Forcing Gravity by Monica Alexander Page B

about his character in Earthbound. Then one of the girls actually asked him if he wanted to come up to her hotel room – with me sitting right there! Granted, they didn’t know who I was, but we could have been on a date. How rude of her. B ut sweet Gar rett just politely declined the invitation. The girl just shrugged, and she and her friend left the bar, giggling with their heads together, no doubt excited about meeting a real live celebrity . B ut then they stopped when they were at the door, and the one girl turned around , glared at me , and mouthed ‘slut’.
    I ’d just laughed and turned my attention back to Garrett who looked bewildered by what had just happened. As good looking as he was, Garrett had never put it out there like his brother did, so girls hadn’t ever see n him as a sex object. Well, they sure did now , b ut it seemed as if he didn’t quite understand, nor did he seem as thrilled as most guys would be. He hated the intrusion and assumption that he could be propositioned so easily. In truth, h e seemed kind of sad that he didn’t have a girlfriend and unlike most guys, casual sex with groupies wouldn’t do it for him .
    I knew deep down Garrett was a nice guy who just wanted someone he could care about. He wasn’t the type to sleep around, so the star-fuckers who hit on him weren’t his style. He’d admitted to giving in a time or two after Earthbound had first premiered, but he told me he hadn’t been with a girl in a while.
    His PR rep and his agent made sure he had a girl on his arm whenever he went to a premiere , or any other event where he’d be photographed, so it looked like he was dating , but those girls would only give off the illusi on th at he was linked to someone for a short while. Major stars who appealed to a primarily teen audience were more marketable if they were single , but desirable , so his agent and publicist made sure he had different girls on rotation .
    I could tell Garrett wa s down that night , especially after his fans had approached him , s o I tried to put us on an even playing field.
    “ If it makes you feel any better, I’m going off to college a virgin,” I said morosely, and his eyes had gotten wide.
    “Really?”
    “Don’t sound so shocked,” I said, punching him in the arm.
    “I can’t help it,” he said, shaking his head. “Not that I would think you’d give it up so easily. I just figured there would have been a boyfriend along the way who would have . . .”
    His statement drifted off as if he was afraid to finish his thought, but I knew where he was headed.
    “I guess I could have had sex, but I was sort of waiting for someone special. Of course he never came along, so yeah, I’m the girl who is going off to college a virgin.”
    I leaned my head on my hand, feeling the effects of the alcohol cloud my thoughts.
    Garrett shrugged. “It’s no big deal, Lo . Lots of girls wait until they’re in college.”
    “In L.A.?” I asked, leaning toward him.
    “Sure,” he said, but it wasn’t very convincing.
    “How old were you?” I asked, as I reached out to run my fingers through his short blond locks before letting my hand f all to his lap .
    Garrett suddenly got shy. “Eighteen. It was o n prom night.”
    I laughed out loud, even though I knew he was embarrassed to share that fact with me . I couldn’t help it. I was drunk. “That is so cliché, Gare .”
    “I know,” he said, shrugging as he took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together . “But I’ve had lots of sex since then.”
    “I’m sure you have ,” I said, still laughing, as I fell away from him a little. A tug on my hand jerked me back toward him.
    “Hey, girls love me, I’ll have you know,” he said defensively.
    “Oh I know they do, and by proxy, they hate me because they think I’m your girlfriend. Trust me, I’ve experienced just how much girls like you in these past two weeks. How do you stand it?”
    “What? Being a teen heartthrob?” he asked,