Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity) (25 page)

“You’re mean,” I said shaking my head.

He smirked at me.
“So, you’ll keep them?”

I nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed me. “No, thank you.”

“Knock, knock
.”

I jumped, because for a few moments, it was like Jase and I were completely in our own little world. I forgot about where we had to be and who was in his house.

We both turned around at the same time to see Gary standing in the doorway.

“The limo’s here,
” he said.

“Thanks, man,” Jase said, and Gary nodded.

Jase took my hand to lead me out of the bathroom. I grabbed my black clutch from the bed.

As we passed by Gary, he said warmly, “Good luck, Jase.” And then he blew me away when he said, “You look beautiful, Logan.”

I looked back at him in shock, and he winked at me.

“What the hell was that all about?” I muttered to Jase as we left the house. A week ago Gary had been shooting me death looks and steering clear of me. Now he was winking at me?

A black limo was in his driveway, and I could see Jase’s agent, his publicist and Charlie standing outside of it talking. We walked toward them.

Jase chuckled and gripped my hand tighter, knowing I wasn’t as steady on my feet in my four inch heels as I’d like to be. I’d wanted to wear my Converse
sneakers, but the dress was too long. And I probably would have been ridiculed by the Fashion Police anyway.

“Chloe’s been ordering Gary
around on the set since her PA quit last week,” Jase explained, “and he doesn’t like it. I think he’s remembering all too well how she used to treat him when we were together, and he appreciates that you don’t boss him around like she does.”

“So, he’s forgiven me?”

Jase shrugged. “I guess so. He didn’t say anything to me, but I’d take his actions at face value.”

“Well, okay then.”

Apparently it was going to be a day of surprises.

* * *

When we arrived at the venue, it was the same routine I’d gotten used to. Walk, stop, chat, smile, walk, stop, pose, smile, walk. Keep smiling, look happy, look proud of Jase. At least the last part was easy, because I was so proud of him and my pride swelled whenever I heard him talk about his craft. He chatted easily with the reporters, and you could hear the conviction in his voice when he talked about the role he’d played in
Radio Riot.

A few reporters asked him about
Sons of Sovereignty,
and one even asked me about it
.
Looking back, I had no idea what I said, only that I blurted out something about knowing Jase was perfect for the role and that his fans would love the movie. And apparently I’d done something right, because Jase beamed at me.

Once we were inside, I breathed a s
igh of relief and turned to him. “I have to go to the bathroom,” I said, and he smiled and leaned down to kiss me before pointing me toward the restrooms.

“Hurry back,” he muttered. “I don’t want to get trapped by some actor with a big head who just wants me to compliment them on their latest film.”

I laughed as I walked away from him backward.

“It’s not funny,” he called after me. “You’re my buffer.”

“Charlie can be your buffer,” I said, gesturing to Charlie who was a few feet away talking to Andrea and Erica. He looked up at me and shook his head.

“Not for that I can’t,” he said, grinning at me as we both n
oticed that one of the most pretentious actors in Hollywood was approaching Jase. As I opened the door to the ladies room, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

As usual, the whole bathroom process was a struggle in a floor length gown, so it took me twice as long. When I emerged, I approached the sink to reapply my lip gloss and make sure my hair still looked okay. Yup, it was shellacked good, so it wasn’t moving.

I touched the bun lightly a few times and then looked over as the door to the restroom opened. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Chloe enter the room.

“Logan,” she said, all too cheerful, when she saw me. “I should have known you were here. I saw your guy outside talking to Thomas McMillan.”

The way she said ‘your guy’ made my skin crawl.

“Hey Chloe,” I said, and I desperately wanted to leave, but she was blocking the door, so unless I was planning to elbow my way past her, which in the shoes
I was wearing would probably land me on my ass, I wasn’t getting away.

“How are you?” she asked, her tone all butter.

“I’m great.”

I figured short answers were the best defense I could take.

“That’s great. And how’s Jase feeling? He was so hung over this morning. We were all out a little late last night.”

I knew exactly what she was doing, and I wasn’t going to let her get to me.
Jase had told me he was hung over when he called me from the airport at five in the morning, L.A. time. But he’d slept on the plane, so he’d arrived home with enough energy to spend a few hours in bed with me.

“Jase is fine, Chloe. You
just saw him. Did he look like he was still hung over?”

She shrugged. “He looked a little tired, but that’s probably because he’s wrestling with such a big decision right now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, completely falling into her trap, but I couldn’t help it. She’d baited me in just the right way.

She chuckled lightly
. “It’s not really my place to say, but let’s just say he’s been confiding in me a lot lately.”

Yeah right.

“Whatever,” I said, looking down at my manicured nails. I’d gone with a sheer gloss that complimented my dress well, and if I kept my focus on my nails I wouldn’t have to look at Chloe. I was afraid she was like Medusa, and if I looked her in the eye I would turn to stone.

She
apparently didn’t like that I’d stopped playing her game, so she stepped closer to me. “Let’s just say that Jase has some things to figure out, but I think he’s leaning toward making a decision.” She smiled wickedly at me, and I noticed her cell phone was gripped in her hand. “Did he show you this picture?”

She shoved
her cell phone in my face so I could see a picture of her kissing Jase on the cheek. Then, when I’m sure she knew I’d gotten an eyeful, she pulled the phone back and looked wistfully at it.

“I’ll be so glad when we’re officially back together.”

I so wanted to slap her, but one of the words she said caught me by surprise. “What do you mean ‘officially’?”

She looked up at me innocently. “Oh, sorry. I guess he hasn’t told you,
but we sort of kissed the other night.” The she shrugged. “We were drunk, but it happened. Sorry about that. But it was a really good kiss.”

My mouth dropped open, but b
efore I could say anything she ducked into a stall. Then the door opened and two actresses who were fixtures in Hollywood came in, so the last thing I could do was make a scene. Instead, I wordlessly headed back out to Jase, but my blood was boiling and my fists were clenched. Tears were pricking the backs of my eyes, but I wasn’t going to let them fall.

When I rejoined
him he was still talking to Thomas, so I let him take my hand to introduce me and then stood there silently as he finished up his conversation. Thomas was an idiot who thought the world of himself and was pandering for compliments. It made an annoying situation even more frustrating. When he finally walked away, Jase put his arm around me and pulled me to him. I felt like crying and drew in a ragged breath to keep from losing it on the spot.

Jase pulled back and looked at me. “Logan, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head, fighting like hell not to make a scene and start crying. I was not going to break down at the fucking Oscars. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” he said
, as he drug me away from where everyone was congregated.

We huddled in a corner, and I let one tear streak down my face. His thumb darted out and swept it away, as his eyes searched mine frantically.

“Logan, what’s wrong? You were fine ten minutes ago.”

His hands were on either side of my upper arms, gripping me tightly as if he was afraid I was suddenly going to run away.

“Did you kiss Chloe?” I asked, my lower lip trembling.

“No!” he said instantly. “Why the hell would you think that?”

I hated that I was trying to read his facial expression to see if he was lying. I wanted to believe him, to trust him, but that bitch had gotten my head all twisted around, and I was actually doubting his quick denial.

“She told me,” I said, and I saw fire in his eyes.

“She did
what
?!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice down for obvious reasons.

I took a deep, shaky breath. “She told me you were drunk on Friday night, and she was drunk, and you kissed, and she alluded that you were thinking about getting back together with her.”

“Like hell I am,” he growled, his eyes boring into mine. “I am so fucking sick and tired of her games. Logan, you can’t believe her. She’s trying to get to you. She’s making shit up. I didn’t kiss her, I wouldn’t. I won’t.”

I shook my head. “She had a picture, Jase – on her phone. You looked drunk, and she was kissing your cheek.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I’ll admit to that, but it only happened because she surprised me and her hairstylist took the picture. I wasn’t anywhere near her. She just appeared when I was laughing at something Sloane was saying, and suddenly she kissed me. Then she took off. It’s a bullshit picture.”

I believed him. I really did.

He ran his hand back through his hair. “Lo, she’s trying to come between us. She wants to get back together, and I don’t want that. I want
you
. You can’t let her do this. You can’t let her get to you, to us, okay?”

He had so much conviction in his voice that I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I won’t let her, Jase. I love you, and it’s frustrating as hell to be dealing with her crap, but I
do trust you, and I believe you. Just . . . don’t let me down.”

He looked taken aback by my statement, but I felt like I had to say something. I had to say what had been on my mind since Chloe had first cornered me at the Golden Globes
a month earlier. I just didn’t trust her.

Jase took my other hand in his and looked down at me, his eyes ablaze. “I would never,
ever
, do
anything
like that to you, do you hear me?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

And I think I just needed to hear him say it, because I was starting to spiral.

“Shit, I’m starting to think I should just quit the film. It’s stressing me out, and it’s not helping things between us.”

My eyes went wide. “No! Jase,” I said, shaking my head. “No, you can’t do that. This film is so right for you, and you’re so right for the part. You can’t do that to Sloane.”

He stepped closer to me, so
close we were almost nose to nose. “I’ll do anything to keep from losing you, Logan.
Anything
.”

And then I felt like crying for a completely different reason. “You’re not going to lose me, Jase,” I said quietly, as I shook my head. “Never.”

His forehead touched mine, and he nodded a few times. Then he pulled back and took a few deep breaths.

“I so want to go find Chloe and tell her off,” he said, squeezing my hand harder.

I squeezed it back as much as I could. “No, Jase, don’t. You can’t let her ruin your night. You’re nominated – for an Oscar. That’s so incredible, and she doesn’t deserve your attention.”

He nodded. “I know. I know.”

The lights flashed twice at that moment, alerting us that we needed to take our seats. Jase looked up at the dispersing crowd for a few seconds before he leaned down to kiss me, letting his lips linger for a few seconds, and he never let go of my hand as we walked into the theater.

Chapter Sixteen

Ethan

“Where ar
e we going?” Nora asked, when she hopped into my car on Sunday morning.

She was wearing a bright pink sundress that showed off her long tan legs and a denim jacket. I
leaned over and kissed her, something I never seemed to tire of, running my hand up her thigh as I did. She smacked it away, and I grinned at her.

It had been three weeks since she’d officially become my girlfriend,
and we’d spent very little time apart since then. I was happy, but I was happier when I was with her.

“So, I wasn’t sure if you’d be cool with it, but I sort of told my mom we’d come over for brunch,” I said then, and she smacked my forearm
again.

“Ethan!”

“What?” I asked, not sure why she’d hit me. I hoped she didn’t do it again. “Are you not cool with brunch?”