Distraction (19 page)

"Fine, I
'
m sorry, but are you really going out with Eric Green? I mean,
he has a reputation you know." Tristan
'
s brow rose.

“It’s fine. Now, if you don
'
t mind I
'
ve got to get
out there before Eric thinks we
'
re doing something in here other than talking." My
stomach knotted, but I kept my expression smooth.

"So what. Let him think whatever the hell he wants,"
he said with an impish grin.

I grabbed my jacket. "Alyssa said she wanted pizza
earlier. Ask her to eat with you." With that, I opened my door and left
him in my room. I practically shoved Eric out the front door, but obviously not
fast enough.

Alyssa yelled, "Don
'
t do anything I
wouldn
'
t do.
"

"Nice, Alyssa," I said, closing the door behind us.

We hurried to his car. Once inside, he asked, "Is it
always this exciting when you go out on a date?"

"You
'
re the first guy I
'
ve been out with, so there isn
'
t anyone to
compare with."

"I like that," he said, starting his car.

Eric asked where I wanted to eat. Because Tristan had showed
up with a pizza, I couldn't think of anything other than Italian. I even
ordered pizza, which kind of irritated the crap out of me.

After dinner, Eric drove us to his frat house. When we walked
in, to my surprise, Tristan sat comfortably on the sofa. I pushed up on my
tiptoes to whisper in Eric
'
s ear. "What
'
s Tristan doing here?"

"He
'
s in the frat. I figured you knew." Eric turned his face
to me.

I lowered my eyes to his lips, and then did something
completely out of character. I kissed him. I hadn
'
t meant to, but
his lips looked so soft, and I wanted Tristan to see how much I liked Eric.

He pulled away first. "I have wanted to do that all
night," he whispered. A guy whistled, causing warmth to heat my face.
"Lay off, Matt," Eric warned. "Hey, you want a beer or
something?" I wasn
'
t given a chance to answer.

"
She doesn
'
t drink, man," Tristan said defensively, standing from
the couch.

"I
'
d love a Coke or whatever you have," I answered,
dismissing Tristan
'
s comment.

Eric nodded and headed to the kitchen. Tristan didn
'
t waste time,
and took his place beside me.

"I didn
'
t know you joined a frat. When did this happen?" Tristan
had never wanted to join, partially because his dad pledged here, but mostly it
just didn
'
t fit him.

"It happened after hanging out with some of the guys on
the team. My dad pledged," he shrugged his shoulders, "and joining
was important to Kellie."

I frowned at him. "This isn
'
t you, Tristan."
I wanted to say more but Eric walked out handing me a drink. "
Thanks.
" I took a
sip tasting the burn of alcohol in it, but didn
'
t say anything.
Tristan immediately walked away from us.

"You play pool?"

"I
'
ve never played before, but I bet you
'
re a great
teacher."

"The best," he replied, leading me up the stairs
and away from Tristan.

Upstairs, Eric showed me how to hold my pool stick. He broke
and made one ball in. A solid, so I took stripes. Personally, I preferred
solids, but whatever. When he didn
'
t make his next shot, I purposefully fumbled with my stick.

"Let me show you how to shoot." Eric leaned against
my back, and stretched his arms over mine. "Make sure you keep your hands
steady," he said next to my ear. I shivered from the warmth of his breath
against my neck.

"Okay,"
I stammered.

"When you hit, you want to make sure to aim for the
center of the cue ball."

"Got it," I said weakly. With Eric still guiding
me, I reared back and hit the cue ball, but not hard enough. I
'
d barely touched
my ball.

"Not bad," he said stepping away.

I did my best not to roll my eyes.

I continued letting Eric show me how to line up my shots for
a while. He had a few balls left on the table while most of mine remained. Time
to get this show started. When my turn came around, I lined up my shot and
nailed it. Along with three more. Eric played, but didn
'
t attempt to
help me again. He only had the eight ball.

By the time I
'
d finished my drink, I could barely taste the mix of alcohol.
I hit my last striped ball in and concentrated on the infamous eight ball.

I'd lied when I said I
'
d never played before. Tristan
taught me back in high school. When we played teams at a party, we killed at
every game. Geometry, everything all boiled down to geometry. Problem being, I
sucked at geometry, and I
'
d never done well with bank shots.

"Here goes nothing." I lined up my shot, hit the
cue ball hard, and watched as the ball bumped against the opposite side of the
table. The cue ball rolled in a straight line hitting the edge of the eight
ball, forcing it to roll across the green. Unfortunately, my ball slowed to a
halt, a hair shy of dropping in the pocket.

"Dang it." I frowned.

"I
'
ve got this," Eric said, chalking the end of his stick.
He lined up his shot and gently nudged the cue ball. I watched the eight ball
fall in the pocket, followed by the cue ball. He scratched and I won by
default.

"Ha, you lose!"

Eric leaned his stick against the table, and then came to
stand in front of me. "I think I was just hustled."

I pointed to my chest, feigning innocence. "I would
never," I started, but he silenced me. Slightly bending me back, Eric
leaned forward and kissed me.

I locked my arms around his neck, and he pulled me closer to
his chest. The kiss turned electric when his tongue skimmed my lips, and I
willingly complied with his offer. He moaned in my mouth, and feeling
dangerous, I slid my hand down his back. Every inch of my skin felt alive,
until I heard a loud hit against the wall.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Tristan
pronounced each word with animosity.

Eric and I pulled apart, but he kept his arms around my
waist. Thank goodness, because the effects of the alcohol had kicked in.

"What the hell
'
s your problem, Daniels?" Eric
shot Tristan a hard glare.

"You
'
re my problem," Tristan said, closing the distance
between us. I had to intervene before someone did something.

"
Uh, Tristan, we
'
re kind of busy. Did you need something?" I hoped my
words didn
'
t come out slurred.

"Yeah, I saw how busy you were." Tristan
transferred his anger to me.

"What, you jealous?" Eric taunted, releasing me
from his arms, but shielding his body in front of me. Not good.

"
Elle isn'
t some chick you can check off your list of bags, dip shit."

"I think she can handle herself." Eric clinched his
fists.

"Give me a fucking break,"
Tristan laughed.
"Lay
one more hand on her and you
'
ll be sorry." Tristan
'
s tone turned
into a growl, his face firm with his intent.

"Why don
'
t you make me," Eric countered, stepping closer to
Tristan.

"Hey, I
'
m right here, you know." I slid between them. "You,"
I pointed to Tristan, "back off. What I do with Eric is none of your
business. I appreciate you looking out for me, but there isn
'
t anything to
protect me from." My plea only seemed to make Tristan angrier. His eyes
blazed with fury.

"
Elle, get a clue. He'
s not your type." Tristan
'
s hands were
balled by his sides, his eyes dark and dangerous.

"Enough, Tristan." I circled back to Eric.
"Eric, I
'
m sorry, but can you take me home." Eric
'
s jaw tensed. I
could see he wanted to put Tristan in his place and maybe I should
'
ve let him, but
I couldn't. I didn
'
t want him or Tristan hurt.

"I
'm sorry, Elle. Yeah, I'
ll take you home." Eric grabbed my hand and led me
around Tristan.

I could feel Tristan
'
s cold stare as we went past him.
As soon as we were downstairs by the front door, I heard a loud crash from
upstairs.

Eric and I didn
'
t speak on the short ride back to my house. But I didn
'
t want the night
to end like this. I wanted to move on with Eric, but after the display Tristan
pulled–acting like an overprotective brother–he probably wouldn
'
t want anything
to do with me.

"Eric, I
'
m really sorry for what happened. He can be a
little...protective at times." I glanced over at him and saw his knuckles
had turned white gripping the steering wheel.

"Are you sure that
'
s all it was?" He stared out
the windshield when he parked against the curb.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we
'
ve been best
friends since we were kids. He
'
s always been there for me, but that
'
s it."
Eric
still didn
'
t move. I unbuckled my seatbelt to move closer, placing my
hand on his arm. Finally, he turned and his blue eyes softened.

"I like you, Elle. Maybe more than I should considering
we just started dating, but I think Tristan–"

I held up my hand to stop him. "
I don'
t want to talk
about Tristan anymore." I cupped his face in my hands, needing him to
believe me. Eric leaned in, and our lips met gently, but he pulled back before
the kiss could turn into anything more.

"I wouldn
'
t hurt you, Elle. I want you to know that, and I would never
push you into doing anything you didn
'
t want to do. I get that you and
Tristan are friends, but the way he acted tonight." He slowly moved
farther away from me.

A few months ago, I would
'
ve given
anything to have  something more than friendship with Tristan, but I
'
d made up my
mind and I wasn
'
t changing it.

"Listen, Eric, Tristan and I are friends. We
'
ll always be
friends, so I hope you can deal with that, but that
'
s all we are.
Just friends...nothing more. I don
'
t want to be with him. I want to be with you, but if what
happened tonight was too much for you, then tell me now."

Eric closed his eyes, exhaling loudly through his nose.
"Elle, I hope you
'
re right because I want to be with you. I can deal with
Tristan as long as you
'
re only friends." He opened his eyes, but when he looked
at me, he didn
'
t seem convinced.

I answered his reservations, pulling him close. "Does
this help?" I pressed my lips against his. Eric
'
s hand moved to
the back of my head, pressing me closer. I fisted my fingers in his hair
wanting, no needing, to get lost in his embrace. His distraction was what I had
needed to finally let go.

I could taste the lingering effects of his beer as our
tongues rolled together. Eric moved his hand under my shirt, stroking my back
and increasing my pulse. I wanted more and gladly arched my back as his lips
trailed soft kisses down my throat then back up again.

His hand inched higher up my shirt. Cupping my breast, he
circled his thumb around my nipple through my bra. I had gone further with
other guys, though not by much, but I didn
'
t want to stop
just yet.