Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity) (13 page)

“Hey Mom,” I said reluctantly when
I picked up.

“Hello darli
ng. How are you? Still with Jason?”

I rolled my eyes. She was
so in love with Jase. Every single time I talked to her, she asked if we were still together, as if she was just waiting for him dump me.

“I’m great, Mom. And yes, I’m still with him.”

Nora looked up, caught my eye and smiled. I’d complained about my mother to her on many occasions, so she knew exactly what our conversation was about.

“Fant
astic. What is he doing in mid-May? Is he available?”

I
was confused by her question. She didn’t usually inquire into Jase’s schedule so far in advance, so I wasn’t sure what her angle was.

“I have no idea what he’s doing then, Mom.”

“Is he on location?”

“No, I don’t think so. He should be back in L.A. then.”

Jase’s schedule could fluctuate, but I knew he definitely wasn’t shooting then, and his press tour for
Vacation From Hell
would be over.

“And you think y
ou’ll still be with him in mid-May?”

What the hell was this?

“I’m planning on it,” I said, unable to mask the snarky tone in my voice.

“Hmm, okay, but do you know if
he’s
planning on it?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mother, he is. Baring something like death, I’d say there’s a ninety-nine percent chance we’ll still be together.” I looked up at Nora and she gave me a short,
definitive nod that made me smile. “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” she said, then she paused. “This is of the utmost secrecy, but Luiz and I have decided to get married.”

My jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me!” I said excitedly.

I’d honestly been waiting to hear this news my whole life. I
hated how she and Luiz were on-again, off-again with their relationship, and although I couldn’t understand what he liked about my mother, he was so good for her, so I secretly loved that he wanted to be with her. And now they were getting married. This was such good news.

I needed to call my sister. She’d be over-the-moon that her parents were finally getting married after all these years.
And here we were wondering when they were going to split again.

“No, Logan, I’m not k
idding you,” she said curtly. “We were in St. Tropez this weekend, and he asked me to marry him. I said yes, and we are having the wedding in mid-May at his house.”

“Mom, that’s so great. I’m so happy for you,” I gushed, because I just loved Luiz. “
What’s the actual date?”

“That
’s a secret,” she told me. “We’re keeping it under wraps, and we’re sending invitations to our friends to ask them to attend a party. They won’t know it’s a wedding until they arrive. The only reason I’m telling you and your sister is because I want you to be in the wedding. But you can’t tell anyone. I do not want a media circus and helicopters flying overhead on the day of the event. You cannot even tell your father.”

“Why not?”
I asked, annoyed that she would say that.

I could understand her
overall concern since the worst thing about the press was how they invaded your life at the most inopportune times, and I knew she wanted her wedding day to be peaceful, but it wasn’t like my dad would say anything. He didn’t have secret press connections or anything. He lived a quiet life, and he completely despised the ‘media vultures’, as he continued to call them.

“Because, I’
m asking you not to, and I’d appreciate if you respect my wishes.”

“But, Mom, he’ll be happy for you. It won’t hurt his feelings. He and Sasha are really happy.”

She sighed. “Is that the child he met at that rock concert?”

I rolled my eyes again. “Mom, she’s thirty
-one. She’s not a child, and yes, they met at The Killers’ concert we went to last year.”

I fought the urge to remind my mother that she spent her time away from Luiz sleeping with men who were
closer to my age than hers, so she didn’t have a lot of room to talk. But I knew that would only annoy her, and as tempting as that was, I had studying to get back to and couldn’t spend all afternoon on the phone with my immature mother debating why it was acceptable for her to sleep with her masseuse and her personal trainer but not for my father to date a woman in her early thirties.

It
irritated her enough that my father and Sasha met at a concert. She’d always abhorred his love of live music and thought him immature since he still continued to see his favorite bands every year, but even more she hated that he’d corrupted me. I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of music she listened to, but it definitely wasn’t rock. She considered herself much too refined for ‘that noise’.

“Charming. I’m sure they’ll have a very happy life together camping out in fields to see bands, getting stoned
, and getting matching henna tattoos.”

I laughed out loud picturing my father and Sasha doing those things. They weren’t nineteen
year-old hippies. They just liked music.

“Okay, so I won’t tell him,” I said, ending the bashing of my dad, because I knew she could go on and on, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
And I’d tell my dad about the wedding, because I told him everything, and he wouldn’t say a word to anyone.

“Thank you.”

“Can I tell Jase?”

She didn’t answer right away, but then she said, “Yes, but only if he doesn’t tell his publicist. Allow me to reiterate that I do not need this information getting out, but I do know that he needs to ensure he’s available for the day. As soon as we
finalize it I’ll let you know so you can pass the word on to him, although he will be getting a formal invitation.”

Jesus.
I honestly think she was more concerned about Jase attending than she was me.

“Sounds great, Mom. Is there anything else you needed? I have to get back to studying.”

It was a curt response, but she needed to know I was right in the middle of something.

“No, darling. I don’t need anything else from you at the m
oment,” she said, just as curtly, and it was definitely a slam at my tone.

“Great,” I said brightly. “Well, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye, Logan.”

She hung up the phone
, and I threw mine onto the table in front of me.

“Everything okay?” Nora asked coming over to sit across from me.

In the time that I’d been there the café had emptied out, so we were alone.

I shrugged. “Sure, just my mother being her usual self.”

She laughed. “How you’re related to that woman, I’ll never understand.”

I smiled. “Fantastic upbringing by my amazing father,” I told her. “He washed away all the
negative influence my mother tried to have.”

“I like your dad,” she said, even though they’d never met.

Just then my phone beeped, letting me know I had a text message. I hoped it wasn’t my mother. I smiled when I saw it was Jase and eagerly opened the message.

I missed him like crazy already, and it had only been two days. It was going to be a long six weeks.

“My brother?” Nora asked, and I nodded as the message opened to reveal a picture, and it took me a minute to realize it was him.

The caption read,
Trial hair and make-up run. What do you think?

I smiled in amusement as I took in the picture. He looked like a completely different person with hair that messily fell to his shoulders in layers, massive amounts of guy-liner, an eyebrow ring, a
lip ring, and a spider web tattoo on his neck. But he looked hot as hell. If I hadn’t known it was him, I totally would have check out this sexy rocker. Not that piercings and tattoos were my style, but I could see the allure.

You look hot as hell!
I responded, firing off the text as quickly as possible.

Really? I thought I looked sort of douchy.

No way! You look super-sexy.

Okay, not sure how to take that, but I think it’s a compliment?

I smiled.
Definitely a compliment. Panties are going to drop all across the country when this movie comes out.

LOL. That’s awesome, but I think the real question is, will my girlfriend’s panties drop?

I felt my face start to get hot. He’d initiated some sexting when we’d been separated in the past, but this was not the time, nor the place.

For you, anytime, but I
honestly prefer your normal look. Sexy Rocker Jase is hot, but the real Jase is way hotter.

I love you,
he sent back quickly, and it made me smile.

Love you more. Call me tonight?

Facetime. I want to see your beautiful eyes when I talk to you and tell you how much I miss you.

Jesus, that boy could light me on fire even from two thousand miles away.

Can’t wait,
I sent back and set my phone down.

“Damn, girl. You are so in love,” Nora commented.

I just smiled like an idiot, because it was true. “I know, and this separation sucks, but I’m trying to be supportive, because it’s his career. I just miss him like crazy.”

I was
completely going through Jase withdrawal. I was so used to seeing him daily that him being gone had created a huge void in my life and my routine. I was home much more. And being in my dorm room so much kind of sucked. I much preferred the quiet seclusion of Jase’s house in the Hollywood Hills. He’d told me I could stay there while he was gone, and I was seriously considering it.

Henley had a new boyfriend, and he hung out in our room a lot. It made things a bit crowded. I’d never realized it before
, since I normally wasn’t home that often, but now I was feeling the full effects of him being there.

“So we’ll just have to
keep your mind off of missing him,” Nora suggested.

I smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me. What did you have in mind?”

She grinned. “Dinner and drinks, of course.”

I returned her smile. “I’m in.”

She smiled as she rose to her feet. “Awesome, we’ll go Friday night after the photo shoot. How does that sound?”

I nodded
. “Perfect. I love it. Should I invite Ethan?”

I knew the more time she spent with him the more she would like him and trust that he was one of the good ones, so it was a completely shameless ploy to hook them up.

Nora hesitated for a second before saying, “Definitely. Bring him along. I’d like that.”

I knew she desperately wanted Ethan to be the guy she thought he was, and I knew he could be that guy. Maybe if I did what I could to get them together, she’d
realize he was pretty awesome.

Chapter Ten

Ethan

“We’re doing what?” I asked, taking in the amused look on Logan’s face.

We were out to dinner on Wednesday night. It had been a while since we’d hung out since she’d pretty much been holed up with Jase twenty-four/seven, but now that he was out of town, she was apparently all into hanging out with me again. I’d pushed back a little when she’d asked if we could go to dinner, since I didn’t appreciate how she’d continually chosen her boyfriend over me for so long, but then she offered to buy me sushi, and I caved.

That girl knew my weaknesses all too well, and sushi was one of them – along with her. Besides, I could never really be mad at her. I just missed her. If she’d just move in with Garrett and me, we wouldn’t have this problem, but she’d wanted to live on campus. I thought she was nuts.

She grinned at me. “You’re coming with me to Nora’s photo shoot at 57 Jeans on Friday. You know she’s a model, right?”

An excited buzz starting in my stomach as soon as Logan said that. Nora was so hot. I hadn’t stopped thinking about her tight little body since I’d caught a glimpse
of it on Monday. Maybe I should call her, remind her that I was interested. I’d kill to put my hands on her tiny waist and pull her body flush against me, her ample chest pushing against mine, her warm–

“Ethan?”

I looked up from my lust filled haze at Logan who was watching me with a questioning look on her face.

“Yeah?”

She laughed. “Where did you go?”

Noraland.
It’s a magical place where girls named Nora run around naked all day long and live to pleasure guys like me.

“Uh, nowhere. I’m here.”

She chuckled again. “Yeah, right. You were thinking about Nora weren’t you?”

“No,” I said, but I knew she didn’t believe me. “Fine, yes. I can’t get her out of my head. It’s seriously bad, Lo. Usually I sleep with a girl and get bored with her before this happens. I’ve never been denied, and it’s killing me.”