Forcing Gravity Page 16

  “Yeah,” he said, grinning. “I’m hoping to win an award for the coolest death scene in a major motion picture, so I’m putting everything I have into it.”

  “They have awards for death scenes?” I asked, not sure I’d ever heard of those before.

  “Nah,” Dustin said. “But I’m hoping maybe MTV’ll add one. I’d win for sure.”

  “Dude, I’m getting decapitated next week. I think I’ll have you beat,” Jase interjected.

  Dustin laughed at the challenge. “I fall through a tree, hit a lot of limbs on the way down and land at a really grotesque angle, so we’ll see whose scene is better when the movie comes out, Brady.”

  In the mirror, Jase caught my eye and winked, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. I completely enjoyed seeing him like that. He was so genuine and playful – so normal – not like the guy who’d been showing off and putting on airs and acting douchy at Garrett’s party.

  After hair and make-up, we walked to the set, and I was glad Jase didn’t take my hand again. I was nervous enough about Garrett seeing us that I didn’t want to make things worse. What would he say when he realized I was there with the guy his brother had pummeled two nights earlier, and that I was dating him? Would he be okay with it? Would he tell Ethan?

  “Just so you know,” Jase said, leaning close to me and lowering his voice, “I’m not seeing anyone else.”

  I was sort of surprised to hear him say that. It wasn’t like I wanted him to date/sleep with other people, but it wasn’t like I expected us to be exclusive at that point.

  “Oh?” I said for lack of anything more profound.

  He shook his head. “Gary has no tact most of the time. I’m sorry about what he said in the trailer.”

  “Um, so when exactly did you stop seeing other people?” I asked, stopping when we were halfway to the house, still hung up on his first statement.

  Jase turned and gave me a funny look. “What do you mean?”

  I gave him a small, and what I hoped was an understanding, smile. “Jase, it’s fine. I know you’re quite popular with the ladies,” I teased, trying to keep things light. I really didn’t think I had a right to be judgmental about what he did with other women.

  “You’re talking about the party the other night, aren’t you?” he asked, a shadow darkening his features.

  I shrugged. “Well, you walked in with two girls, you certainly had options throughout the night, and I know Freddie had some girls picked out for you play with after the party. I get it, and it’s fine.”

  Yeah, it really isn’t.

  He took a deep breath and reached for my hands. “Logan, I haven’t hooked up with anyone since I started talking to you. I haven’t wanted to. I might have flirted, but I never would have acted on anything. Most likely, had I not gone home with you that night, I would have had Freddie just drop me off at home.”

  “Really?”

  “I like you,” he said definitively. “I don’t want to be with anyone else. Okay?”

  He leaned down and kissed me, and I just nodded, too shocked to respond.

  When we walked inside the house, there was a buzz of activity, and a PA with a short black bob immediately walked up to Jase and started telling him about a script change, gesturing wildly with her hands and talking at a rapid-fire pace. Jase just nodded and took it all in stride like a seasoned actor would. My mother would be proud of him, although she probably would lift her nose up at his choice of movies. She despised horror films, and prided herself on never stooping so low as to be in one – her words, not mine.

  “Jason,” someone called from across the room. “You’re on in five – second floor.”

  Jase just nodded, and I noticed he didn’t correct the person when they called him by his real name. Then a bouncy brunette came up to him and started talking about the scene they were going to shoot, and I suddenly wondered if the scene involved kissing. It was obvious she played his love interest, and I realized how much I didn’t want to see him kiss another girl, regardless of how fake it was.

  I looked around cautiously, wondering where Garrett was. I didn’t see him anywhere. When Jase made to go upstairs behind his co-star, I started to follow him, but the anxiety-ridden PA stopped me.

  “You can’t go up there,” she barked, extending her arm in front of my body.

  “Why not?” I asked, feeling the urge to challenge her simply because she was being rude.

  “Because Mr. Brady doesn’t allow anyone to watch when he’s shooting.”

  Seriously? Then why the hell did he invite me?

  “She’s okay to come up,” Jase said, suddenly appearing at my side.

  “Are you sure, Mr. Brady?” the PA asked, and it was so strange to me that she was calling him Mr. Brady. She was at least five years older than him.

  “I’m sure,” he said. “I want her there.”

  I smiled, more to myself than to the PA, but the fact that she saw it and narrowed her eyes at me in response didn’t suck.

  When we were halfway up the stairs, I heard someone call my name. I knew it was Garrett before I turned around and saw him gazing up at me with a questioning look on his face, so I shuffled back down the stairs to get our awkward exchange over with.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, excited to see me but puzzled at the same time.

  “Um,” was all I could think to say in response to his question.

  Yeah, real genius answer, Logan.

  I noticed Garrett was dressed in character as ‘the science nerd’ who figures out how to beat the demons in the end, complete with sexy dark-rimmed glasses and a paler pallor than normal. I wasn’t sure I’d ever met a science geek who looked as good as him, but I guess Hollywood had a twisted way of portraying normalcy.

  “Did you come by to visit? Is Henley with you?” he asked eagerly.

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes, but he was being cute, so I didn’t want to insult him.

  “No, I’m not here with Henley.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking disappointed. “Well, did she say anything about me? Does she like me?”

  I laughed at him. “What are you, an insecure teenage girl? No, she didn’t say anything about you.”

  Truthfully, Henley hadn’t stopped talking about Garrett, but it was fun to mess with him. Besides, I wasn’t sure Henley wanted him to know just how interested she truly was.

  “Really?” he questioned grimly, his face falling.

  Yeah, I couldn’t do that to him. “No, I’m just messing with you. She might have mentioned something about having a good time with you on Wednesday night.”

  “That’s all?”

  I rolled my eyes at his insistence. “And, she might have said something about you being a good kisser and being really cute and other equally sickening things that I wish I could burn from my brain because the mental images are just disturbing.”

  “Really!” His eyes lit up in excitement, but he quickly tried to recover and lowered his voice a few octaves. “Yeah, well, I am a good kisser.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that? Or are you forgetting that I’ve kissed you, and I know what it’s like?”

  Garrett shrugged. “Yeah, but kissing you wasn’t all that great, so I probably wasn’t as into it as I would have been with someone else, like Henley.”

  “Hey!” I said, punching him on his shoulder, as he ducked away laughing, so I knew he was joking. “Jerk.”

  “So what are you doing here? How did you get on set? And why are you wearing a dress?”

  I chose to ignore his last question. I’d gone out on a limb and wore one of the less revealing outfits my mom had bought me – a navy blue sundress that had little white polka dots and silver ballet flats. I felt completely out of my element and completely exposed, but I was trying to make more of an effort around Jase, even though he said he’d liked me in my tomboy clothes, a part of me felt like dressing cute for him. I’d even let Henley do my make-up again.

  “Um, I
um, I actually came with one of the actors,” I finally answered.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Who?”

  “Jason Brady,” I mumbled.

  “Excuse me?” he asked, cocking his head and eyeing me warily. His gaze drifted to the top of the stairs where Jase waited.

  “I came with Jase!” I finally huffed, and Garrett just stared open-mouthed at me. “I know! I should have told you, but I didn’t, because I didn’t want Ethan to find out.”

  “Find out what? Are you dating him or something?”

  I bit my lip. “I don’t know. Maybe. Kind of. Yes.”

  “Shit, Logan. Ethan’s going to flip out when he finds out. How the hell did you get together with Jase Brady?”

  I sighed and looked back up the stairs. Jase was still watching me from the top. “We sort of met at that first party you and Ethan had like a month ago, and we went out for the first time last weekend. It’s still kind of new, and I don’t know for sure what we even are yet.”

  But apparently we’re exclusive.

  Garrett ran his hand back through his hair, and I could tell he was torn. He knew more about my relationship history than most people, because I’d shot my mouth off the night we’d hooked up in Miami. I knew where his mind had gone, but at least he was courteous enough not to ask if I’d slept with Jase yet. I hadn’t.

  “Don’t tell Ethan,” I warned. “Please.”

  “Are you going to tell him?”

  I sighed in defeat. “Eventually. I will if it turns into something.”

  He let my statement sink in before he responded. “Just don’t wait too long,” he cautioned, and I knew if I didn’t eventually tell Ethan, Garrett would.

  I nodded, knowing the longer I waited the worse it would be. The last thing I wanted was for Ethan to see me in some celebrity rag holding Jase’s hand or kissing him. I knew it was only a matter of time before the paparazzi photographed us together. We could only be so careful.

  “So, are you in the scene they’re shooting next?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Garrett gratefully went along with my tactic. “Yeah, I get to be really drunk and belligerent and slightly obnoxious, because I’m a nerd and don’t usually drink but figured I would since I’m on vacation. It should be enjoyable to watch.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively a few times.

  I instantly relaxed, glad we were off of me and my love life and on to lighter subjects.

  “How is that acting exactly?” I teased.

  “Ha, ha,” he said, as he put his arm around me and walked me up the stairs to Jase.

  When we reached him, Garrett’s gaze leveled on his co-star, the look on his face so serious.

  “I didn’t condone my brother’s behavior the other night, but if you hurt her, you’ll have to deal with both of us,” he said firmly, and my eyes got wide with a mix of awe and admiration.

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Jase said, as he reached for my hand and pulled me to his side.

  “Good,” was all Garrett said, before he walked over to who I assumed was the director.

  Jase quirked me his secret smile, and I got all warm and gushy inside, but I was secretly glad that Garrett approved of who I was seeing. His opinion meant a lot to me.

  ***

  Watching Jase and Garrett act out their scenes was incredible. I watched both of them transform into their characters for a short amount of time and then snap back to themselves when the director yelled cut. They shot the same partying/hanging out scenes for a few hours before the director decided he was satisfied and moved on to film Dustin’s death scene. They weren’t shooting the scenes in any particular order, but I knew that was what happened with films. Dustin actually died toward the middle, and the party scene was in the beginning.

  Jase wasn’t in the scene where Dustin met his maker, but Garrett was, so Jase and I walked back to his now empty trailer.

  “What did you think?” Jase asked eagerly, as he handed me a bottle of water and plopped down on the couch.

  I moved to sit next to him, but he dragged me onto his lap before I could protest.

  I grinned. “I loved it,” I said, looking into his fierce green eyes that were sparkling with delight. “You were fantastic.”

  He smiled, but it was his shy smile. “I’m glad you liked it. I know it’s not an earth-shattering role or anything, but I don’t really believe in dumbing down my acting for any part.”

  “I could tell,” I said, and ran my fingers back through his dark brown hair as I appraised him thoughtfully. Lelani had done an amazing job with his make-up.

  You couldn’t even tell his face was cut and bruised, although he did look a little strange wearing eyeliner and mascara. It wouldn’t show on screen, but up close and in person, he sort of resembled a punk rocker.

  I fingered the place where I knew his cut was, running my thumb under his eye, as his gaze stayed locked on mine.

  “How come you don’t let anyone see you film?” I asked, remembering the PA’s harsh words when I’d tried to follow Jase up the stairs. “It’s kind of pretentious.”

  I realized too late how harsh that sounded. I really had to work on my people skills.

  “Because I get self-conscious,” he murmured, as his hand moved to my shoulder. His fingers swept as light as a feather down across my collarbone.

  “Really? But you’ve been doing this for years.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t like acting in front of a crowd. It’s why I could never do live theater.”

  “But when the cameras are rolling, you completely lose yourself in the scene.”

  I’d seen it. He was one hundred percent in character and in the moment when the director said ‘action’, so much so that it was easy to forget that it was him. His character was a real jerk, and I wasn’t a big fan of him. When he’d been making fun of Garrett’s character and acting like a prick, I’d sort of been rooting for his imminent death.

  “It’s harder when I know someone’s watching me,” Jase said, brushing back the curls that had fallen over my shoulder. “I’ve had reporters interview me for magazines and then want to stick around and watch me in action, but I can’t do it.”

  His hand danced along my bare skin, making small traces on my shoulder and leaving white-hot heat trails it its wake.

  “Then why did you invite me to come today?” I asked pensively.

  “Because even though it made me nauseous, I wanted you to see me work,” he said, so genuinely that it made my stomach flip and flutter.

  I wondered if he’d ever invited anyone else to see him work. Something told me the answer was no, and as much as that thought made me smile, it also freaked me out. What was different about me? Why was I special?

  “I made you nauseous?” I asked, leaning down to press a kiss to the side of his neck.

  His head dropped back against the back of the couch, and he closed his eyes. “I was a wreck,” he said, as I moved my lips to the hollow between his neck and his collarbone, kissing him slowly and deliberately.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, flicking my tongue out to taste his skin. I heard him inhale deeply and shifted my eyes to see the muscles in his neck twitch when he swallowed hard. “I didn’t intend to make you nervous.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, his breath quickening. “Okay, this is driving me a little nuts.”

  “It is?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him.

  He raised his head back up, and the intensity of his gaze was almost too much. It was like you could cut the sexual tension in the trailer with a knife as he sat there drinking me in, his eyes burning with need.

  “Come here,” he said, his hands going to my waist as he pulled me toward him, so I was straddling his lap. “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment you hopped into my car in that sexy little dress, and I really don’t plan on stopping.”

  His hands slid to my knees and ran halfway up my thighs as his mouth connected with mine. And the tingly feeling was back in my abdomen
in full force, just like that, as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. I let out a small groan of pleasure. I half expected him to laugh at me, but instead he just kissed me harder, his lips rough and determined, as if reacting to my vocal slip.

  He pulled me closer, eliminating any distance between us as his hands slid around to my backside and squeezed, holding me in place. Melded together, I could have kissed him for days.

  “I like having you here,” Jase said, when he pulled back after a few minutes.

  My head was fuzzy and warm, and I wanted to dive back in for more, but the intensity of his gaze stopped me. His bright green eyes lingered hungrily on my lips for a beat before moving up to my eyes. Then he reached up and brushed an errant curl from my face and leaned forward to kiss my temple, cupping the back of my head with his hand.

  This was the sweet guy I remembered. In fact, I hadn’t seen any traces of the idiot who’d made an appearance a Garrett’s party all day. That guy seemed to have vanished the minute Jase walked out of Garrett’s house the night of the party.

  “Jase, why are you so different around me?” I finally asked him, searching his face for answers.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, appraising me thoughtfully, his fingers playing with one of my curls.

  “I saw you at Garrett’s party, and you were completely in your element, flirty and sweet-talking the girls who were hanging all over you and throwing back drinks and with your friends. You were a social butterfly, but you’re not like that around me. It’s like you transformed into ‘Hollywood Guy’, and it was a little strange to witness.”

  I left out the part where I thought he was a complete and total douchebag for most of the night, but I think my tone might have given me away.

  Jase sucked in a deep breath, and I could tell I’d hit a sore spot. “So you thought I was a jackass,” he deduced.

  I hesitated for moment, knowing I needed to be tactful. “Jase, you are a great guy,” I said, leaning my forehead against his. “I just, sort of, didn’t recognize you that night.”

  He sighed and shook his head, as if in disbelief, and I realized I might have just blown it with him. I pulled back and appraised him, waiting for him to lower the boom.