Forcing Gravity (35 page)

“Leave her alone,” he said, putting his hand on
Jase’s
chest
to stop him from advancing any further
.

Jase stopped in his tracks. “I just wa
nt to talk to her, man,” he said cautiously, no doubt remembering the last time Ethan had come at him in anger
.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Ethan said clearly and firmly.

“Logan, come on,”
Jase pleaded
, looking over Ethan’s shoulder at me
.
The look in his eyes nearly broke me.

I shook my head subtly and started to open my mouth
to tell him to leave me alone
when flashbulbs went off to my left. I turned to see three photographers snapping pictures. Shading my face
with my hand
, I looked back at Jase. He glanced at the cameras, gave me one last pleading look and then turned on his heel and
went
back inside
, leaving me standing on the sidewalk with a lump the size of a grapefruit in my throat
.

“Come on,” Ethan said, grabbing my elbow. “The car’s here.”

I
followed him, as the photographers continued to snap pictures, knowing I’d be a headline th
e next day and not caring one bit
. The
painful look on
Jase’s
face
was burned into my brain. He’d looked so hurt, and that wasn’t something I’d forget anytime soon.

-
1
7
-

“We’re going to a party tonight,” Ethan announced when he called me
two weeks later
.

I’d been in a mood
ever since I’d seen Jase outside the club
, and Ethan knew that
better than anyone
.
I hadn’t
been going
out much,
but he hadn’t stopped asking me
to go out with him
every chance he got. I think he was hoping a little fun would take my mind off of Jase and the feelings that had surfaced when I’d seen him again, but I didn’t think it would be that easy. No matter how
hard
I tried, Jase was always in the back of my mind.

But then I would remind myself of who he was and what he’d done, and my resolve would build once again. It was agonizing at times, especially when I would see his pained expression in my mind, but I
knew I had to move on from him
. N
o matter how much I’d started to like him
and how much those feelings had resurfaced when I’d seen him
, I had to just let Jase
Brady
go
.

I’d had a nice distraction the weekend before when my dad and Sasha had flown in for three days. My mom was still in Ireland, so she hadn’t made it to
Family
Weekend – not that she would have come anyway. But the three of us had spent time with the Lewis’s, tailgating for the football game on Saturday and going out to dinner together
that night
. It was the first time my dad and Sasha had met Carol and Tom, so I was glad they all got along.

And I
’d been
in a good mood
for a short period of time
. Being around my dad always did that.
Of course h
e kn
ew about the break up
, but only that Jase and I were no longer seeing each other. I didn’t
tell him all the gritty details
, but regardless,
I
knew he was glad to see me smiling. I’d cried on the phone to him more than a few times after I’d stopped seeing Jase
and especially
after I’d seen him the last time, so
he
knew the depth
s
of what I was feeling. I knew he
wanted me to move forward
,
and I was at a point where I was starting to think the same thing
, maybe
.

It hadn’t helped that everywhere
I looked I saw reminders of Jase
. When I drove past the billboard his sister was on, I thought of being with him at his mom’s café
. W
hen I saw signs for
Pasadena on the freeway, I was reminded of watching him
film and our date later that night
.
And whenever I saw the Hollywood sign, I thought of the view of it from his back deck. He was everywhere.

Jase’s
chiseled chest and dimpled smile had
even
graced the
cover
of the October issue of a men’s health magazine.
And sadly enough,
I’d discretely bought it when I’d gone to Target to get mascara and
orange juice the week before. I’d kept it hidden under my mattress and only took it out when I was alone, but through that act alone, I knew I was a long way from getting over him.

“Who’s party?” I asked
Ethan
, knowing I need
ed to get out and have some fun and find a way to stop thinking about Jase. Maybe I even needed to meet a new guy.

“Ooh, a party!” Henley chimed in from across the room.

She’d been in a great mood for the past week. She’d spent the first week post-Garrett crying and brooding with me, but then she’d sn
apped out of her melancholy state and went on a date with her lab partner from her chemistry class
. Then she’d gone on two more dates with two other guys. She was moving on. It was time for me to follow her lead.

So
I waved my hand to
s
hush her while I listened to Ethan tell me about his friend Carter
,
who I’d heard
about for years
but had never met
, because he spent
every
summer
on his parents’ yacht
floating around the world
,
so he’d never been around when I’d been visiting. B
ut he’d recently gotten his own place
in L.A.
and was throwing himself a housewarming party
.

Knowing
it was what I needed,
I agreed
to
go to
the party
. Then I
told Henley she could come and
even
agreed to let her pick out my outfit.
I was going all out,
so
I
fi
gured
it was time for a real change
,
and the first step in doing that was to change my look.
So I gave her full rein and cringed as she
reach
ed
into her closet and pull
ed
out a cream colored
A
-line
dress that was strapless and short
, and so not me
.

“Here,” she said, thrusting it at me.

“Um, no,” I said, throwing it back.

“Wear it,” she said,
a
no
nonsense
tone
in her voice as she tossed it back. I eyed her skeptically. “Just try it on, Lo.
It’ll look great on you.
”

She smiled
encouragingly
.

“
Okay
,” I
agreed, doubtful
as I slipped off my cotton shorts and boyfriend tank.

Maybe it was the fact that she was so damn encouraging and complimentary, but I actually thought I might be able to pull off the dress.
I stepped into it as Henley returned to her closet and tossed a pair of four inch heels at my feet. I had yet to step into a pair of stilettos, but it seemed like tonight was my night.
It was time to embrace my inner
diva.

“Oh,” Henley said, stepping back from me as I stood up. I watched her warily as she appraised me, but I was afraid to move. My ankles already felt wobbly, and taking a step might send me toppling over.

“What?” I asked, leaning forward to see in her full-length mirror. “Do I look bad?
Too slutty?”

She shook head. “No, it’s just that that dress is a lot longer on me, but it’s hot. You look like a model.”

“Shut up,” I laughed, not believing her.

“No, Lo
gan
, you look amazing.”

I took her word for it and spent the next thirty minutes pacing the hall outside our room to get used to my new, borrowed shoes.

“Looking good, Logan,” Riley
said
,
as she and her hulking football player boyfriend walked past me.

I grinned at her, feeling more confident all the time. I made a promise to myself that I’d meet at least one guy that night, and if things went well, I might e
ven agree to a date with him
.

***

Carter’s party was like all the ones I’d attended with Ethan in high school. The girls were all model-thin, gorgeous and dressed in next to nothing – but I guess I couldn’t bitch about that since I wasn’t dressed much different than them that night than
ks to Henley’s dress. The
re were
also a slew of guys that I had been ordered to talk
to when Henley
had
surveyed the crowd
upon our arrival. She insisted that the only way to get over Jase was to move on with someone even hotter, which might be tough to do since I didn’t think there were many guys I’d actually classify as hotter than him.
But, there were quite a few who
came close as I looked at the
multitude of
seemingly perfect looking guys milling about.

“Who do you want to talk to first?” Henley asked eagerly, her eyes glittering in excitement. She
’d
told me how much she loved sett
ing people up, and it seemed I was going to expe
rience what that was like first
hand.

“Oh, um, well, I’m not sure. Let’s get a drink first.
How about that?”

“Okay,” she said cheerfully, as she linked one arm with mine and the other with Ethan
’s
, dragging us over to the bar.
I was glad she didn’t have
any
hard feelings for either of us after Garrett
had
ended things with her.

“Hey, hey,” a good-looking blond guy said as we crossed paths with him.
“Two girls tonight, Lewis?
You dog.”

The guy high-fived Ethan
and smirked at him knowingly.

Ethan grinned. “They’re not with me, man,” he told the guy. “Logan is my best friend – no sexual feelings there – and Henley is her roommate.”

“You’re both single?” the guy asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up.
He reached forward and took Henley’s hand, kissing it while he maintained eye contact with her. “I’m Carter
.
”

Henley giggled. “I’m kind of seeing someone,” she
lie
d, “but Logan here is one hundred percent single.”

“
Aww
,” he said, his hand going over his heart. “That accent is adorable, just like you.”

Henley giggled again, and I thought I might vomit.

“Logan,” he said, turning to me. “Carter Jackson. I have heard about you for years, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Ethan n
ever told me how stunning you a
re.”

Stunning? Really?!
I really had to fight hard not to roll my eyes.

“Yeah, well, Ethan’s sort of blind to the fact that I’m actually a girl, so I’ll forgive him.”

“And I’ll thank him – if you’ll have a drink with me?”

“Maybe later,” I suggested, forcing a smile on my face.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” he said, winking at me. Man he was cheesy. “The closest bar is over there. I’m going to make the rounds, but I’ll catch up with you later, E.”

With that he was gone, and the three of us headed to the bar. I ordered a vodka tonic and took a sip as a
pretty brunette
bounced up to Ethan.

“Ethan Lewis,” she
admonished,
her
hands on her hips. “Did you really think you could get away with not saying hello to me?”

The way she said it was so coy and playful
,
as she batted her eyelashes and tossed her long hair over her shoulder
,
that all I could do was
stare
in awe. She was completely flirting with Ethan, and she was fully aware of the
sexual
power she possessed.