Forcing Gravity (27 page)

I shrugged. “
Well, y
ou 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
dro
p me off at
home
.
”

“Really?”

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

He leaned down an
d
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 notic
ed 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 gir
l, rega
rdless 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
t
her
e
.”

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 ar
ound and saw him gazing
up
at me with a
question
ing 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 me
t 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 f
ought 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?
A
nd 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 ge
t 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 week
end
.
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.
“Even
tually.
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 s
hould 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 t
o 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
quirk
ed 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 scen
e 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 o
nto 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 s
miled, but it was his shy smile
. “I’m glad you liked it. I know i
t’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
.