Distraction (20 page)

My lips were blissfully numb, and my skin heated as Eric’s
tongue skated down my throat. My head slackened, eyes still closed, not wanting
to open myself up to the outside world.

Until the most annoying knock on the driver
'
s side window
halted our progress.

"Hey, kids. I think it
'
s time to break
it up in there." I heard Alyssa
'
s voice and with an agitated grunt,
I pulled away from Eric.

"She won
'
t stop until we open the door. I think she may be more of a
pain in the ass than Tristan is."

Eric laughed, pulling my shirt down. Damn.

"Alyssa, I can take," he said.

"I wouldn
'
t be so sure." I laughed and then opened my door.
Climbing out and into the cold night air, I heard Eric sigh when I closed my
door. A few seconds later, he emerged from his car.

"Hey, guys. Just wanted to be sure everything was okay
in there. I figured you
'
ve been at it for a while and could use a break." Alyssa
finished with a wink. I could
'
ve killed her.

"Well, next time you decide to think, stop before you
get hurt." I turned my attention to Eric standing across his car from me.

"I
'
m so sorry and completely understand if you don
'
t want to call
me after tonight. I would run as fast as you can if I were you." I gave
Alyssa a pointed glare before walking to stand beside Eric.

"I
'
ll take my chances. Besides, I don
'
t think I
'
ve ever had this
much excitement on a date before. It'll take more than an overbearing ass and,"
he turned to look at Alyssa with a smile, "
a nosy friend
for me let you
go now."

I reached up on my tiptoes, and gave him a quick kiss on the
cheek.

"Thanks, but just so you know, you were fair warned."

"Got it. Hey, I
'
ve got to go, but I
'
ll call you
tomorrow." Eric pulled me in for a deeper kiss. I giggled against his soft
lips when I heard gagging noises behind me.

"Bye," he said, then got in his car.

I waited until Eric drove off, and then spun around to face
Alyssa. My hand on my hips, my face stern, I said, "What the hell was that
all about?"

"From the looks of things you seemed pretty intent on
taking over Ginger
'
s title as slut. I figured I
'
d save you from
that. At least make him wait until the third date."

"Oops, I guess you should
'
ve written the
rules down before we did it. I mean, we were just finished when you walked up."
I kept my face even, giving her a dose of her own nosy medicine.

"No shit, are you kidding me, Elle?"

I laughed, leaving her standing alone in the front yard. I
'
d let her squirm
a little.

Chapter 12

Tristan

When I overheard Green talking to Matt about going on a date
with Elle, I had to find out if it were true. Even if Jarred claimed Green to
be a decent guy, I knew he wasn't right for Elle. When I got to Elle's place
tonight she'd confirmed her date, and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop her
from going. My stomach rolled, and Alyssa’s smartass mouth turned the roll into
a wave.

"What did you bring me to eat?"

I turned from staring at the door to Alyssa. She crossed her
arms over her chest with a cocky-ass grin on her face.

"It's Elle's favorite. Eat what you want."

"Aw, why the grim, someone-killed-my-puppy look?"

I cringed.

I sat at the bar while Alyssa grabbed a slice of pizza. She
offered me one, but I shook my head. With all the shit running through my head,
I couldn't eat.

"What's with this guy?"

"What do you mean? Eric and Elle have flirted with each
other for like ever. She likes him and he likes her."

Why the fuck did I ask her anything?

"Great." I ran my fingers through my hair, trying
not to pull pieces out in the process. "Listen, I've gotta go. Enjoy the
free dinner." I turned and headed for the door, ready to escape the hell
running through my head.

"I think he's taking her back to the frat house after
they eat."

I stopped mid-step. What the hell kind of game was she
playing?

"Just thought you might want to know."

"See ya, Amazon." I left and drove straight to the
frat house. The usual group of guys were hanging out drinking beer and messing
around. I grabbed a cold one and watched TV, attempting to keep calm, at least
on the outside, because on the inside I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut,
hard.

The hair at the back of my neck rose the second I heard her
voice. She walked into view and I stayed still, completely enamored with how
beautiful she looked.

Her nose was tinted red from being outside in the cold. Her
eyes glowed and her smile…God, her smile did things to me that no other woman
could ever do. Just as quick as she made my heart thunder in my chest, she
slashed to shreds. Reaching on her tiptoes, I watched her kiss him without
inhibitions. Elle was a quiet, reserved person and watching her let go...with
another man–

I interrupted their little intimate...shit. I couldn't
stomach the thought of her, Green, and intimate in the same sentence. Ever.
Anyway, I thought breaking them apart would help, instead I fucked shit up
more. They walked upstairs to play a game of pool. Elle fluttered her long
lashes, pretending not to know how to play. Fuck, I taught her how to play and
knew she could kick his ass any day. I gave them an appropriate amount of time
to finish their game before heading up to check on her.

Fury unlike I'd never known coursed through my veins.
Suggesting what Green might do was a pretty bold move on my behalf. I also had
no right to yell at her, but seeing the asshole’s hands roaming up her back and
his tongue down her throat made me lose my shit. Maybe I deserved to watch in
misery–Elle with someone else–considering I never fessed up to how I felt, but
son of a bitch.

When they left I didn't want my mind to wonder, but it had.
The vivid, erotic snippets of them together had my head spinning and created a
hollowness in the pit of my stomach. Right now, the only thing I wanted was for
Green to show up. Alone. I slammed the empty beer bottle on the coffee table.

"Need another one?" I looked up at Jarred.

"Sure do." I hoped I could drink enough alcohol to
destroy the repeated scenes running through my head. "Thanks," I
said, grabbing the cold-bottled lifeline.

Mid-drink, the front door opened. I jumped off the couch
expecting Green, instead Kellie and Robbie came in. Why they were together I
had no idea, considering she supposedly made plans to hang out with her
friends.

"Funny seeing you here," I said, obviously
surprising Kellie.

She hurried away from Robbie's side, smiling as she walked,
or rather swayed, to meet me by the couch.

"Baby. I figured you'd be hanging out with your little
Elle." The profound stench of alcohol wafted across my nose, along with
the distinct masculine spiced cologne mixed with her too-sweet smelling
perfume. Interestingly enough, I didn't give a damn.

"Nope, just chilling here with the guys." I looked
over at Robbie. He shoved his hands in his pocket. "Did you and Robbie
come here together?" I turned and focused on her face.

"He was at the club tonight. I wanted to leave, but the
girls wanted to stay, so Robbie drove me back here." Her voice pitched.

"Lucky for you," I said.

"Hey, I'm gonna run. I'm glad you were here so Kellie
doesn't have to go to her dorm alone."

"Yeah, thanks, man," I said. Robbie nodded then
left the house.

Kellie pulled me forward, planting a sloppy kiss on my lips,
but I pushed her away. I didn't feel like messing around and suspected she
wanted to fool around with someone else.

"It's late, Kellie. I'll drive you home." I half
expected a fight, but she headed for the door without debate.

Kellie stayed quiet on the way to her dorm. After I dropped
her off, I drove around town for a bit to clear my head. It seemed Kellie and
Robbie were becoming close pals. I should've been pissed at the possibility of
my fiancée screwing around, but nope. The idea seemed fucked up considering how
pissed I'd been over Elle being with Green.

Well after two in the morning, I finally crashed on the
couch, too tired to make it to my room.

The next morning I went for my usual run and then I headed to
field training. Around noon my stomach cramped from lack of hydration and the
hot-ass sun. I probably should lay off the beer....nah. Next thing I knew,
Coach had us running extra laps. I stayed focused, knowing we had a tough team
to beat tomorrow, and he expected nothing less than our best.

After practice, most of us usually ate at a local pizza place
not far from campus. Bret asked to ride with me since his sister had his car. I
had English in an hour, but didn't feel like going today. I'd be sure to get my
notes from Bridget. She always looked for an excuse to study with me, even when
I turned her more than willing offers down.

"Hey, let's get out of here before Coach changes his
mind and makes us suit up again," I said.

Bret and a few others laughed.

"All right. Let's go," Bret said, grabbing his
wallet.

On the drive he asked about Alyssa. "So, Elle's friend,
Alyssa, she's hot. Right?"

I glanced over and frowned. Certainly he knew her reputation?
Maybe he did and knew he didn't have to worry about commitment issues with her.
Either way, I had to find out.

"Hot? Yeah, I guess." I looked back at the road.
"You interested?"

"Dunno. Maybe?" It was the slight rise when he said
maybe that sparked my interest, and a great idea popped in my head.

If Bret hooked up with Alyssa, even for a short while, he
could give me information about Elle being with Green. So, instead of making
fun of his stupid ass, I decided to encourage the poor bastard.

"She's not bad. We argue a lot, but she's a good friend
to Elle. We've known each other since we were kids." Because I knew he
needed reassurance of Alyssa's hotness factor, I swallowed down the bile rising
in my throat and finished. "She's pretty hot, great ass." I did my
best not to shiver. I felt like I'd just admitted to my sister being hot. I
don't even have a sister.

"Yeah? You think so?"

Hooked him.

"Yep, you gonna ask her out?" I pulled into the
pizza parking lot and killed the engine.

"Yeah. I asked her to the date night tonight and she
agreed." I glanced over and caught his smile.

"Good luck. Let's go get grub. I'm starving." I
couldn't bring myself to give him any more encouragement. My stomach needed
food, and I didn
'
t want to upchuck the contents later thinking about what I
'
d said.

"Sounds good."

A large pizza, three Cokes, and several bread sticks later my
stomach finally stopped growling. I could pass out from the overload. Most of
the guys planned to go to the date night thing tonight and hurried out with me
and Bret.

I dropped Bret off at his house and drove back home. I'd
completely forgotten about the date night thing and instead of Kellie, Elle's
face entered my mind. I imagined her wearing one of her summer dresses. The
ones short enough to see her trim, tanned thighs. Her light brown hair draped
over her bare shoulder, and her smile. God, I loved her smile. Then my phone
rang. Kellie.

"Hello," I answered.

"Is there something going on at the house tonight?"
I knew what she wanted and because I apparently had a thing for torturing
myself, I gave in.

"Yeah, I forgot about date night tonight. Wanna go?"
I knew her answer before she gave it.

"Yes, I'll meet you there." She surprised me.

"Um, you sure? I mean, I can pick you up?" It was
date night after all.

"Nah, I'll meet you there. Some of the girls want to
party later."

"Okay, see you around seven."

"Great, bye."

When I got home, I threw my cell on my dresser and jumped in
the shower. I needed to break things off with Kellie, but figured I'd wait
until later this weekend. I didn't need any stress before my game tomorrow. I
also needed to be sure I didn't drink too much tonight, and then it donned on
me. Green and I were in the same frat. Green and Elle were dating. They'd
probably be there...together. Fuck.