Forcing Gravity (21 page)

“Well, go easy on her. She’s your mother, after all.”

I sighed. “I will, Dad. So tell me what’s new with you.”

We talked for a little while longer. Henley came home just as we were hanging up.

“Hey Lo,” she greeted me cheerfully when I hung up the phone.

“Hey,” I responded, as I walked over to my closet.

I was heading to Ethan and Garrett’s for the night, so I needed to change. The yoga pants and tank top I was sporting, although preferable from a comfort standpoint, just wouldn’t work. The guys were having
some
people over, so I needed to look
somewhat
presentable.

“Are you going out?
” she asked me from her perch in
the middle of her bed.

“Yeah, I’m going to Ethan
and Garrett
’s
house. They’re
having people over.”

“Really,” she said, and I could hear the hidden question in her voice. She wanted to come. So far I’d avoided introducing her to Garrett because of the fame thing. I was afraid she would gush and drool all over him. “That sounds like fun.”

“Do you want to come?” I asked after a few seconds, knowing she’d say yes, but I was in a good mood. I was going to see Jase on set in just a few days, and that got my adrenaline going.

“Oh, my God, I’d love to
come
,” she said, eyes wide as she leapt off the bed. She ran over and hugged me briefly before turning to her closet. “Oh my God, what am I going to wear?
What do you wear when you meet a celebrity for the first time?
”

Me? Well, I wore jeans and a tank top and quite possibly looked way
too casu
a
l
,
but he didn’t seem to care.

“Jeans are fine,” I said,
as I pulled on my favorite
boot
cut
pair. I slippe
d
on
a navy and white striped 3/4 sleeved
hooded
t-shirt
and my gray Vans
, and I was good to go.

“Oh, no.
I can’t wear jeans,” she said, pulling out a purple dress with a bubble skirt and a gray cardigan.

“It’s going to be a low-key night, Henley,” I explained. I was afraid she’d lo
ok
over
dressed
, but s
he didn’t seem to care.

I watched her slip her feet into three inch
black
patent leather heels and pull the front of her thick blond hair back with a clip. She looked
beautiful
.
She might
have been
overdressed
, but the boys would be drooling all over her. That I knew for sure.

She smiled in the mirror once, and then at me, and we were out the door.
I appreciated the fact that she didn’t chastise me for my outfit like some other girls might have done.

***

“Hello,” I called out
,
as I let us into Ethan and Garrett’s house.
I was over there enough that there was no need to knock
.

“In here, Lo,” Garrett called back.

We followed his voice to the kitchen, and beside me Henley grabbed my hand. She was practically hyperventilating
at her first glimpse of Garrett
Lewis
in the flesh
, but
she
held it together enough so that
thankfully
no one else noticed.
I had to admit, he did look good.
All blond hair and blue eyes and
a
dimply, welcoming smile.

Looking around, I noticed that, a
side from Garrett, there were a handful of people I didn’t know, and Ethan was nowhere in sight. There were also about ten scantily dressed women either hanging onto the guys in attendance or standing off to the side in small groups sipping champagne.
I realized that I looked out of place
again
, and that a low-key evening at home definitely had a different definition than a low-key evening in L.A.

Oh well, screw it. It wasn’t like I was trying to impress anyone, and Jase seemed to like what I wore just fine.

“Hey kid,” Garrett said,
hugging me and
kissing me on the cheek
, not even glancing twice at my outfit as h
e handed me a beer. “Who’s your friend?”

I realized Henley was still attached to my hand. “Oh, this is my roommate, Henley. Henley, this is Garrett Lewis.”

“It’s
so
nice to meet you,” Henley squeaked out,
her accent even thicker than normal.

I watched Garrett’s face light up. I also noticed Sophie wasn’t around. I wondered if they had stopped seeing each other
or if she was just absent that night
.
Either way, Garrett’s attention was fully on my perky roommate.

“Would you like a drink?”
Garrett
asked eagerly.

Henley just nodded, as Garrett poured her a glass of champagne and smiled at her as he handed
her the glass.
I wondered if I should mention her father’s threat and ho
w freaking scary he was. Nah, Garrett
could figure it out on his own.

“Is Ethan here?” I asked, looking around as if he might appear at any moment.

“
He went to dinner with Lizzie
, but
he should be back soon
,” Garrett responded, but his gaze was still locked on Henley
and her
bright hazel
eyes. He was grinning goofily at her, and she was blushing like crazy.

“Lizzie, as in his FWB from high school?”
I clarified. I hadn’t heard Ethan mention her in a while.

“Yeah, he ran into her at Bardot on Monday night. She apparently got a boob job, so he was all excited.”

I rolled my eyes.
Classic Ethan.

“Hello?” a familiar voice called from the front hall. Behind the voice I could hear the chattering of other male and female voices as the group made their way into the main part of the house. “
Yo
, Garrett, what’s up, man?”

I w
as surprised to see Jase, and
apparent
ly his
entourage
,
appear in the kitchen, but even more surprising was that he walked in flanked by two half-naked women who looked like they hadn’t eaten in weeks.

Beside me, Henley gasped. “That’s Jason Brady,” she hissed.

Jase Brady,
I wanted to say but kept quiet. My heart was pounding as I drank in everything from the top of his dark head, over his bright green eyes, down his chiseled jawline, over his muscular
chest and abs hidden beneath his white
button down shirt and over his fitted jeans. I don’t think he could have looked more incredible than he did in that
moment,
and
I felt
the familiar tug in my lower abdomen like I did whenever I was around him.

“Hey man,” Garrett said,
finally pulling his
gaze from Henley as he nodded at
Jase
.
He gestured to the grouping of bottles lined up on the marble
island in the center of the room.
“Help yourself to some drinks.”

I stood there like an idiot, wondering when Jase was going to
notice me
. So far he hadn’t glanced my way
, and a part of me wanted to walk up to him, trace his full lips with my finger and watch his secret smile appear, but for some reason, in that moment, the confidence and courage to do just that evaded me
.

Maybe it was the confidence he was giving off or the two off-the-charts hot women attached to him or the fact that he seemed pretty buzzed already, but for some reason, Jase seemed like a different guy that night, and it just made me want to shrink back into the shadows.

“Jase, baby,” the
tall, leggy blond in a silver dress
who was attached to his right side
whined in a baby talk voice
.
“I’m thirsty.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her.

“What can I get for you,
babe
?” he asked, snuggling her close to his side until she grinned.

“Champagne,” she said, kissing his cheek before
she whispered something in his
ear that made him smile.

“I’m thirsty two, Jase,” the brunette on his other side chimed in, and his gaze went to her pouty face.

“
What can I get for you
, sweetheart
?” he asked, leaning his head close to hers an
d
appealing to her request.

All I could do was stare at him, slightly open-mouthed. Who the hell was this douchebag, and what had he done with the charming guy from a few nights ago?
Was this what Ethan had been talking about?

Jase let the girls detach from his sides, as he moved toward
the drinks and f
ar
ther
away
from me.

“Dude,” a good looking
Hispanic guy behind Jase called out to him.
I recognized him as Freddie Ruiz, starting right-fielder for the Dodgers.

“Yeah,
man,” Jase
said, not looking up from the champagne he was pouring for the girl
s
who
hovered as close to him as they could get.

Freddie
came up and clapped Jase on the shoulder. “Dude, the twins from a few nights ago are here. I told them they could meet you, and they were
very
interested if you know what I mean.”

Jase narrowed his eyes and closed them for half a second before turning back to the guy. “Freddie, those girls are all you tonight
, man
.
Go for it.
”

Okay, now that seemed more like the Jase I knew.

“
Aw
w
, man, come on. They’re excited to ‘meet’ you, if you know what mean.
There’s thi
s thing they said they’d do,
aw
w
man, it sounds awesome.
”

Jase
just chuckled and
handed a glass o
f champagne
to the blond and started to pour a glass for the brunette
.
“I’m good man, but have fun, okay. If you need to, tell them I’ll join you guys later.”

“But you won’t?”

Jase smiled my favorite smile that made it seem like he had a secret. “No, I’ll let you h
ave
all the
fun with them tonight
.”

I watched Freddie’s eyes light up.
“
I go
t it,” Freddie said knowingly, looking at the blond and the brunette. “You’ll have your hands full with these two.”

“Ah, something like that,” Jase responded, and I could see the excitement on the girls faces as he confirmed what they were hoping. They gave each other a knowing look that told me it wasn’t the first time they’d
taken
on the same guy together
.

My stomached tightened at that thought, but what had I been expecting? Jase and I had been on one date with the prom
ise of another. Did I expect us
to be exclusive? No, I didn’t. I’d just sort of hoped, especially since we’d been talking for a few weeks
and I kind of really liked him, but how could I compete with two gorgeous girls who were willing to do God knows what to him?

I started to open my mouth to say something when the brunette looked at Jase and said, “Jase, baby?”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” he said, as he cracked open a beer and gave her his undivided attention. “Can we show you something?”

“Sure, sweetheart,” he said, almost as if he knew what was about to happen.

Then, as if on cue, the two girls started making out right in front of him, and around the kitchen whoop
s
and hollers went up from several guys. I watched in awe as the brunette started massaging the
huge
breasts of the blonde and the blonde moaned loudly.
Then she
cupped the brunette’s ass and pulled
her
close
so their bodies were flush against each other
. Then the brunette moaned. And then they pulled apart, and I half-expected them to take a bow. They certainly ha
d an audience at that point.
I noticed the guys were practically drooling, but the girls
in the room
looked pissed.