Forcing Gravity Read online

  I watched Freddie’s eyes light up. “I got it,” Freddie said knowingly, looking at the blond and the brunette. “You’ll have your hands full with these two.”

  “Ah, something like that,” Jase responded, and I could see the excitement on the girls faces as he confirmed what they were hoping. They gave each other a knowing look that told me it wasn’t the first time they’d taken on the same guy together.

  My stomached tightened at that thought, but what had I been expecting? Jase and I had been on one date with the promise of another. Did I expect us to be exclusive? No, I didn’t. I’d just sort of hoped, especially since we’d been talking for a few weeks and I kind of really liked him, but how could I compete with two gorgeous girls who were willing to do God knows what to him?

  I started to open my mouth to say something when the brunette looked at Jase and said, “Jase, baby?”

  “Yeah, sweetheart,” he said, as he cracked open a beer and gave her his undivided attention. “Can we show you something?”

  “Sure, sweetheart,” he said, almost as if he knew what was about to happen.

  Then, as if on cue, the two girls started making out right in front of him, and around the kitchen whoops and hollers went up from several guys. I watched in awe as the brunette started massaging the huge breasts of the blonde and the blonde moaned loudly. Then she cupped the brunette’s ass and pulled her close so their bodies were flush against each other. Then the brunette moaned. And then they pulled apart, and I half-expected them to take a bow. They certainly had an audience at that point. I noticed the guys were practically drooling, but the girls in the room looked pissed.

  Someone nearby muttered, “Jason Brady always gets the best pussy.”

  I sighed. Yeah, there was absolutely no way I could compete with that. I guess dating Jase was fun while it lasted.

  “That is so tacky,” Henley whispered to me.

  “I know, right.”

  “Do you think he’s going to sleep with both of those girls?” she asked, showing she was even more naïve than me.

  “I would bet on it,” I said, shaking my head as I watched Jase leave the kitchen with the make-out twins.

  “Henley?” Garrett asked tentatively. I’d forgotten he was standing with us.

  She looked up at him with wide eyes, and I knew she was trying not to be star-struck. “Yes,” she eeked out so quietly I almost couldn’t hear her.

  “Can I, uh, can I give you a tour of the house?”

  I wanted to laugh at him. If I didn’t adore Garrett so much and know him so well I’d assume he was trying to get her alone, but I knew he figured taking her on a tour of the house would be a good way to talk to her and get to know her better. His intentions were completely upstanding.

  After they left, instead of sticking around the kitchen, I finished my beer and grabbed another one before going into the living room to mingle with some of Garrett’s friends from high school that I recognized.

  At some point, I figured I’d work up the courage to talk to Jase.

  ***

  “Oh, my God,” Henley said, linking her arm with mine as she came up beside me an hour later. “I am in love.”

  “With Garrett?” I clarified, knowing he’d been able to work his charm on her.

  “Yes,” she sighed, resting her head on my shoulder. Even with her heels, she was still a few inches shorter than me. “Who are you staring at?”

  I’d posted up by one of the large floor to ceiling windows at the back of the house so I could watch Jase without him seeing me. We had yet to cross paths, but that was because I wasn’t sure I wanted to encounter him. My opinion of him kept vacillating back and forth as I’d surreptitiously watched him throughout the night. When he was talking to his guy friends, he seemed like the guy I knew, but whenever any girl would saunter up to him, shaking her hips and sticking her tits in his face, his demeanor would change, and he kind of came off like a jackass.

  “Oh, Jason Brady,” she said, following my gaze.

  Jase was talking animatedly with two guys who had cornered him in the living room. I watched him throw his head back in laughter, and it was reminiscent of the first night I’d seen him at Katsuya. I hadn’t recalled it during the time we’d talked on Ethan’s upstairs balcony, since he’d seemed so normal, but at the restaurant, while waiting for a table, Jase had been vibrant and social, just like he was being now. He didn’t seem as disillusioned with the Hollywood scene as he’d projected to me again and again when we’d talked, and I wondered which guy was the real Jase Brady.

  “Oh my God, he’s so cute,” Henley gushed.

  And I’ve seen him shirtless, I thought, recalling the hour Jase and I had spent making out in his bedroom. My lips had covered a decent part of the terrain above his waist, but even though that was just a few nights earlier, it felt like a lifetime ago, with a completely different guy.

  “Cuter than Garrett?” I asked, grinning at her.

  She looked contemplative for a minute. “Garrett is hot in that boy next door kind of way, but Jason Brady has some sort of, I don’t know, unattainable quality about him, like he was sent directly from heaven or something.”

  I fought the urge to laugh. That was something only Henley, with her sweet accent, cherubic cheeks and ethereal blond hair could get away with saying.

  “Don’t let Garrett hear you say that,” I cautioned. “He’s the one who actually played a fallen angel, so he might take offense to a comment like that. He’s extremely passionate about his acting skills.”

  Henley giggled, but I wasn’t joking. “He’s such a sweetie, Logan. I didn’t think he’d be so down to earth and nice and so unassuming, but he is. He totally hasn’t let fame go to his head, but he is like so famous.”

  Funny, that was exactly how I’d described Jase. Now I wasn’t so sure.

  “Oh, my God,” she continued. “My friends back home would die if they knew I had just spent the past hour with Lucas from Earthbound.”

  Uh-oh. Garrett wouldn’t like that either. Like Jase, he wanted people to like him for the guy he was, not who he played in his movies.

  “Here’s your drink,” Garrett said then, coming up behind us and weaving his arms around Henley’s waist. She leaned back against his chest and smiled at me as she took the drink he was offering.

  She spun in his arms and looked up at him. “Garrett, baby, you promised you’d show me the view. Can we go outside?”

  “Sure,” he said, his face brightening as his gaze locked with hers. I could see in his eyes that he was enamored by her. “It’s right through there.”

  He took her hand to lead her to the back porch, and she turned to me right before they went outside. “He’s so cute!” she mouthed and did a little happy dance behind Garrett’s back.

  I smiled and hoped she wouldn’t make an ass of herself with him.

  When I turned back around to see what Jase was up to, I realized he’d left the living room, so I figured I’d just ignore him and try to have fun. As I talked to a friend of Garrett’s and his girlfriend, I saw Jase reappear, but he was flanked by a girl with auburn hair who was whispering in his ear. He laughed out loud, and turned to whisper back to her, and my heart sank. Then I lost him in the crowd for a good thirty minutes, and I was afraid he’d left with the girl, but at that point, I wasn’t sure I should even care anymore.

  “Having fun?” Garrett asked me a little while later, sidling up next to where I was standing by the entrance to the back deck. He and Henley had been out there for almost an hour.

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  Garrett grinned at me. “Thanks for bringing Henley. Her southern accent is out of control, and she’s so smoking hot. Can she stay here tonight? She said she wants to.”

  I felt like his mother, and he was asking me if a friend could sleep over. I had no control over what Henley did. She was a big girl. I put my hand on my hip and appraised Garrett. His hands were pressed together in front of him in prayer style, and he was mouthi
ng, ‘please’ over and over again rapidly.

  “It’s totally her call, Gare,” I said, laughing at how cute he was being. “If she wants to, then go for it.”

  “Who the fuck invited that asshole?” Ethan asked, suddenly appearing on my other side.

  “Which one?” Garrett asked, surveying the room.

  He had a point. There were a lot of douchebags and hangers-on there that night. The party had erupted, and everyone who came over seemed to have brought ten friends with them. Garrett and Ethan really needed to consider being more selective in the future. I know they were new to the scene, but exclusivity was always better in these situations. I’d learned that from my mom and Luiz over the years.

  “Jason Brady,” Ethan growled. “I fucking hate that guy.”

  “I invited him,” Garrett said, “and you can thank me when you meet the girls that came with him.”

  I rolled my eyes, wondering if those two could think with their dicks any more than they already were.

  “Whatever. He’d better not start any shit. Hey, Lo,” he said, finally acknowledging me with a kiss on the cheek.

  “He won’t,” Garrett assured. “Where’s your girl?”

  “Bathroom,” Ethan said, surveying the room. I was wondering if he was regretting bringing his date home with him. “Motherfucker!”

  Garrett and I both looked at him in surprise and then followed his gaze to where we saw Lizzie flirting openly with Jase. Before we could stop him, Ethan marched over to them and shoved Jase from behind.

  “Ethan!” I gasped, but he didn’t hear me.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asshole?” he demanded, when Jase turned around to see who had pushed him.

  “Ethan!” Lizzie cried, not at all happy with him.

  “Do I know you?” Jase asked arrogantly, and I could see the cocky Hollywood celeb come out in him in that moment.

  “It’s my fucking house,” Ethan said, shoving Jase’s shoulder in an antagonizing way. “You don’t need to know me. You just need to know that I don’t want you here.”

  “Shit,” Garrett hissed, as he stalked across the room toward his brother. I followed behind him, not sure what exactly I could do to help the situation. Maybe I could calm Ethan down before he took a swing at Jase.

  “I was invited,” Jase said, shoving Ethan’s shoulder in the same way he’d been shoved.

  “Yeah, well this is me uninviting you,” Ethan said, before he pulled back and punched Jase square in the jaw. “Stay away from my girl.”

  I gasped out loud, my hands flying to my mouth. What the hell was Ethan thinking? I saw Lizzie roll her eyes. She wanted to be claimed about as much as Ethan truly wanted a girlfriend. He was just being macho and territorial because he felt like it.

  “Fuck you,” Jase responded, and before I knew it, he lunged at Ethan.

  “What is going on?” Henley asked, coming up next to me, her eyes wide. “Is that Ethan? Why is he hitting Jason Brady?”

  I answered none of her questions because Jase and Ethan were going at it, and I was trying to figure out how to stop them. Thankfully they each only got a few punches in before Garrett pulled Ethan off of Jase and Freddie pulled Jase back.

  “You need to leave – now!” Ethan growled, trying to pull out of his brother’s grip. Garrett just held him tighter.

  “I don’t want to stay where I’m not wanted,” Jase said matter-of-factly.

  His jaw was starting to swell, and he had a cut under his left eye, but he didn’t touch his face. I could tell he was trying to show Ethan that he hadn’t hurt him. He straightened his shirt and turned toward the front door without another word. I watched Freddie start to collect their group so they could leave.

  “Shit,” Garrett hissed, shooting his brother a look of exasperation. “I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  He turned to glance back at me. “To smooth things over with Jase. I don’t need anything negative out there about me, especially from someone whose word carries a good amount of weight in this town. I’m guessing he won’t be a big fan of the guy whose brother took a swing at him. You’d better not have fucked anything up for me, E,” he cautioned. “If you did, I will seriously kick your ass.”

  Ethan just stared at his brother, slightly open-mouthed, no doubt wondering why he was chasing after Jase and not dismissing him like Ethan had.

  “Jesus, Ethan,” I admonished, once Garrett was at the front door. “What were you thinking?!”

  Jase had hit Ethan square in the right eye, and it was already looking puffy. Lizzie suddenly appeared with an ice pack.

  “Not you too, Lo,” he said, shaking his head. “I fucking can’t stand that guy, and then he was hitting on Lizzie. I had every right to go after him.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I insisted, shaking my head. “He’s friends with Garrett. You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “He wasn’t hitting on me,” Lizzie corrected.

  “It sure looked like it,” Ethan grumbled.

  Lizzie just rolled her eyes at him as she shoved the ice pack into his hand. He immediately put it on his eye and winced.

  “I took an acting class a few years ago with him. I was being polite, saying hello.”

  I got a knot in my throat at that comment. I should have taken the same cue and said hello to Jase, but I’d been too afraid to approach him all night. Why was I being self-conscious around him? I’d never been that way around a guy, ever. Was it because he was famous? No, that wasn’t it. His fame didn’t do anything for me.

  It was because he got under my skin. No guy had ever done that before, and I think it unnerved me. I was suddenly worried I wasn’t good enough for him or that he didn’t like me. I hated that feeling. Being nervous and neurotic and all inside my head wasn’t me, and I wasn’t going to do it any longer. If Jase didn’t like me for me, he could just date someone else.

  I sighed. “Alright, I think I’m going to head out.”

  “What? No, I just got here,” Ethan whined.

  “That’s your problem,” I said matter-of-factly, and Ethan pouted. “Maybe if you hadn’t gotten into a fist fight the party would have been a little more enjoyable.”

  “He’s a dick,” Ethan justified.

  No he’s not.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told him. “We’re still going for tacos, right?”

  “Stay the night,” he suggested. “We can go surfing in the morning. You don’t have class until eleven, right?”

  I looked over at Lizzie who was visibly irritated at his invitation for me to stay over. She obviously had different plans for him.

  “I’m tired, E, and this party doesn’t look like it’s going to be winding down anytime soon. If you want, I’ll come back tomorrow morning, and we can go out if the surf’s good. If not, I’ll take you to breakfast. I’ll need to drive Henley home anyway since she’s apparently staying the night.”

  I looked over at her to see her nod in confirmation.

  “I can take care of that,” Garrett said as he came up behind us, sounding just a little too eager.

  “Yeah, I’m sure you can,” I said, under my breath as I turned to face him. “Everything good with Jase?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, he told me not to worry about it. He’s a cool guy.”

  “He is a jackass,” Ethan chimed in, but no one responded to him.

  “By sweetie,” I said, hugging Garrett.

  “You’re leaving?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m tired, and I think I’m just ready to go.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, as he stepped beside Henley and threaded his arm around her waist.

  “Surfing and breakfast?” I asked Ethan.

  “Alright,” Ethan said, shrugging, knowing he didn’t have another choice. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Love you. Drive safe.”

  “Love you too,” I said, as I kissed him back and handed him my empty beer can before
making my way through the crowd toward the front door.

  -11-

  Outside it was ten times quieter than in the house. I could hear the waves pounding on beach behind the house, and the sound was comforting. I paused by my car, closed my eyes and let the calm wash over me for a few seconds.

  “Logan?” I heard, just as I was unlocking my car. I spun around to see Jase standing behind me, a confused look on his battered face.

  “Hey Jase,” I said, realizing how tired I was in that moment.

  “When did you get here?”

  I guess he really hadn’t seen me, even when he was arguing with Ethan and I was standing right there.

  I smiled impassively. “About ten minutes before you got here,” I said, and watched the confusion on his face deepen.

  “I’ve been here for almost three hours. I didn’t see you. How come you didn’t come over and say hello?” he asked, and I thought I could detect a level of hurt in his voice.

  “Well, I figured you had enough female attention, and I didn’t think I should intrude.”

  His eyebrows narrowed. “You should have intruded. I would have been really excited to see you.” He shook his head. “I mean, I am excited to see you.”

  He smiled his small secret smile at me, and I started to thaw just a bit.

  “It’s good to see you too,” I finally said.

  “Are you leaving?”

  “Yeah, I’m tired. And fights aren’t really my thing.”

  “You saw that?”

  “Yup,” I said, matter-of-factly.

  Jase put his hand up in protest. “Hey, that guy started it. I’m still not exactly sure what I did.”

  “You were flirting with the girl he has sex with from time to time.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” Jase said, completely taken aback by my accusation. “She was asking me about my last film. That’s all. He’s the one who hauled off and punched me.”

  “I know, and he shouldn’t have done that, but he’s not a bad guy.”

  “Why are you defending him?” Jase snapped.

  “Because he’s been my best friend for eleven years,” I said simply. It was really the only reason I was defending Ethan’s actions, because truthfully, he’d been completely out of line.