For the Love of Gracie (2 page)

When I stepped out of the shower,
Hudson was standing there in the room staring at me. I grabbed a towel and covered myself. 

"What the hell?"
I exclaimed, as I secured the towel around my body, tucking the end into the top to tighten it.

He laughed, "Nothing I haven’t seen before.  I wanted to finish our talk." 

I backed away from him with my hands in the air. "A little privacy would be nice. Look, there is no reason to worry about Cam.  There is nothing going on with us." 

His hand
shot forward and I flinched back.

Hudson looked upset at my recoil. Gently, he placed his hand on my cheek and said, "Did you think I was going to hit you? I'd never hurt you, Gracie." 

I rolled my eyes. "You just did, a few minutes ago."  I held up my wrist to show him the bruise that was beginning to form. 

His eyes became sad; he took hold of my wrist and kissed the bruise softly. "I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I've had a rough week and I shouldn't take that out on you. I'm sorry, baby" 

He stepped closer and pushed my hair back off my shoulders.  His mouth lightly kissed my shoulder, and then moved to my neck. He nibbled on my earlobe and whispered, "You make me so crazy, Gracie. How do you make me so crazy?"

His hand moved to loosen the towel and I let it fall from my body. After we spent several hours exploring each other again, I decided I had to make an appearance at home. 

"Will I see you tonight?"  he asked, as I stood at the door. 

I shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see." I winked at him and when I turned, he smacked my bottom. I glanced back at him and he was staring at me as I walked away. Hudson James, even his name oozed sexiness and he was into me, Gracie Walker. I'd never believed I could land a guy so dreamy. 

Chapter Two

My keys were in the door, when it was yanked open and I found my friend Angel standing there. "Well, look who remembered where she lives!" she teased as I pushed by her into the house. "How's Hudson?  Have you ever seen him standing up or are you guys always horizontal?" 

Angel and Mary Jane had been my roommates for three years now, ever since we graduated high school and
had started college life.

We lived in Nashville, Tennessee where we attended college in a nearby town. Angel was originally from Florida. She was Hispanic, five four, with long black hair, and deep brown eyes. We envied her because she had a small waist, but a 'badonkadonk' butt that the guys went crazy for, plus enough of an accent to make her sound exotic and sexy. 

Mary Jane was from Kentucky. She was five eight, with blonde hair, and pale green eyes.  She was considered plus-sized because she was a size eighteen. I personally thought she was the hottest of the three of us.  I sometimes found myself envious of her soft curves.  She had a wonderful country twang that guys seemed to go crazy for, the whole farm girl persona. 

Angel's family moved here when she was twelve and Mary Jane's moved when she was ten. The three of us had been inseparable since we met in Junior High. Only men seemed
interrupt our time together, lately.

"Yes, I've seen him standing. We do it vertically too." I nudged her and she laughed. 

She turned and yelled up the stairs, "Yo, MJ, come down and see who made an appearance!" 

Mary Jane, or MJ as we liked to call her, came stumbling down the stairs, two at a time. She grinned at me and said, "Nice bed-head." 

I gave her a one finger salute. 

"What are the plans for tonight? Are we meeting Cam and the guys?" I asked, as I set my purse down on the counter. 

"Yep, we have about three hours to get ready. Come on upstairs. I have the cutest top you have to wear." 

Eagerly, I followed her up the stairs to her bedroom. 
Angel brought a red spaghetti strap shirt out of her closet with diamond studs all over the top half. "Try this one. It will make your boobs stand out." 

I laughed, "For where we're going, do I really need that?" 

She nodded. "Of course, it always helps to dress up the girls." 

I slid on some black jeans and pulled the spaghetti strap shirt over my head. It really did make them stand out. 

A few years ago, I had gone through a depression stage and gained a lot of weight. I had lost over sixty pounds since then and had worked hard to get to this point. I was proud of showing my body off now. Angel and I could share tops easily enough, but pants weren't as easy to exchange.  I had curvy hips, but nothing compared to Angel's. 

Angel pointed to a chair, demanding I sit. She used a straightener to do my hair
, most days I kept it wavy.  When she was finished, it hung straight down my back, only inches from my waist. She handed me some diamond studded hoops to wear in my ears. 

She ran to the closet and came back
with a pair of red, suede, four-inch heels.

"Those are some wicked shoes!" I exclaimed. Angel nodded in agreement. 

I slid them on, securing the strap across my foot. I stood and held my arms out and spun in a circle.

Angel whistled. "You look sexy, chica!" 

Tonight, I didn’t care about towering over the guys.  I wasn’t looking for a date, and I wouldn’t find one where we were going. I was dressed up simply to make myself happy tonight.

We had used up the full three hours getting ready and were on the verge of being late to meet our other friends.

The doorbell rang. "Gracie, it's for you!" yelled Mary Jane from the bottom of the stairs.  She looked up, smiled and said, "Look at you, hot momma."

I grinned. "Thanks, babe." Standing at the door was Hudson with a dozen red roses. "Um, hi. I wasn’t expecting you." 

His smile faded as he looked me up and down. "Who were you expecting?" he asked, in an accusatory tone. 

Mary Jane reached for my hand. "You want him to leave?  I'll gladly slam the door." 

I laughed at her over-protectiveness. "It's all good, girl. He didn’t mean anything." I turned my attention to Hudson, "I'm going out with my friends tonight. Are those for me?"

Hudson kept a hold of the flowers and scowled, "You sure look pretty hot to be going out with just friends." 

I decided to ignore his jealousy and focus on the compliment. I pressed myself against him. "You think I look hot?" I kissed his lips, letting my tongue snake out, and lick his bottom lip. He groaned and pulled me in for a deeper kiss. 

Mary Jane was still behind us; she cleared her throat and said, "Get a room." 

I laughed and invited Hudson to come inside. He held the flowers out to me; I took his hand, instead, and led him to the kitchen.

He
placed the flowers on the kitchen counter as I bent over to grab a vase from under the sink. His hands grabbed at my waist and he pressed himself against me as he groaned.

I stood and he turned me around, pulling me into a kiss again. I felt his excitement pressed up against my stomach. Good grief, this man was insatiable.  

My phone buzzed. I pushed him away and answered it. "Hey, babe. Yep, we're leaving here shortly and we'll see you there. Love you too."  Hudson's eyebrow rose with curiosity. "That was Cameron; we're meeting him at a club." Hudson's jaw stiffened and his face became green with jealousy, again. 

In an attempt to appease him, I said,
"Come with us, baby." 

His face softened. "I like when you call me baby. Yeah, sure
, I can do that. Am I dressed right for this club or should I go change?" 

I looked him over. He was wearing a grey
V-neck t-shirt with faded jeans that hung loosely on his hips. My tongue darted out and I licked my lips. 

He smirked. "Guess that answers my question." 

Angel walked into the kitchen and caught us in a make-out session again. She groaned. "Geez, guys come up for air."

We chuckled together at her annoyance.  I grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door with me. 
Hudson and I rode together in his sports car while Angel and Mary Jane rode together in her Mustang convertible. 

When we arrived at the club, the line was wrapped around the building. Angel went up to the bouncer, Chris, and worked her magic, slipping him Cameron's name in the process.
He let us right in.  As we slipped in the door, we heard the angry people outside shouting about discrimination. The music shook the room; I could feel the beat pounding in my chest. Hudson stiffened beside me. His eyes rolled as he listened to the non-heavy metal music playing. He was a bit of a snob when it came to music; it was either heavy metal or it wasn't music. That quirk of his was actually kind of cute to me.

Before I even saw him approach, Cameron hugged me, almost knocking me over.
He yelled, "Is this Hudson?" 

I nodded and
Cameron stuck his hand out towards Hudson. They shook hands, though Hudson looked slightly annoyed.  Cameron waved us to follow him. We went to a back room where there was a private party going on and the music was at a much lower decibel.  The room had about twenty people in it, an even mixture of men and women. Cameron directed us to the table he occupied. He introduced us to the two guys at his table. "This is Gavin." 

Gavin had blonde h
air that was shaped into a faux-hawk and his brown eyes danced with happiness. Cameron hadn’t taken his eyes off of him. I could tell he was interested in him. He was gorgeous, to say the least. He smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth, and held his hand out to me. "Heard a lot about you, Gracie," he said.  I returned his smile, blushing a little. 

"And this is Ashton." 

Ashton stood up and extended his hand. "I've also heard lots about you, Gracie. Cam talks about you all the time." His voice was low and husky; it made my skin tingle when he said my name.  My eyes drifted up to his face. He was exceptionally tall, at least six foot five or six.

His wavy
, dark locks had hints of grey in them, though his face looked a lot younger. His lips curved in a polite smile that made my stomach quiver with nerves. His face wasn’t clean shaven, which I thought was even hotter. He had a neatly trimmed beard that also had a hint of grey in it. He didn’t dress in the latest fashions like Cam’s other friends. He simply wore a black button down shirt which was tucked into a pair of jeans that hugged his hips. My eyes drifted over him and, when I made eye contact again, he was smirking. The fact that I was undressing him with my eyes didn’t go unnoticed, by him at least. I wondered if he noted my disappointment when he didn't do the same in return. 

Hudson cleared his throat and I introduced him to them. He made it a point to interject that he was my boyfriend. I rolled my eyes because we hadn’t talked about that particular title applying to him
yet. Cameron gave me a look that said "when did this happen?"

I shook my head and mouthed, "We'll talk."  Hudson pretty much acted like a jerk most of the night, not talking to anyone. I ignored him and enjoyed time with my friends
. 

I couldn’t help my eyes drifting back to Ashton, periodically. He was drinking a frozen pink drink with a purple umbrella in it. I chuckled and said, “Kind of a girlie drink, don’t ya think?”

He smiled. “Really think I’m going to be judged here?” A hearty laugh sounded, and it took a moment to realize it was coming from me. I liked this guy; he reminded me of Cam. Hudson didn’t seem to like the attention he gave me. He marked his territory by playing with my hair and keeping a firm grip on one of my hands, in plain view, at all times.

After a few drinks, Cameron leaned over and put his hand on my breasts. "This shirt makes these look awesome, girl." 

Hudson stood up quickly, kicking his chair back, sending it sailing across the room. He snarled, "What the hell was that?" 

I stepped in between him and Cameron. "Calm down, Hudson." 

Cameron butted in. "I think Gracie can tell me if she doesn’t want me to do something.  She's a big girl." 

Hudson pushed forwar
d and I shoved him back.  "Stop! Take a look around for a moment and realize where you are." 

He glanced around with a scowl on his face.
It took him a moment, but his surroundings began to sink in.

"Is this a gay bar?" he asked, a little taken aback. 

I laughed. "Yep. Cameron is gay. He can touch my boobs anytime he wants and he's not a threat."  Hudson faced Cameron and raised in hands in the air, as if in surrender.  "Sorry, man. It would have been nice if Gracie had told me that." 

Cameron stood up and accepted the apology, but asked, "Do you introduce your friends by saying 'This is my gay friend Cameron'?"

Hudson nodded. "I get it. Sorry for being a jerk." He turned to me. "I'll be back; I'm going to hit the head." 

As Hudson left, Cameron pulled me onto his lap.  "Gracie, he's cute and I'm sure he's a great lay, but girl you deserve better than that. You keep falling for such asshats." He was right, though I didn’t want to
admit it.