The Distance Between Us | Eric Coulter

eighteen

Eric

I resisted the urge to rip my arm out of Emily's hand.

The girl has been practically clinging to me ever since I had stupidly decided to entertain her mindless conversation the other day in spite of Rory.

I guess I wasn't in the position to complain since I had made no moves to stop her.

Here's the thing, seeing Rory bristle every time I walked into a room with Emily by my side gave me some sort of sick satisfaction. I think it was just knowing that I still had that kind of hold on her, that seeing me with another girl made her feel just as murderous as I did whenever I see her with someone else.

It has also been weeks since I'd last been inside her, and I can still imagine the way she writhes under me, the feel of her skin against mine, the way she screams my name when she comes and how she clenches around my cock like she never wants me to leave.

Emily has made it abundantly clear that she would let me fuck her if I wanted to. But all I can think about when I looked at her was that her hair was the wrong shade of blonde or how her voice was a pitch way too high, and how she was two inches too short.

Everything about her was wrong. Wrong, wrong, fucking wrong.

And right now, I was beyond pissed off. Stage-five Clinger Caddel? That nickname has haunted Rory throughout our years in Erudite. Despite my efforts to get people to drop it, some were still brave enough to use that damn nickname behind my back.

It took lots of busted-up knuckles before they finally got the message and kept their mouths shut- at least they did around Rory and I.

And trust me, I spent a good part of my last several years in Erudite trying to find out who the culprit behind spreading it was just so I could give the fucker a piece of my mind- and my fists.

I never figured it out. And not for the lack of trying.

I should've known, though. I should've fucking known that Emily was behind it all along.

The girl was a vindictive bitch. That, I always knew. But I thought she would at least be smart enough to leave Rory alone, especially if she wanted to be in my good graces.

Alas, it seemed the girl only had a single brain cell, and she's decided to dedicate it to being a little shithead instead of putting it to good use.

Emily chatters on cheerfully as she practically skips along beside me, blissfully unaware of how my hands were balled up in fists in my pockets.

Now, I don't make a habit of hitting women-unless I absolutely have to in tactical situations- but she does sure make it tempting as hell.

I walk her to her room, a place I knew would be away from prying eyes and ears, and when she unlocks her door and leaves it open for me to enter after her, I follow her into her room for the first time since she started offering the first night we reconnected.

She looks pleasantly surprised at the turn of events. Unbeknownst to her, this was going to be anything but pleasant.

I make a show of shutting the door behind me, before leaning up against it and eyeing her with mild disgust.

Of course, she seems oblivious to this, flipping her hair over her shoulder and settling on the edge of her bed while she flutters her lashes at me.

I scoff at her obvious seduction techniques before stalking towards her. I watch as her expression slowly morphs from one of anticipation to fear as she realises that nothing about the way I was approaching her screams lust.

"Eric?" There's a slight tremor in her voice she tries to disguise, "Is everything okay?"

I don't stop until I'm towering over her. Then, I lower myself until I was eye-levelled with her, my eyes burning daggers into her skull.

"Did you do it?" I sneered.

Emily lets out a nervous laugh, "What are you talking about?"

"Stage-five Clinger Caddel," I gritted out, "Were you the one who fucking started it?"

Another nervous laugh. "Eric, you know I'll never do something like that."

"Do I?" My jaw clenched almost painfully, "Because the last I checked, you never liked Rory. And don't even try telling me otherwise, Emily."

The next thing I know, Emily's bottom lip starts to tremble and her eyes start filling up with tears. Damn it. I never did well with people crying. I've learnt how to deal with it throughout the years when it came to Rory, but that didn't mean I knew what to fucking do.

"I just wanted you to like me," She sniffles, "I thought you would get tired of her eventually, but you never did!"

The fact that she thought that I would've ever left Rory before everything went to shit told me that she didn't know anything about me at all.

Emily buries her face in her hands and sobs. Rolling my eyes, I straighten up and turned for the door.

Stopping with my hand on the handle, I said over my shoulder, "I don't want to hear another word about any of this. Forget that fucking nickname ever existed and leave Rory alone. If I ever hear you talking shit about her again, I will fucking end you, Emily."

"I thought the both of you weren't friends anymore?"

I ignore her blubbering question, slamming the door to her room shut behind me as I made my exit.

I had told her that Rory and I weren't friends anymore. But I'm starting to find that old habits died hard, and for some unexplainable reason, I still wanted to protect Rory. Still held onto the stupid little notion that she was mine.

It's clear to me now that she never was. But if I couldn't have her heart, I sure as hell was going to have her body. Even if it could never be anything more than something physical.

The thought has an odd feeling settling in my chest that I quickly shove away before I had the chance to decipher it.

I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted her. No, I fucking needed her.

Stomping through the halls, it felt almost as if the universe was giving me a sign to take what was rightfully mine when I stumbled across her in an empty hallway on the way to the dorms.

Rory had probably noticed the determination burning in my eyes because the scowl on her face from when she noticed me quickly transforms into an adorable frown.

"Eric, what are you-"

Before she could get her question out, I'm pinning her back against the way and slammed my lips down against hers.

Her body immediately relaxes under mine, and just as I think she's going to give into this, she shoves me off of her before she brings her knee up and tries to knee me in the fucking balls.