grace could think of popped out of her mouth.

“Mi Casa.”

Meg looked confused. “We’re going back to our house? Are you cooking?”

Grace shook her head slowly. “No, Meg, that Mexican place on third, with the

‘Margaritas by the Yard,’ remember?” Of course she probably couldn’t remember—she’d gotten pretty drunk last time they went. So had Bianca … all part of Grace’s plan.

“Oh, I love that place. Yeah, let’s go there!” She held out her arms to Ryan who slung her over his back and headed for the doors.

Grace felt Michael lean over her shoulder. “Want me to carry you to the car, too?”

She bent her finger for him to come a little closer. “If you’re lucky, I’ll let you carry me somewhere one day … but first you have to catch me!” she teased as she let go of his hand and ran for the door.

83

Chapter 8

C an we get a pitcher of margaritas on the rocks, four salted glasses, and two  ‘yards of margaritas’ for my friends, please?” Grace ordered the drinks for the group and something more special for Meg and Bianca.

“Wait!” Meg chirped. “I am not having one of those yard thingies. I remember what happened last time, Grace. Nice try. Bianca, you don’t want one either.”  She looked up at the waitress and waved her hand. “Just bring six glasses, please.”

Darn you, Meg! So what if last time you drank a yard of margaritas you made out with the waiter? And who could forget the way Bianca shoved her tongue down the throat of the guy at the next table?

Michael was sitting to the left of Grace at the huge circular table, scouring the menu. Before the server walked away, he quickly ordered an appetizer for the group. “Can we get an order of chicken nachos too, please?” The waitress nodded her head as she jotted it in her notebook. He leaned over to Grace, and smiled. “I thought you should try some real nachos for a change, minus the molten cheese from a can.”

Grace opened her mouth to make a smartass comment, but was interrupted.

“Before I put this all in the computer, how are we splitting the check?” the waitress asked as she looked around the table.

“One check, and I’ll take it,” Michael answered. Of course, everyone had something to say about that.

“No, no, no.  We need to split it, just take the whole thing, and at the end, split it  in half,” Bianca insisted.

The waitress nodded and walked away while the group continued to argue. “Just let us pick up the check. After all, we’re crashing your dinner. It’s the least  we can do.” Jack tried to argue, but Bianca shook her head no.

“Thanks for the offer, but if you pay then this could be considered a ‘date’

and we can’t have that, now can we, ladies?” Meg said as she glared across the  table at Grace and Bianca.

Michael mulled the comment over in his head then turned to Grace. “So at the

gym, when you said you weren’t dating until the new year, you were serious?” he asked in amazement. Grace looked at him and blushed as she nodded her  head yes. “Did all three of you agree to that?” he asked incredulously.

Jack quickly looked at Bianca, who was nodding her head along with Meg.

“Care to share the details?” Ryan asked Meg.

“Well, we had been going on dates with total losers, especially Grace, but that’s  a completely different story. Anyway, we decided no dates until January, made  a few ground rules, and put some money on it.” Meg shrugged and munched on  some chips and salsa.

“So what are these rules,” Jack asked Bianca suspiciously. Grace could tell he  wasn’t excited at the prospect of rules cramping his style.

“Well, no dating obviously, no tongue kissing …” Jack smacked his hand down  on the table and gave Michael a ‘you’ve  got to be kidding me’ look. Bianca  giggled and continued. “No sex of any kind—if you wouldn’t want to see your

parents do it, it counts as sex. Then we each pitched two hundred dollars into  the pot for the winner to spend on a gorgeous pair of shoes.”

Shoes or sex, shoes or sex … which do I value more? Grace pondered the  question in her head. Maybe I need to be more specific. Shoes or sex with  Michael, shoes or sex with Michael. Of course that’s assuming that Michael  actually wants to have sex with me. The  argument raged in her head. She made  the mistake of glancing over at Michael, who still had her fixed in his  smoldering gaze, making her heart flutter out of control.

“Six hundred dollars for a pair of shoes? Are you serious?” Jack boomed. “That’s crazy.”

“No, it’s not. That’s a fabulous pair of shoes to be worn on her first date of the  new year,” Bianca said with deep desire lacing her voice. “I’d do just about  anything for a great pair of shoes,” she mumbled as she put her margarita glass  to her lips.

85

Grace let out a big laugh when she noticed Jack’s mouth was hanging open as he watched Bianca’s tongue drag along the edge of her glass, sensually licking the salt off the rim. “She’s totally serious, too, you know,” Grace whispered as she leaned over to Michael. The brilliant blue of his eyes at times was too much for her heart. The way he looked at her was wicked and sinful and she loved it. She nervously grabbed the margarita that the waitress had poured, and took a big sip to distract herself.

She felt Michael’s arm snake around her back and finally come to rest on her chair. He leaned in close and put his lips up to her ear, barely grazing her earlobe. “And what would you do, Grace, for a great pair of shoes?”

I think my  heart may have actually just stopped. Grace froze, her entire body in knots as she reminded herself to breathe.

She was seconds away from losing all control and saying ‘screw the shoes,’but instead, Grace used some common sense and chose sarcasm to hide h er true feelings. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she whispered back at him as she looked up through her long eyelashes. Another one of those slow, sexy smiles that Grace couldn’t resist came across his face, and she found herself smiling right back at him.

Through the rest of dinner, Michael would ‘accidentally’ brush his hand against her arm or back or leg as he adjusted his chair. Each time he touched her, no matter how innocent the contact, Grace’s heart would pound and her skin would tingle. At one point, she had to excuse herself to the restroom to catch

her breath. Being that close to him was driving her crazy and sending her

libido into overdrive.

Everyone had a fantastic time at dinner. Jack was hilarious, and Ryan and

Michael were armed with a never-ending supply of funny stories about him.

Meg and Bianca continued to suck down the margaritas, and then with some prompting from Michael, thought it would be funny to share a few embarrassing tales about Grace.

“So, Meg, tell me about some of the losers Grace has dated in the past that led to the boycott,” Michael asked a very tipsy Meg.

“Meg.” Grace gave her a warning look, which she must have missed while she was tonguing the rim of her margarita glass. Ryan’s wide eyes were glued to

Meg’s tongue as it leisurely trailed along the edge of her rotating glass.

“Michael, you have no idea the magnitude of losers she has dated. Bianca, help me, there are so many to choose from. Top five had to be … Oh, I know!

Remember that guy who was the greeter at Wal - Mart?”

86

“Wait a minute. That one doesn’t count. I had no idea that’s what he did for a