Forcing Gravity (42 page)

“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked
, and I was pretty sure I detected disappointment in his tone
.

I shook my head. “Not yet. Do you mind if I stay a little longer?”

I had no idea what his plans were for the day, but I felt so safe and secure with him that I didn’t want to go.
The last thing I wanted was to be alone in my dorm room. It was so cold and stark. Something about Jase and his house just made me warm.

“You can stay as long as you’d like,” he said, crossing the living room to sit next to me.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. “Thank you.
”

When he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, I felt like I never wanted to leave.

-19-

I ended up staying at
Jase’s
the rest of the weekend, but on Monday, I had to go back to school, an
d
he
was headed to
London for the week to promote
Radio Riot
,
which
was premiering there
on Friday
.

It was nice being in his bubble of comfort for
the weekend
, and as much as I wanted to stay right there, I knew we
both
had to get back to reality.

I’d had a small dose of reality
on Sunday when Jase convinced me to let him involve the police, and I’d spent an hour recounting what had happened with Carter and Owen. I’d been hesitant to talk about
everything
, but Jase
had
stayed with me while I spoke to the officers, and in the end, it had actually felt good to see them recording what I’d been through. I knew th
ey couldn’t charge Carter
with anything, but at the very least, there was a report on file.

For the rest of the weekend, Jase and I had relaxed and watched movies and ordered in food. Considering everything, it ended up being one of the best weekends I’d had in a while.

Jase’s
car service dropped me off at my dorm before they took him to the airport,
and I was sure both of us felt the awkwardness that loomed over us as we said
goodbye. All weekend, we hadn’t done more than hug or hold hands, and he’d even tried to sleep in the guest bedroom, but I hadn’t wanted to be alone, so I’d convinced him to sleep in his bed with me.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if he was keeping his distance because he was guarded against getting back into a relationship with me or if he was giving me space after what had happened. It wasn’t l
ike I was ready to jump back in
to anything physical, but on the flip side, I wasn’t exactly sure if we were friends or more than friends
, and I kind of wanted to know
.

“I’ll call you tonight,” he promised. “Just to be sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” I assured him for the fiftieth time.

He smiled his secret smile at me. “I know you are. But I’m going to call you anyway, and I’m going to ask if you’re okay, so humor me, alright?”

I smiled. That was probably the best thing he could have said in that moment. He’d been so sweet all weekend. I
reached out to hug him, squeezing him tight and inhaling his familiar and welcoming scent. I didn’t want him to go.
I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, just to the left of his mouth.

“I’ll miss you,” I said, before I realized I was saying it and quickly hopped out of the car.

I was afraid of his response
, so I didn’t wait for it
. Hell, for all I knew, he was seeing someone else.
W
e’
d been apart for
a month
. It was completely plausible.

“Hey Logan,” Scott
Deevers
, a guy in my psychology class, called out as he walked up to me. “Nice car.”

He hugged me hello, and it felt foreign after hugging Jase all weekend.

“It’s my friend’s
car
,” I said, waving at the blackened window
of the Mercedes sedan
as the car started to drive away. I couldn’t see Jase, but I knew he was watching me.

“You
have friends in high places,” Scott
commented.

I just shrugged
, not wanting to get into the details of who my ‘friend’ was
.
“Hey, give me a minute to grab my stuff, and I’ll walk with you to class,” I suggested.

“I’ll be here,” he said, grinning
at me.

***

As I was walking back to my dorm later that day, my phone rang, and I picked it up without looking, thinking it was Ethan.
Just like Jase, h
e’d been
m
ore over
protective
than usual
since Friday night, so I figured he w
as calling to check
on me.
Or he was going to ask me to pick up tacos.
I’d just talked to him before class and was heading over to his place to do some afternoon surfing with him as soon as I could get back to my room and change
. He knew I was fine, so my bet was on the tacos.

“Hey,” I said into my phone, as I hiked my
backpack higher on my shoulder.

“Hello, sweetheart,” came my mother’s voice, and I almost groaned out loud but caught myself in time.

“Oh, Mom, hey,” I said, trying not to sound annoyed. “How’s Ireland?”

“It’s gray and
cold and depressing.”

Geez, she was such a brat.
She couldn’t appreciate anything that
wasn
’t the sunshine and glam of L.A
.
My dad and I had gone to England and Ireland over Spring Break during my junior ye
ar of high school, and sure it had been th
e things
she’d said
, but I hadn’t cared. I’d loved the culture and the atmosphere and the accents so much, and the cold, gray weather had been a part of that.

I wanted to ask her if she’d kissed the Blarney Stone or even gone hiking through the countryside, but I knew it was a ridiculous notion. I knew she’d filmed when she had to and then retired to her hotel where she rotated through different pampering treatments and worked out with her trainer. I’d be shocked if she’d even gone shopping at any point
during her trip
.

“Oh, well, that sucks,” I said, knowing it was what she’d want me to say

“Yes, I find the Irish to be a mundane group of people.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sorry about that.”

“What are you apologizing for,” she questioned. “You’re not Irish.”

“No, I’m not,” I agreed. “Why are you calling, Mom?”

“I miss you, Logan,” she said, as if it was obvious. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”

I knew she’d probably read some magazine article about being a good mother, or read that some celebrity credited her mother as her hero,
and she
was feelin
g guilty for neglecting her off
spring.
It
happened a few times a year. Her maternal instincts, as limited as they were, would kick in and she would want to take Skylar and me away for a weekend to bond with us or insist on getting mother-daughter
mani-pedis
.

“Well, I miss you too,” I said flatly, almost mockingly, but not quite. I held back enough that it wouldn’t be obvious.

“That’s good, baby. Listen, I have to run. I have to meet with Oscar, but I’ll be home on Saturday, and I’d like you come for dinner. You don’t have plans, do you?”

Not anymore.
Knowing my mother wouldn’t take no for an answer, I mentally cancelled any plans I hoped to have with Jase who’d be back
in town
by then. That is if he wanted to make plans
with me
. I wasn’t sure.
We hadn’t talked since Monday night.

“Oh, good,” she gushed. “I can’t wait to see you and your sister.
Call her and tell her you’ll be there
. See you soon.
Big kiss.”

With that she was gone, off to talk
to Oscar, whoever the hell he
was. She always did that – spoke of people she knew as if the whole world was on a first name basis with them too.

I shook my head and dialed my sister’s cell number.

“Hello,” she answered, more perky and bouncy than I’d ever heard her.

“Hey Sky, it’s me.”

“Oh, hey Lo
Lo
,” she said, her tone
dropping
a few inches below
normal.

I’d talked to her a few times since our mom had bee
n gone and we’d gone out to
lunch once. I figured it was my responsibility to provide some familial stability while our mother was halfway across the world and not checking in nearly as often as she should have
been
. Although, I always felt better about Skylar’s well-being when she stayed with her dad, so she was probably better off without our mother.
Luiz
was a great father, and he kept her in line. She was much less spoiled and bratty when under his roof.

“It’s nice to talk to you too,” I said sarcastically.

She sighed audibly. “I was hoping you were
Finn
Foster
,” she said, sounding despondent.

“I thought you liked Vincent
Tomasi
?” I asked, unable to keep up with my sister’s active dating life,
except
she didn’t exactly date. She just decided a boy was her boyfriend, and that was it.
They held hands at school, texted
,
and face-timed, and t
hen they broke up a week later.

“That was last week,” she grumbled. “Now I like Finn, and he was supposed to call me when he got out of water polo practice, but he hasn’t, and I’m afraid Jocelyn
Lystic
got to him first, because she likes him too, but he likes me more – he said so – but Jocelyn has boobs, so he might like her more now.
Katy
Patterson told me he likes girls with boobs, and then Bryson Greenberg told me that Finn was looking at
Jocelyn’s boobs today at lunch, because she had this low cut top on that was so super-slutty, but yesterday, Katy said he was checking out my butt, so I don’t know what to think, and I really hope he calls me.
”

She sighed, and I realized I was
completely
lost.
I had no idea who any of the people she was talking
about were.

“I’m sure he’ll call,” I assured her
, so
not sure that he would, but this
was not a conversation I was comfortable having. My sister was twelve. Guys should not be checking out her butt!
“But if he doesn’t
call
, there are other guys, and you have a lifetime of dating ahead of you. You’ll be fine.”

She breathed a puff of air out through her nose. “I suppose.
So are you dating anyone right now? Did you sleep with Ethan yet?”

“Hey! You should not talk like that.
I told you to quit watching
Sex and the City
.
”

My little talk with Skylar a few weeks before had been highly effective – or so I
’d
thought.

“
I did, but w
e watched a video
about
sex
in fifth grade
, and last year Mom had ‘the
talk
’
with me. Besides, most of my friends have already been fingered by a guy, and Katy gives her boyfriend blowjobs all the time.”

Deep breaths.
Deep breaths.
Deep breaths.

Okay, seriously. I did not know that much about boys when I was her age, and I sure as hell wasn’t as flippant about sex as she was.
What the hell was a twelve year old doing giving blow jobs?!
I might have to talk to
Luiz
about this, see if he could
make sure Sky
didn’t get caught up in things I felt, and I knew he’d feel
,
were way beyond what she should be doing at her age. And she
definitely
didn’t need to be friend
s
with that Katy girl.

“Jesus, Sky.”

“What? It’s true. And you didn’t answer my question.”

I gritted my teeth. “No, I have not slept with Ethan, nor do I plan to.”

“So do you have a boyfriend?”