Your Gravity: Part 3: Your Gravity, #3

By L.G. Castillo

The stunning conclusion to the Your Gravity new adult college romance series.

 

Returning to 2002, Nicole knows for certain that her past was meant to be her future. Loving Jax was her natural course of life. So now, letting go of the brooding professor he's become is not an option; he's endured too much.

 

She can't walk away. When love like theirs defies time and space, it's worth fighting for. But convincing him to let go of the demons of his past might be harder than battling gravity itself.

 

Can Nicole hold on to what she's traveled through time to find or is clinging to the pull on her heart like grasping air?

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.G. Castillo
• Release date: Aug 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393657187

L.G. Castillo

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Chapter One

2002

A strange warmth caressed my face. It started with a light tickle against my cheek and then slowly crawled to the center of my chest, growing heavy.

Groaning, I pushed against the weight, struggling to force my eyelids open. It was like they had been glued together.

I moaned. The fierce hammering in my head made it feel like my skull was going to split apart. Quickly, I stilled.

Keeping my eyes shut, I carefully felt around me. Soft blades of grass brushed against my fingers. I was outside.

What happened? And why do I feel like I’ve been tossed around in a blender?

Through the dark haze of my mind, it slowly came to me. Roller skates, a spinning disco ball, sapphire eyes, a sexy smile, cotton ball clouds, flying pigtails, and high-pitched giggles.

Caroline. Jax.

Jax!

I lifted my head, determined to get back to him. I cried out at the sharp jolt of pain, making my head spin in the darkness. The heavy warmth on my chest moved up as if attempting to keep me still.

Why couldn’t I open my eyes? Was I back home? Other than the sweeping nausea, I didn’t feel any different. Maybe the fortunetellers were wrong and I wasn’t back in the future. Please let me be with Jax. Please.

In the distance, I heard a faint sound of a television commercial. Holding my breath, I strained to hear what played. A faint tinkling of piano keys and the beginning notes of Nadia’s Theme floated through the air. I sighed with relief at the familiar opening to the Young and Restless soap opera.

I did it. I’m still in 1984.

Waiting for my strength to return, I planned how I was going to get myself to Jax’s new home. My moped was probably totaled. I had no idea where I was. Maybe in some ditch. I felt okay except for the wicked headache. Maybe I could hitch a ride.

The music stopped followed by another commercial. A man yelped, elated that he’d finally gotten broadband Internet.

My stomach plummeted.

No!

Clenching my hands into fists, I ignored my pounding head and the heavy weight that seemed to want to claw its way into my chest. I was not back home in 2002. In a minute, I was going to open my eyes, stand up, and walk to the nearest pay phone and call Jax.

Yeah, that’s right. Everything is as it should be and I’m in 1984.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to a pair of beady eyes gazing back.

Penny?

Penny clucked as she moved up my chest. Her tiny head tilted to the side looking at me curiously.

Penny, I sobbed.

Tears stung my eyes as I took in the familiar neon colored house, the peace sign, and my beamer on the graveled driveway.

I was back.

No! I cried, scrambling to my feet. I couldn’t be back. I just couldn’t.

The movement made everything spin again, and I staggered forward to my car.

Penny flapped her wings, squawking.

Sorry, Penny, I said as I leaned against the hood.

Maybe this was only a dream. Maybe I was lying in some ditch somewhere, dreaming that I was back in 2002.

As if proving me wrong, something inside my pants jabbed against my thighs. I reached into my pocket, hoping against all hope that it wasn’t what I thought it was.

When I pulled out my cellphone, I bit my lip, holding back a wave of grief. There was no doubting it now. I was back home.

Flipping it open, the date illuminated in a steady, florescent glow.

10/13/2002.

Jax. Oh, Jax. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. Tears streamed down my cheeks as torment washed over me. I’d failed. The sweet, fun loving Jax I fell in love with was gone, and it was all my fault. I’d let myself be taken. I hadn’t tried hard enough. I’d promised I’d always be by his side, and I wasn’t.

I’m a failure. My mother had been right all along, though she’d never said it. I disappointed everyone I loved: my parents, Jax, and even Caroline. I couldn’t even keep my promise to her. I cried harder.

He lost someone close to him around this time of the year. I think it was his fiancée.

So she abandoned you too?

Jax! I didn’t know. I didn’t know! I wailed as his and Gianna’s voices filtered through my mind. He’d stood in this exact same spot when I’d slapped him for saying those words.

I thought of the way he looked that night, his disheveled appearance, the thick scruff and defeated red-rimmed eyes. It was the exact same beaten down look I’d seen when he’d given into to being exactly like his father. I’d been there for him that night, and the next day I was gone.

Grief wracked my body as I thought of all the promises I’d made to him, my words of love, anything to get him out of the dark hole he had been digging himself into. It was only hours for me since I’d said them but for Jax it was . . . it was . . . my breathing became ragged. For him, it was years. Years of living with my broken promise.

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I was sorry that I couldn’t be with him and sorry that each time he looked at me, it broke his heart over and over again.

Even in your darkest hour, I’ll be by your side, loving you.

My head popped up as I remembered the words I’d said to him. This was his darkest hour. He had to have thought he was losing his mind when he saw me on the first day of classes, but even when he thought I was setting him up on some kind of scheme to get his money, he still saw something good in me. He wasn’t totally gone.

So what the hell was I doing here sobbing? Pull yourself together!

Yanking the car door open, I jumped inside and sped toward town. I didn’t care how many years had passed. I loved Jax and nothing was going to stop me from being with him. Somewhere inside the hard shell of Professor Cooper was the Jax I loved. And I was going to get him back.

I had no clue where he was living now. The only thing I had to go on was that maybe someone in the trailer park where he used to live would know where he’d moved. It was a long shot, but it was a place to start.

As I drove slowly past Jitters, I gazed across the street looking for the park. Funny how I didn’t remember ever seeing it before. It couldn’t have entirely disappeared, could it?

I stared at the entrance of Club Vortex where the park would’ve been. My heart fell. Images of Caroline flitted through my mind. I envisioned her swinging and singing loudly off key with Ethel on her lap, how she hung upside down, her pigtails so long they nearly touched the sand underneath the monkey bars.

I stared at the alley beside the club, unsure if I wanted to go down the narrow side street. It was painful enough to see my memories covered over with concrete and glass.

Gently pressing the gas pedal, I eased the car down the alley driving closer to where the trailer park should be. When the alley finally gave way, I slammed my foot on the brake.

The trailer park was gone. In its place was a strip mall with a dry cleaners, a nail salon, and a deli.

I gripped the stirring wheel as grief washed over me. I didn’t know why it was affecting me so much. Years had passed and change was to be expected. But it all happened without me. I wanted those years with Jax and Caroline. Those years had been taken away from me.

Sighing, I put the car in reverse. I had to stay focused. Right now, I just had to find Jax.

As I neared the main street, I saw Lou carrying a tray of mugs into the coffee shop.

Lou!

I jumped out of the car, not caring if I got a ticket or if the car was towed. If anyone knew where Jax and Caroline went, it would be Lou.

Lou! I cried as I rushed through the door.

Lou sat behind a laptop, tray of mugs forgotten, plucking at the keyboard with one finger. Frustrated, he whacked the screen. I’ll never get used to this thing.

Lou! Tell me you know where Jax lives.

Jax?

Professor Cooper.

Oh, Cooper. Let’s see. I blinked as he scratched the center of his thin, swirled hair. I guess I’d hold on to the last hair strand in a death grip too after seeing how much hair he used to have. I heard he was renting a house somewhere in town. Can’t remember where. I think it was Elm Street. Or maybe he said he had elm trees. It was definitely a tree-named street.

I groaned. Do you by any chance remember his mother and sister?

Cooper’s sister? Yes, I do. Catherine.

Caroline.

Right, Caroline. Sweet little thing.

Do you know what happened to her and his mother?

Well, let’s see. I think she’s a lawyer now.

A lawyer! My chest filled with pride.

Or maybe she’s in law school or a paralegal. I’m not sure.

What about his mother?

Julie? All I know is that she left her husband in ’84. They moved out of state. You could ask Cooper yourself. Don’t you have a class with him?

How did you know I have a class with Cooper? I didn’t remember telling him about any of my classes.

He told me. Said you were one of his top students and that you reminded him of someone who used to work here when this was a skating rink. Then he mentioned something about bacon. I’m not sure. When you see him, tell him to hang in there. I’m on his side.

What do you mean?

Now I’m not one to listen to gossip. But in my business, you hear a lot of what’s going on around campus. I know what it’s like to fall off the wagon. He’s got my support.

What gossip?

He looked around the room then leaned in. "One of his students filed a complaint against him. She says he’s been going to class drunk. Now this part is