Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity) (9 page)

“Well don’t tell Jase you’re friends with her,” I recommended.

She shrugged. “He knows. We were friends while they were together, but when she cheated on him, I decided I was done. He was the sweetest guy, and he doted on her, just like he dotes on you, and I know she liked him a ton, but she felt like he was sort of boring. So she went out looking for adventure, and she found it. And I actually think she liked seeing him miserable, which was just twisted to me. But, it all ended well since he got together with you, and you’re perfect for him.”

I smiled
, but it didn’t reach my eyes. Chloe was such a bitch, and what she’d said was resonating in my mind. Although I knew Jase would never take her back, I didn’t like that she felt like she had a shot – especially if she was crazy.

Ellie linked her arm with mine then. “Come on, let’s go find our hottie boyfriends and see if they’re ready to leave. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough Hollywood for one night.”

“Agreed,” I told her, excited for an excuse to leave the party and have Jase all to myself.

Chapter Six

Ethan

It was the night of the
SAG Awards, so I wasn’t venturing anywhere near downtown. No, I was staying far away from the madness that my brother and Logan were in the midst of. Garrett had told me he could get me on the list for the one of the after parties, but I wasn’t interested. A part of me didn’t want to be around Logan and Jase, since she was in a mood because he was leaving the next day, but the other part of me that was sort of learning to tolerate his presence because I knew he wasn’t going anywhere, just didn’t want to be around the Hollywood schmoozing bullshit.

Hunter and TJ were in Vegas for the weekend, and I would have gone with them, but I had a wicked amount of reading to do for m
y English and American History classes that I’d put off for the past two weeks because I’d been out partying with my friends, and now I was paying for it. Aside from an hour spent surfing that morning, I’d spent the whole day on the porch with a book in my lap, fighting distractions that kept walking by in skimpy bikinis.

Then a
fter Garrett left to pick up Ellie, I decided I deserved a break and took a nap, and when I woke up, I was starving, but there wasn’t anything to eat in the house, so I had to go out. I told myself I’d come back to my books later, but first I was getting sushi.

Damn, I was really good a
t procrastinating when I wanted to.

I sat at the bar at Sugarfish and
perused the menu while I sipped on a Sapporo. I lifted my black hat off my head for a second to run my hand back through my hair, trying to get out the tension I was feeling. I wished I was a faster reader since I still had a ton of pages to get through, and I wished I had better concentration. Half the time I had to re-read some of the passages because I found myself drifting off. I’d get through two pages and look back and have no clue what I’d just read. If only the material was more interesting.

I placed my order with the guy behind the counter and sat back in my chair. A few minutes later my hat was yanked off of my head.

“Hey!” I said, turning to look at the person who’d grabbed it.

She was sitting in the seat next to mine, grinning at me with my hat sitting lops
ided over her long brown hair. And damn, if she didn’t look hot as hell.

I smirked
, surprised but happy to see her. “That’s my hat.”

She shrugged coyly and reached for my beer, taking a liberal
sip of it.

“And that’s my beer.”

“You never called me,” she said, as she set my drink down.

“You didn’t give me your number.”

She looked at me and shook her head as if she was disappointed. “Ethan, I’m not that hard to find. And you know my brother. Come on.”

And there it was. The reason I didn’t call her. Her damn brother.

“I’ve been busy with school,” I ventured, knowing it sounded like complete bullshit. And it was.

She raised an eyebro
w at me, seeing right through my excuse. “So did you not have fun talking to me at the party? Because I really enjoyed hanging out with you, and I thought you were right there with me, but maybe I read the signs wrong.”

She grabbed my beer again and took another liberal sip.

“Do you want me to order you one of those?” I asked, because at the rate she was going, I’d have to order another one anyway.

She shook her head “Nah, I’ve got my own back at my table. I just liked the idea of sharing a drink with you.”

Her tongue darted out of her mouth and swept across her upper lip, and damn if I didn’t get a semi watching her do that. Nora Brady was definitely flirting with me.

“Is that all you want to share with me?” I asked, playing along with her game.

She shrugged. “You tell me. You’re the one who didn’t call.”

“Again, I didn’t have your number. You wouldn’t give it to me.” I figured coy was the best avenue to take.

“Ethan, not that again,” she said, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

“Who are you here with?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Some of my girlfriends. We had a shoot today, so now we’re unwinding and enjoying some much needed cocktails.”

I almost choked on the sip of beer I’d taken. “Shoot? Are you a model?”

She nodded. “Yeah, mostly catalogues. That’s what I was doing today, but I also have a contract with 57 Jeans.”

I remembered a conversation Logan and I had a few months back when she and Jase first started seeing each other. She’d told me about Nora and the billboard her denim-covered ass was featured on near downtown. How did I forget that? Had I tuned her out because I didn’t want to hear about Jase or anything having to do with him? Had I known his sister was this freakin’ hot, I might not have dismissed what Logan had shared so readily. I’d checked out that billboard a dozen times as I’d driven by it.

“I’ve seen your billboard,” I said coyly, and she blushed.

Then she covered her face with her hands. “Oh, my God. I hate that thing. My ass is like ten feet wide!”

“Sweetheart,” I said, leaning toward her. “I’ve checked out your ass many times, and let me tell you, regardless of the size of it on the billboard, it’s damn near perfect. I almost crashed my car once because I couldn’t stop staring.”

She peeked through her fingers at me, but I could see her face was red. I’d embarrassed her.

“Holy shit, you’re good at flirting,” she gushed, pulling her hands away from her face and using one to fan herself. “No wonder you get so many girls into your bed.”

My eyebrows shot up.
Not this crap again. How the hell was I supposed to respond to that? Was she saying I was a man-whore? If so, why did she want me to call her? She’d made it clear that she was a good girl, and I wouldn’t be getting in her pants very easily. Not that I’d make that my endgame with her if I did call her. No, Nora was more intriguing than that.

Okay, shit, I’d be a lying son of a bitch if I said
I didn’t want to get in her pants, because she was so hot, but that wasn’t necessarily all I wanted.

And maybe that’s why I hadn’t sought her out after she ditched me at the party. Maybe I’d just used the fact that I disliked her brother as an excuse, when in reality, I wasn’t ready to get
involved in something that was more than just sex. Sex was easy. It was no strings attached, and I found comfort in that. If it was just sex, then I couldn’t get my heart broken.

Oh shit.
Was that why I’d latched on to the idea of Logan? Because I knew couldn’t have her? No, no way. Logan was a completely different story, and my feelings for her were genuine. But I really couldn’t have her. She wasn’t available.

But the hot girl in front of me was, and she seemed
to like me. And she looked ridiculously sexy in my hat.

“Ethan?” she prompted, because I’d apparently zoned out.

“Huh?” I answered, sounding much less cool than I wanted.

She smiled. “I lost you for a second. Did I offend you? I really didn’t mean to. I’m sorry
if I did.”

I shook my head and smiled. “
I told you I was turning over a new leaf. I’m not that guy anymore.”

She grinned, and I sort of wanted to drag her into my lap and kiss her full lips
, but that would negate what I’d just told her about changing my whorish ways.

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell her that I hadn’t had sex in a month since that was more personal that I needed to get, but whether it had been conscious or not, I was taking the vow I’d made to her seriously. Which now that I thought about it was a little ridiculous, because up until she’d stolen my hat and planted herself next to me, I hadn’t been thinking about her. I’d written her off because of who she was related to, and I hadn’t really thought about her since the party.

Okay, that was a lie. I’d thought abou
t her once after the party when I’d jerked off later that night, because I couldn’t get her out of my head, but then I’d been so disgusted with myself that I’d promptly forgotten about her. Until now, when she was invading my thoughts and my vision once again.

“I’ll believe i
t when I see it,” she challenged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. This girl was cryptic as hell.

The sushi guy chose that moment to place my rolls in front of me, and Nora looked up in surprise. “That’s all for you?”

I shrugged
as I popped a piece of a spicy yellow tail roll in my mouth. “Yesh,” I said around my food, aiming for endearing.

Her eyes drifted down to my stomach that I think she knew was ripped. I surfed a lot, and I ran and lifted weights. It was the only way I could
eat and drink as much as I wanted and not let my body go to shit. It was a fine balance I’d perfected.

Nora then leaned over me and snagged a spicy tuna roll
piece, dipping it in soy sauce before popping it into her mouth. I couldn’t help but stare at her sleek throat as she chewed and swallowed. She made the simple act look incredibly sexy.

She then sat back and looked at me with a smug expression on her face. “Teach me how to surf,” she commanded.

“Excuse me?” She changed conversational gears like the friggin’ wind.

Then she leaned forward
with her elbows on her knees. “When we talked at the party, you told me you’d teach me how to surf. I want to learn. Will you teach me?”

I was sure my eyes glazed over at the idea of seeing her in a bikini. “Sure.”

She smiled and hopped off her stool, but I wasn’t ready for her to leave.

“Great. I
’ll come by your place tomorrow. When do you have class?”

“I’ll be home by three,” I answered, fightin
g the urge to ask her to stay, but she probably wanted to get back to her friends.

“I’ll be there,” she said, and then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to my cheek. She smelled like candy, and I desperately wanted a taste. She pulled back too soon. “See you tomorrow, Ethan.”

I realized as she was walking away that she was still wearing my hat.

“Hey,” I called out, and she turned around with this sexy expectant look on her face.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have my hat back?”

“No,” she said, and then she walked away.

Holy shit.
This girl had me by the balls already.

Chapter Seven

Logan

“Do you really have to go?” I whined, feeling like I was going to cry.

Jase leaned forward and kissed me on the nose. “Yes, I do, and it sucks, because I don’t want to leave you.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “How many hours do we have?”

I was skipping class to hang out with him until he had to leave for the airport. We were lounging on the outdoor cushions he had on his back porch, sipping lattes and eating donuts his assistant Gary had dropped off that morning along with Jase’s dry cleaning. I still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that he had an assistant. It was weird.

“Four,” he said, as I pouted.

“Come here,” he said, opening his arms and pulling me into them where he promptly rained my face with kisses.

I sighed and leaned my head against his chest, hating how pathetic and needy I sounded.

“I’ll be back in two weeks,” he promised.

Yeah, he was coming back for the Oscars, which meant it would be another whirlwind event that would fly by too fast. But
at least I would get to see him, and at this point, I’d take what I could get because having him in New Orleans, two thousand miles away, was going to suck.

“
It’s going to be a long two weeks.”