| Chapter Twenty-six |
| Grace was having one of those "what's wrong with this picture" moments. How else could she describe sitting in Justin's car with four very beautiful and well dressed people? It was an ad for the Gap if she'd ever seen one.
"So, Grace, Justin tells us that you work for his mother, " extremely beautiful person #1 said leaning over E.B.P. #2 to better see Grace, who was scrunched against the door trying to figure out how much it would hurt to throw herself from a Hummer. E.B.P. #1 was also known as Sadie. She looked a lot like Jessica Simpson if Jessica Simpson was a tanned, 5'7 brunette in a small black dress. "Yeah, I work for Lynn. I'm her assistant." "Oh! I knew I'd met you. You looked familiar," E.B.P. #2 chirped in. Her name was Olivia, and she and Grace had met once before at Justin's birthday party. After dancing with Grace, Justin had taken off with Olivia, forgetting all about Grace. Not that Grace had blamed him. Olivia was a stunning blonde who couldn't be anything more than a size 2. "You were at Justin's birthday party, right?" "Yes." Olivia grinned, pleased with herself. "So," Sadie continued, ignoring Olivia's interruption, "what's it like working for the Great Lynn Harless? She scares me." "Hey! That's my mother," Justin replied, briefly turning behind him to glare at Sadie. "I meant that with the most possible respect. She's a badass. She could make a grown man cry." "One time she almost had Johnny in tears," Trace laughed, "Remember that, Just?" He smiled in reply. Sadie returned her attention to Grace, "So, what's it like?" Her voice dropped to a whisper, "You can tell me. He," she motioned to chair in front of her, "won't mind." "I can hear you." Sadie frowned, "We'll talk later, Grace." That, of course, was if Grace hadn't hitchhiked home by then. Without turning to look at her, Justin said to Grace, "Don't mind Sadie. She's never been right in the head." "That's funny coming from a guy who was so in love with me that he flew me and my sister to Paris." She turned to Olivia, "Got a free vacation out of it." Olivia frowned, which somehow only made her more beautiful, "We never went to Paris. That must have been romantic." Sadie rolled her eyes. "He spent the entire time doing photo shoots and interviews. Hailey and I had an awesome time spending his money though." "Yeah, been there, done that. Our anniversary in Hawaii. I saw him for about an hour the entire time." A groan escaped Justin's mouth. Trace thought this was hilarious. He playfully punched Justin's arm, "Dude, I'm the only one in the car who hasn't dated you." Olivia and Sadie's eyes went to Grace, but they said nothing. Everyone fell silent, not sure of what to say after that. Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia kept stealing glances at Grace. Grace knew Olivia was wondering what everyone else wanted to know. Was it true? Was this chubby girl really dating Justin? Since Grace still wasn't sure if sitting in the backseat with his ex-girlfriends counted as a date, the one person who could actually answer the question was Justin, and he wasn't saying anything. "Well," Sadie said to no one in particular, "I'm sufficiently intrigued." Luckily, before anyone could say anymore, Justin announced, with some relief that they had finally arrived. Grace peered out of her window as they pulled into the driveway. If there was such a thing as a beach mansion this was it. In fact, she couldn't see any beach, just a massive house. Justin found the first empty spot in the long driveway, which took a few moments since the place was packed. As soon the car was turned off, Sadie threw open the door and clambered out with Olivia not far behind. They began straightening out their clothes and hair, making sure they were perfect for their big entrance. Justin and Trace stood off to the side, waiting patiently. They were discussing something, but Justin looked up and caught Grace's eye. He smiled. Grace smiled back. "Okay, I’m ready," Sadie announced, coming towards Justin and grabbing his arm, "Be my escort, so that all the guys will get jealous and try to steal me away." Olivia, not to be left out, grabbed his other arm, "Me too." Trace, maybe out of the kindness of his heart or his refusal to enter alone, approached Grace and extended his arm. "Thanks," she murmured, taking it. As they approached the front door, Grace wished more than anything that she could go back. Trace squeezed Grace's hand. "Don't worry." "What?" "It won't be so bad." She wondered how he'd know what she was thinking, but then she realized that she was clinging to his arm like her life depended on it. Loosening her grip, she plastered a fake smile on her face. "That's better," he laughed, nudging her. And on the arm of her crush's best friend, Grace MacGregor entered her very first beach party. |