Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity)

by Alexander, Monica

  Camera flashes met us as soon as we stepped out of the limo, and I hid in Ethan’s chest as he ushered me inside. The paparazzi had been relentless since Jase and I had broken up, but ever since the incident at the club where I’d punched Chloe, they’d gotten shots of Ethan and me coming and going, and even though he wasn’t famous, we’d been named as a couple several times.

  “Logan! Over here!”

  “Logan, smile. Come on, just give me one smile. Let the world see you’re over Jason.”

  “Logan! Are you and Ethan together now?”

  “How does Jason feel about you moving on so quickly?”

  “Leave her alone,” Ethan demanded, his tone murderous, as we stepped into the hotel and away from the flashbulbs.

  “You don’t have to respond to them,” I told him. “It just eggs them on.”

  “I don’t give a shit,” he said softly, as he looked down at me. Then he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I hate that they think they can get a piece of you.”

  I shrugged. “It’s their job.”

  “Yeah, but do they have to be so aggressive?” he argued.

  I sighed. “I keep waiting for them to just leave me alone. I’m not dating anyone famous. I’m not famous. Why do they care?”

  He grinned. “Because you’re hot,” he said, and I smacked his chest.

  I was glad we’d gone back to being playful. I’d been afraid our moment of clarity in the limo would change things, but Ethan, ever resilient, wasn’t going to let that happen.

  And as soon as we met up with our friends, we hit the dance floor. Ethan’s hands were on my waist, as I tried to stay upright in my shoes. When I swayed into him for the third time and he laughed, he decided we should go to the bar and get something to drink. I figured a bottle of water might be good since consuming any more alcohol was out of the question for me.

  Ethan took my hand and led me to the closest bar. I was sweaty as hell, and so was he, but he looked sexy. I was afraid I looked gross. As he squeezed through the crowd and attempted to get the bartender’s attention, I clung to his back, my arms hooked around his waist, and looked around.

  “Two waters,” I heard him say, and as soon as he did, I froze. He turned around and looked down at me, but my eyes were glued to the end of the bar, so he followed my gaze. “Shit.”

  “I need a shot,” I mumbled, as the tears threatened to overtake me.

  Without a word, Ethan turned back to the bartender and ordered four shots of Patron.

  And that was probably the biggest mistake of the night, because as soon as the shot was in my hand, Jase looked up from where he was standing at the end of the bar next to his best friend Freddie, and locked eyes with me. I looked to see if there were girls with them, but they seemed to be alone. I thought it was ironic that they were in Vegas the same weekend we were.

  I tried to ignore them as I took the shot back, but when my gazed found center again, Jase was still staring at me.

  As Ethan handed me another shot, I knew I needed to do something that would permanently push Jase into my past. The longer I held onto him, the longer I’d hurt. But if I let myself go and did what I could to erase him from my mind and my memories, maybe I wouldn’t continue to hurt so much all the time.

  “Shit,” Ethan muttered next to me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over at him. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  I looked up just in time to see Nora squeeze in between Jase and Freddie and grab a shot from the bar. She downed it as Ethan and I stared at her. Then for some reason, maybe because we were staring at her and her brother was staring at us, her gaze found Ethan’s.

  “Now, I need a shot,” he said, as he tilted one back.

  And as I looked at him, looking at her, I wondered if he’d trivialized his feelings for her. Or maybe he didn’t realize how far he’d fallen for her. I might have been who he was holding onto, who he thought he wanted to be with, but somewhere along the way, she’d changed his mind about who he really wanted. And he gave her up in a second because of me.

  “You should go talk to her,” I insisted.

  “Why?” he asked harshly as he slammed back his second shot.

  “Because you miss her.”

  “No, I don’t,” he argued, and I knew he was lying.

  “Fine,” I said, taking a stand. “Then kiss me.”

  “What?” He turned to me with a look adjacent to horror on his face.

  “What? You don’t want to kiss me? You were all about it an hour ago. What gives?”

  “Logan, what are you doing? You really want to kiss me in front of Jase?”

  I crossed my arms in front of me. “That’s what you care about? Jase’s feelings? I sincerely doubt that.”

  I looked up in time to see Nora turn away and disappear into the crowd, and I knew Ethan saw her too, because I caught the glimpse of yearning in his eyes before he turned back to me. I wondered if he noticed that Freddie went after her.

  “Look, I don’t like the guy, but I don’t exactly want him to come over here and try to kick my ass,” Ethan said when he turned back to me. “It’s not like he’d succeed, but I wouldn’t want him to embarrass himself or anything.”

  “E, you’re wasted, there is no way you could take him.”

  “You want to bet?” he challenged, and before I could stop him, his hands were cupping my face and his lips were on mine.

  I stood there stock still, not sure what to do, but I could feel Jase’s eyes on me. And then, right before he ripped Ethan and me apart, I could sense his presence.

  He reached out and slammed his fist into Ethan’s jaw, and although Ethan reeled back from the force, he turned right back to Jase and smirked at him. Jase was practically hyperventilating he was breathing so hard, his nostrils flaring, and his fists clenched tight at his sides.

  “I thought that might get your attention, asshole,” Ethan said, goading him.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing with her?” Jase growled.

  “What you’d be doing if you were still with her, if you hadn’t cheated.”

  Jase glared at him with murder in his bright green eyes, but he didn’t respond.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Ethan said, rubbing his jaw that was staring to swell. “You know you fucked up, asshole. You didn’t realize what a good thing you had, and you gave it up for one night of sex with a whore.”

  And just like that the fight went out of Jase. I could see defeat written all over his face. And then he looked right at me. “You told me you weren’t with him.”

  “I’m not,” I defended, knowing how weak it sounded since he’d just seen us kissing.

  Jase looked like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself as he stood there so conflicted. He knew he had no claim to me, that I could kiss whomever I wanted, that I was going to move on, but he didn’t want that. He hated it.

  “I wish I could take it all back,” he said then. “I’ve regretted that night every fucking day since it happened.”

  “I know, Jase,” I said, getting emotional from a mix of the alcohol and the boy standing in front of me.

  Just hearing his voice with that much conviction in it made my heart ache. He started to reach for me, but he pulled his hand back, almost realizing that he couldn’t make gestures like that anymore. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched him watch me with such longing.

  “I never meant to hurt you,” he finally gritted out.

  “I know, but you did, Jase,” I said quietly, lacing my hands together in front of me, as I looked down at the ground. I couldn’t make eye contact with him anymore, because I was crying, and if I looked at him, I’d just cry harder.

  “I know,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “Fuck, Logan. This whole situation, it turned me into a guy I hate. I can’t fucking stand myself after what I did.”

  I looked up at him, the tears streaming down my face as I pulled myself together for the last thing I wanted to say to hi
m. “No, Jase, this situation turned you into a guy I hate. And I really can’t stand to look at you anymore.”

  With that, I grabbed Ethan’s hand and dragged him away, so afraid that if I looked back, I’d cave and run back to Jase. So I stayed strong, faced front and walked away as fast as I could.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Ethan

  I didn’t want to open my eyes. My head hurt too fucking bad, and I wanted to die, but sunlight was streaming in through the giant window overlooking the Las Vegas strip.

  “Close the blinds,” I mumbled, my face smashed into my pillow.

  “You close them,” Logan said from beside me.

  “Ugh,” I groaned, but I knew the longer the room was bright, the less sleep I’d get, so I drug my hung over-to-the-max ass out of bed and over to the window. My eyes felt beyond heavy as I squinted into the bright light before unceremoniously dragging the curtains closed.

  “Bless you,” Logan mumbled, and then I collapsed back into bed beside her.

  Who the hell knows how long it was before I woke up for the second time, but my head hadn’t stopped throbbing and there was a steady pounding every few seconds that intermixed nicely with the throbbing. I rolled over onto my back and took a few deep breaths before opening my eyes. Then the pounding started up again, and I realized it wasn’t in my head. It was the door.

  “Go the fuck away,” I yelled, my voice hoarse. It was probably housekeeping. I’d been way too drunk to think about putting the ‘Do Not Disturb” sign on the door the night before.

  Shit, I couldn’t remember jack from after a specific point in the night. I scrubbed my hands over my face a few times, trying to make my head less fuzzy. The sound of a toilet flushing nearby sounded way louder than it should have, and then the pounding started up again.

  “I’ll get it,” Logan moaned as she came out of the bathroom looking pale.

  She paused in front of the door and stood there for a few seconds, as if trying to piece together what she should have been doing. When she opened it, the light from the hallway streamed in and was like a knife to my skull. I squinted and turned my head away as my brother pushed past her.

  “Good morning, campers,” he practically shouted, and I knew he was being an ass just because he could. “How is everyone feeling this morning? Bright-eyed and bushy tailed?”

  “Fuck off,” I told him before rolling over and closing my eyes again. Garrett chuckled.

  Damn, I had to piss.

  I heard Logan let out a long sigh.

  “Come on, get dressed. Ellie’s waiting downstairs. We’re going to get breakfast – pancakes, eggs, bacon.”

  Logan groaned, and a second later I heard the bathroom door slam shut. Then I heard her vomit. Maybe taking a piss could wait.

  “What? No bacon?” Garrett asked to no one in particular since I was pretending to sleep and Logan was out of commission.

  “Go away, Garrett,” I growled.

  He laughed again. I was so kicking his ass once I could move. And once I could think coherently.

  “Had a little too much to drink did you?” he taunted.

  I ignored him.

  Shit, I really had to piss. Logan needed to hurry up. I heard her vomit once more, and then the toilet flushed which was followed by running water that made my needs much more urgent. Finally she emerged, and I gathered every bit of my strength to fling the covers off of me.

  “Dude, cover your junk,” Garrett yelled as soon as I realized I was naked.

  I’d been sleeping naked next to Logan? That was a first. Had she been naked too? She was wearing boxer shorts and t-shirt now, but had she been naked? Shit, did we have sex?

  No way. No fucking way.

  I almost blindly made my way to the bathroom since I was refusing to open my eyes any more than I had to. Once I was inside, I set up in front of the toilet and braced myself against the wall in front of me with my left hand so I wouldn’t fall over.

  “What the fuck is that?!” I suddenly yelled, my eyes opening widely as I stared at my left hand.

  “Oh, the dangers of sleeping around,” Garrett yelled back. “STDs suck, man.”

  “What?” I asked, as I tried to wrap my head around what I was seeing.

  Garrett just laughed. “I’m kidding. I know what you’re looking at, dumbass. You called to tell me about it when you woke my ass up at five this morning. You don’t remember, do you?”

  “What is he looking at?” Logan asked, thoroughly confused.

  I was starting to breakdown on the inside, because I knew what that silver circle around my finger meant. Had I seriously done something as stupid as get married in Las Vegas? And not remember it? What the fuck was wrong with me?

  “Here,” Garrett said, opening the door a crack and shoving a pair of boxers through.

  “Shit. Shit. Shit,” I cursed, as I yanked them up my legs.

  I was suddenly Stu in The Hangover – probably married to some hooker I’d met randomly. Maybe Garrett was just playing a sick joke on me.

  “What’s wrong, E?” Logan called back.

  I took a deep breath and left the bathroom. Garrett was leaning against the wall opposite me, and Logan was sitting in the desk chair looking like she could be sick again at any time.

  “This is what’s wrong,” I said, holding up my left hand to show them the ring.

  Logan’s eyes got wide, and Garrett laughed. Yeah, he was fucking with me.

  “Who did you marry last night?” Logan asked, and Garrett’s face took on a stricken expression.

  “Um, Lo, look at your hand,” he said, and I felt my stomach drop.

  She looked down at the same time I did. Her eyes then got wide, and her face went even paler, if that was possible. She looked up and met my gaze, and it looked like she wanted to cry.

  “We got married?!”

  “No!” I said quickly, because that was the most absurd thing I’d ever heard. I’d been drunk, hell, I’d been shitfaced before, and I’d never done something that stupid.

  Logan suddenly covered her face with her hands and started to cry, then she dropped her hands and looked up at me, her cheeks tear-stained. Her eyes were flashing, and she was suddenly spitting venom as she launched herself toward me and shoved me so hard in the chest that I fell back onto the bed.

  “You asshole!” she screamed, as she started to rail against my arm, my shoulder, my head and anything else she could reach. I desperately wanted to hit her back, but I’d never do that.

  “Cut it out, Logan,” I said, covering my face and my head as much as I could and turning away from her so she couldn’t smack me there. She wasn’t holding back.

  Smack!

  “NO! I will NOT cut it out. This is absolutely, one hundred percent ridiculous, Ethan! How could you do this to me?!”

  Smack!

  Smack!

  Finally, after I figured she’d gotten enough of her aggression out, and I was over being hit, I grabbed her by the wrists, threw her on the bed and pinned her arms over her head.

  “Enough,” I said, looming over her. She was breathing hard, her eyes narrowed as she looked up at me and fought against my hold, but I wasn’t letting her go until she calmed down. “Enough. I’m not a fucking punching bag.”

  She continued to glare up at me. “Why am I wearing a wedding ring, Ethan?!” she demanded.

  “I don’t know, Logan,” I said through clenched teeth, pissed that she thought this was my fault.

  Then she let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, her whole body going slack, so I let her hands go, hoping she wouldn’t reach up and smack me. I fell onto the bed next to her and closed my eyes. My head was pounding, and this was just about the last thing I needed to deal with.

  “Did we sleep together?” she asked quietly, and I shook my head.

  “I don’t think so, but hell if I know.”

  I remembered spending a good portion of the night making out with her, thinking that was exactly what I wanted, but then I saw
Nora, and something inside me switched on. After we’d slept together the week before, we’d been texting regularly. We hadn’t seen each other again, and nothing was defined, but there were implications and assumptions, and I’d planned on asking her out when I got back to L.A. But that had been before Logan threw herself at me, and I thought I was finally getting what I’d wanted all along.

  Or what I thought I’d wanted all along. When I saw Nora I knew in that moment that she was who I wanted. I should have gone to her and told her. I should have followed her when she took off after she saw me with Logan. I should have told her how I felt about her, but I didn’t. I’d made a huge mistake, but apparently I’d made an even bigger mistake after that.

  I suddenly remembered my brother was still in the room, so I swung my gaze over to him. He was watching us in amusement with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “You think this is fucking funny?” I snapped at him.

  He shrugged and made a face like, ‘Who me?’

  “Asshole,” I growled before I flopped down onto the back and threw my arm over my eyes. I needed to sleep. I did not need to deal with this shit right now.

  “Oh, my God,” Logan said suddenly, sitting up next to me.

  “What?” I asked, turning to her, as if I didn’t know what she was upset about.

  “Jase,” she groaned, and then she started to cry again.

  “What about him?” I asked, remembering our encounter with him from the night before.

  I wished I would have hit him. But hell, I could pound that asshole into the ground fifty times, and it still wouldn’t make up for what he did to Logan.

  “He was there last night,” she said through her tears, as Garrett sat down on the bed and pulled her into his arms. “He saw you kiss me. Oh, my God!”

  “It’s okay, Lo,” Garrett soothed, as he rubbed her back and glared at me, obviously pissed that he’d needed to step in because I was being too self-centered to see that Logan needed someone to lean on.

  “No, it’s not,” she howled into Garrett’s chest. “I was so mean to him. I told him I hated him.”

  “Yeah, so?” I responded, unable to hide my frustration. Why couldn’t she just let him go?