Forcing Gravity

by Monica Alexander

  “Just a boy,” I said, as I stuffed the decadent bite into my mouth.

  A boy I’m slightly crazy about.

  My phone vibrated again, so I looked down at it. There were six texts – all from Jase.

  Please tell me you’re joking!

  Logan?

  Logan! Don’t leave me hanging after saying something like that.

  Please . . .

  Okay, so I’ve just chugged half a bottle of mouthwash after bribing the restroom attendant to sell it to me. I think I’m good.

  I grinned and finally responded to him. Just kidding!

  Really?!!

  Yes, Jase, your breath was fine the night we met.

  Actually, it was better than fine, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Although we’d been talking and texting for the past few weeks, it was more just friendly banter and conversations about what we’d been doing. He hadn’t brought up our kiss and neither had I.

  Are you sure?

  Minty fresh. I promise. I was just messing with you.

  So, I guess I didn’t need to spend $100 on a bottle of Listerine?

  I laughed out loud. No, probably not.

  Damn.

  Well, are you sufficiently back on solid ground?

  It was a few seconds before he responded, but then he said, The ground is solid. I have been appropriately humbled.

  You’re welcome.

  I’ll call you later. My public awaits.

  Ooh, better run quick. I’d hate for your head to swell up again and you couldn’t get out of the restroom.

  Cute, he responded. Just like you.

  And suddenly I was floating on a cloud.

  “Logan!” my mother said sharply.

  “Yes,” I responded, looking up at her, a smile still on my face.

  “Put the phone away please,” she said, folding her hands in front of her.

  “Fine,” I grumbled, but I knew it would be a while before I heard from Jase again. He’d be tied up with his admirers for a few more hours.

  “Who is this boy who has you grinning from ear to ear?” she asked, her fork poised over her cup of fruit. I was surprised she was even letting herself eat something with sugar in it. Usually she abstained completely.

  “Just a boy, Mom. We’re just friends.”

  “It’s not Garrett Lewis, is it?” she asked, her eyes starting to sparkle with the thought that I might be dating someone famous. If she only knew the guy who’d had me perpetually grinning over the past few weeks was Jason Brady, she’d go nuts.

  “No, Mom. I’m not seeing Garrett. I’ve told you this before. Garrett and I are just friends.”

  “So are you seeing anyone?”

  I shook my head and stole another bite of my sister’s dessert, wishing I would have ordered something, but I’d been full from dinner when the waiter came by asking us what we wanted. Skylar attempted to pull the plate away before I could grab a bite, but she was too slow.

  “Not really,” I responded, being vague on purpose.

  “So, you’re available,” she deduced.

  “For what?”

  “Dating,” she said, rolling her eyes at my complete lack of cognizance.

  “Dating who?”

  She leaned back in her chair and got this look in her eye that told me she was going to be conniving.

  “Well, Bryan Heller just broke up with the girl he was seeing, and he was asking about you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Bryan Heller? Really, Mom?!”

  Bryan Heller was an actor my mother knew through Luiz. He was a complete and total douchebag and loved himself more than anyone else on the planet. He was also twenty-four, a little too old for me, in my opinion.

  “I think Bryan is handsome and charming, not to mention, rich, and he just starred in that new superhero movie that broke box office records last month.”

  Well, since he just put out a new movie, why not?

  “I don’t date actors, Mom. You know that.”

  Yeah, that had sort of been an unspoken rule for me for years, mainly because my mother always had some young actor she’d worked with or met who she wanted to set me up with, and I simply didn’t want her to set me up, but also because I didn’t want to date someone in the business. I’d grown up around it and knew that it wasn’t a life I wanted – especially after experiencing my fifteen minutes of fame/shame over the summer. No thanks.

  And that was my mantra – until I met Jase and realized he basically shot down all my preconceived notions about actors and made my toes curl and made me forget that he was an actor because he was so down to earth. Not that we were dating or that he even wanted to date me, but if he asked, I might not say no.

  Oh, who I am kidding. I’d say yes in under two seconds.

  But I wouldn’t tell my mother, because that would not only succeed in making her day, it would also mean fifty other people would find out, because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. The last things I wanted were for her to feel like she got her way and to have my personal life splashed all over the tabloids.

  “What is wrong with dating an actor?” my mother asked, clearly offended by my blanket statement.

  Skylar just smirked at me and shook her head. We both knew better than to insult my mother’s craft or anyone who worked in the business. It was an unspoken rule in our house.

  “Nothing, Mom,” I said, wishing I’d never brought up the subject. “Nothing at all.”

  ***

  “So I’ll be back in L.A. next week,” Jase told me when he called me late that night. I realized it was two in the morning in New Orleans.

  “Oh, really?” I asked, surprised to hear that. He’d told me the first night he’d called me that he would be traveling for the next few weeks, and I’d sort of memorized the date he’d be back – in two days. That date seemed to have changed.

  “Yeah,” he said, sighing loudly. “I have to go back to New York for a charity event and some interviews, so it’s partially for a good cause, but I’m tired of traveling. I want to sleep in my own bed.”

  “And where exactly is this bed?” I asked, stretching out on my own bed and tucking myself under the covers.

  I’d spent the night finishing up last minute packing. Ethan was picking me up the next day so we could move everything into my dorm. I’d helped him and Garrett move his stuff into their house a few days earlier, so he owed me.

  “The Hollywood Hills,” Jase responded. “Why? Do you want to come visit me?”

  Yes, please.

  “No,” I said, putting a teasing tone in my voice. “I was just curious where you lived.”

  “Well that sucks,” he said, teasing me back. “I was planning on asking you out, but it sounds like you’re not interested.”

  “I don’t date actors,” I deadpanned.

  “Well that’s fine,” he replied. “I’m not actually an actor. I just play one on TV sometimes.”

  I laughed. He was so stinkin’ cute.

  “Do you really not date actors?” he asked, and I could hear a hint of cautious concern in his voice.

  “That’s what I tell my mother. She’d love nothing more for me to date someone famous, and for years I wanted anything but that.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I was under the impression that with celebrity came a certain level of arrogance that I wouldn’t be okay with.”

  Jase was silent for a few seconds, and I thought I’d maybe overstepped my bounds. Sometimes my penchant for saying what was on my mind got me in trouble.

  “Do you think I’m arrogant?” he asked, and I could tell he truly wanted me to answer him honestly.

  “No, Jase, I don’t think you’re arrogant,” I said seriously. “I think you are sweet and unassuming and kind and funny and all sorts of other great adjectives. You’re definitely not arrogant.”

  I didn’t think he was arrogant, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that reared its ugly head from time to time, making me doubt what
I thought about him. Ethan’s dislike of him was so intense that I was afraid I wasn’t seeing something that was truly there or that Jase hadn’t showed me that side of himself yet. I was a little fearful that suddenly his asshole side would come out and catch me by surprise. Then I would be kicking myself and wishing I’d listened to my best friend.

  But for this same reason, I hadn’t exactly told Ethan about the frequent phone calls and text messages I’d been engaging in with Jase. I was hoping to avoid the subject for as long as I could.

  Jase laughed at my response, but it was a nervous laugh. “That’s good to know. I like those adjectives, but, um, do you maybe think I’m cute also?”

  Hell yes!

  My cheeks flushed, and my stomach clenched at the idea that he was flirting with me, but did he really have to ask that? Was there anyone on the planet who didn’t think he was gorgeous?

  I sighed. “I don’t really remember what you look like.”

  “Well, let me remind you,” he said, right before my phone beeped.

  I looked at it and saw that I had a new text message. I opened it to see a picture of Jase lying in bed in his hotel room in New Orleans, one arm tucked behind his head, and, dear God, he was shirtless. I couldn’t see much of his chest, but I could see enough. My heart started vibrating in my chest, and I felt that familiar tingle in my belly that showed up when I thought of him.

  “You’re not bad on the eyes,” I responded. “I guess you’re kind of cute.”

  “Yes!” he said, in mock celebration. “So, is it safe to assume that you might, maybe, perhaps want to go out with me when I’m back in town?”

  I sighed loudly, as if it were a chore for me to think about going out with him. “I think I could clear a night for you.”

  Or the rest of my life.

  “Good,” Jase said. “Because I haven’t been able to get you out of my head, Logan, and I definitely want to see you again.”

  There was no joking tone to his voice. He was dead serious, and it just about disarmed me.

  “Okay,” I said, my words sounding strained. “Then we should definitely go out.”

  “Definitely,” he breathed, and I squeezed my legs together to compress the feelings he was triggering down there.

  Even from thousands of miles away and through the phone, he could get my blood pumping like no one else.

  “So, can I secure September fifth?”

  “Um, sure. Any particular reason why you want to go out that night?”

  He hesitated for a moment. “It’s the first night I’m back in town. I figure if I get on your calendar now, you’ll have to tell all those USC guys who are bound to ask you out for that night that you have plans.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be knocking down my door.”

  “I’m sure they will,” he said seriously. “I just want to make sure they know I asked first.”

  “Okay, I’ll be sure to spread the word that September fifth is secured for a certain green-eyed guy just because asked me first.”

  “That’s the only reason?” Jase asked with mock disappointment in his voice.

  “No, it’s not the only reason,” I said coyly, not giving him anything else. I think at that point I was too embarrassed to list all the reasons why I’d said yes, because the list was ridiculously long.

  “Well, girl with the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen, I look forward to taking you out next week.”

  Damn, he was good.

  -7-

  “This is charming,” Ethan said, as he followed me into my dorm room and set down the vintage surfboard I asked him to carry with the utmost care.

  I had to agree with him. My roommate hadn’t arrived yet, and the stark university-provided mattresses and furniture looked utterly depressing.

  “It’s not that bad,” I said, hoping I could convince myself of that fact, but truthfully, between the concrete walls, the bland furniture and the one window, I was cringing. Decorations and personal touches were definitely in order.

  “There’s room at my house,” Ethan offered, as he poked his head into the bathroom my roommate and I would share with two other girls in the adjoining room. He made a face and turned around to appraise me.

  “Where would you like me to sleep? In the workout room or in Garrett’s office? Last time I checked, there wasn’t a lot of extra space.”

  “You can sleep in my room with me,” he offered, and although we’d shared a bed plenty of times throughout our lives, I wasn’t about to do it on a permanent basis.

  I shook my head and walked over to the window. “You kick in your sleep. No way.” I turned around to see Ethan open his mouth to protest my accusations. “Besides, what would you do with me when you brought a girl home?”

  “With you around, I don’t need any other girls,” he insisted, and I just rolled my eyes and gave him a look that told me I didn’t believe that for a second.

  “Or you could just join us,” he said, shrugging in nonchalance, so I threw my pillow at him.

  “Knock, knock,” a female voice said, and I wondered if it was my roommate. A tall brunette popped her head into the room. “Hi, are you Logan Kessler or Henley Hill?”

  “I’m Logan,” I said, crossing the room to shake her hand.

  “Well, I’m Riley, your R.A.,” she said warmly. I looked back to see Ethan staring with his mouth open when she directed her next question to him. “And you are?”

  He closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “Ethan Lewis,” he said, puffing up his chest just a little. “Logan and I are just friends.”

  Riley smiled. “That’s nice. It’s good to have a friend on campus. I came here from Iowa, so I didn’t know anyone.”

  Ethan just stared, and I smiled, not sure what else to say. I wasn’t a big fan of meeting new people, and I wasn’t great with small talk.

  “Alright, well, it was nice meeting you. I’m down the hall, room 412. If you need anything, just knock, and if you see a big, sweaty football player walking around, don’t worry, that’s just my boyfriend Troy.”

  “Duly noted,” Ethan muttered, as Riley closed the door.

  “Well can you blame her?” I asked, as I walked over and smacked him on the back of his head. “You were practically drooling. You’d better not do that to my new roommate.”

  “Oww,” Ethan said, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t make any promises, especially if she’s hot.”

  I just rolled my eyes, turned up a song I liked by The Gaslight Anthem, and got to work unpacking. I put Ethan in charge of hanging things on the wall, even though it wasn’t really a manly job since I was just using wall putty. But he did a good job of hanging my iconic poster of the movie North Shore, a cheesy eighties movie about a guy who wins a surf contest in Arizona and goes to surf the big waves of the North Shore in Hawaii. We’d watched it countless times growing up.

  Then he arranged my vintage surfboard in the corner by the window so you could see it when you walked in the room and lined up all my pictures of my family and friends on my desk and set up my TV, DVD player, laptop and printer. So I figured he’d earned the lunch I promised to buy him if he helped.

  Then I turned my back for a second, and when I turned around, I saw he had put a framed copy of one of the full-page pictures of Garrett and me from Celebrity Weekly on top of the mini fridge I’d put at the head of my bed. It was of the two of us sitting on our boards in the ocean in Ft. Lauderdale, talking and laughing as we waited for a good wave. It was actually a good picture, but the words around it that talked about our ‘relationship’ annoyed me.

  “You asshat,” I said to a laughing Ethan who thought he was just hilarious.

  “Hey, I figured you’d want a picture of your boyfriend by your bed.”

  “Screw you,” I said, throwing the pair of jeans I was holding at his head. They hit him in the face just as the door to my room opened.

  “Hello?” a very southern-accented voice called out, and we both turned to see wh
o it was. “Hi! Are you Logan? I’m Henley!”

  She flashed a wide smile at us as she entered the room with a wicker laundry basket filled with bedding.

  “And I’m in love,” Ethan murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. I elbowed him in the ribs and stepped forward.

  “Let me take that,” I offered.

  “Oh, you are so sweet,” she gushed. Her accent was so thick, but it was adorable.

  “Henley?” a booming southern-accented voice rang out, just outside our door.

  “In here, Daddy,” she called back, as she opened the door that had swung closed behind her. By the time her father entered the room, he was red-faced and panting. “Daddy, this is my roommate, Logan and her male friend, whose name I don’t know yet.”

  “Ethan,” Ethan said, stepping forward to take the box Henley’s father was carrying. “I’ll take that, sir.”

  I wanted to laugh. I’d never heard Ethan call anyone sir in all my life.

  “You gonna be hanging around here a lot?” Mr. Hill asked Ethan as he narrowed his eyes. I could see distrust in them.

  “Um, I guess,” Ethan said, as he set the box down and stepped back beside me.

  Henley’s dad was a big man, both in height and weight. He looked like one good whack from his hand would send Ethan flying across the room, and Ethan recognized that.

  “Stay away from my daughter, you here?”

  “Daddy!” Henley cautioned, shaking her head as her father left the room. She turned to us. “I’m sorry. He’s a sweetheart, really. He’s just a little overprotective of me.”

  She smiled as she followed her father out the door.

  I’ll say, I thought, but I just stood there a little overwhelmed by the personalities that had just swept into my room and left in a matter of five minutes.

  “So that’s your roommate,” Ethan finally said once the door had closed firmly behind Henley.

  “Yes, and please don’t sleep with her,” I begged. “I really don’t want that man to send you to an early grave.”

  “No problem. I won’t,” he said seriously, seeming just as terrified as I was. He valued his life more than sex with a hot girl any day.

  My phone chose that moment to break the tension by dinging loudly. I picked it up and smiled as I read the text message. I responded almost immediately. Then it dinged again, and Ethan tried to peer over my shoulder to see the screen.