Chloe’s glare turned to Ellie. “What the hell? You were my friend first. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
Ellie stepped up next to me and shook her head. “Chloe, you’re a bitch, and we haven’t been friends for a long time. You were cool when you first moved out here, even when you first started dating Jase, but then you let your ego go to your head, and you turned in to someone I didn’t want to be around. And you lost Jase in the process, and you have to deal with that. It’s not Logan’s fault, it’s yours.”
Chloe shook her head, her lower lip starting to tremble. “No, we were talking again last summer. He was finally letting me back in, and then she came into the picture and ruined everything.” Chloe glared at me. “It wasn’t fair. He was mine!” she said, stomping one of her five inch heels.
“Chloe, you hooked up with Samuel Klein on your own,” Ellie said calmly. “Logan had nothing to do with that. You drove Jase away in the first place.”
Chloe shook her head violently, her emotions taking over. “No. No, I didn’t. That’s not true.”
“Yes it is,” Ellie said, handling the situation much more calmly than I could have. “Just like it’s true that you slipped something into Jase’s drink that night in New Orleans, because you were so desperate to get him back that you would have tried anything at that point.”
My jaw dropped open, and I looked at Ellie whose gaze was fixed on Chloe. Was she serious with that accusation?
“He wouldn’t talk to me. He wouldn’t listen,” Chloe insisted, tears filling her eyes. “I love him, and it was a mistake to let him go, and I just wanted him back.”
She closed her eyes and tears spilled down her cheeks, but I had very little sympathy for her.
“You slipped him something?” I interjected, and her eyes flew open.
“Yes, I did, because it was the only way I could get him alone!” she cried. “He needed to see that we were right together, that we belonged together, and he kept pushing me away.”
I could see how much pain she was in, and my heart almost went out to her, but I just couldn’t do it. She was a vindictive bitch.
“He doesn’t love you,” Nora interjected, and Chloe turned to her, as if surprised to see her standing there. “Chloe, you treated him like shit for almost a year before you cheated, and we couldn’t have been happier to see you go. His family hates you, and not just because of what you did, but because of how you treated us all. Do you remember two Christmases ago when we were in Big Bear? My dad and Jase got into a fight, because Dad wanted to tell you to leave, and Jase wouldn’t let him. He saw through your nice girl act, and he knew you weren’t right for his son. Now I’m sorry that you’re upset, but you need to move on, because Jase is never going to take you back, and he’s never going to forgive you for breaking up him and Logan, especially since it sounds like you were trying to date rape him.”
“I just needed him to remember what it was like to be with me again,” she insisted. “And I don’t care what you or your parents think, we’re right for each other.”
“Um, obviously you’re not or you’d be with him right now,” Nora said. “But clearly your little plan didn’t work, and my brother is smarter than you think.”
Chloe glared at her. “We’re getting there. We’re talking,” she said, but I don’t think any of us believed her.
I’d bet money Jase hadn’t spoken a word to her since the morning I’d caught them in bed in New Orleans. He despised her. That much I was sure of.
Nora opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head to stop her. My mind was spinning, and I had to take control of this conversation.
“Wait, so you actually slipped something in Jase’s drink so he wouldn’t know what was happening, and then what, you slept with him?” I clarified, trying to wrap my head around the picture that had been painted. “That’s sick, Chloe.”
Oh, my God. I had to talk to Jase. I had to let him know what happened, that he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was the sweetest feeling of relief I’d felt in months. I didn’t have to fight with myself about why I shouldn’t take him back, because he had no control over what had happened that night. Chloe had set him up.
“I had to do what I had to do,” she said, shrugging.
This chick was certifiable.
“But it didn’t work, did it?” Ellie interjected, and Chloe’s gaze snapped back to her.
“What? Of course it worked. We had sex.”
Ellie shook her head. “No, you didn’t, but nice try. I know Jase passed out before you guys did anything.”
Chloe’s eyes narrowed at her. “How do you know that?”
“That’s not important.”
“Okay, hold on,” I said, suddenly realizing what Chloe had just revealed. “So you didn’t sleep with him?”
She let out a sigh, and I could see the fight go out of her. “No, we didn’t. Are you happy?”
“Extremely,” Nora chimed in.
That thought made me incredibly happy, but it still didn’t make sense with the scene I’d walked into.
“So, if you didn’t have sex, why were you naked in his bed the next morning?” I asked, needing to know everything.
I thought about the condom I’d seen in the trashcan and Jase telling me it wasn’t used. Had Chloe seriously gone that far to punish Jase for not giving her the attention she wanted?
She sighed. “I knew you were coming to visit him. I heard Andrea tell Charlie, so I knew if you walked in and saw us together, you’d end things with him. I needed more time, and since filming was over and he was going back to L.A., back to you, I knew I wouldn’t get that, so I had to get you out of the equation.”
Well, that actually made more sense, but it was still sick and twisted.
“So you made him believe he cheated on me? Chloe, that’s beyond cruel, and quite honestly, I’m not all that surprised. You’re a selfish, self-centered, callous bitch who only thinks of what she wants and never considers other people’s feelings. And I’m not even sure why I’m talking to you when I could be with Jase right now, because we’ve been apart for so long, and both of us have been miserable for months because of you. So, fuck you.”
With that, I turned and left the bathroom, not caring what she said in response or how Nora and Ellie handled her. I had one place where I wanted to be, and it was not in a bathroom, at a bar with Chloe St. James.
I stormed outside, anxious to hail a cab and get the hell out of there. Nora and Ellie came rushing outside behind me.
“Are you okay?” Ellie asked.
I shook my head. “No, yes, I don’t know. I’m fucking pissed.”
“Understandably so,” Nora chimed in. “I could so kick her ass right now.”
“Be my guest,” I said nonchalantly. Then I turned to Ellie. “How did you know that she slipped something in his drink? That they didn’t have sex? That she was lying?”
She took a deep breath. “Because I know Chloe well enough. And I kept going over what you told me had happened with her and Jase, and it just didn’t make sense. I knew there was more to the story. So I asked my friend, Sebastian about it, since he and Chloe are close, and I know she can’t keep her mouth shut.”
“Did she tell him?” Nora asked excitedly, and Ellie nodded.
“Yeah, she did. She put something in his beer, and then when he said he wasn’t feeling well, she walked him up to his room. I guess she tried to get him to sleep with her, but it didn’t work. He apparently had a weird reaction to whatever she gave him and just passed out. Bash said she thinks she might have given him too much.”
“Uh, she’s lucky she didn’t kill him,” Nora said pointedly, her rage rising at the thought of someone threatening her brother’s life.
“I know, right,” Ellie agreed.
“I have to see Jase,” I said then, my mind a million miles away. “I need to talk to him, tell him the truth.”
“Then go,” Nora said, pushing me toward the street so I could hail a passing ca
b.
I jumped into the first one I could flag down and barked out Jase’s address, my heart beating wildly as we drove toward my destination and the man I no longer had to feel guilty for loving. When we pulled into the driveway, I could only see one light on inside the house, so I paid the cab driver, and raced to the front door, ringing the doorbell several times in my anxious state.
Nothing happened. I rang it again, and I could hear it ringing inside, but no one came to the door. My heart sank when I realized Jase was out. Hell, he might even be out of town for all I knew, but wouldn’t Nora have known that?
Instead of calling back the cab I’d just left, I sank down onto the front stoop to sit and wait. I looked at my watch. It was only eleven o’clock. I could be waiting for hours. Then again, what if Jase brought a girl home, or what if he went home with a girl and never came back to his place?
Either scenario made me cringe, and I hoped I wasn’t too late.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ethan
I was starting to worry that everything wasn’t okay when Ellie came back to the couch were my brother and I were sitting, and she wasn’t with Logan or Nora. She sat down next to my brother, laced her fingers through his and kissed his cheek.
“Where are Lo and Nora?” I asked her.
“Nora is talking to Jase, because Logan’s on her way to his house,” she told me.
“She’s what?!”
I started to stand. I needed to stop Logan from making a colossal mistake, and if she was going to Jase’s house, it was going to be a colossal mistake.
Ellie reached for my arm and tugged me back down. “It’s okay, Ethan. She’s fine.”
“Like hell she is,” I challenged, pissed that Logan would stoop so low as to get back together with that asshole.
Ellie shook her head. “He didn’t cheat on her. Chloe set him up,” she said.
My mouth fell open in shock, as my brother blurted out, “Are you serious?”
Then Ellie proceeded to explain the whole situation to us. By the time she was wrapping up the story, Nora had returned.
She sat in my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close. After that crazy-ass story, I was afraid to let her out of my sight with Chloe still at the bar. What a fucking nut job.
“So, Logan’s okay?” I asked, since her well-being was always my first concern.
“I think so,” Ellie said. “She will be once she talks to Jase. Was he home?”
She’d directed her question to Nora who shook her head. “No, he was out with his friends, but as soon as I told him everything, he left the bar they were at.”
“What did he say?” she asked, and Nora shook her head.
“You don’t want to know. He was ready to come here and kill Chloe, but I redirected him home since I wanted him to keep the focus on Logan and not let Chloe take anything else from them.”
“Smart move,” I commented, pressing my lips to her bare shoulder.
It was hard for me to not kiss and touch and just be close to Nora whenever we were together. We’d been back together for just over a month, and I still felt incredibly lucky that she let me back into her life. She could have easily pushed me away, because I’d been an asshole, and I would have deserved it, but she hadn’t.
“You guys want another round?” Garrett asked then, and I looked up at Nora.
I’d leave it up to her. I could easily take her back to my place, because holing up with her had become more fun than anything else. Hunter and TJ had been giving me shit because I was never around, but going out to the clubs while they trolled for chicks didn’t seem that appealing to me anymore since I had a hot, cool girl who wanted to spend time with me. And if we left before Ellie and Garrett, we could hang out in the hot tub. I loved when Nora wanted to go in the hot tub. There was just something about seeing her body all tight and wet and mine that I couldn’t get enough of.
“I think I’m ready to go,” Nora said, and I wanted to do a little happy dance on the spot.
“Yeah, me too,” I echoed, the epitome of cool. “You guys coming?”
Please say no, please say no.
Garrett stretched out his arm and put it around Ellie’s shoulder, pulling her close. “I think we’re going to hang out for a little while,” he said, and Ellie nodded.
“Are you guys coming back to our place tonight?” I asked, and I couldn’t have been any more obvious.
“We’re staying at my place, Ethan,” Ellie said, a smirky smile gracing her face.
I was fairly certain she’d seen Nora and me in the hot tub late one night a few weeks earlier. Garrett had been away, and she’d come by to get a few things he needed since she was flying out to see him the next day. Nora and I came inside wearing only towels, and Ellie had just been leaving. Garrett’s room had a view of the deck and the hot tub, just like mine did, so I knew she’d seen something. And from the blush on her cheeks when she’d made eye contact with me, I knew it had been hot.
“Cool,” I said, playing it off like a champ.
“Drain the water when you’re done, little brother,” Garrett called after us as we started to walk away, and Nora and I stopped short.
We spun around to face my brother and Ellie who were fighting their laughter. “You told him,” I accused Ellie, and she burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry, Ethan. I had to.”
“Screw you,” I said back to her, totally playful, as I put my arm around Nora who was hiding her face against my chest.
She looked up at them and then back at me. “How do they know?”
“Ellie saw us one night,” I told her. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Oh, my God. I’m so embarrassed,” she cried, burying her face once again. She looked back up at them. “What did you see?”
Ellie waved her hand at us in dismissal. “Nothing we wouldn’t do,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. Have fun.”
“Just don’t say anything in front of my brother,” Nora cautioned. “He still thinks of me as a fourteen year-old kid, and he doesn’t know how to handle things like me having sex.”
“I won’t,” Ellie promised as we started to walk away again.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I mumbled to Nora, and she turned to me.
“What do you mean?”
“Uh, the little talk Jase and I had in Cabo. Let’s just say he had some opinions about your overall well-being when it came to our relationship and my experience level.”
Ironically she’d echoed those same sentiments before we got together. I was glad I’d convinced her to take a chance with me, because I wasn’t a total dirtbag – at least not anymore.
She looked up at me through her lashes. “Did you tell him that multiple orgasms nightly are good for my mental health, and all that experience has made you really, really good at what you do?”
I laughed out loud, my ego swelling ten-fold. “Yeah, I told him exactly that.”
“What?”
I looked at her. “Nora, really? Like I’d ever tell Jase what we do. That’s between us, and it’s sacred.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Sacred, really?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
“Do you talk to Logan about us?” she asked.
“No, do you?”
“No, of course not. Again, I don’t want Jase to know. He’d never understand.”
I shrugged. “He’ll get over it eventually.”
“And eventually you two will become friends,” she said, and I scoffed at that notion.
Jase and I could tolerate each other, but that was it, even after what I’d heard about him that night. I was glad that he hadn’t cheated on Logan, and I knew he loved her, but I still didn’t really like the guy. And I wasn’t sure why that was.
“Hey,” Nora said then, “you’ll have to become friends, because I don’t plan on ever not having you in my life, and he’s my brother. So you two will have to learn to like each other.”
“
Really, you have no plans to kick me to the curb?” I asked playfully, and she shook her head.
“Nope. None. You’re stuck with me, and I’m stuck with you.”
A year ago, hell six months ago, a statement like that would have sent me running away as fast as my legs could carry me. But now, after knowing what it was like to have a girl like Nora by my side, I couldn’t imagine going anywhere without her.
“There’s no one I’d rather be stuck with. I could live in Noraland forever,” I told her.
She looked up at me as we stepped outside. “Noraland? What is that?” she asked, chuckling slightly.
I asked the valet to hail us a cab since we’d ridden with Garrett and Ellie. Then I turned back to Nora.
“Well, when I first met you, Noraland was a place where girls named Nora basically spent all day pleasuring guys like me, but now it’s a place with a lot of pleasure and also a lot of love.”
“Ethan,” she said, and in the glow of the streetlamp overhead, I could see her cheeks flush. “That’s so romantic.”
The side of my mouth quirked up into a half-smile. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been called romantic before, but I’ll take it.”
She then wrapped her arms around my neck, leaned up and pressed her lips to mine. “You’re so romantic in your own way, and I love you for it.”
“I love you too,” I said when she pulled back. “I love you for changing me into a guy who was worthy enough to be loved by someone as perfect as you. You make me be a better man, Nora. It’s as simple as that.”
Her mouth fell open just a little. “See, there you go being romantic again,” she said, shaking her head as if in awe.
Well hell, if she considered what I did to be romantic, then I’d be romantic all day long.
“And there you go being perfect again,” I told her before I kissed her.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Logan
Thirty agonizing minutes after I got to Jase’s house, I saw headlights turn up his driveway, and I got to my feet. A car I recognized as Freddie’s barely stopped before Jase was jumping out of the passenger seat and running toward me.
Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity) Page 33
