Distraction (37 page)

Elle

"Hey, what
'
s going on?" My brows pulled together as Alyssa dragged
me into the kitchen while Eric stayed in the other room.

"We need a shot," Alyssa said. She poured two shots
of Patron.

"You take mine. My stomach isn
'
t over my last
drinking binge." I shivered.

"Fine." Alyssa threw her head back and took the
shot like a pro. I looked around for Tristan, but didn
'
t find him.

"How long have you been here?"

"
Not long.
" Alyssa downed the other shot.

I turned to get a better look at the crowd. I found Ginger,
but Tristan wasn
'
t with her. Immediately my stomach settled.

"He
'
s not here," Alyssa said. I turned back to her.

"Did they…I mean, do you think they did anything?"
I bit my lip.

"Elle, what does it matter?" Alyssa
'
s perfectly
trimmed brow rose.

"It doesn
't...I guess.
" I looked away.

"Yeah, that
'
s what I thought."

I snapped my head up, finding Alyssa grinning at me. I hated
her sometimes.

"Shut it," I said sternly, which made her grin turn
into a full blown smile.

"Come on, let
'
s get back to the party."

My shoulders dropped. "Okay." I followed Alyssa
into the crowd.

The night was full of surprises. Ginger was nice to me and
Alyssa. Something I hadn't expected. Eric and I danced a bit, and then played a
game of pool before leaving the party.

"That was fun," Eric said on the drive back to my
house.

"Yeah, I
'
m glad we decided to go." The party had been fun and I
was able to keep from thinking about Tristan after I
'
d learned his
date with Ginger
’
s didn
'
t end well. I probably should
'
ve felt bad, but
I didn
'
t. I may not be with him, but the last thing I wanted was for
him and
Ginger
to end up in bed together. Not that I preferred anyone else,
but I
really
didn
'
t want him to be with her.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"
I don'
t have any plans." I quirked my brow at the peculiar
expression he gave.

"
Good.
"

"Are you going to tell me what you have in mind?"

Eric smiled, but didn
'
t reveal his plans.

"Fine," I said, with a huff.

When Eric dropped me off, he said he
'
d pick me up
around two and to dress comfy. I agreed and headed inside, ready to pass out.

The next day when Eric picked me up, I begged him to tell me
where we were going, but he refused. We ended up pulling into a driveway in a
nice neighborhood. There were pink balloons near the front door and a happy
birthday banner nailed above the doorway.

I turned to Eric. "Is this your house?"

He smiled at me and nodded.

"Whose party is it?"

"My little sister. She asked me to bring you. I hope you
don
'
t mind."

"
No, that’s great
."

"Good, because my parents wanted me to bring you with
me, too." Eric
'
s news surprised me, but he was out of the car before I could
say anything more.

"Ready?" Eric glanced down at me when we reached
his parents doorstep, looking nervous.

I laughed and nudged his shoulder. "I
'
ve already met
them. How bad could this be?"

The door swung open, and Eric
'
s little sister jumped
into her brother’s arms.

"
It'
s about time you got here." She smiled brightly then
turned to me. "Hi, Elle. Come eat some cake."

"Yum," I said, and followed Eric and his sister
into their overly pink-decorated house.

"
Hi, Elle,
" Eric
'
s mom said, pulling her daughter away from Eric.

"Hi, Mrs. Green. Thank you for inviting me."

She smiled then turned her attention back to Eric
'
s little sister.

Eric bent down to me, and whispered, "They like you."

"I like them, too," I said, lacing my fingers with
his.

The party turned out to be a lot of fun, especially when Eric
'
s little sister
insisted on painting his nails pink. I
'
d never seen him blush until then.
I helped Mrs. Green pick up plates and cups when the party came to an end.

"Eric said you
'
re having Thanksgiving with us?"
Eric
'
s mom said with her back turned to me.

"Um, he hasn
'
t said anything to me." A knot
formed in my throat. I liked Eric, but we weren’t at that place in our
relationship. Mrs. Green turned around.

"Oh, I thought he
'
d already asked you. I
'
m so sorry. I
shouldn
'
t have said anything." She gave me an uneasy grin.

"Don
'
t worry about it. I would love to join y
'
all." I
wasn
'
t sure why I
'
d said that. I guess I didn
'
t want to make
her feel bad, even though I really wanted to suckerpunch Eric in the arm.

"Are you ready to go?" Eric asked, peeking his head
into the kitchen.

"Yeah," I said then turned back to his mom.
"Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time today."

"Anytime, dear."

Eric and I said our goodbyes, and as soon as we were in his
car, I laid into him.

"Your mom is under the impression that I
'
m going to
Thanksgiving with you." I crossed my arms over my chest, irritated. He
looked over at me, smiling, but didn
'
t look sorry.

"I was going to ask you after our date Friday, but
forgot." When I didn
'
t say anything, he glanced back at me. "Are you mad?"

Yes, I was, and was ready to tell him but he didn
'
t give me the
chance.

"I like you, Elle, a lot, and when you told me that
Tristan had kissed you," Eric paused and my stomach dropped. "Well, I
realized how much you meant to me."

Eric stopped at a red light and turned to me. His words didn
'
t make me feel
any better, and the way he was looking at me made my heart hurt. I couldn’t do
this anymore.

"Elle, I think I
'
m falling in love with you."
The light turned green, and Eric tore his hopeful eyes away from mine and
focused on the road. The air suddenly felt too thick, suffocating. I cared for
Eric, but I didn
'
t love him because…I didn
'
t want to finish
that thought.

"Eric, I like you, but I don
’
t–"

"
I don'
t expect you to say anything back." He pulled into my
driveway. "Just think about Thanksgiving. We have a couple of weeks until
then, but," he turned to me, "I
'
d really like you to meet the rest
of my family."

My chest felt tight and my head dizzy, but I managed a weak
smile in return.

"I
'
ll think about it, Eric, but don
'
t get your hopes
up. I may have to go home." I thought about how much I missed my sister.
Maybe she'd be home by then.

"
I understand,
" Eric said.

"Okay, I should get in. I have a few papers to finish
before classes tomorrow," I lied.

"Sure."
Eric lean
ed in for a
kiss, but I didn
'
t let it linger.

"Bye," I said quickly, and dashed out of his car
and into my house.

All night long Eric's words ran through my head,
Elle, I
think I
'
m in love with you.
Great, what was I going to do now?

Chapter
25

Tristan

We had a few more games before Thanksgiving. Coach had us
training harder and longer because of it. I didn
'
t mind though.
The tiresome practices kept my mind off other things.

Elle had been even more distant than before the “dollars for
dates" night. I
'
d picked up my phone and punched her number in hundreds of
times, but never hit send. Instead, I waited for her to call or text. Mostly
she
'
d text. The few times she did call, I imagined how she
looked, smelled, or felt against me. Yeah, I was fucking pathetic and fucking
horny. I hadn
'
t had sex in what felt like months. Oh wait, it had been
months.

The nights were even harder. The dreams, all starring Elle,
were hot–too hot. Every morning I
'
d wake up and drown my misery in a cold-ass shower. Fuck, I
hated cold showers, but I didn
'
t want anyone other than Elle. So, I knew there were more icy
showers in my future.

Tomorrow’s game was away. I looked forward to being in
different scenery. Maybe not being around so many places that reminded me of her
would help. Maybe.

* * *

"Daniels, kick some ass," Bret shouted as I ran
onto the football field. I smiled. Bret had been given the okay to play, but
Coach had kept me in. Made me feel bad. Almost.

"Daniels, break right as soon as I fake the pass off."
Jarred stopped, then grinned around his plastic mouthpiece. "Let
'
s kick some
cowboy ass."

“Hell, yeah," we shouted in unison, bringing our hands
together in the middle.

"Break," Jarred said.

I could hear the fans chanting in the stands, but let the
distraction go as I hunched over. My mind channeled, in the zone, and the only
sound I heard was my breathing.

The ball was snapped, and I pushed forward then quickly broke
out to my right as planned.

I turned, knowing the ball was near. I can
'
t explain how,
but I always knew. There…the ball flew a little higher than I
'
d expected but
it didn
'
t matter. I leapt in the air, grabbed the ball, and tucked it
under my right arm. Turning forward, I broke out in a hard run.

Two guys were already on me. I turned left, another orange
fucker was there, but I didn
'
t have anywhere else to turn. Butts came to my defense and
blocked me so I could take off. Only two yards to go. I sprinted faster.

One.

Score.

"It's a Texas Tech touchdown!"

I threw the ball to the ref and got ready for the extra
point. It was good.

"
Good job, Daniels,
" Coach said.

"
Lookin
'
good, Daniels,
" Bret said, but I could tell he wanted out there.

"
Thanks, man,
" I said, panting. I grabbed a drink and sat on the
bench.

The game could go either way. OSU played their asses off, and
the next time I caught a pass, I got knocked down just as fast. It was now
third and two. Plan was to pass to Butts instead of me. Black and orange suits
were on me like flies on shit and this was the end of the game.

The snap was made and just like before, I was heavily
covered. I turned, hoping to distract the fuckers, but they expected me. Jarred
threw his pass and Butts grabbed the ball. I shifted direction and ran, blocking
the guy headed for him. The maneuver helped. Butts drew close, but more guys
rushed in.