For the Love of Gracie (The Southern Devotion Series) Read online

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 hair 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 forward 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.

  "I know. Hudson's just insecure. He's not a bad guy. Give him a chance, for me." I stood up and put my hand out. “In the meantime, come dance with me, hottie."

  Cameron and I went out to the main floor of the club, with the beat jumping, and got our groove on. We had always loved to dance together. I had my arms wrapped around his neck and he was grinding against me as I threw back my head, laughing at the faces he made.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder. Hudson was angry. His ears practically had smoke rolling out of them. He yanked my arm and dragged me outside. Cameron followed close behind. Once we got out in the street, Cameron yelled, "What is your problem, man? Take your fucking hands off of her!"

  Hudson turned and raised his fist. I slipped in between them. "You hit him and so help me…"

  Hudson scowled, "A dude hit on me in the bathroom. I don’t need this crap. Let's go." He grabbed my arm again and I yanked away from him.

  "You should be flattered. All you have to do is say you aren’t interested. Don't be such a homophobe!"

  Hudson stepped back. "Let's go back to my place. I wanna spend time with you, baby." He tried to use sweet talk to get on my good side, but it wasn't working this time.

  "I'm staying here with my friend," I grabbed Cam's hand in mine. "See ya later, Hudson. Have fun walking the dog tonight." He cursed and stomped away to his car.

  Cameron put his arm around me. "Gracie, Gracie, Gracie, where do you find these assholes?"

  I spent the rest of the evening with Cameron, Ashton, and Gavin. Mary Jane and Angel bolted on us around two in the morning to go home. It was the third beer, after my second martini that had me feeling it was time to call it a night, which was around four in the morning. Whenever I drank, I always mumbled to myself, "Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, never fear." I lived by that rule and I had learned the hard way, once, how very true it was.

  Every month or so, we would get together for what we called 'Loozas', and they usually had a theme. Our first looza, called Cam-is-fabpalooza was absolutely crazy. I had to credit Cam for coming up with that fabulous name. I was triple dog dared to shotgun a case of Natural Ice beers. To shotgun a beer; poke a hole in the side of the can near the bottom. Then you pop the top and chug.

  Well, by the end of the night, I had done that with the case of beers, and they ended up mostly all over me, soaking my white t-shirt. Then someone handed me a shot of tequila, and before it made it all the way down, everything from the night came up. Tequila burned terribly when coming out your nose, I wouldn't recommend it, ever. Lesson learned that night, now I always followed the rule.

  As
for tonight, I was currently feeling no pain and definitely in no condition to drive. Cameron asked his friend Ashton to give me a ride home. When we made it to his car, it turned out to be a motorcycle instead. As sexy as motorcycles were, I hoped desperately that I wouldn't become dizzy and toss my cookies on Ashton.

  The thing about Nashville weather was that it changed at the drop of a hat. The joke was, if you didn't like the weather, just wait until tomorrow and it would be different. It was September, which was usually somewhat warm. When we had left home the previous evening it was in the high seventies. Now, in the wee hours of the morning, it was in the low fifties and I was shivering. Ashton slipped his black leather jacket across my shoulders when he saw me quiver.

  "Thanks," I said. The great thing about the South was there were a lot of gentlemen. Unfortunately, I never seemed to date any of them.

  He handed me a helmet and helped strap it to my head. I exhaled loudly. "This must look attractive."

  He smiled. "You look cute."

  He sat on the bike and I straddled his back, wrapping my arms around his torso. Pressing my nose against his shoulder I inhaled his scent. He smelled fantastic, like cedar, which was odd for cologne. I laid my head on his shoulder and cursed the gay community for getting all the deliciously gorgeous, sweet men in the world.

  Ashton weaved in and out of traffic and it was making me queasy. There were microphones in the helmets, so I screamed out, "I'm going to hurl."

  He pulled over quickly and lifted me off the bike in one swoop. Throwing the helmet off, I ran to the side of the road and heaved, all over the ground. I felt his hands lift my hair back from my face. "Wow, that's a lot of hurling you just did."

  I sighed. "Gross. Sorry about that, I'm great with first impressions."

  He reached into his satchel attached to the motorcycle and pulled out a bottle of water. He handed it to me and said, "It's warm, but it will at least rinse your mouth out."

  I glanced down and noticed some was on his jacket. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Ashton."

  He waved it off as if it was nothing. "Don't worry about it. It can be cleaned."

  We had pulled over near a small park. I wasn’t sure of the name, but the locals call it Dragon Park. There was a large mosaic dragon sculpture that weaved around the playground with benches built into it. Ashton pointed at the dragon. "Wanna sit for a minute before we go? Give you time to recover." I nodded and took his hand as he led me over there.

  "So how do you know Cameron?" I asked.

  "Gavin and I have been best friends since high school. He introduced me to Cameron a few months back. Gavin has a thing for him. He didn’t want to look too obvious going around him by himself all the time, so I offered to be his wing man. I personally think they'd make a great couple."

  I agreed by nodding my head.

  He continued by saying, "It's probably none of my business, but you seem like a great girl, Gracie. Why would you be dating such an ass like that Hudson guy?"

  I laughed. "It appears the general consensus on Hudson is that he's an ass. I seem to always meet the dirt bags; it's not a new thing for me. They're drawn to me it seems, or vice versa. The sex is great, though."

  He seemed a bit offended by my last comment.

  "Sorry, that's how Cam and I talk, didn’t mean to give you TMI."

  He waved it off. "No, it's all good. Based on what I've heard about you from Cam, I'd rather see you with a better guy, though. So, off the subject, you just let Cam touch your breasts whenever he wants?"

  I nodded and laughed, "Why not? He finds them interesting. It's funny how fascinating he finds them without being turned on." I pressed my chest forward. "You can touch them too, if you want."

  He lifted his hands, and then stopped. "That seems wrong to me."

  I laughed, "Come on, touch them!"

  He shrugged and placed his hands on my chest. It felt awesome to have his hands on me. He seemed uncomfortable and pulled away. "Sorry, I really shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what I was thinking."

  I laughed and bumped against him. "Don’t be such a prude. They're just boobs, fun bags, bazoombas, melons, hooters, ta-tas's, boobies…"

  He laughed heartily, "Don't forget chesticles, knockers, lady lumps, and the most appropriate for you, George and Gracie."

  I giggled and held my fist up. He put his fist up, bumped mine, and we pulled away as though they exploded. This guy was a lot of fun.

  "Gavin's cute. I noticed Cam checking him out too. Wonder why they haven’t hooked up?"

  Ashton shrugged. "Gavin can be shy about that stuff sometimes. He hasn’t been out as long as Cam."

  I nodded. "I can understand that. Cam came out early in high school, but even then he wasn’t sure. In fact, he and I started to hook up one night. He wanted to test himself. I didn’t argue because I was in love with Cameron back then. He never could perform with me, so nothing happened. It broke my heart, for a bit. Now I am glad we didn’t. I got over him when I realized we were meant to be the best of friends."

  I loved how he listened to me so intently. I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips. I leaned forward, wanting to kiss him, and became dizzy. His hands braced me from falling.

  "Let's get you home to bed."

  I ran my hand along his arm, feeling his bicep flex at the sensation. "Ashton Collins, are you trying to seduce me?"

  Ashton's face paled and he stuttered.

  I laughed and said, "It's a joke, lighten up." We hopped back on his motorcycle and he dropped me off at the apartment. "Thanks for the ride." I leaned forward and lightly brushed my lips against his, which surprised him.

  He smiled, "Think about what I said, you deserve better than that jerk."

  Angel was waiting for me at the door. "Alright, moving on from the dirt bag already!"

  I snickered, "Whatever. That was Ashton, he's gay. No chance there."

  Angel held her hand out to me. "You left your phone here. Hudson has been blowing it up with messages."

  Chapter Three

  Calling Hudson back seemed pointless. Instead, I crawled in bed for the night. The next morning I was awakened by my bed sinking in and a body stealing the blankets, then curling up against me.

  "Good Morning, Cam."

  He snickered, "Morning hot stuff. So, did you have fun with Ashton last night?"

  I rolled over and sat up with him. "He's a nice guy. He told me that you and Gavin have a thing?"

  Cameron grabbed his chest in shock. "What? Ok, tell me everything he said! Oh my gosh, so Gavin likes me?"

  Oops, now that I remember, Ashton said that Gavin had a thing for Cameron, not that they had a thing together.

  "Um, shoot. I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you that. Stupid martini's." I slapped my head, then winced, "Ouch."

  He put his hands together in a praying fashion and begged, "Baby, girl, if you love me you'll tell me. Gavin is the hottest guy I know and if he has a thing for me…it would make my lifetime!" He was giddy, to put it mildly.

  He started bouncing on the bed next to me, as anxious as a kid on Christmas morning.

  "Dude, hangover! Please stop bouncing."

  He ceased bouncing and batted his eyes at me, not giving up on this quest of his.

  I sighed, exasperated, "All I know is that Gavin has a thing for you and Ashton thinks you two would make a cute couple." Cameron fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

  He was so still, I thought the news had sent him into shock. That was until he sat straight up and shouted, "Woohoo!"

  I smacked my hand over his mouth to cover the sound, not sure if everyone was awake in the house.

  Angel answered by knocking on the wall and shouting, "Zip it, Cam!"

  We both snickered. Cameron wrapped his arms around my waist and tackled me back down on the bed in a hug. "Girl, I love you. You made my day!" he whispered loudly. He pressed his lips against mine fiercely, stood up and helped me out of bed.

  "Le
t's go shopping today," he said. "I want to find a new outfit for the next time I see Gavin." Cam invaded my closet and assaulted me with one piece of clothing after the next.

  "Let me get a shower first, k?"

  He shrugged. "K. I’ll go make you a hangover cure, scrambled eggs."

  When I stepped out of the shower, the smell of eggs made my stomach churn. Tucking the towel around me, I stepped into the bedroom. Cam sat on the bed scrolling through my phone.

  "Damn, does anyone understand privacy?" I snatched the phone from him.

  He didn’t laugh, he looked very serious. "Check your texts. I picked your phone up to check my Facebook account and found that you had fifteen missed texts. I don’t like that guy, Gracie."

  I dropped my towel and slipped on black lace panties and a matching bra.

  Cam whistled, "What's with the sexy unders?"

  I shimmied into my blue jeans and buttoned them before answering. "I'm going to go see Hudson later today. You don’t know him so I'd appreciate you keeping your opinion to yourself until you do."

  Cameron wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "You shouldn't be wasting your time with that asshat, Gracie. That's all I'm saying. You're smoking hot and you deserve someone better. Is this really a guy you can see yourself with forever?"

  I scoffed, "Who’s talking about forever? The sex is good. I'm twenty-one and I have plenty of time for forever."

  He shook his head. "Spoken like a true guy. I should be so hot for you."

  I smacked him playfully.

  "So what was wrong with the texts?" I asked as I sat to fix my hair.

  "He sent fifteen in a span of two hours, for one thing. He also said 'sorry I offended your gay friends.' Glad I've been segregated into a group. And he said something really crude about what he'd like to do to you. If he was a decent guy, I'd be high-fiving you and telling you to 'get it girl'. Not this guy though, he gives me the creeps."

  My phone rang, interrupting the conversation. "Hello? Hey. Um, how did you get my number? Oh, I did? I was a bit out of it. Yeah, I'm good. I have a slight hangover, but nothing major. Thanks again, for giving me a ride last night. We should hang out again soon. K, bye."