friend s ’ parties before. I’d never once cared what anyone else thought, but suddenly I felt different, and I didn’t like it.
I fingered one of my shoulder-length, l oose curls, twisting it around my finger as I looked down at my feet . Suddenly, Ethan’s hand reached out and pulled my finger out of my hair, breaking my nervous habit.
“ You look hot, okay, ” he said, pointedly. “I’m honestly not looking forward to the fact that I’ll have to kick some of my friends’ asses because they’re going to say really inappropriate thing about you.”
“Like what?” I asked, just a little intrigued.
He laughed. “You don’t want to know, but trust me, the ass- kickings will be warranted.”
“Fine,” I sighed, not sure I’d be able to s hrug off my newly developed insecurities as easily as I hoped. L.A. seemed to be getting to me.
“Logan!” I heard from behind me, and I spun around to see Lauren walking toward me holding hands with a statuesque caramel skinned girl who was at least a foot taller than her and had a headful of short dark spiral curls. She looked like a model and probably was.
“Hey, Lauren,” I said, hugging her when they reached us. I noticed even she was w earing heels with her leather pants . Maybe I needed to invest in some L.A. footwear , I thought , as she introd uced us to her girlfriend, Phoebe , and punched Ethan in the arm by way of greeting .
“Nice house, E,” she said, grinning at him.
“Thanks,” he said, returning her grin, and I looked at him in confusion. He smirked back at me .
Suddenly it clicked. “That’s how you got to park in the driveway.”
“Yeah, it’s cool to do that when it’s your house.”
My jaw dropped. “Ethan! Are you serious? ”
“You didn’t tell her?” Lauren asked.
No, he didn’t. I’ d known Ethan had planned to live off-campus, having opted to forgo the dorm experience when he took a tour of the campus and saw how small and utilitarian the rooms were , but I didn’t know he’d found a place – espe cially since I figured he’d pick some small apartment near campus . I didn’t expect him to be renting a place on the beach in Santa Monica that was big enough for a family of four to live in comfortably.
He grinned again. “Home sweet home. Actually, it’s Garrett’s home sweet home, since he bought the place, but he’s going to let me live here once school starts.”
A wave of dread suddenly washed over me. We were at Garrett’s house? Was he t here?
“I t hought Garrett was in Vancouver,” I said , trying to keep my voice level and hoping Ethan would confirm that his brother was still in Canada . I was prepared to see G arrett in two weeks, not that night .
“He was, but he came back for the weekend. They had a break in shooting, so he flew home this afternoon.”
Shit. I swallowed hard, trying to keep it together.
The last time I’d seen Garrett had been the morning after I’d stayed the night in his hotel room. It was his last night in Miami, and we’d had a little bit to drink at dinner. I wasn’t able to drive, and instead of taking a cab all the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, Garrett offered to get me a room in his hotel, telling me I could take him to breakfast the next morning before he caught his flight back to L.A. I called my dad to tell him our plan and assured him that we would in fact be sleeping in separate rooms, because I truly intended to do just that at that juncture in the night.
Then Garrett and I had hit the hotel bar, and things had gotten a little crazy. We’d started talking about how his life had changed since he’d become famous, especially with women. He told me how girls threw themselves at him on a regular basis , which hadn’t ever happened before. And then, as if punctuating his statement, two giggly girls who couldn’t have been much older tha n me, approached us and asked for his autograph. One ignored me and the other glared.
They giggled and flirted and asked him
I fingered one of my shoulder-length, l oose curls, twisting it around my finger as I looked down at my feet . Suddenly, Ethan’s hand reached out and pulled my finger out of my hair, breaking my nervous habit.
“ You look hot, okay, ” he said, pointedly. “I’m honestly not looking forward to the fact that I’ll have to kick some of my friends’ asses because they’re going to say really inappropriate thing about you.”
“Like what?” I asked, just a little intrigued.
He laughed. “You don’t want to know, but trust me, the ass- kickings will be warranted.”
“Fine,” I sighed, not sure I’d be able to s hrug off my newly developed insecurities as easily as I hoped. L.A. seemed to be getting to me.
“Logan!” I heard from behind me, and I spun around to see Lauren walking toward me holding hands with a statuesque caramel skinned girl who was at least a foot taller than her and had a headful of short dark spiral curls. She looked like a model and probably was.
“Hey, Lauren,” I said, hugging her when they reached us. I noticed even she was w earing heels with her leather pants . Maybe I needed to invest in some L.A. footwear , I thought , as she introd uced us to her girlfriend, Phoebe , and punched Ethan in the arm by way of greeting .
“Nice house, E,” she said, grinning at him.
“Thanks,” he said, returning her grin, and I looked at him in confusion. He smirked back at me .
Suddenly it clicked. “That’s how you got to park in the driveway.”
“Yeah, it’s cool to do that when it’s your house.”
My jaw dropped. “Ethan! Are you serious? ”
“You didn’t tell her?” Lauren asked.
No, he didn’t. I’ d known Ethan had planned to live off-campus, having opted to forgo the dorm experience when he took a tour of the campus and saw how small and utilitarian the rooms were , but I didn’t know he’d found a place – espe cially since I figured he’d pick some small apartment near campus . I didn’t expect him to be renting a place on the beach in Santa Monica that was big enough for a family of four to live in comfortably.
He grinned again. “Home sweet home. Actually, it’s Garrett’s home sweet home, since he bought the place, but he’s going to let me live here once school starts.”
A wave of dread suddenly washed over me. We were at Garrett’s house? Was he t here?
“I t hought Garrett was in Vancouver,” I said , trying to keep my voice level and hoping Ethan would confirm that his brother was still in Canada . I was prepared to see G arrett in two weeks, not that night .
“He was, but he came back for the weekend. They had a break in shooting, so he flew home this afternoon.”
Shit. I swallowed hard, trying to keep it together.
The last time I’d seen Garrett had been the morning after I’d stayed the night in his hotel room. It was his last night in Miami, and we’d had a little bit to drink at dinner. I wasn’t able to drive, and instead of taking a cab all the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, Garrett offered to get me a room in his hotel, telling me I could take him to breakfast the next morning before he caught his flight back to L.A. I called my dad to tell him our plan and assured him that we would in fact be sleeping in separate rooms, because I truly intended to do just that at that juncture in the night.
Then Garrett and I had hit the hotel bar, and things had gotten a little crazy. We’d started talking about how his life had changed since he’d become famous, especially with women. He told me how girls threw themselves at him on a regular basis , which hadn’t ever happened before. And then, as if punctuating his statement, two giggly girls who couldn’t have been much older tha n me, approached us and asked for his autograph. One ignored me and the other glared.
They giggled and flirted and asked him
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