Forcing Gravity (34 page)

At least I hoped he would be.

No, I didn’t care. He was a jerk, and he had done horrible things to women, or one woman, and he deserved to be slighted. That was that. End of story.

But I still felt like shit.

Grr
!

The
situation was driving me crazy. I was so torn between feelings for Jase that still lingered
and
battling with what I
now knew about his past. Regardless of what he’d done, I
didn’t think that the Jase I knew
was a bad guy, but what he’d done was unforgivable.

And I couldn’t let go of that.

I also
had to keep in mind that as nice as Jase had seemed, he hadn’t been honest with me.
Maybe he’d even been playing me
, being the guy he thought I wanted him to be
, so he could get what he wanted
. It was pathetic, really.

But what was worse was that I completely bought into it.
Hook, line and sinker.

And maybe that’s
what had
me
most
upset. I didn’t want to be gullible, but
I
had been, and I hated myself for it. But I also hated him.

-
16
-

“It’s me,” I called out when I walked into Ethan and Garrett’s house two weeks later.

“My brother is a
cock-sucker
,” Ethan
responded.

“Fuck you
,” Garrett yelled
pointedly
from the couch where he sat drinking a
beer
, “and get over yourself while you’re at it.”

“You get over yourself, you fucking dick,” Ethan spat.

Garrett looked at him in annoyance and shook his head. “Fuck off, Ethan.”

Okay, this was bad. They rarely fought.

“Um, what happened guys?”
I asked when I entered the kitchen and saw them glaring at each other. Ethan was standing at the island in the kitchen eating a bowl of macaroni and cheese and shaking his head at Garrett.

Garrett just
rolled his eyes at Ethan in annoyance
and turned back to the TV.

“What did he do?” I asked Ethan in a hushed whisper, afraid that Garrett would hear us talking about him.

“Ask him what he’s doing to
morrow
night,
Lo
,” Ethan said loudly.

I turned around to face Garrett. “What are you doing to
morrow
night
, Garrett
?” I asked robotically.

“I have a date
,” he said, and I wasn’t sure what the big deal was
.

“With who?”
I asked, expecting him to say Henley. They’d seen each other a few times since first meeting
, and I knew she’d spent the night with him each time
.
I wondered if they’d get serious.

“Jessica Fritz,”
Garrett answered, and I looked at Ethan in question.

“Why is that a big deal?”

Apparently Garrett
and Henley weren’t exclusive.

Ethan sighed.
“Because, I’ve wanted to tap that for years!
She’s so fucking hot,” he whined, and I burst out laughing.
I was glad they weren’t really mad at each other.

“Ethan, you’re ridiculous.
Gare
, how did yo
u meet her? And what happened with
Henley?”

Garrett took a long pull of his beer. “Um, I don’t actually think I’m going to see Henley again, Lo,” he said slowly, as if fearful that I would be upset.

“Oh, okay, what happened?”

I wasn’t upset, but I wondered if Henley would be. I knew she really liked him.

“He thinks she’s hot, but a little annoying,” Ethan chimed in, as he shoveled a heaping bite of mac and cheese into his mouth.
I reached over and plucked a noodle out of his bowl.
“And that’s not enough to keep sleeping with her.”

“
Nice going, dumbass.
You make me sound like a total dick,
” Garrett
said
, draining his beer. He set it with a clunk on the coffee table and walked over to us.

“You are a dick,” Ethan said good-naturedly, and Garrett slugged him hard in the shoulder.

“You don’t like her anymore?” I clarified
, as Ethan groaned and tried to slug him back
.

Garrett
dodged his blow and
put his arm around me. “I’m sorry if this makes it weird, but she’s just sort of intense, and I’m not sure we’re in the same place right now. I mean, she’s got her sorority stuff, and I’m really busy with
Vacation from Hell
wrapping and
Junkie
starting in November, so I just don’t want to be tied down.”

Ethan laughed out loud, almost spewing
chewed
macaroni all over the counter. “She’s obsessed with the fact that he’s famous,”
he
said, cutting to the chase.

“She is?” I asked, looking at Garrett for clarification.

Henley hadn’t ever talke
d about Garrett’s fame when
she’d been waxing on and on about how cute he was
, but then again, when we’d first
met,
she’d seemed pretty enamored with the fact that I knew someone famous
.

Garrett dropped his head to my shoulder. “She asked if she could call me Lucas in bed,” he deadpanned, and I had my answer.

“Ah, got it. We
ll, whatever. I don’t want you t
o date someone you don’t want to be with, but are you going to break things off with her?”

“I already did,” he said. “We talked this afternoon.”

I hadn’t seen Henley. She hadn’t been back to our room all day, but she usually hung out at the Tri
Delt
house until after dinner, so it wasn’t rare
that I didn’t see her until late
in the day
. I wondered if she was upset.

“Was she okay?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I tried to be really nice about it, but she wouldn’t stop crying.”

Oh no.
I felt
so
bad for Henley. I knew just how she was feeling. Maybe I could take her to lunch
the next day
.
I just hoped she wouldn’t be upset with me for being friends with Garrett. That could get dicey since we shared a room.

“Just, tell her I’m sorry,” Garrett
said.

I nodded.

“And tell her he’s a dick for
going out with
the girl who’s picture I had over my bed in high school,” Ethan chimed in.
“You’d better not fuck her.”

Garrett ignored him
, and I shot Ethan
a look. He just grinned back at me like the smartass he was
.

“Give me five minutes, Lo,” he said, as he threw his bowl in
to
the sink and headed upstairs to finish prettying himself so we could leave.

“Where are you
guys
headed?” Garrett asked me.

“Some new club Ethan wants to check out. I don’t really feel like going out, but I’m humoring him since he’s been a good friend lately.
You want to come?
”

Ethan had spent
a lot of
time staying in with me
since
he’d told me about
Jase
’s
past
. I knew he felt guilty for making me so miserable, but we both knew it wasn’t his fault. Either way,
I
felt like I owed him
for being a good friend and moping with me.
Garrett had
also
done his fair share of cheering me up, so maybe I could pay them both back with a fun night out
.

“
Sure,” Garrett said, smiling. “
Is that why you look all hot and sexy?”

I laughed, but he was right. I was wearing the skinny leather pants my m
other had bought me with a silver
flowy
halter top and black knee-high boots
. I was in club attire.

“Maybe I’ll meet a cute guy,” I said half-heartedly.

“Do you really want that?” he asked
, leaning back against the counter.

I shrugged.
What I wanted was to turn back
time
and never learn what Jase had done. Okay, no, scratch that. What I wanted was to turn back
time
and have
Jase never have done what he’d done
. That would be the best alternative.

“He’s miserable,” Garrett said, watching me closely to gauge my reaction.

My heart squeezed in my chest, but I maintained my stoic exterior.

“He needs to move on,” I finally said.

“Logan, are you sure he did what Ethan said? I’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the past month
and a half
, and it doesn’t sound like something he’d do
.”

I shrugged again. “I don’t know. Why would Ethan be so emphatic if it wasn’t true?
Jase was arrested for rape, Garrett.
”

Garret
t
shook his head. “The charges were dropped. I
think you should ask
him about it
.”

I knew the charges had been dropped, but he’d been seen in the girl’s room. I couldn’t le
t that go just because he
had a good lawyer.

“Why? He’ll just deny it.”

“Call him, Logan,” Garrett insisted.

We heard Ethan barreling down the stairs then, so
I didn’t respond to him, but his words never left my head. All the way to the club, I heard Ga
rrett’s voice echoing in my ears
.

Call him, Logan.

While we skipped the line and got a reserved table and bottle service because the owner was excited to see Garrett there that night.

Call him, Logan.

While I danced with Ethan and Garrett flirted with some girls who’d approached our table.

Call him.

And I was
so
tempted to do
just
that, until I realized
that
Jase
was standing te
n feet from me.

I froze,
my heart started pounding
, and all the color drained from my face
. Ethan looked startled for a second before he
turned around and saw what had me freaked out.

“Fucking dick,” he growled, as he started toward Jase.

I grabbed his arm. “Ethan
don’t
,” I said firmly, trying really hard to keep it together
and hold Ethan back
.

Jase was surrounded my beautiful women and was dancing and laughing. He looked anything but miserable to me.

“What?” Ethan
asked
, turning to look at me
. “I want to say something to that prick.”

I shook my head firmly. “Don’t. Ethan, please. Just let it go.”

Ethan gritted his teeth, his jaw firm.
“Fine.”

It was then that Jase looked over at us, and his eyes widened when he saw me. I met his gaze and just stared as he set his drink on the table nearest to him with a clunk and turned in my direction.

“Shit,” I hissed and grabbed Ethan’s arm
with my other hand, so I could cling to him for support
.

Jase was parting
the crowd and walking toward us
with a very determined look on his face.

“I’m out,” I said,
making a snap decision as I turned on my heel and bolted
toward the door.

“Logan?” Ethan called after me. “Shit, Logan.
Wait up.
”

He was right behind me as I burst outside and charged toward the valet. “He needs his car now! Please,” I said, gesturing toward Ethan, and only remembering to be polite at the last
second
.

The valet nodded and scurried off to get Ethan’s car while I paced in front of the club impatiently. I looked up when the door to the club opened and knew before I saw his face that it was Jase. Ethan saw him at the same time
I did
and charged forward.