Free Gravity: A Novel by L.D. Cedergreen Page A

category of “everything without a penis.”
    “I might as well have a penis. He views me like he views you, as just one of the guys.”
    Drew’s head fell back as he laughed, a huge grin spread across his face. “You’re crazy if you think any man could envision you as one of the guys, Gemma. Look at you.” He stepped back, keeping one hand in mine and the other still on my back, but his eyes scanned my body from head to toe. “You’re gorgeous.”
    I hit him in the chest. “Stop. You’re embarrassing me,” I said, as I pulled myself flush against him, interrupting his perusal of my body. Inside I was high-fiving myself. He thinks I’m gorgeous . And then I thought of our kiss, feeling a familiar warmth flood my insides.
    “You know I wanted you so bad back then, right?”
    “What?” I asked, remembering that last summer that I saw him, feigning obliviousness.
    “Oh , yeah. Wet dreams and all.” He laughed, and I smacked the back of his head, playfully.
    His voice grew more serious. “I wish that things would have turned out differently.”
    I swallowed the lump in my throat, his comment bringing me back to that night. A night that I wanted to forget. An instant chill swept over me, replacing the warmth that I had felt just moments before. My body tensed against his, and he pulled me in closer. Silence fell over us, and I sensed that he knew he had said too much.
    The song was fading, coming to an end, and I stepped back, out of Drew’s arms. “I need another drink,” I said, as I made my way toward the bar with Drew on my heels. Logan was still monopolizing Scarlett’s attention when I asked her for another round. She reluctantly turned from Logan’s gaze to fill three more shot glasses, which she set down in front of us, filled two glasses with beer from the tap and uncapped a bottle for Drew.
     
    ***
     
    I wasn’t sure at what point I could not feel my lips, or my legs for that matter, but I was pretty sure that I consumed more alcohol than I had since college. The three of us closed down the bar. I hadn’t had that much fun in years, and, for just a few moments—with our trio in full attendance—I felt like that girl again, the carefree girl who I used to be.
    We piled into Drew’s Jeep with Scarlett at the wheel. My head had started to spin or maybe the world around me when I heard Scarlett ask, “Where to?”
    “My place, Kalispell Bay,” Drew slurred.
    We stumbled into Monroe Manor, and I was instantly assaulted with memories. Good memories. The place still smelled the same, reminding me of the early years when Drew’s mom used to make huckleberry pancakes for dinner and read us stories in front of the fire on rainy days. When we were older and his mother was gone, Matilda—the Monroes’ housekeeper and nanny—would make us French bread pizzas and chocolate milkshakes while we played pool or foosball in the game room. Although after Katherine passed away, we had spent most of our time at my cabin.
    Scarlett’s high-pitched squeal pulled me from my thoughts , and I looked up to see Logan chasing her up the stairs. The guy really hadn’t changed—the ladies were still eating out of his palm.
    Drew walked around the kitchen island and opened a cabinet, retrieving two glasses which he filled with water from the filtered tap. I walked over to the two-story-high windows that faced the lake. Although the few lights on in the cabin were dim, it was too dark to see anything outside other than a blanket of stars and a sliver of a moon. I could see my own reflection in the window as well as Drew’s as he came up behind me. He handed me a glass of water once he was standing beside me.
    “Thanks,” I said, my heart thudding in my chest. My head was cloudy, and my body heavy, weighted down by the amount of tequila still running through my veins. But, on the inside, I felt light as a feather. I was floating on a cloud of something; I wasn’t sure what. We stood in silence, staring into the