Free Forcing Gravity by Monica Alexander

wondered if something had happened between the two of them in Vancouver.
    “Sophie, this is Logan, one of my closest friends,” he said, putting his arm around me. I tried not to stiffen in his grip.
    “She’s not the girl you dated in Miami?” Sophie accused, and I just knew there was something going on with them.
    Although , I knew Sophie was the kind of girl who wouldn’t show any outward affection toward Garrett at this stage in the game. She knew as well as I did that it was better to keep budding relationships under wraps in Hollywood unless you wanted to end up on the front page of the major tabloids . She kept her distance, but I could tell her claws would come out if any girl dared to encroach on her territory.
    “We’re just friends,” I interjected. “I’ve known him since we were kids. In fact we’re more like brother and sister. We’re definitely not dating.”
    Garrett laughed at our inside joke. “Just like brother and sister, Soph ,” he said calmly, almost soothingly. “Nothing to worry about.”
    “Oh,” Sophie said, her demeanor toward me suddenly changing. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”
    “Logan is Alana Davis’s daughter,” Garrett said then, and Sophie’s eyes got wide.
    I glared at him. Why did he have to do that? He knew I hated being introduced that way. Desperate actors and actresses begged me for an opportunity to meet my mother once they knew who she was. It was annoying.
    “I’m so excited to meet your mother,” Sophie gushed, and I gritted my teeth in an attempt to hold it together. I was not about to set up a meeting for her, so she’d better not ask.
    “Sophie just got cast to play the daughter of your mom’s character in her next mov ie,” Garrett explained, and I forgave him a little since he actually had a legitimate reason for sharing my heritage with this girl.
    I also studied Sophie a little closer, realizing how much she looked like someone who could play my mother’s daughter – more so than me. She was rail thin, tall, tan and had honey colored straight blond hair . She also wore a pound of make-up and had that Hollywood eagerness and freshness about her that my mother had possessed as a young actress and had recently tried to recreate through Botox and light plastic surgery after she realized she was aging .
    Sophie flashed me a winning smile that I knew I’d only earned because of who my mother was. I’d met girls like her who were fake through and through. What was Garrett doing with her ? She wasn’t his type at all. I might just have to pull him aside later and ask him.
    “Here you go,” Ethan said then, sidling up to me with a drink in his hand. The ice was slightly melted, so I knew he’d gotten it before stopping to flirt with the Doublemint Twins. “Hi, I’m Ethan Lewis.”
    I rolled my eyes as he actually took Sophie’s hand and kissed it. He was such a freaking cheeseball sometimes, but Sophie ate it up. She actually giggled and squirmed as Ethan let go of her hand. Garrett flashed his younger brother a mur derous glare that said, ‘back-the-fuck-off before I kick your ass’ .
    “Okay,” I said, stepping between the two boys. “Ethan, let’s go walk around.” I grabbed his hand and started to yank him forward.
    “I want to stay here,” he protested, eyeing S ophie eagerly.
    “You can’t,” I stressed, pulling him away . “Garrett and Sophie are talking. You’ll have to find someone else to talk to.”
    Suddenly Ethan got it. “Fine,” he muttered. “For the record, I liked it better when I was the one the girls went after.”
    “ You’re brothers!” I said, exasperated by his petty behavior. “And in case you didn’t notice, the girls like you too, E. Now let’s go find you one that you can flirt with, okay?”
    I felt like a mother talking to her toddler.
    “Fine,” he mumbled, and I just shook my head. He was really being immature.
    As we started to walk away, Garrett grabbed my hand. He pulled me back