Distinction: The Distraction Trilogy #3 (19 page)

“Three…” I inhale. “Two!” I exhale. “ONE!” I toss the glass back with my head and quickly swallow the bitter fluid as it swirls down my throat. “Fuck.” My hand closes around the glass and I shake my head to rid the burn quickly. “Chaser… quick.” A glass of some kind of purple glowing drink is shoved into my hand by a very drunk and rough Hayley. I neck it; it’s sweet and a lot tastier than whatever it was I just took a shot of.

“That’s my girl!” Hayley cheers and the gaggle of women around me begin screaming.

My head spins merrily as I stare up at the stage and watch the nearly naked man dance like something from a movie. He is so good looking. I feel wrong for objectifying him like this but… fuck. This is hot.

“Think he’ll let me take him home?” The girl beside me asks, staring hungrily at the man Hayley just threw money at.

“Probably not.” Jocelyn shoves between us and throws her arm around my shoulder. I don’t like her; she’s shady. “He has his eyes on the red head.”

“He’s good to look at, but I’m taken.” I say and fortunately Kira shoves between us both, saving me from having to deal with the fake bitch who is sleeping with my soon to be ex-husband.

Fucking drama.

Whoa… when did the world start to spin so fast?

“This is amazing. Elle… this is the best night ever.” Hayley slurs and begins to climb me like a tree. I feel her lips against mine before she spins away from me and starts dancing against the stage.

“I need water,” I say and Kira nods her agreement. We leave the gaggle of happy women and skip to the bar. I order a pint glass full and down it. I count to ten before I need the toilet.

Why did I drink so much?

“Because you’re a legend,” Kira laughs and links her arm with mine. “Also inner monologue is supposed to stay… well… inner. You know?”

Oops.

“Do you…” hic. Fuck I hate hiccups. “Do you think I should…” hic. “Call him?”

“No. I think you should just go back out there and dance and enjoy the night.” She sways and it takes us both into the wall. We laugh hysterically, drawing the eyes of the bouncer in the hall who is guarding the bathroom. He shakes his head, clearly used to such theatrics.

“Are you… are you a stripper too?” Kira asks, sidling up to him.

He gives her a blank look. We both take that as a no and, still cackling, enter the bathroom, relieved to see no queue.

“Jocelyn keeps trying to talk to you,” Kira states, sounding more sober than she is.

I shrug. “So?”

“She’s trying to figure you out.”

“Why?”

“Not a clue, but she stares at you a lot when you’re not looking.”

“Maybe she wants a piece of the red head too,” I giggle, though the thought makes me nauseous.

“Maybe she wants you both to tag team Isaac. It seems only fitting.”

I slap my hand over her mouth. She falls backwards, through a cubicle door, and lands on an open toilet. Stumbling after her, my breasts squish her head and my knee goes into her stomach.

“Sorry!” I laugh loudly and climb off her as she checks her dress. “I fell.”

“No shit… what were we saying?”

“Fuck knows.”

I sit bolt upright and wipe the drool from the side of my mouth. It’s pitch black but I can hear my phone ringing from somewhere on my bed. It seems to be under my quilt.

I toss my blanket around until I find it, only to be surprised.

“Elle?” I say softly and check the time on my bedside table. “It’s three in the morning… are you okay?”

“I kind of maybe… hic… lost my peops…”

Oh dear. She’s drunk. “Your what?”

“I’m lost in Boston.” She giggles a little. “That kind of rhymed.”

“Why are you in Boston?” And then it hits me. “The hen night?”

“Yeah.” Her breath leaves her. “Can you maybe please come and get me?”

I’m out of bed before I can register that I’m moving. “Where are you?”

“I don’t… hic… I see a maccies take out.”

I know where she is, despite her slurring. “Stay on the phone, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

“I touched abs… They were sweaty and gross. I didn’t like it.”

This time I don’t have a fucking clue what she’s saying. She sounds hammered. “Where is everyone?”

“Kira got sick so Beth took her back to the hotel ‘cause Hayley didn’t want me to leave but whiskey shots and stuff and then I was with Jocelyn and I don’t like Jocelyn so I left. But Hayley… hic… fuck… I don’t know. I think they left without me.”

I got about thirty percent of that as I was racing to the car in nothing but jeans and a white T-shirt. “How much did you drink?”

She starts giggling. I turn on the engine and put her on loud speaker. “It’s cold, so not nearly enough.” She pauses. “Hey, Isaac?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you sing to me?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Sing to you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not singing.”

“Please?”

“I’ll tell you a story.”

“I don’t want a story. I want a song.” She erupts into a bad rendition of ‘It’s Raining Men.’ She’s definitely been to a strip club if she’s singing that song. Surprisingly I don’t feel jealous, just happy that she’s called and she seems to have had a good night. “Are you nearly here?”

“Just a couple more minutes. You shouldn’t have left your friends, Elle. That’s dangerous.”

“I knew you’d save me.”

This makes me smile. She still trusts me with her body at least. That’s a small victory. “Always. I’m glad you called me.”

“I wouldn’t dare not, Mr Price. Or are you forgetting about what happened the last time I got drunk and didn’t call?”

I think back to the day I pinned her in my classroom and my cock instantly swells. That moment was so fucking intense. It was then that I realised I was falling in love with her… I think.

Or maybe I knew it before then.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, bottle that feeling and fucking drown in it.

I see her in the distance, leaning against a dirty wall, her phone to her ear. Her smile lights up the entire night sky when she sees me.

After pulling up to the curb, I climb from the car and make my way towards her.

“Hey,” I say awkwardly and she stumbles towards me. I’m not sure whether I should take her arm or waist… this is a difficult situation. I’m worried she’ll think I’m taking advantage of her.

Before I can process it further, her arms are around my neck and her full, drunken weight is on me. “You’re so warm.”

With one arm around her back, I half carry, half drag her to the car as she dangles from my neck like a monkey from a branch. I still don’t want to let her go but, for obvious reasons, I have to, so I lower her into the passenger seat and help her adjust her seat belt.

She smiles drunkenly and pats my cheek with a heavy hand before slumping and allowing her head to loll onto her shoulder.

“Did you have a good night?” I ask immediately after finding my own seat.

“Amazing.” Her voice is soft and low. Alcohol taints it with a dull slur. “Best ever.”

“Good. Where am I taking you? Where are you staying?” I was just going to drive her back to my place but I figure that is far too presumptuous.

“The Lodge Hotel…” She kicks off her heels and brings her long, shapely legs up onto the seat.

“Do you have your room key?”

“Probably in my bag.”

Nodding, I turn the key in the ignition and set off. Part of me wishes I hadn’t asked.

“It’s lucky you live here or I’d be stuck,” she says and that thought scares me.

“No.” I place my hand on hers. “You wouldn’t have gotten this inebriated if you didn’t have a safety net.”

Smiling lazily, she looks at me and then closes her eyes. “You’re my safety net.”

“Good.”

She leans over the console and rests her forehead against my shoulder. It’s not until my arm begins to die and I hear the tell-tale sound of her heavy breathing that I realise she’s passed out.

Shit.

“Elle?” I whisper and shake my arm a little, but not so much that her head could roll. Part of me likes having her here.

No.

Not part of me.

All of me.

I see her phone ringing where it rests on her thigh. Carefully, when pulling to a stop at a red light, I pick the phone up and stare at the screen.

I have two choices here. I could answer it and speak to Silas, find out her room number and then take her there. Or I could use this an excuse to take her back to my place, put her in my bed and wake her up with a cooked breakfast.

The latter calls to me so badly. The possibilities that this choice could bring completely outweigh my reasoning and, for a long moment, I consider it.

But then I shake my head and rearrange my thoughts.

Elle wouldn’t want that, not in this state. I might do more damage than good.

I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have and taking her home would probably put a strain on her relationship with Silas. I can’t do that to her. She deserves more from me than that.

So I swipe my finger across the screen and bring it to my ear as I pull over. “Hello?”

“Who the fuck is this?”

Or maybe, just maybe, I shouldn’t have answered her phone at all. He’s meeting us there and he didn’t sound pleased.

I should have thought this through a little more.

I see Silas pacing outside of the hotel, back and forth in front of the doors, though he stops when he notices the headlights of my car and cups his eyes with his hands as if to see us better. It clearly doesn’t work because he goes back to pacing.

I pull up between two parked vehicles a short distance away from the hotel and hope that he hasn’t recognised us yet. All I want is just one more moment with her. Just one.

“Elle?” I try to wake her but her head only lolls back onto her seat.

I brush her red hair from her face and allow my fingertips to linger upon her soft cheek for a moment longer than necessary. Then I climb from the car, ignoring the bite of the cool air and the light pattering of rain.

Walking around to Elle’s side, I open the door and crouch beside her. “Elle?” She still doesn’t stir.

Sighing gravely, I slide one hand beneath her thighs and the other under her arms. Fortunately she isn’t a total deadweight as her arm wraps around my shoulders, the other resting in her lap.

I leave the door open and make my way to the doors with Elle cradled in my arms. She smells fucking delicious.

I want to carry her all the way home.

Why didn’t I take her home?

“Her shoes are in the car,” I say to Silas as he glares at me and then at Elle. I don’t blame him. He has every right to be angry.

I can’t be, though.

She called me.

Silas is here in Boston and her first thought was to call me.

“Got them,” he mumbles after catching up. He holds the door open, clearly not wanting to take her from me in his own inebriated state. He must have been here for the stag do.

Why Boston? Out of everywhere in the UK, why Boston?

I follow him down the hallway and into the elevator where we share an awkward silence. It charges in the air between us along with the buzz of his anger and irritation.

My arms are starting to go dead, yet the thought of putting her down is killing me.

“I don’t know why she called you.” Silas says and he actually sounds quite pitiful. “I’m sorry if she disturbed you.”

I’m not, I want to say but obviously don’t. “She was really drunk.” Not that it excuses her behaviour. She’s a grown woman. She shouldn’t be drinking like that if she can’t handle it.

“Should I be worried?” He asks and comes to a stop at their room door. “Be honest. Don’t sugar-coat it or lie.”

I move to the double bed.

Fucking double bed.

Now I really wish I’d taken her home. I can’t handle this, knowing that he’s going to be climbing into bed with her. I’ve been avoiding thinking about it.

He pulls back the covers and I lay her on the mattress before levelling his stare with my own. Should he be worried? Is there something there?

“No,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t believe she feels anything for me in that way at all. She definitely hasn’t shown it. I think she just got too drunk tonight.”

His shoulders sag and his hands rub over the buzzed hair on his head. “Well, thanks for bringing her home safe.”

I nod and flex my arms. “See you.”

“See you later.” He stumbles on Eloise’s shoes that he dropped moments before but luckily makes it to the door before I leave. I’d laugh but I’m too fucking depressed.

There’s nothing worse than handing over the woman you love to another man. There’s nothing worse than admitting to him that you no longer mean anything to her.

Fuck this.

Isaac
:
Where are you?