Saving Grace

Chapter 16: Plot Twist

I wake up to my phone ringing. I crop my eyes open to slits, waiting for it to shut up. It keeps ringing incessantly, annoying the crap out of me. I groan, stretching, and pick up my phone from the side table.

"M'ullo?"

"Wake up, Grace, it's an emergency!" Halsey's panicked voice filters through the phone.

I jerk up, sitting in one fluid motion, making my head spin.

"What? What happened? Are you okay?"

"Come over to Hit right now I need your help!" Halsey lets out in a rush.

I hear some shuffling and mumbling and then the call drops. I hop up from the bed in a daze, tangling into the sheets for a moment before stepping out from the mess. I grab the nearest shirt and pull it over my tank top, searching for my Toms around the room. I find them below the bed, shove my feet into them and pick up my car keys, stumbling down the staircase.

Mom's not home, having decided to go help Henry with the party he was throwing for Ricardo. I had heard her mumbling about things rich gay men did for making up after fighting during dinner yesterday.

I lock the front door behind me, hop into my car and race towards the café.

I reach there in record time of five minutes, park my car and jump out, running towards the door of the café. I dial Halsey's number, waiting for her to pick up.

"Hey, I'm here," I gasp, short of breath. "Where are you?"

"Come in, I'm sitting at the usual booth." Halsey directs me in a calm voice.

Oookay. Isn't she too calm for an emergency?

I slow my pace now, suspicious. Pushing the door, I walk in and make my way towards the corner most booth. I can see the back of her blonde head bent towards her lap. Probably texting someone?

She's sitting alone, with a coffee in front of her, completely calm. I raise my eyebrows and walk towards her.

"Hey. What's the emergency?" I hop down in front of her, catching my breath.

She startles in her seat. "You're early."

I roll my eyes. "Duh, Hals, you said it's an emergency, I drove like a crackhead here."

"Oh," she glances towards her phone then the door. "Yeah."

"So...?" I drag the word into a question, still waiting for her to tell me what the emergency is.

She looks around as if stalling. She glances at the door again and then quickly sets her gaze back on me.

"Are you in your pyjama shorts?"

Distracted, I look down at myself, noticing what I'm wearing for the first time. Halsey's right, I had forgotten to put on pants before I ran out the house. I'm in my tiny white pyjama shorts covered in strawberries and the shirt I had thrown on was an old Pink Floyd one. The shirt is so jaded it looks grey rather than the black it originally used to be, my bright red Toms blaringly standing out against the pale skin of my exposed legs.

Well, at least I had put on a shirt over my pink tank top before coming here. I wasn't wearing a bra.

"Of course I'm in my pyjama shorts. I was sleeping. It's -" I look at the screen of my phone, "- six in the morning of a Saturday. Now would you spill?"

She bites her lip nervously. "Please don't be mad."

"Mad about what? What's going on?"

"I... uh..."

"Halsey! What?!"

"There's no emergency. I was lying." She spills out in a rush.

I narrow my eyes at her. "So you mean to say I ran out of my house this early in the morning just to come here for what, to have a cup of coffee with you? Are you serious, Hals? Not that I have an issue with having coffee with you but this early? On a Saturday? On the pretext of an emergency?" I raise my arms and drop them in an exasperated manner.

"No, no, it's not like that." Halsey raises her palms up at me in an effort to calm me down. She pushes the cup of coffee towards me. "Here, it's for you."

I don't stop glaring at her but accept the cup, draining half of it in two gulps. Ah, the perfect amount of vanilla and sugar. Coffee always worked wonders for my mood.

"Explain. Now."

"I asked her to call you here," comes a voice from behind me.

I turn around to a determined looking Alex, his long hair damp and loose, curling slightly at his shoulders, a red flannel, loose jeans and combat boots completing his attire. He looks like he just showered and came here. Which he probably did.

I consciously sniff at myself. I am so totally regretting missing my own morning shower.

I sift my fingers through the nest that is my hair, trying to somewhat tame the raging bedhead I'm rocking. I look at Halsey's sheepish expression, her eyes pleading with me to behave.

I sigh and scoot over for Alex to sit. His face lights up, as if relieved I'm not going to bite his head off, and quickly settles into the space beside me, resting his arm around the back of the seat. I slightly scoot forward to avoid my head touching his arm, a movement not gone unnoticed by him. He whips his face towards me, his eyes observant. I freeze, waiting for a snarky comment on my discomfort to his close proximity but it doesn't come.

"What are you two up to now?" I ask, looking straight ahead at Halsey, avoiding Alex's attention.

"Ask him. My job here is done." Halsey jumps up from the booth, her eyes now twinkling with humour. "Besides, I volunteered to get snacks for the party so I have a lot of stuff to do. Bye!"

She waves and hurries out of the café, leaving me and Alex alone in the booth, sitting next to each other. I hope she's ready for the verbal smackdown she's going to get as soon as I get a hold of her.

I notice Alex has scooted closer, our thighs now touching. I can feel the warmth radiating from his giant body, covering me like a blanket. I discreetly inhale, the scent of soap and man and something entirely uniquely him wafting to my nose.

I love men who smell good.

Not that I love Alex. But I love how he smells so fresh and wonderful. I fight the urge to curl in to his side, clearing my throat and scooting away instead, reclaiming the small gap between us.

I turn my head slightly towards his, still avoiding looking at him directly. "What?"

"Why are you avoiding looking at me?" I can hear amusement in his voice.

"I'm not." I glance around the café, searching for a quick exit. But Alex has conveniently had me trapped, his huge frame blocking the only way out of the booth.

I'm looking at the table, contemplating crawling from beneath it when I feel a finger on my chin.

Alex hooks his finger onto my chin, directing my face towards his. Our gazes collide, and something foreign works its way through my body. His eyes are a turmoil of emotion, questioning at first, and then amazed at what they see in mine. His lips lift up in a soft smile and I automatically try to search for a dimple behind his beard.

The finger on my chin straightens, grazing my jaw, a slow soft whisper of a touch. My body reacts on its own. I lean into the touch, my skin tingling wherever the finger travels, my eyes closing on their own accord. I feel him leaning in, his breath fanning over my lips.

Then reality comes crashing in, and I tear my chin away from his grasp, eyes flying open. I back off, scooting away till my back hits the wall, giving myself room to breathe.

What the hell just happened?

"What - what are you doing?" I stammer, my heart beating in overdrive.

He grins, his eyes lighting up like trees on Christmas. "I'm kidnapping you."