Distraction (14 page)

When Elle suggested I call Dad and Kellie, to forgive them, I
could see her reasoning. Then she mentioned missing a date to be here with me.
I felt like someone had punched me in the fucking stomach. How did my life
become such a clusterfuck?

The sound of a vehicle pulling into the drive caught my
attention. I hadn
'
t realized I hoped to see Elle until I felt the
disappointment when Kellie walked in instead.

We stared at each other in silence. Her face was a mess. The
black shit she piled on her lashes ran down her face like war paint.

I did love Kellie, I mean, do love her, but could I get over
her deliberate scheming? I expected my dad to pull this kind of shit, but not
Kellie. She'd worked with him and all the while I’d been completely clueless.
The devious manner of what she'd done reminded me a bit too much of him. My dad
never cared whom he had to hurt to get what he wanted, just as long as he won
in the end. Her shoulders began to shake and tears rimmed the bottom of her
eyes. I
'
m not an insensitive bastard, but she deserved this.

"Tristan, I
'
m so sorry."
Kellie hiccuped.
"I love you
and I want to be with you, but I won
'
t be second place in your heart. I
know you and Elle are friends but I don
'
t like it, and when you called her
while we were fighting..." Kellie closed her eyes.

She opened her eyes again, determined. "
I won
'
t be second to
her, Tristan, not ever again. If you
'
re upset, then talk to me. Tell me
what you want, but you can
'
t run to someone else when things get tough. We
'
re supposed to
be in this together and if we can
'
t talk to each other now, then what will that mean when we
'
re married?"

She had a point. Regardless of still being pissed, I walked
over and wrapped my arms around her. Being a little shorter than Elle, I had to
slouch to rest my head against hers.

"Kellie, what you and my dad did was wrong." She
looked up at me, her brows pulled in the center. With the black shit down her
face, I almost laughed again.

"I do love you, but if this is going to work then you
can
'
t lie to me again. I mean it, Kellie, or we
'
ll end what we
have together." I hadn
'
t meant to sound harsh, but I was still pissed and a simple
apology hadn
'
t changed anything.

"Just promise we
'
ll get through this. Promise when
you want to talk, you
'
ll talk to me and not...her." Kellie
'
s eyes hardened
around her demanding words.

"I
'
m not having this fucking conversation with you again. Elle
is my best friend, whether you like her or not, but I
'
m with you–not
her." I matched my tone to hers, waiting for her reply.

With a long sigh, Kellie bobbed her head in agreement then
rested her head against my chest. I held her close, needing the feel of her
next to me. I
'
d made the right choice, right? Kellie and I didn
'
t fight much, or
ever really. But this shit, her going behind my back, messed my head up.

"Listen." I cleared my throat. "I think we
should spend some time apart." Kellie
'
s body
stiffened. "I
'
m not saying goodbye. I just think a few days apart would be
good for us."

Her shoulders began to shake. I hugged her tighter before
pulling away. Tears rolled down her face and I used my thumb to wipe them away,
smudging the black streaks across her cheeks. Her eyes were wide, the fear
clear to read.

"I love you." Uneasiness settled in my gut, but my
facial expression remained impassive. Kellie forced her lips into a tight
smile.

"I love you, too." She paused, catching her breath.
"I get it, really. I...I think you
'
re right. We spend all our free
time together and...I do trust you. I promise not to turn into a crazy, jealous
fiancée...again." She gave me a dimpled smile that reached her eyes this
time.

"Good, ‘cause I don
'
t want to fight
anymore." I grinned down at her and she pushed up on her tiptoes. I leaned
forward and kissed her until she pulled away for air. The kiss held a jagged
edge of raw emotions between us, almost as if we were holding on to the past.
When we broke apart, without argument, she walked to the door and left.

I sat down on the couch and took out my cell phone. I hated
the way my dad pushed his way into my life, but I couldn't deny not wanting to
play here either. With a long sigh, I dialed his number. He answered the line
on the first ring. We didn
'
t do small talk well and within a few minutes, we
'
d made a deal. I
hated the fucking high superiority tone he took, but I let it go. As soon as we
reached an understanding, we hung up. I
'
d argued enough for one day, and
without effort, I fell asleep the second my head hit my pillow.

Elle

The Sunday morning church rush finally slowed down, allowing
me enough time to make myself an iced latte. Grabbing my frozen drink, I headed
over to a table near the window. I tried to think of anything but Tristan, but
as usual, my efforts sucked. The front door opened and I started to get up
until I noticed who walked in. Kellie. Really not the person I wanted to see at
the moment.

"
Hey. Can we talk?
" Kellie gave me a small smile. She stood in front of
the empty chair beside me. I considered telling her no due to the line of angry
customers, but decided to hold back the sarcasm...until later.

"Sure," I agreed, and she sat in the chair in front
of me, biting her thumbnail. I noticed biting her nails was a nervous habit of
hers, and hoped she washed her hands frequently and didn
'
t end up with
something nasty like Hep A.

"I wanted to thank you for talking to Tristan," she
paused, "and I wanted to apologize for acting so crazy. I mean, I know I
said I was cool with your friendship, but you
'
ve kind of been
put on a pedestal. I
'
m afraid I won
'
t be able to live up to you."

I began feeling somewhat at ease until she finished her
thoughts. "I know Wade and Macy approve of me and have mentioned that I
would be a better person for Tristan to confide in than you, but I
'
m not marrying
them."

I wanted to ask her who the hell did she think she was, but
refrained. Tristan being a big boy, he could figure out what he was getting
himself into on his own.

"Listen, I appreciate your honesty, but Tristan and I
have been friends forever, with or without his parents' permission. And we will
continue to be so for years to come. You can
'
t change how we
feel for one another simply because you two are engaged. I know understanding
this is hard, you being so young and all, but give it a year or two and you
'
ll understand a
little better." My tone dripped with sugary sweetness. Alyssa would be
proud. Besides, I couldn't take her passive aggressiveness anymore.

Kellie patted my arm. "You
'
re right. I am
young, but we
'
ll figure this out as we go. Hey, maybe you can be one of my
bridesmaids?"

She mocked me, but whatever.

"Have you set a date yet?" I couldn't contain the
eager curiosity in my voice.

"I want a spring wedding and his parents are thrilled."

What a little snake!

"Oh that
'
s great." I feigned enthusiasm. "Does Tristan know,
or are you waiting until he
'
s ushered down the aisle before you clue him in? We both know
how well going behind his back turned out for you the first time."

"He knows, and I told him I wanted to be the one to tell
you. I knew you would be excited." Her cheeks dimpled when she smiled.
Someone walked in, saving me from either knocking the crap out of her or
vomiting, because I was on the edge of both as it were.

"Wow, congrats. Listen, I
'
ve got to go,
but I
'
ll talk to you later."

She nodded and stood to leave. I didn
'
t watch as she
opened the door and left. Frank had walked in instead of a customer, ready to
take over the afternoon shift. His timing had been perfect, got Two-face out of
here and allowed me to go home. Without hesitation, I picked up my stuff and
headed toward the exit.

"See ya, Frank. I think you
'
ll have a light
afternoon."

On the drive home, I played over the conversation with
Kellie. I refused to call Tristan. I wouldn
'
t give her the
satisfaction of knowing I wanted to confirm her story. I
'
d wait until
Tristan brought the date up. However, after the sugary heated words his future
wife and I just underwent, I didn
'
t expect to be getting a call anytime soon.

At home, I went straight to my
room.

"Hey, Alyssa." I tried not to let Kellie
'
s news bother
me, but the words “wedding" and “set date" got to me.

"What the hell is your problem?" Alyssa sat on her
bed, her computer on her lap, with an irritated expression as she looked at me.

"Sorry, but I don
'
t know what you
'
re referring to.
All I said was, hey."

Alyssa rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine, whatever."

"All right, you obviously have something on your mind.
Let
'
s have it." I had a fifty/fifty chance her irritation
wasn
'
t directly pointed at me.

"You want to know what my problem is?" Alyssa
closed her laptop and set it on the bed beside her. "I
'
m tired of your
ass moping over a guy who has never given you the time of day."

My eyes widened, and Alyssa rolled her eyes.

"Give me a little credit, will ya? I
'
m not a complete
idiot, Elle. You
'
re in love with Tristan, but for the life of me, I don
'
t know why. Why
would you want to put yourself through the torture of playing nice with his
ludicrous engagement?"

I stood staring at my best friend in shock. Apparently, she
had more to say.

"We both know he could do better. The other night, I
thought for once you were going to suck it up and show him what he
'
s been missing
all this time, but no. Nope, not sweet non-confrontational Elle. You had a
chance, and you let it slip right through your fingers."

I didn
'
t know how to respond at first. My mouth felt dry and my
stomach nauseous.

Humiliated, I whispered, "I know." I darted my eyes
away from her. "I
'
m a coward like my mom."

Alyssa laughed.
"Give me a freaking break. You
'
re nothing like
your parents. Don
'
t you dare start placing yourself in the same category as
them. Hell, half your family turned their back on you because of who your dad
is and the mistakes he
'
s made, while the other half thinks you
'
re gonna be as
much of a screw up as your mom. I may not like how Tristan ignores his feelings
like you do, but I
'
ve got to give him a little credit.

"He
'
s never turned his back on you. Even when his parents said
your family was a disgrace and to never speak with you again. I
'
ve always been
there for you too, but either shit or get off the fucking pot. Wake up, Elle.
If you
'
re not gonna take a leap of faith with Tristan, then move on
with someone else, like Eric. Who, by the way, likes you...a lot." Alyssa
released a long sigh, hands on hips, fuming.

The combination of her reaction, my unpleasant run-in with
Kellie, and my bottled feelings for Tristan got to me, and I broke down in
tears.

Alyssa sat next to me on my bed wrapping her arm around my
trembling shoulders. "
Elle, I'
m sorry, but it
'
s time to move on. This is supposed to be the time of your
life. Don
'
t keep putting it on hold. Just be happy for once. Prove to
your family you
'
re better than they think you are. Hell, prove it to
yourself. I dare you."