Distraction (28 page)

"Come here," he said in a low and husky tone that
sent shivers all over my heated skin.

Eric drew me against his bare chest, trailing kisses down my
jaw, pausing only a moment to sweep the hair from my neck, and then continued
his trail of kisses. The tips of my fingers lightly traced the angles of his
back, causing him to groan against my shoulder. He backed away, thoroughly
disappointing me.

The light spilling into the room from the hall exposed the
intensity in the depths of his turbulent blue eyes as they raked over me. He
cupped my face, lowering his lips back to mine. My head remained in a fog, but
the way his hands felt, the way his kisses begged for more, excited me.

Without breaking apart, I inched us back until the mattress
bumped against the back of my calves, and lowered us to the bed. He kissed with
determination, and his hand traveled under my dress squeezing my hip.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Eric breathed
heavily against my neck.

Without warning, the room started to spin. I wanted to ignore
the assault, but the spinning was accompanied by a wave of nausea. I couldn't
ignore it.

"Sick," I moaned, pushing him off. Sitting up too
quickly in the process, the room picked up speed, enhancing my nausea.

Eric helped me to my feet and I bolted to the bathroom,
keeping a hand over my mouth. I slammed the door shut behind me, reaching the
trashcan just in time.

My throat felt raw and on fire when the first round of puking
died down.

"Elle, are you okay in there?" Eric’s voice carried
through the door, heavy with worry.

“Yeah. Sorry, but I think we should call it a night." My
voice sounded raspy.

"Are you sure? I can stay or call someone for you."

I didn’t know how much longer I could hold back the twisting
in my stomach, but I forced myself to answer him.

“I'll be fine. Shut the door on your way out," I
managed.

My head rested on my arm with the trashcan between my legs. I
wished he'd leave fast, because the stirring in my stomach kicked in again,
along with the spinning.

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow," he said, finally.

When my heaving slowed down, I reminded myself never to eat
milk-based products before I drank again. When the tilt-a-whirl settled, I
wrenched myself off the floor.

I opened the bathroom door and stumbled to my room for my
phone. I held my finger on the send button, about to call Alyssa, when it rang.
I answered Tristan's call, forcing a few quick words out before I hung up. The
dizziness came back along with the rolling in my stomach. I ran to the
bathroom.

My body felt like a herd of cattle ran over me. My head
rested against the tiled floor, the coolness soothed the throbbing behind my
eyes. I heard the front door open, but was afraid the spinning, or a number of
other factors, would join the pain in my body if I attempted to move. I stayed
still.

"I'll clean this up in the morning," I rasped when
someone opened the bathroom door.

"Take this," Tristan said, handing me a cold
washcloth. I wiped my face.

"I thought you were out of town?" I frowned up at
him. His brows furrowed, but he said nothing more for a minute.

"Here, open up and take these." He plopped what
looked like two ibuprofen on my tongue then guided a glass of water to my lips.
I tentatively swallowed the pills. When my stomach didn't protest the contents,
I finished the refreshing water in gulps, soothing the fire in my throat.

"You think you can stand?"

Carefully, I nodded. He helped me to my feet, but my legs
gave.

"Hold on, Spud. Put your arms around my neck." I
did, and Tristan cradled me in his arms. I let my head fall against his
shoulder as he carried me to my bed.

"Thanks," I said, laying still. Tristan walked to
my dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and T-shirt before bringing them to
me.

"Put these on. I think you have puke on your dress."

I wanted to object, but Tristan turned his back to me. I
worked the dress over my head trading the material for the comfy T-shirt. I
didn't bother with the shorts. Being too weak and tired, I curled on my bed and
closed my eyes.

A few seconds later, I felt the bed sink and then strong arms
pulled me close. Sighing, I lifted my head to rest against Tristan's shoulder.
My body instantly relaxed around his familiarity.

"I'm sorry, Elle," he whispered, while softly
running his hand across my back.

I tried to make my eyes open, but they refused to cooperate.
Being with Tristan this way threatened to break the wall I'd built around my
heart. God, he smelled good. Stupid alcohol.

I took another long intake of air in through my nose. With
each breath, my resolve crumbled and I succumbed, allowing my mind to escape
reality and fall into what could be.

Chapter
17

Tristan

When Elle
'
s call cut off quickly, I panicked. Something in her voice
didn
'
t sound right. At that point, I gunned the gas. Thank God,
the streets were relatively empty and there were no cops along the way. Once
there, I slammed my car into park, still pissed from worry, and ran into her
house. I headed to her room, but stopped when I passed her bathroom. I found
her listless body curled in a ball on the floor.

She
look
ed
miserable
, and seeing her fragile state scared the shit out of me. I'd
needed to hear Elle
'
s voice after I left her sister at the hospital. Leaving
Heather in her fucked up condition bothered me. But finding Elle's limp body on
the floor made the mess with Heather insignificant.

As much as I wanted to find Eric and kick the ever-loving
shit out of him, taking care of Elle became my only priority. Her body fit
perfectly next to mine. I ran my fingers across her smooth skin and then lifted
her chin. She opened her mouth and I regretted my move. I loved her, but her breath
reeked.

She shivered and tucked her head down, and I gladly pulled
the covers over her shoulders. She snuggled closer, draping an arm across my
stomach. If Kellie had done that I
'
d feel suffocated, but with Elle I didn
'
t mind and
pulled her tighter against me.

I looked down at her sleeping peacefully. She smiled,
bringing back memories of all the fun times we’d had together. I missed her
laugh, her smile, her...everything. Well, aside from her stinky-ass breath.

I knew then I couldn't pretend anymore. I thought I'd loved
Kellie, but my feelings for her never compared to what I felt for Elle. So,
seeing her with Green only increased the stabbing pain in my gut, but after
hearing what Heather said tonight, well, she gave me hope.

I closed my eyes, content with the steady rhythm of Elle's
heart beating against my chest. She
'
d always be the only person I
wanted to share my life with, and in the morning, I
'
d find a way to
make that a reality.

Just as my body relaxed, my pocket vibrated, causing Elle to
stir in her sleep. Carefully, I moved her off my chest and scooted off the bed.
Satisfied when she didn
'
t wake up, I softly closed the bedroom door on my way to the
living room.

The text was from Jarred wondering if I decided to go to the
party. With the shit happening tonight, I
'
d forgotten about it, but I didn
'
t care. I wouldn
't leave
Elle alone.

I was in the middle of texting Jarred back when I heard keys
jingle, and then the front door opened. Alyssa and another roommate walked in.

"What in the hell are you doing here, Shrimp?"

I wasn
'
t in the mood for her bullshit tonight.

"Elle was drunk, so I came over to help. She
'
s asleep now,
and I’m not leaving her alone."
For once, Alyssa didn
'
t have a
smartass quip for me.

"Oh," she started, then stopped. "I thought
you were going to the party with someone?" She raised her brow at me.

"Listen," I said between gritted teeth. I couldn't
think straight from being exhausted, and her irritating, demeaning tone pissed
me off. "I know you care about Elle, so I
'
m not gonna
start shit with you."

"Um, I
'
m gonna turn in," the other girl said. I couldn't
remember her name, but I think she was Bret
'
s sister.

"Night, Tisha," Alyssa said, confirming who she
was.

Her attention shifted to me. “Hey. I never got around to
saying this, but I
'
m glad you
'
re not with Kellie anymore. She isn’t who you should
be with."

I stared back at her, stunned. Where in the hell had that
come from?

“
And I don'
t want to start shit with you either," she admitted, and
then turned away.

"Okay. So, does that mean we
'
re friends now?"
I waited.

"Nah, let
'
s say this is a truce." She kept walking, and then over
her shoulder said, "You can take my bed in case Elle needs anything. I
'
ll take the
couch."

"
You sure?
" Alyssa, full of surprises tonight, completely threw me
off.

"Truce ends when you fuck up." Alyssa stopped and
stepped into the light. She glared back at me. "And Tristan, I
'
m really hoping
you won
'
t fuck up. Again." She spun around and headed to her
room.

Elle

The early morning rays spilled through the opened blinds, and
not only did my head hurt, my entire body felt like I'd been trampled on.

"Rise and shine." Tristan
'
s words beat
like a hammer against my skull.

"I need drugs." I sniffed the warm richness.
"And lots and lots of coffee." I pulled the covers over my head,
shielding my eyes against the brightness.

"I already got you covered," he said, sitting next
to me.

As I sat up, I tightly squeezed my eyes shut while my brain ping
ponged against my skull. I took the pills without caring what they were and
swallowed them down my sticky throat.

"You
'
ll feel better after you take a shower," Tristan said,
too loudly.

"Why are you in such a good mood? And can you please
lower your voice when you speak?"

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
Alyssa
'
s voice made the pounding in my head worse. I could've sworn
she'd yelled on purpose.

"Yeah, but she
'
s never been a morning person,"
Tristan answered her. For a second I just stared at them, feeling as if I
'
d been sucked
into the twilight zone or something.

"Um, I need a shower and way more coffee if I’m gonna
deal with y’all." As careful as possible, I tilted my head back and
finished my cup.

"
Good,
‘cause no offense, Spud, but your breath smells like ass."

"Ugh!" I protested. "Move out of my way so I
can take a shower."

"I
'
m with Tristan on this one," said Alyssa as I stormed
past her.

My head hurt too bad to think, and even if I didn
'
t admit it, I
could taste how bad my breath must
'
ve smelled
.

The scalding water from the shower eased my tense, sore
muscles and even helped to calm the hammering in my head. At that point, I
vowed never to drink again. When I finished cleaning up, I headed to the living
room. My stomach cramped. I needed food. More importantly, I hadn't come close
to my required armor of caffeine in order to begin my day. To top off
everything, I found Tristan watching TV with Alyssa and Tisha. Thing was,
Tristan and Alyssa were acting, well, civil. Alyssa turned her head toward me.

"You look and smell way better."

"Thanks for the honesty, friend."

"Just keeping it real." Alyssa smiled.

"I need to eat. Is there any milk left?" I headed
straight to the kitchen. Opening the cabinet
,
I reached for
the only box of cereal left in the house.