Forcing Gravity (48 page)

“I hope so,” Jase said warmly. “Good luck, Rain.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, as she and Robbie turned to walk back to their table, their heads huddled together as they read what Jase had written.

“You’re nice,” I said, leaning into his shoulder. I desperately wanted to kiss his cheek, but I couldn’t. He was ‘dating’ Ellie, so I had to be hands-off.

He leaned closer to me, his head almost touching mine and smiled. “I try,” he said genuinely.

“Okay, are we ready to go?” Ethan asked. “I
really
want to see Alcatraz.”

He pushed his chair back and walked to the front of the café without waiting for the rest of us.

“
What
is his problem?” Kelly asked.

I shook my head. “I have no idea, but frankly, if he’s going to be an ass, I don’t want to be around him.”

“Maybe he needs to get laid,” Kelly suggested.

I thought about the last time I knew Ethan had hooked up with a girl and realized it had been a few weeks since he’d talked about Lizzie. They’d been seeing each other in the most casual sense of the word, but that had sort of stopped around the time Jase and I had broken up. Since
Jase and I had gotten back together, Ethan hadn’t mentioned Lizzie or anyone else
. Maybe he did need to get laid.

“I’ll
go
talk to him,” Kelly offered
then
, as Jase slid his sunglasses back on and wrapped his scarf around his neck.

It was cold outside, and San Francisco was one of the windiest cities I’d even been to. As I slid my coat on, I watched Kelly and Ethan talking outside. He was shaking his head, and she was trying to appeal to him, but he didn’t seem to be listening. I really wished he’d at least give Jase a break. I wanted him to see the great guy Jase was, and I’d thought he’d seen that the night of Carter’s p
arty, but I guess not.
Whatever.
I’d deal with him later. I wasn’t about to let him ruin my weekend.

***

Later that night, Jase and I laid
side-by-side
in the king size bed in our hotel room. Ethan had
decided to sleep on the couch at
Kelly and Devin’s apartment, so Jase and I had taken the room he’d reserved at the Hilton in the Financial District, near where Kelly and Devin lived.

“Tonight was fun,” Jase said, as I rested my head on his shoulder.

I was glad we could finally be alone together and had practically pounced on him once we’d gotten to our room. He must have felt the same way, because in about thirty seconds, my clothes w
ere off, and his lips were on mine
. Now we basked in the afterglow and watched the lights of the city outside our window.

“Devin’s a cool guy,” I said, as I drew swirl patterns on his bare chest.

“Yeah, he is.”

Devin was a free-spirit and somehow complimented Kelly’s preppy, driven persona even though they were polar opposites. He had dark brown skin and was over six feet tall with broad shoulders, and Kelly was
petite and blond with a California girl tan.
I
loved that Devin
wore his hair in dreadlocks and dressed as casually as possible, and Kelly wore clothes that looked straight from the runway
and always wore her hair straight and to her shoulders
. They were a giant contradiction of each other
, but it was what made them so cute.
They’d met in college and
had been together ever since, and Devin had finally proposed the year before.
I was in their wedding in the spring.

Thankfully Devin had remained silently in awe of my boyfriend’s notoriety throughout the night. I was proud of him for not gushing like I knew he wanted to. I could see it in his eyes and made a mental note to ask Jase to send him an autographed copy of
Radio Riot
when we got back to L.A. They had actually gotten along really well, so I knew Jase wouldn’t mind. Ethan had been sullenly silent throughout most of dinner, but we’d all just ignored him. I had plans to talk to him once we were
back
home, but outside of that, I wasn’t going to humor him and his moodiness.

“I’m sorry about Ethan,” I apologized again. “He’s being such a jerk lately.”

“He’s fine,” Jase said, and I knew he was lying, but I could also tell he didn’t want to talk about Ethan.

“I found a dress for your premiere,” I told him, changing the subject.

Henley and I had gone shopping the we
ek before, and I’d found a charcoal
gray dress that I loved. It was a strapless fit and
flare
style and had a shimmer to the fabric. I knew it would be just perfect for the event. And then Henley had talked me into buying a pair of red Jimmy
Choo’s
that
were
ridiculously high, but suited
the dress just perfectly, so I knew I
had to get them. I was excited for Jase to see me in my outfit.

“Oh yeah, how much skin am I going to get to see?”
he asked,
sounding
like a typical guy.

I smiled.
“A decent amount.
You’ll like it.”

“I like you in anything,” he said. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world, Lo
gan
.”

A warm feeling spread
throughout my chest
. He told me thin
gs like that all the time, and it
always made me so self-conscious. I had a hard time believing someone as gorgeous as him could feel that way about me, but he did. I took a heavy breath in. I wanted to tell him something, because it had been eating away at me
since we’d gotten back together
, and I just needed to get it out, but I couldn’t have been more nervous.

I pushed up, so I could look at his face. “Hi,” I said, as I reached up to smooth his hair back.

“Hi,” he said, smiling at me. “You look serious.”

“I have to tell you something,” I said, swallowing hard.

Jase raised his eyebrows, no doubt prepping for bad news. “That doesn’t sound good.”

I leaned forward and kissed him deeply, hoping to quell some of my nerves. Then before I knew what was happening, Jase was rolling me over and staring down into my eyes, his arms braced on either side of my head.

“I love you,” I said quickly before I could change my mind, because as I stared into his mesmerizing green
eyes, that was
the only thing I could think.

I saw the surprise in his eyes before he relaxed and smiled. “I love you, too,” he said
,
before he leaned down and covered my mouth with his.

-
2
3
-

“Ethan! What is your problem?!” I screamed
, throwing
my arms in the air in frustration.

I’d gone over to see him after class on Monday afternoon and had found him surfing, so I’d waited on the beach for him to
come to shore.
I knew he saw me, but he made me wait for at least twenty minutes. That should have been my first clue that he was in a mood.

Then we’d argued for
twenty minutes about Jase, and I still didn’t have a definitive answer as to why Ethan didn’t like him.
He was being stubborn as hell.

“I
just
don’t like him,” was all he
said, and I fought the urge to shove him in frustration. He was driving me insane.

He ran a hand back through his wet hair and stood there staring at me with his wet suit half-peeled off, the bright sun glistening off of his tanned skin. It was chilly out, but the
cool
air didn’t seem to be affecting him.

“Why? Why Ethan? Why do you not like a guy who is making me so happy
and who cares about me and treats me well
? Huh? Why?
Ethan, he’s incredible, and I hate that you don’t like him. So
I need you to tell
me
why
, or we’re going to have a bigger problem on our hands
?
”

I faced him in anticipation, my hand
s
planted firmly on my hips.
I could have told him that Jase had told me he loved me on Saturday night, but I figured I’d keep that to myself.

“Because of that,” he mumb
led, his gaze going to his feet
, where he
was abruptly kicking sand around in a rhythmic pattern
.

“Because of what?”
I asked, the annoyance I was feeling apparent in my exasperated tone.

“Because you’re fallin
g for him,” he said, but he
wouldn’t look at me.

“
Ethan, I
already
fell. I love him.”

Ethan took in a deep breath, but he
still
wouldn’t look at me. He continued to ki
ck the sand
with his foot
.

“
Why is that a problem?
”
I demanded. Then b
ecause he suddenly looked upset, I changed my tone, taking on a more questioning, understanding approach. He was my best friend, and I had to keep that in mind. If something was bothering him, I wanted to at least hear him out. “
Do you hav
e some issue with me being in a relationship
?
Are you afraid I won’t have time for you, because Ethan, I’ll always make time for
you.
”

“That’s not it,” he said, finally looking up at me, and suddenly there was a fire in his eyes. “I just, I don’t want you to be with him.”

“Why?”

He literally was giving me nothing to work with. He just kept saying the same thing in different ways.

“Because if you’re with him, you won’t want to be with me,” he said softly, almost resignedly.

My mouth started to drop open, but before I could say anything, Ethan closed the distance between us,
and his lips me
t
mine.
All I could do was stand there
as he kissed me, and I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. Ethan was kissing me. He apparently had feelings for me
and was
kissing
me
.

Then the reality of the situation smacked me square in the face, and I pulled back, shoving him hard with my hands and taking a few steps back. I needed to put space between us.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I screeched, wiping my mouth with my hand.

Ethan looked at me with a mix of shock that I’d pushed him and screamed at him, but there was something else in his eyes, and it looked a lot like lust, or God forbid, love.

God dammit.

“I was trying to make a bold gesture,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest when he saw how pissed I was.

“Well don’t do that!” I said, my breath coming in short bursts as I realized how worked up I was getting. “
I have a boyfriend.
Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m in love with you, Logan!”
Ethan shouted, his arms flying up in the air.

“No
,
you’re not,” I cautioned, putting my finger up to stop him. He was acting insane.

“Yes I am,” he insisted. “I didn’t realize it before, but seeing you with
him
– I ca
n’t
stand it. I hate
it.”

“You cannot be in love with me, Ethan. You’ve never even had a girlfriend. You are the biggest player I know.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a challenging step toward me, “and now I know why.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why?
Because you were waiting for me?
”
I asked, and it came out a little mean.

“Yes,” he said definit
iv
ely. “I have never let any other girl in other than you, and there’s a reason for that.”

“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s called we’re best friends. We have a shit-ton in common and have known each other since the second grade. Ethan, I knew you before you were cool and before you discovered girls, back when you were shy and insecure and so incredibly sweet. We learned
to surf together and made sand
castles together and went on adventures
every summer
. We
’ve
have had a shit-load of fun in our lives, and I know you love me, but that doesn’t mean that you’re
in
love with me.”

“I am,” he said simply. “I can’t stop thinking about you, and I
hate
seeing you with Jase. I fucking hate it
, and I fucking hate him
.”