The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven (12 page)

             
“Just, please don't talk anymore,” I said exasperated.

             
Once Jack returned we got to work right away discussing the material that would be covered on Monday’s exam. Thankfully Tristan kept quiet. Every now and then he would throw in his opinion, but I think it was mostly to keep himself from falling asleep. After two hours of none stop studying we decided to take a break. Jack excused himself to go to the bathroom. “You don't have to stay. I know this is boring you,” I told Tristan.

             
“What makes you say that?”

             
“Well considering you were snoring about an hour ago and I had to kick you to wake you up.”

             
“Yeah thanks for that. I think you left a mark,” he said, rubbing his shin. I laughed and leaned back in my chair. “Is that a smile I see? Could it be true? Have I managed to melt the ice queen?”

             
I narrowed my eyes at him and sat up. “Seeing you in pain does give me quite a bit of pleasure,” I retorted.

             
“Didn't know that's what you were into,” he leaned in closer. “If you want I have some handcuffs back in my room and maybe a paddle or two?” He suggested giving me a boastful smile.

             
“God!” I laughed pushing him back. “You don't give up, do you?”

             
“You have a nice smile. You should show it more often,” he said, dropping his usual bravado.

             
“Thanks,” I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and blushing.

             
“Okay, where did we leave off?” Jack asked, returning to the table.

             
“Profit-maximizing behavior with non-economic concerns,” Tristan informed us. My jaw dropped in surprise. He winked at me and leaned back causally in his chair with his arms behind his head. I shook my head and continued to read.

             
Through the rest of the discussion Tristan stayed awake and even offered some input. Apparently he had an intellectual side to him after all. Every now and then Tristan's knee would brush mine, making my stomach feel all twisted up inside. I would pull away, but he always managed to find a way to be closer to me. Every time he would impress me with his knowledge he would throw me a smile making me have to look away to keep him from seeing me blush. Tristan showed me a new side of him that night, one that I could appreciate.

             
After another hour we decided to call it quits. I could tell Tristan was getting restless and only held out this long because of me. I was tired, myself, and looking forward to getting some much needed rest. “Well I think I studied about as much as I can for one night,” I said, closing my book.

             
“Great,” Tristan said, jumping out of his chair. “It's still early so we can hit a few parties on the way back.”

             
“Uh no, I'm going to bed,” I said, collecting my things.

             
“Is that an invitation?” Tristan grinned, taking a step closer.

             
“No,” I said, pushing him back and turning to face Jack. “You ready?” He nodded and we took off.

             
“Wait, I'll walk you back,” Tristan yelled catching up to us. No one said anything on the way back. It made for quite the awkward silence with Jack on the one side and Tristan on the other.

             
Jack's room was first on our floor so I said goodbye to him and told him I'd talk to him tomorrow. Once he closed his door I walked away ignoring Tristan. It only took him two steps to catch up. “So now that we got rid of the third wheel, how about we have some fun?”

             
“Tristan, I'm going to bed.” He smiled wide. “Alone,” I clarified.

             
He placed both hands on either side of me blocking me in. Then he leaned in close and looked deep into my eyes. My breath hitched and he smiled. “One of these days you're going to say yes and by then I'll have moved on. Don't fight it,” he said, gently caressing my hair.

             
“The only thing I'm fighting right now is the urge to punch you,” I said, pushing him away so I could breathe.

             
He laughed and stood back. “I'm wearing you down. I know it. It won't be long before you give in.”

             
“Goodnight Tristan,” I said, turning to go into my room.

             
“It certainly was,” he said, taking off down the hall.

             
I closed the door behind me, falling against it, and taking a breath. I hope this doesn't mean what I think it does.

             
Crap.

             
I think I'm in trouble.

             
I shook all thoughts of Tristan from my head and dropped my books on my desk. “Ella?” Josie's head popped up from her bed.

             
“Oh Josie I'm sorry, didn't know you were sleeping.” I looked over at the clock on my stand and noticed it was only ten o'clock. “Wait, why are you in bed so early? What was it this time, premature ejaculation?” I laughed.

             
“Who's that?” I heard a strange voice and looked over at Josie confused. Then I saw a man's head pop out from underneath the covers.

             
“Oh my god!” I yelped, covering my eyes.

             
“If you wanted to have a threesome you could have asked. I wouldn't have minded but would like to have been prepared,” the strange man said.

             
“Oh, ugh, gross,” I said, turning to leave and bumping into everything on my way out.

             
“Ella just uncover your eyes,” Josie said, annoyed at the disturbance.

             
“No,” I said feeling my way for the door. “A little warning would be nice next time.” I found the doorknob and jumped out of the room fast, slamming the door behind me. I leaned against the door and closed my eyes trying to erase the imagery. I had no problem talking with Josie about her sexcapades, but talking about it and seeing it are two different things. I shuddered one more time and pushed myself off the door. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

             
“Changed your mind about the party?” Tristan asked, stepping out of his room.

             
“No. I just can't go in my room at the moment.” Tristan looked at me confused. “Josie's entertaining a guest.” I air quoted even though I'm sure Tristan would have figured it out regardless.

             
“Perfect, now you can be my escort to the party.”

             
“Tristan I'm really not in the mood for a party.”

             
“What else are you going to do? Sit outside your door and wait till they're finished.” I looked over my shoulder at the closed door and heard Josie giggle. “What could it hurt?”

             
I sighed not seeing another option. “Fine, only because I have nowhere else to go, but let's clarify things right now.” He stood up straight listening carefully and giving me one of his serious looks. “This is not a date and I am not your escort. I'm just a friend that you happen to be accompanying to a party. Got it?” He nodded and smiled, giving me a look that made me want to blush. “What?”

             
“You called me your friend,” he said thoughtful.

             
“Tristan, you know what I mean,” I said rolling my eyes.

             
“See, I'm wearing you down.” I laughed as he threw his arm around my shoulder and walked me down the hall. “Now when you say friend, do you mean friend with benefits or...”

             
“Tristan!” I laughed pushing him away. “I'm going to go back and sleep outside my room if you keep this up. I'm not in the mood for a party to begin with and you're not helping.”

             
“Sorry,” he said. “I'll be good. I promise.”

             
I eyed him wearily and he put his hands in his pockets proving that he’d keep them to himself. “So where's this party at anyways?” I asked.

             
“At the fraternity.” I stopped. “Don't worry. It's a private party so it will be very low-key, nothing crazy.”

             
I hesitantly followed Tristan out the door and off we went to the fraternity house.

Chapter eight

The fraternity house was jam packed. “Low-key, huh?” I said, eying Tristan.

              “For this bunch, yes,” he said with a wicked grin. I rolled my eyes and followed him through the crowd. He offered me a beer, but I declined. “Oh c'mon, one drink isn't gonna hurt.” I sighed and took it so he would leave me alone. I had a feeling I might regret this then reminded myself, at the moment, it was better than sleeping on the floor in the hall.

             
Tristan floated around the room introducing me to all different people. All the girls he introduced me to seemed to only be polite to appease Tristan. I had to laugh at their eagerness to do whatever he asked. I also met a few of his brothers. Some of them were just like him and others were pretty laid back. One of the nicer ones asked me to play flip cup. I figured, why not?

             
After I beat all the guys none of them wanted to play anymore. They were too embarrassed to be beaten by a girl. One of the guys suggested we move on to beer pong, convinced I couldn't beat them at that as well. Boy, were they in for a surprise. I have two older brothers and one of them likes to party. Not to mention all the parties Kyle and Kevin always had after they won a game. I spent many nights playing these games. I always had the better advantage considering I normally wasn't the one drinking.

             
After I won the first two games, they decided to play teams. I was having a surprisingly good time considering my earlier mood. And to my amazement Tristan wasn't glued to my side the whole night. After he introduced me to his friends he wandered off for a while, but then made his way back. He didn't stick around long though, he was constantly walking around socializing and that was okay by me.

             
I sunk my next shot and the opposing team insisted I was cheating. My teammate called them out on being sore losers and they stomped off, further proving his point. “Good job Ella,” my teammate, Chuck, said giving me a high five. “So is there anything you're not good at?”

             
“No,” I winked, elbowing him playfully.

             
He chuckled. “Well it was a pleasure being your teammate, but I think next time we should play for money.”

             
“Deal,” I smiled. He patted me on the back and took off.

             
“Ella!” I followed the sound of my name and glanced over my shoulder to see Cadence waving at me.

             
I walked over to greet her. “Hi Cadence, how are you?”

             
“Good. Are you here with Josie?” she asked, looking around.

             
“No. Actually I came here with Tristan,” I said almost shamefully.

             
She looked at me funny. I knew she wanted to say something but decided to be polite. “Oh, well, that's nice.” There was a slight pause, but she bounced back quickly. “So have you made a decision yet?”

             
“I'm sorry?” I asked, not sure what she was talking about.

             
“To join us,” she said. “We really would love to have you and Josie be a part of our sorority. If you'd like I could take you to the house sometime, show you around, and introduce you to the rest of the girls.”

             
“That's not necessary but I appreciate the offer.”

             
“So you've made your decision?” she asked, hopeful.

             
“I'm sorry. I still don't know yet.”

             
“No need to apologize. When you're ready just let me know.”

             
“Hey Cadence, who's the new meat?” asked one of Tristan’s brothers. I remembered this one. I didn’t like him. We hadn't officially met and that's only because Tristan refused to introduce us. He stated that this other guy was worse than he was and didn't want to subject me to that. I laughed at Tristan telling him that I highly doubted there was someone worse than him.

             
“Frank, this is Ella,” Cadence replied.

             
His smile was creepy and I almost didn't want to shake his hand. He checked me out and wasn't shy about being obvious about it. I pulled my hand back narrowing my eyes at him. He just grinned wider, taking it as a challenge. “So what's a cute little girl like you doing here all by herself,” he asked.

             
“I'm not here by myself,” I said, taking a step back.

             
I heard a small scuffle and Cadence let out a sigh. “I'm sorry if you'll excuse me,” she said putting her drink down on the ledge and walked over to what looked like the start of a cat fight.

             
Frank the slim ball slid closer to me, wedging me up against the wall, leaving me no place to go. “Now that she's gone, you and I can have some private time,” he said, dragging his finger down my arm.

             
I picked up his finger and removed it from my arm. “Sorry but I'm not interested.” I said, trying to step away from him, but he blocked my path.

             
“Let's not be hasty here. Stay a while.” He leaned in closer, twirling a piece of my hair in between his fingers.

             
“No thank you,” I said, swiping his hand away. I tried to step back but he had me trapped, again.

             
He slammed his hand right next to my head making me flinch. Then he dragged the back of his hand across my lower stomach, teetering on the edge of my jeans. “Come on, you come here to party dressed like that and looking the way you do. I know you're the type of girl who plays shy, but really likes to have fun,” he said, pulling on the button of my jeans and trying to slip his hand down my pants.

             
I grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back slamming him into the wall. “Last time I checked no means no. Or do you need me to clarify that for you again,” I spat.

             
“No. I'm good.” I let him go and he turned around grabbing my arm tight. There was a fire in his eyes and he was not happy about being put in his place.

             
“Back off Frank,” Tristan growled gripping his shoulder. I hadn't seen where he came from, but was happy he appeared. I looked at Frank's hand still on my arm and then back at him letting him know I would have no problem removing it for him.

             
He let me go, glaring, before turning around to Tristan. Frank's face instantly changed when he addressed Tristan. “Relax brother, no need to get hostile,” he said, patting his shoulder. Tristan stared him down. Frank straightened out his shirt, threw Tristan a cocky smile, and then chased after the first girl that walked by.

             
“Are you okay?” Tristan asked, looking concerned.

             
“I can handle my own,” I said with conviction.

             
“Yeah, I saw that,” he smiled. “But seriously, are you okay?”

             
“Yes, I'm perfectly fine,” I said, spreading out my arms proving that everything was good.

             
“Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?” Tristan said, scolding me like I was child that misbehaved.

             
“Well when you told me he was worse than you, I didn't believe that was possible so you know I purposely put myself in an awkward situation because I love proving you wrong,” I said smiling sarcastically.

             
“There are other ways to prove me wrong besides engaging with an asshole,” he said.

             
“I guess I shouldn't be talking to you then either,” I countered.

             
“Ouch...and to think I thought I was starting to break down your wall.”

             
“That will never happen and to set the record straight he approached me not the other way around,” I explained feeling the need to clarify. He leaned back and smiled at me. I had to turn away feeling my cheeks burn from the way his eyes were engaging mine. “So, what now?” I asked, looking away.

             
“Well we could...”

             
“Not that.”

             
“How'd you even know what I was going to say?” I gave him an ‘
are you serious’
look and he shook his head. “Okay fine. Come on, follow me.” He took my hand and led me through the party to the back of the house where there was a pool table. “Know how to play?”

             
“No,” I said as I took the stick he handed me.

             
“It's easy. I'll rack and you can break,” he said racking the balls together. When he was done he handed me the cue ball. I took my shot, missing entirely. “That was pathetic.”

             
“I told you I didn't know how to play.”

             
“You do at least know the concept of the game right? You want to hit a ball into one of these holes.”

             
“No, I thought the object was to see how many times you can hit the white ball without it hitting anything,” I said.

             
He just smiled and bent down to break. He sunk two balls in the corner pocket. “You're solid,” he gestured for me to go.

             
“If this is your way of teaching me how to play you kind of suck at it.”

             
“I wanna see how you shoot first.”

             
“Didn't I just do that?”

             
“No. That was your attempt at breaking and you failed miserably.”

             
I narrowed my eyes at him before I leaned downed to take my shot. I tried to pick what I thought would be the easiest shot, but was wrong. I still missed.

             
Tristan placed his stick against the wall and came over to help me. “We're gonna go for the thirteen, left corner pocket.” I looked at the shot thinking there was no way to make it. “It's easy,” he said as if reading my mind.

             
He told me where to stand and then went over to where the ball was. “You want to hit it right here,” he said, pointing to the side of it. Noticing how doubtful I was, he walked back over to me, and told me to line up my shot. I slipped the stick between my fingers and bent down. “You're holding it wrong.” He took my hand, readjusted it, and then leaned over me with his arm around my side and the other on the stick guiding me.

             
“Okay, turn a little bit this way,” he said, his warm breath tickling my ear and giving me goose bumps. “Now line it up, right, there.” His nearness was making my stomach do that flutter thing. I closed my eyes as he pulled the stick back and helped me make the shot. I heard the click of the balls connecting and opened my eyes in time to see the thirteen enter the left corner pocket.

             
“I did it!” I cheered turning around to hug him. He tensed slightly by my reaction, but then relaxed letting his arms fall loosely around me. His arms felt so good. I pulled back quickly once I realized what was happening. I let myself get caught up in the moment. I was too close for comfort so I tried to step back to get some distance, but I was up against the pool table. “Sorry,” I said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

             
“What are you sorry for?” he asked in a hushed voice. Any sign of his normal cockiness was gone. Instead he looked almost awed. I let myself get lost in his eyes and almost forgot where I was.

             
“Nothing,” I said, quickly slipping away from him. “You're shot.” I pointed to the table putting my mind back on the game. When he wasn't looking I let out a breath and ran a shaky hand through my hair. Get a grip Ella, I told myself.

             
When it was my turn he offered to help me again. “No I got this,” I said, too afraid to be near him. He stood at the opposite end of the table trying to give me advice on where and what ball to shoot. I was still too worked up from when he helped me last that my nerves got the better of me and I over shot the cue ball sending it flying off the table and into a group of innocent bystanders. Luckily no one was hit.

             
Tristan retrieved the ball and insisted he help this time so no one got hurt. “Okay, now this time, a little less power.” He wrapped his arm around like last time and lined up my stick. His touch had a weird effect that made my skin tingle. “You're shivering,” he said. “Are you cold?” he asked noticing the way I was quivering.

             
“No it's fine, I'm fine,” I stammered. He leaned in a little closer sending my head into a whirlwind spiral. “I think I got it,” I said, hoping he'd back away and give me some breathing room. He stood up and leaned casually against the wall waiting for me to take my turn.