Distraction (23 page)

"Hey, man. I think I'm gonna crash here tonight. Is that
cool?"

Jarred, who was as trashed as me, bobbed his head slowly.
"Fine with me. You can crash on the couch upstairs."

"Cool. Thanks, man."

I climbed the stairs, tightening my grip on the handrail when
my body swayed. Safely making my way up, I staggered by a room and heard a
faint, familiar laugh behind the closed door. I paused, but was too fucked up
to place who the voice belonged to.

Farther down the hall, stumbling in the dark, my shins rammed
into the couch. Haphazardly, I kicked off my shoes, crashed against the sofa,
and passed smooth out.

* * *

The fucking sun sucked. The pounding against my skull sucked.
The ass taste in my mouth when I woke up sucked. Walking down the stairs sucked
even more because the pounding pressure in my head increased. The sun still
shone like a beacon, and I swear to God the light grew brighter when I made my
way downstairs.

Voices were loud and obnoxious, and the few “hey sexy"
comments I got from random dudes I passed didn't help my pissy mood. I wiped my
hand across my face and noticed my fingernails. Reminder to self: never fall
asleep in a house full of drunken assholes. I headed to the downstairs
bathroom, but not quick enough.

"You didn't think we'd let you get out of the hazing,
Daniels?" Bret, with a too bright smile on his smug face, stood in front
of me.

"Fucktard," I said, slamming the bathroom door
shut, but winced as the pounding thudded behind my eyes seized me. I squeezed
them shut.

Slowly, I opened them and looked at my mug in the mirror.
"Son of a bitch." So they got me, but it was so fucking on. They had
no idea.

My lips were covered with red lipstick and my eyes had blue
glitter shit all over them. I ran water over my face, rubbing the red from my
mouth, only I smeared the mess instead. I yelled, "Dammit," and heard
laughter.

I grabbed a towel and commenced to scrubbing the shit off.
The cold water helped my head some. When most of the makeup washed off, I threw
the red and blue glitter towel in the sink and walked back out. Jarred tossed
me a beer as soon I came into the living room.

"You got off easy, man. My nails were painted and they
shaved my head," Jarred confessed when I sat next to him on the couch.

"Yeah, I guess I did get off better than you, but don't
think this is over. That was wrong...on so many levels."

"Hey, Daniels," Robbie said, holding up a picture.
"Even with the makeup, you're still uglier than hell."

"Fuck you," I said, inhaling through my nose. I
knew his game, but he still rubbed me the wrong way.

"Maybe we should show this to–"

"Your picture didn't even come out right. You broke the
damn camera," Jarred said. Uncomfortable silence followed, until Robbie
laughed.

"You're right. Hey, it's no big thing, bro. Happens to
the best of us." Admittedly, he sounded a little less of a dick then.

"Funny," Bret said, coming into the room. "I
wouldn't consider you best at, well...anything." Bret looked ready to
fight. He bowed out his chest and tightly balled his hands by his sides.

"What the hell is up your ass," Robbie countered.

"You're my problem, dickweed."

Jarred jumped in front of Bret. I looked between the two of
them, wondering what the hell I'd missed.

"What the fuck did I do to you?" Robbie took a step
back when Bret stepped forward.

Bret glared at him, viciously. "Not me, bro. But tell
me, who did you fuck last night?"

Robbie gave me a slight glance, and then I knew. I remembered
hearing someone laugh before I crashed upstairs last night. The voice sounded
familiar and now I couldn't get the sound out of my head.

"Mind your own business," Robbie seethed.

My problems with Kellie, my dad's inability to stay the fuck
out of my life, and my relationship with Elle, all of it swam through my head.
Shit had been building for so long, and this pushed me over the top.

I moved without thinking. Quick and hard, I slammed my fist
into Robbie's face again and again. I reared back for another hit, but someone
grabbed me from behind.

"Daniels, calm down." Someone helped Robbie off the
floor. My vision centered on the bastard standing up. A smudge of blood dripped
from his lip. He'd have a busted lip and bruises from the small beating. I
allowed a minimal amount of satisfaction to creep inside of me.

"Man, I'm sorry."

He had the fucking audacity to say sorry?

"Yeah, you're right, motherfucker. You are sorry."
I pushed forward, but whoever had me tightened their grip, and I couldn't get
to him. "I'm fine," I said, jerking out of the hold. "You two
have at it. I don't give a shit." I heard my name being called but didn't
turn. I checked my pockets making sure my keys were there and left the house.

Outside, I squinted against the sun in my eyes. My phone
buzzed in my pocket. I took my cell out and opened the text.

Baby,
how are you feeling? Want 2 meet for lunch?

Unbelievable, but since she didn
'
t know I knew
about her and Robbie, I texted her back.

Yep.
Pizza place by your dorm?

K,
see you in a sec.

I needed to calm down before seeing her face to face. I'd
planned to end our relationship already, but I couldn't believe she cheated. In
some strange way though, I felt liberated. Knocking the shit out of Robbie
helped. My mom would be fucking ecstatic, which made me laugh. She
'
d made it clear
she didn
't li
ke Kellie. I remembered our cryptic conversation before I
moved up here and smiled. Maybe she was trying to make me see that Elle was the
person for me? Actually, now I was pissed. Why couldn't women just say whatever
it was they wanted and not dick around? I
'
d never understand their way of
thinking.

Feeling settled, I parked and headed in.

The hostess seated me in an open area with only a few people
around. Kellie walked in not long after. I watched her asking the hostess
something. She pointed in my direction and proceeded over to my table, all the
while smiling. She didn
'
t have a clue.

"Hi. I
'
m so hungry right now." As soon as she sat down, she
grabbed her menu. "How much did you end up drinking last night?" She
hadn
'
t even looked at me yet.

"I drank quite a bit. How was your night?" I
watched her closely. She didn
'
t even flinch.

"I made out okay."

I laughed until tears streamed down my fucking cheeks.

She looked at me finally, frowning. "What
'
s so funny?"

"Nothing." I shrugged my shoulder. "It's your
choice of words I find funny, is all."

She furrowed her brows.

"You made out okay. I guess I
'
d have to agree,
even if I wasn
'
t on the receiving end." Ah, there it was… the shock.

She sucked in an audible breath. Tears pooled in her eyes. I
didn
'
t give a damn. Not anymore.

"Listen, Kellie, it's fine. Really, I don
'
t care."
She blinked, spilling tears down her cheeks. She meshed her lips together in a
frown.

"Tristan," she started. "I
'
m sorry. It was
a mistake."

"The only mistake was us getting engaged. We had a good
time for a while, but somehow we changed. And really, I don
'
t care anymore.
You can be with Robbie or whoever you want without feeling guilty now."

Her tears dried up as fast as they appeared. Maybe she could
go into acting.

"I guess you
'
re happy. Now you can be with your
little Elle."

I was hung over, my head hurt like a bitch, and I needed a
shower. Fuck her.

"Believe what you want."
I stood.
"See ya
around." I walked out and didn
'
t look back.

Elle

Early Sunday morning, before heading to the shower, I got a
sweet picture text from Eric holding a red rose. Too bad work forced me to wait
eight hours before seeing him again.

I slept an extra ten minutes, which put me behind schedule. I
took a quick shower, and while I hurried to get dressed, Alyssa walked in. She
didn't say anything. Seemed odd, but I didn't have time to find out what she
was up too. When I zipped up my jeans, my phone buzzed and I hurried to grab
it. When I opened the text, I smiled. Eric held another rose, this time white
instead of red.

"Who's the text from?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing why she asked.

"Eric. He sent me a text earlier holding a red rose.
This one is him holding another rose, but it's white." I walked over and
showed her the picture.

"Oh," she said.

I peeked up at her and noticed her frown. "What's going
on?" I sighed.

"Nothing. Y'all going on a date later?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Good, have fun." I had a feeling she was keeping
something from me, but I didn't have time to figure out whatever she wanted to
say.

"Okay. I've got to get to work, but I'll see ya later."

“All right," she said, changing into her pj's. It hit
me. She'd never made it home last night. Maybe she wanted to fill me in on her
late night with Bret? It also reminded me that I hadn't heard back from
Tristan. Hopefully he hadn't gotten too wasted last night. Unfortunately, time
didn't allow me to worry about him. I grabbed my keys and dashed out the door.

Work dragged by, but when my shift ended I hurried home, changed,
and called Eric. Half an hour later, he picked me up with a half dozen of
assorted colored roses. I thanked him with a deep kiss, leaving us both winded
when we pulled apart.

"My sister said she wanted to say hi. I figured we could
eat at our restaurant again."

"Sounds good." I smiled, and my stomach growled.

Once we got to his parents' restaurant, his little sister,
Sarah, ran straight into his chest. Picking her up, he squeezed her tight.

"Eric, you're hurting me." She kicked her feet
while smiling, obviously enjoying her big brother's affection.

"Sorry, stinker," he said, putting her back on the
ground.

Sarah looked up at me with a big grin. "I'm glad you
came back. Eric doesn't have too many girlfriends. I think it's because he hugs
them too tight."

I laughed and glanced at Eric. His cheeks were red, but he
smiled sweetly at his sister.

"Thanks a lot. Let's get our orders ready before Elle
decides to leave."

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere. Can't wait to hear more
stories of all the girls you hug too tight." I winked. Eric gave Sarah a
stern glare, but she shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Our orders were ready not long after we arrived, but knowing
mine had a ton of onions, I winced. I would've chosen a burger without onions
or japalenos if I could've ordered for myself. However, after I took my first
bite, I didn't care anymore. I was in hamburger heaven and still couldn't
believe I'd never heard of this place.

Sarah made herself at home, stealing our fries when hers were
gone. I didn't mind, but Eric would frown in a loving brotherly way back at
her. Sarah looked a lot like Eric, sandy blond hair and big smoky blue eyes.
Super cute and I could see how much she idolized her brother.

While they bantered back and forth, my heart tugged thinking
about the way Heather and I used to tease each other. The ache from missing my
sister formed a lump in my throat, and I took a long drink of my iced tea to
push the hurt down.

After we finished eating, Eric and I said bye to his family
and headed back out to his car. I didn't want the date to end.

"So, where to now?" Eric looked at me, waiting for
my answer. Glad he wasn't ready for our date to end, I smiled.

"I don't care. Wherever is fine with me."

Eric smiled back and started his car. "I've got the
perfect place in mind."

I laughed nervously when we took off. "Um, should I be
worried?"

He didn't reply, winking instead.

Fifteen minutes later, we parked in front of a batting cage
facility. I didn't know how to play baseball. Who cared, right? So, I went with
it. Eric paid a round of hits for both of us. I'd never hit a baseball before,
so I insisted he go first. He didn't argue and took his stance inside the cage.