Distraction (30 page)

"I
'
m sorry, Kellie. I
'
m not sure what you want me to say.
I don
'
t want to hurt you, really, I don
'
t."

Kellie
'
s round eyes hardened as she stared me down.

"I did love you, it
'
s just...we aren
'
t right for each
other."

"
You can
'
t mean that?" She stepped closer. "I know I messed
up, but we can work past this."

"Kellie…"

"Why her? We were just fine before we moved here."
I ran a hand threw my hair, not sure what the hell she wanted from me. I didn
'
t want to hurt
her, but she left me no choice. She refused to let up, or move on.

"Kellie, I
'
m not in love with you. Not the way you deserve to be loved.
You need to let us go."

"
I...I don'
t know how to give up, Tristan. I
'
m not a loser."
Her voice turned to acid and knowing whom she referred to only proved my point.
My phone rang.

"Hold on," I said, and answered my call. "
Hello.
" I turned
my back.

"Tristan, it
'
s me."

"Oh, hey, Heather. How
'
s rehab?"
Damn. I cringed, knowing Kellie heard what I
'
d said.

"Hard." Heather blew out into the phone. "But
I feel a little better. I can
'
t talk for long, but I wanted to tell you how much I
appreciate what you did." She huffed into the phone again, and I waited. "I
'
m trying some
therapy thing. The lady said I should thank the person who helped me."

I laughed, shaking my head. "No need to thank me, kid.
Just get better."

"Yeah, I
'
m working on it. Listen, I
'
ve got to go,
but don
't forget our deal.
"

I closed my eyes and dropped my head. "Yeah, I won
'
t tell your
sister until you're ready. I promised, and I
'
ll keep my
bargain as long as you keep yours."

"I will. Thanks."

The line disconnected, and Kellie cleared her throat from
behind me. Shit. I turned slowly, wanting to kick myself in the ass. When I
looked up at Kellie, her eyes had dried and the red blotchiness had faded.

"I
'
m sorry to have bothered you. I think I get it." She
grabbed her purse from the chair and took out my key. "Um, I was only
coming here to drop this off." She handed over my key then stepped back.
"You must think I
'
m pretty delusional right now."

Even though she kind of nailed my train of thought, I shook
my head anyway.

"Well, for all it
'
s worth–" She sighed, her
shoulders dropped. "I still love you. But I understand, so I guess this is
goodbye." We stared at one another for a quiet minute. "I better get
going."

I nodded and moved toward the front door. "Kellie, I am
sorry we ended up this way."

She smiled, not too brightly, but enough to show her dimples.
"I know, Tristan."

She stepped closer and unexpectedly gave me a soft kiss. I
didn
'
t want to give her any wrong ideas, and backed away quickly.
When I opened the door, she walked out without saying a word. I stood
in the
doorway
waiting
until she drove out of sight.

I closed the door and sat on my couch when my phone rang
again. This time I looked at the screen to see who was calling. When I saw it
was Bret, I answered quickly.

"Bret, what
'
s up?
"

"Dude, there’s a party at the house later. You game?"

"Nah. Hey, I need you to do me a favor."

He laughed. "Sure, what
'
s up.
"

I shook my head, a smug grin plastered on my face.  “
Elle asked me to
hang out with her and Green tonight at a club, but I don
'
t want to look
like I
'
m crashing their date." Just saying it put a bitter
taste in my mouth. "Elle got pretty trashed last night, and Green left her
alone." My pulse increased with anger. "Anyway, I need you and Alyssa
to go. Just make sure to leave me out of it when you bring it up to your
girlfriend."

“All right, but you owe me. We
'
ll be there, but
you’d better show up. Green is a pussy."

I laughed.
"Agreed. I
'
ll be there."

"Cool. See you later."

I hit end, rested my head against the cushions, and closed my
eyes. Behind them, I pictured Elle smiling back at me. Her intense green eyes
shined, her cheeks slightly pink from what I wished I could say to her face…I
love you and only you.

Just a few short hours until I
'
d meet up with
them at the club. I didn
'
t know how, but I
'
d do my damnedest to make Elle
mine.

Elle

Alyssa and Bret decided to meet Eric and me at the club.
Tristan hadn
'
t showed yet, but he
'
d texted earlier saying he
'
d be there in a
bit. My stomach fluttered and my hands turned clammy at the thought of seeing
him tonight. Maybe it had something to do with him being single again? I hated
the way I reacted to that fact. I was in a relationship, dammit!

Alyssa threw a lime at me, effectively pushing me out of my
head. "You wanna shot?"

Actual bile rose from her suggestion. When
I look
ed up, her lips
lifted in a devilish grin.

"No." I rolled my eyes. "I wonder where
Tristan is?" I searched the packed club. When I didn
'
t find him, I
turned my attention back to Alyssa.

"I
'm sure he'
ll be here shortly, but in the meantime you should probably
try paying attention to the guy you
'
re actually here with." She
nodded to the bar where Eric and Bret waited in line.

"Sorry, I
'
m just worried about him." As the day went by, the
conversation between us during breakfast replayed in my head. The more I
thought about it, the more I wondered what was on his mind. It wasn
'
t the way he
acted really, but more of a feeling I got. Like he was keeping something from
me.

"Yeah, I think we all get that. You
'
ve mentioned how
worried you are…several times," Alyssa said, deadpan.

"
It'
s just that...well, he didn
'
t seem fazed at
all about Kellie cheating on him."

"Okay. So, why would that worry you?" Alyssa
'
s brow rose.

"Alyssa, I told him his fiancée cheated on him with
Robbie and I figured he
'
d unhinge or something, but he was oddly cool with it."
A text popped up. I immediately opened it.

I
'
m here.
See ya in a sec

"From the wide grin on your face, I
'
d say that was
Tristan."

I glared at her. "Yes, smartass." I looked out into
the mass of people and caught a glimpse of Tristan
'
s dark, sculpted
hair in the crowd.

"Here
you go,
" Eric said, handing me the bottled water I
'
d asked for.

"
Thanks,
" I said in a mechanical tone. I couldn't take my eyes
away from Tristan as he strolled closer.

"Hey, Spud." Tristan gave me a sexy grin. Crap, I
didn
'
t want to think about his smile being sexy or how smoldering
his eyes looked. His black, long sleeved button up shirt was untucked and he
had on a pair of faded jeans. I bet they made his ass look great. Perfect, I
was doing
it
again.

"Hey, yourself," I stammered, scooting my chair
closer to Eric, hoping to distract my wandering eyes and thoughts. Eric draped
his arm over my shoulder.

"I
'
m gonna grab a drink," Tristan said with a scowl.

Eric leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You want to
dance?"

"Sure."

I stood and he held my hand, leading me to the dance floor.
My stomach knotted and I glanced over my shoulder. Tristan. I found him
watching me, and our eyes locked. My pulse galloped and my breath caught from
the heated look in his eyes. As I edged closer to the dance floor he turned
away, heading into the crowded group of people around him. I watched until his
body disappeared completely.

Chapter
20

Tristan

I knew Elle would be with Green, but when he put his arm over
her shoulder, all I wanted to do was rip it off. So I left before I said or did
something stupid. I didn
'
t want to mess this up, so I took a few steps away from the
table.

As Elle headed to the dance floor, she turned, as if sensing
me. For a few seconds everyone in the club faded away and we were the only
people there. Confusion filled her gaze as she stared back at me, like maybe
she didn't quite understand the emotions running through her body. But then it
happened–the recognition, the intensity, the heat. The desire in her stare–fuck,
yeah. I knew the look, felt its strain coursing through my lower half. I'd make
her mine, by any means necessary and without regret.

I needed a shot of something strong, but decided a cold beer
would work for the time being. I easily maneuvered my way through the crowd.
The line at the bar moved quicker than expected, and I was sipping on a beer in
no time.

I figured Elle would’ve been finished dancing by the time I
got back, but she wasn’t at the table by the time I returned.

"Where
's Elle?
" Alyssa thumbed the dance floor behind her. When I
looked up, I found Elle dancing a little closer to her date than I liked. She
'
d worn another
dress tonight, which made keeping my eyes off her difficult. This dress fit
tighter than the last one. The thin material looked like a second skin as she
swayed her hips with the beat of the music. The way her body moved entrapped
me. She fanned her face, and then lifted her long, brown hair up to cool her
neck. My imagination ran wild, picturing my tongue sliding over her moist, hot
skin, tasting her, holding her. Holy shit, she was sexy.

She laughed, her face lit as she looked at Green. She
appeared happy. Happier than I
'
d seen her in a long time, actually.

"So, where
'
s the fiancée?" Alyssa
'
s annoying voice
pulled my eyes away from Elle
'
s body.

"Don
'
t know. She
'
s not in the picture anymore, and you know it."

“I know. I just like messing with you." I came close to
smarting off, but Bret piped in before I had the chance.

"Dude, if you wanna take another go at Robbie, I
'
m all in." Bret
had a spark of excitement in his voice that I could understand. Not being able
to be on the field these past two weeks had to have made him antsy. The thrill
of kicking some ass would take the edge off. I halfway considered fighting
Robbie then thought against it. No way would I risk being kicked off the team.
Besides, Robbie wasn
'
t worth the time or effort.

"I
'
m good, man, but thanks for having my back."

Bret
pouted. Big-ass baby.

Elle came back to the table, still laughing. Green moved
closer to Elle
'
s ear, and I blurted the first thing that came to mind to
stop him. "So, you play baseball. Right?" Action diverted. Green
faced me, and Elle sat beside Alyssa. At least he wasn
't touching her.

"Yeah," he said.

"What position?" The thought of taking
Elle in
different positions
filled my thoughts.