Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity)

by Alexander, Monica

  “Thanks. I’ll be on the back porch, so meet me out there.”

  “Count on it,” I told her, wondering when exactly we’d gotten into a pissing match. It was kind of turning me on.

  Then she smiled at me, her fucking gorgeous green eyes lighting up, and I melted a little inside. “Thank you, Ethan.”

  I headed to the bar, made Nora a new drink, made one for myself and hurried back outside to talk to her. She had me intrigued, and I wasn’t sure why. All I knew was, I wanted to get to know her better.

  So I spent the entire night out on the back porch talking to her. I ran inside a few times to refill our drinks, and I half-expected her to get bored with me or me to get bored with her, because I usually didn’t spend much time talking to girls, outside of Logan. But this girl was cool. And she wanted to learn to surf.

  I couldn’t believe she’d grown up in Southern California and couldn’t surf, but she said she’d spent most of her childhood riding horses, so I guess she had her own thing that she was passionate about.

  Me, I loved surfing, and a part of me wished I would have pursued it competitively. I could have, but my parents wanted me to go to college. I’d had a good reputation around the amateur circuits growing up and had competed regionally, but to travel the world surfing, that was my ultimate dream. I had plans to go to Australia over the summer and maybe to Costa Rica. Maybe I’d even see if I could qualify at the next level. You never knew. College would always be there, but I could only surf while I was young.

  When Nora yawned for the third time, I asked if she needed a ride home.

  She shook her head. “No, I actually rode here with my brother, so I’ll see if he’s ready to go.

  “What if he’s not?” I asked, concerned about how she’d get home. I was too buzzed to drive her, but I’d call her a cab and ride home with her so she wouldn’t have to go alone.

  “He will be. I told him when we came that I’d probably want to leave early since I have to work in the morning.”

  “What do you do?”

  She yawned again. “I work at my parents’ café.”

  “Cool,” I said, even though it really wasn’t.

  “No, it’s not,” she said, seeing right through me. “But I make a mean latte.”

  “I love lattes,” I told her, and she just smiled at me.

  Then she leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for a pleasant evening, Ethan. It was surprisingly nice to talk with you, and I’m glad you aren’t like I assumed you’d be. You seem like a good guy.”

  I smiled at her. “I am. So can I get your number?”

  “No,” she said coyly.

  “Why not?”

  I’d spent all night talking with this girl, and I wasn’t even getting her number? Not cool.

  She shrugged. “Because I don’t know if you’re really into me or if you’re just drunk and I seem appealing. I only go out with guys who really want to go out with me.”

  “But I do want to go out with you.”

  “Then prove it,” she challenged.

  I leaned forward to kiss her. It was the only thing I could think of, but she backed away.

  “Uh, not like that. I don’t kiss guys I just met.”

  Geez, this girl was a giant ball-buster, but I kind of really liked that about her.

  “Then how do I prove it to you,” I asked, feeling like a complete tool for not knowing the secret.

  She smiled. “You’re a smart guy. I have no doubt you’ll figure it out.”

  Then she walked away, leaving me there feeling like a jackass, thinking I actually wasn’t all that smart.

  I stood outside for a few more minutes, looking out at the ocean and wondering why she’d made it so difficult. Did she not really like me? I didn’t get it.

  “Hey you,” Logan said, sidling up next to me and bumping her hip against mine.

  “Hey,” I said turning to face her, realizing that for the first time in months I hadn’t been obsessing about her all night. I’d been thinking about Nora, because she was a cool as hell chick. Was that what my brother had been talking about? Had I just emotionally connected with a girl? It didn’t really feel like it. We’d just been talking. “What’s up?”

  Logan shrugged. “Jase left, so I figured I’d come see what you were up to.”

  “Nothing much. Just hanging out. It’s a nice night.”

  “I saw you talking to Nora,” she said coyly.

  I shrugged. “Yeah, she’s a cool chick.”

  Then I realized what a complete dumbass I was. Logan was friends with her, she had Nora’s number. I could just get it from her. Idiot!

  “She’s awesome,” Logan agreed. I suddenly grinned at her the way I did when I wanted something, and Logan narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “You’re her friend. You have her phone number.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Well, I want it.”

  “No,” she said, and she grinned at me.

  “Why not?”

  Why in the hell was everyone making my life so fucking difficult? I liked this girl, I wanted her number, and no one would fucking give it to me!

  Logan smirked. “Because she told me not to give it to you.”

  “Why the hell not?” I asked, really getting angry.

  Logan put her hand on my forearm to calm me down. “E, think about it. She wants you to come to her.”

  “Okay,” I said, clearly exasperated. “I’d love to do that, but I don’t know where to fucking go!”

  Logan laughed. “What did she tell you about herself tonight?”

  “I don’t know. Lots of stuff. She likes horses, she wants to be a vet, she goes to UCLA, her favorite band is Mumford and Sons, which I think is a little clichéd, but she swears she liked them before they were famous, so I guess I can give her credit for that.”

  Logan rolled her eyes.

  “What, you like Mumford and Sons?”

  Then she smacked me upside the back of the head, and if I didn’t love her, I would have smacked her back.

  “Yes, I love Mumford and Sons,” she agreed, then she looked at me pointedly as if I was missing something. “What else did she tell you, E? Did she tell you where she works?”

  “Yeah, at a café that her parents own.”

  “Right,” she said, nodding her head, and it finally dawned on me.

  Damn, maybe I should quit drinking. The alcohol was definitely killing my brain cells.

  I smiled. “Will you tell me the name of the café?”

  Logan returned my smile. “That I can do.”

  “Sweet. You rock.”

  “Aww, this is so exciting. Nora is the best. She’s so cool and fun, and if I’d have known you two would hit it off, I would have introduced you months ago. Of course, Jase will probably kill me, but he’ll get over it.”

  I was confused. “Why would Jase care?”

  “She’s his sister,” she said, like it should have been obvious, and it was like ice water had been dumped over my head.

  I could not date Jason Brady’s sister. No fucking way.

  Chapter Five

  Logan

  I squeezed Jase’s hand as we pulled up to the Beverly Hilton where the Golden Globes were being held. I was nervous as hell, and if he was too, he didn’t show it at all, but he squeezed my hand back, leaned over and kissed my temple.

  “You look beautiful,” he whispered. “Just keep your hand in mine, smile, and you’ll be great. It’ll be over before you know it.”

  I nodded, taking a few deep breaths in an effort to calm myself. It wasn’t my first red carpet. I’d walked a few before meeting Jase, and then we’d made our official public debut at the premiere of The Mulvaneys back in October, but it was my first awards show.

  It felt surreal that just a few hours earlier I’d been struggling through some problems for my Calc 2 class in preparation for a quiz on Monday. Now I was about to parade around in the world my boyfriend lived in, which was so vastly different tha
n my life as a college student. It was times like these that I realized just how dissimilar our lives were. I didn’t see the differences when it was just Jase and me hanging out, but when I was thrust into his Hollywood life like this, the differences were quite obvious.

  “You guys ready?” Andrea, Jase’s publicist asked, as Charlie stepped out of the car in front of us, blocking anyone from seeing into the vehicle.

  “We’re ready,” Jase said confidently, and I just nodded, afraid I might vomit if I opened my mouth.

  Jase stepped out of the limo first before turning to me and extending a hand. I pulled my long flowy black dress high enough so I could place a heeled foot firmly on the ground before giving him my hand. He pulled me out of the car and into his arms where he kissed me once, smiled, and then turned toward the hundreds of screaming fans, reporters and cameramen. He waved with his free hand while I held his other one in a death grip.

  The whole scene was overwhelming as hell, and I wondered if I’d ever get used to it. Before I knew it, Andrea was out of the car and telling us to walk. Then it was a blur of flashbulbs and posing for pictures and letting Jase take pictures alone, which I knew he hated to do, but it was what the media wanted, so I forced him to let go of my hand for two seconds to please his public. Then we were stopping every few feet to speak to the reporters who were working the red carpet. We joked and laughed and tried to act as natural as possible while a camera was being shoved in our faces.

  “Who are you wearing, Logan? I just love your dress,” the reporter from Hot Entertainment News asked me.

  They all seemed to know my name, which I was sort of getting used to, but it was still strange. I was just a college student. I wasn’t anyone important, but being on the arm of Jason Brady suddenly made me someone noteworthy.

  I smiled my big ‘I’m so happy to be here’ smile. “Monique Lhuillier,” I said, smoothing the fabric of the fitted strapless bodice that was adhered to me in multiple places with double-sided sticky tape.

  Jase squeezed my hand. “So, Jason, how does it feel to be nominated for a Golden Globe?” the reporter asked him.

  I always had to adjust to hearing people call him Jason in conversation, since only his friends and family called him Jase. It was part of how he separated his two lives.

  I looked over at Jase as he took a deep breath and launched into the same spiel he’d been delivering for the past month ever since he found out he’d been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Radio Riot where he played an eclectic radio deejay. I’d heard him give a version of the same speech in countless interviews. He was honored to be nominated, he was thrilled to be among such a talented group of actors, he was proud to be a part of the cast of such an incredible movie. The way he said it each time changed, but he basically said the same things.

  He was calm and cool and gracious, but only I knew that inside he was jumping up and down like a freaking kid he was so excited he’d been nominated.

  “Well, Jason, we wish you the best of luck tonight,” the reporter said, and we were hurried along to the next stop where we were asked similar questions.

  As much as I could, I looked around for Garrett. He was around somewhere with Ellie, and I wanted to say hi once we got inside. We weren’t sitting near them, since Garrett wasn’t nominated, and Jase got to sit closer to the stage because of his status, but we’d definitely see them at the after party.

  My mom was there too with Luiz Oliviera, a well-known producer she’d dated off and on for the past fifteen years. He was my half-sister Skylar’s father, and after taking a break, it seemed he and our mom were back together. They did that from time to time, so Skylar and I were used to it. But regardless of what his relationship was with our mom, Luiz was always there for Skylar and me. He was a great dad – to both of us since he treated me like his daughter and had been a part of my life since I was four.

  This time around he and our mom had been together for close to five months, and we kept waiting for them to split again, as was their MO. But my mom seemed happy, so maybe they’d stay together. I was just glad she was no longer dating her personal trainer like she had been over the summer since he was twenty-three years old. It was just weird seeing them together, and I couldn’t imagine what they had in common.

  I was pretty sure Luiz was the only man my mom had ever dated who was older than her. He was close to fifty, almost fifteen years her elder. And from what I could tell, every time they separated, she went right back to dating young guys. It was embarrassing. I liked Luiz, and he kept my mother in line. He was good for her. I really did wish they’d just stay together.

  Before I knew it Jase and I had reached the end of the red carpet, and were ushered inside the hotel. I let out a sigh of relief, as Jase leaned over and kissed my temple. We were escorted into the ballroom where drinks were being passed and people were mingling. I immediately grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter to calm my nerves and looked around for Garrett and Ellie.

  We were stopped every few feet by someone who wanted to talk to Jase, congratulate him on his nomination, and basically stroke his ego. Many of the people worked behind the scenes in the industry, but actors and actresses approached us, as well. I wasn’t a big fan of the Hollywood schmoozing since it all seemed so contrived.

  “Hey, hot stuff!” a voice said from behind me, and I turned to see Garrett looking all sorts of dashing in a black tux. He scooped me up in a big hug before I could stop him and lifted me off the ground. “You look gorgeous.”

  He was grinning from ear-to-ear when he set me down and appraised me, his blond hair styled so perfectly, and his blue eyes shining. Garrett Lewis was one good looking man, and I was happy to see him looking healthy again. He’d been on location in Las Vegas during November and part of December filming a movie about a heroin addict, and for the role, he’d had to lose close to thirty pounds to look emaciated enough to pull off the storyline.

  So he’d hired a nutritionist, dieted like crazy, barely ate anything at Thanksgiving, ran miles each day and quit lifting weights. For almost a month he looked like hell, but once the movie had wrapped, he’d started to slowly gain the weight back, and he was finally beginning to look like himself again.

  “Thank you. I clean up well, don’t I?” I said, feeling self-conscious in my outfit.

  Garrett just shook his head. He was used to seeing me in jeans and flip-flops and hell, my bathing suit, half the time, since I went over to his and Ethan’s house multiple times a week to surf with them. I knew seeing me with a full face of make-up, hair that was artfully done and a long, sweeping dress was definitely a change of pace.

  “You always look beautiful, Lo, but tonight you look stunning,” he said, just as Jase finally turned around and joined our conversation. He had been talking to one of the producers of Sons of Sovereignty when Garrett had walked up to us.

  Jase’s arm snaked around my shoulders, and he pulled me close to him. “Don’t even think about it, Lewis,” he said playfully, and Garrett laughed.

  Jase knew he had nothing to worry about with this Lewis brother, but I knew he was still iffy about Ethan’s feelings for me. After almost breaking Jase and me up by telling me he loved me, and then kissing me in front of Jase back in October, Ethan had told me a few weeks later that he really wasn’t in love with me. Although I’d played along with him in the moment, I wasn’t sure I fully believed him. I saw the way he looked at me at times, and I had a strong suspicion that if I asked him to be more than my friend, he wouldn’t tell me no.

  “He’s taken anyway,” Ellie said, sidling up to Garrett and threading her arm through his.

  “Aww, I love that you guys are still together,” I gushed, so happy for my friends. Garrett was the nicest guy, and he couldn’t have found someone better for him than Ellie Carlisle.

  She reached out and hugged me with the arm that wasn’t attached to Garrett. “You look fabulous, babe.”

  “You too,” I said, taking in her long, one shoulde
r, bright pink Marchesa gown.

  She’d told me about the edgy design that hugged her curves and flowed down to the ground in uneven layers. It was beautiful, and with her pale skin and dark brown hair that her stylist had curled so it flowed over her shoulders, she looked gorgeous and striking. I felt so sweet and demure in comparison.

  Jase and Garrett immediately launched into a conversation about the upcoming press tour they had for Vacation From Hell. They’d filmed the movie together the summer before, which was how they’d met and become friends, and subsequently how Jase and I had met. The week-long tour kicked off at the beginning of May. Jase had wanted me to go, but I had conflicts with school that would keep me on the west coast.

  “Incoming,” Garrett mumbled then, interrupting Jase, and we both turned around to see my mother and Luiz walking toward us.

  “Darling!” she gushed, as she air-kissed me, careful not to smudge her lipstick. “And Jason. How are you dear?”

  Jase and I had both told her numerous to call him Jase, but she never did. She and Luiz both called him Jason, which I thought was so formal.

  I loved my mother she didn’t even wait for me to answer before she pounced on Jase. Of course she would place more of her attention on him, though. It was his night, and she wanted a piece of the action. She wasn’t nominated, but she’d won two Golden Globes during her career. She’d never won an Oscar, though, and I wondered how she’d feel about Jase if he won one in a few weeks. He was nominated again for Radio Riot. Would she be jealous, or would she try to align herself to him even further?

  “I’m fine thanks, Alana. It’s so nice to see you.” They air-kissed before he turned to Luiz. “Luiz, how are you?” he asked, shaking his hand.

  He was set to star in one of Luiz’s movies later in the year. It was a Vietnam War biopic called Charlie Rising, and I knew Jase was excited to work with him. Luiz had made quite a name for himself in Hollywood over the years.

  “Hello, Jason. It’s good to see you,” Luiz said, his Brazilian accent wrapping around the words. He turned to me and smiled. “Logan, you look beautiful tonight.”