Free Distraction by Angela McPherson Page B

didn't get
the better of him."
    I didn ' t want to hold on to the idea of them not lasting. If I did,
and their relationship held, I ' d be left picking up the pieces all over again. No, I only
wanted to make sure our friendship remained in the end. Over the years my
feeling for Tristan grew and I hadn't realized how much I depended on him being
in my life, and to not have him, even as a friend, well, I didn't think I'd
ever be the same.
    "I only care about making sure she knows I ' m not going
anywhere."
    A mischievous grin crossed over Alyssa ' s face. "I
think I like this side of you, Elle Richards. Maybe it ' ll pay off in
the end?"
    I loved Alyssa like a second sister, but trying to analyze
her thought process was pointless, even her therapist thought so.
    "Okay, whatever that means. Are you coming out there
with me?"
    "You bet your ass I am. I wouldn ' t miss any of
the action."
    In the living room, I found Tristan and Kellie talking with
Ginger. Kellie bit the end of her thumbnail.
    "Hey, Kellie. Looks like you ' ve met
Ginger, "
Alyssa said in a taunt. I did my best not to laugh.
    "Hi, Kellie. I ' m glad you came. We ' re gonna have a
great time tonight," I said, and followed up with a smile.
    Ginger sighed. "Whatever, I ' m out. " Ginger
then flipped her red hair over her shoulders and walked out the door.
    "I ' ve got to get going but I ' ll see you
later. Be good to my girl." He graced Kellie with a tight squeeze around
her shoulders, and then followed Ginger out the door. As soon as Tristan left,
Alyssa dove in.
    "So you and Tristan, how ' d you meet? I
want all the details." I had to hand it to Kellie, she put on a great
poker face when Alyssa jumped in with her questions. Alyssa could be your
greatest ally or worst enemy. Unfortunately for Kellie, she classified as the
enemy.
    I didn ' t care how they met. Tristan mentioned their hook up briefly
last weekend. Instead, I ignored the conversation, and surveyed Kellie from
head to toe. We did favor, in a subtle way. The color of our hair being
similar, our height, but I didn ' t see any other resemblance. Her face was too round, her
cheeks dimpled when she smiled, making her seem childlike. Her eyes were brown
while mine were green. Though I had to give her props about one thing, she knew
how to show off her more, um, larger attributes. If I had to guess, Tristan
noticed her chest first.
    "Did you hear that, Elle?"
    I winced, being caught staring at Kellie ' s oversized
chest.
    "Uh, sorry. What? I was...I mean..." Shit,
Elle. "I ' m sorry, I didn ' t hear. What
were you saying?"
    "Kellie just said she talked to Tristan ' s dad, and that ' s how he got on
the team." Alyssa smiled.
    I stared back at them, shocked. "When did this happen?"
I focused my attention on Kellie.
    "Last semester–"
    "You went behind his back and talked to his dad. Does he
even know?" I resisted the urge to yell, and she squirmed under my glare,
biting her thumbnail before answering me.
    "I talked to his dad when I realized Tristan wasn ' t going to. He
wanted to play football here at one point, and so did his dad. I ' m not sure what
went on between them, but I was hoping I could close the gap."
    When she finished, I couldn't believe what I heard. Sure, I
wanted to talk to Tristan ' s parents, but interfering wasn ' t my business or
place. Not that Mr. or Mrs. Daniels would talk to me, but that was beside the
point.
    Huh, Alyssa might be right. If Kellie continued to push
Tristan, no way would they last. But she still hadn ' t answered if
Tristan knew any of this.
    "Does Tristan know?" I eyed her closely. Kellie
immediately dropped her eyes to the ground. Holy shit!
    "I begged Wade to let me speak to him first. I talked to
his dad the other day and promised that Tristan would call this Sunday."
She just called Mr. Daniels by his first name and Tristan doesn ' t know. Wow.
    "Wade told me if I could get Tristan to agree to go to
school here, he ' d make sure Tristan played on the team. So when