Fall From Grace by Christine Zolendz Read Free Book Online Page A

against my cheek, his lips just brushing against my skin.  “I’ve told you too much already, Grace.  Just live this life of yours.”
    My head spun franticly.  “Please, Gabriel.  Please!”  I begged.  But in an instant, he was gone.  Out the window, through the door, or into thin air, I had no clue.  My heart pounded against my chest, remembering the words Gabriel said to me.  I wondered what his punishment would be for helping me keep my faith.
    Sleep came swiftly and heavy.  Tucker’s kisses and Shane’s hands on Barbie haunted my dreams until my body could take no more of it and I woke at six.  Three hours of sleep was not nearly enough, but my body wouldn’t let me stay in bed any longer.
    I slipped on my running gear and headed towards the front door.  I ran down the steps and almost tripped over Shane who was sitting on the last step.
    “Ouch!” He scrambled to his feet as I ran into him.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.
    “I was going for a run and I thought you or Conner would be up for one.”
    I laughed.  “Conner won’t be up for a while.  Shane, did you even sleep?  I only got like three hours.”
    His face flushed.  “Nah, I’ll sleep later.  I have too much energy.”
    I smiled, “Wow, that must have been a really great lap dance, huh?”
    “Shut up!” he muttered elbowing me.  He started running towards Central Park and I followed, laughing.  Gabriel gave me hope last night and nothing Shane would do could make me feel bad.
    We repeated the same trail as the day before, our feet hitting the ground in unison creating a calming rhythmic cadence.
    Less than three hours later, we collapsed sweaty and exhausted on my couch.  Shane aimed the remote toward the television and flicked through the channels.  We settled on some unknown comedy show and laughed uncontrollably at the jokes we heard.  That’s exactly how Conner and Lea found us when they woke up and stumbled, groggy from sleep, into the room.  Shane and I slumped over the couch, both of us sweaty, panting and laughing.
    “Oh my God!  Did you two just have sex out here?  Ewww.  Grace!  Come on, Shane really?” Lea yelled.
    We laughed even harder.  “What?  You seriously think that we just had sex?  Here on the couch?” I asked.
    Shane looked at Conner and gave him a thumb up.  “Dude, if you guys look like this after you guys get freaky, that’s awesome.  But, no we just came back from a run.  I wouldn’t touch Grace if you paid me.  She’s really a man.”
    Shane stood up still chuckling.  “I’m starving.  Grace, you hungry, bro?  I’ll make you breakfast.”
    I narrowed my eyes at him, immediately suspicious.  What could this man possibly make me for breakfast?  “Are you even capable of pouring cereal into a bowl?”
    He arched one eyebrow at my joke; eyes sparkling.  “Are you insulting me?”
    I shrugged.  “Um.  No, not really.  It was an honest question.”
    He walked across the room and theatrically waved his arms toward the kitchen door.  “C’mon. You have to be just as hungry as I am after all that sex…I mean all that running.”
    I threw a pillow at him.  He ducked.  “Oh, so now you’re saying you do have sex with guys?” I laughed, following him into the kitchen.
    Most of Shane’s body was already deep in the refrigerator piling stuff into his arms.  When he was satisfied with what he found, he dropped it all on the counter and reached for a frying pan.   “So, honestly, why did you think I wouldn’t be able to cook?”  He was facing the stove pouring a cap full of vegetable oil into the pan, so I couldn’t see his expression.  He cracked three eggs at a time right into the pan.  I wonder how many shells just dropped in there?
    He flipped the top of the garbage pail open, tossed the shells in, and repeated the process.  After chopping, dicing and adding all the ingredients, he turned the burner on.  He lifted his sweatshirt over