Tristan loved the sight of Tessa in the passenger seat of his truck. She looked so small and feminine in such a large vehicle next to his large body. He was grateful she felt comfortable enough with him to let him drive her home.
“Why don’t you live on campus?” He asked as he turned onto the street that the house she shared with two other girls was on.
“Ugh,” she scrunched her nose up at the memory, “Been there done that. I lived in the dorms last year and hated every second. It was co-ed and so loud and dirty.”
He smiled and looked over at her. She seemed so gentle, poised and elegant. There was something about her that was almost regal, her femininity just radiated from her. He agreed that she did not belong in a gross, old dorm surrounded by a bunch of rowdy and horny dudes.
“I live with my brother,” Tristan said, his eyes scanning the very dark road as he drove slowly through the neighborhood streets. “He said he wanted to keep an eye on me. He really doesn’t want me to get in any trouble here. He knows with one mistake and I’m out.”
“That’s really nice of him to do that,” she said with a smile. “Oh, it’s this one right here.”
She pointed out the window, and he slowly drove into the driveway. The house was small but well kept. He could tell immediately that there were no men in this house. The exterior decorations were nothing but flowers and wind chimes, and the curtains that hung in the large window were delicate lace with a floral pattern. There was a soft amber light glowing inside, indicating that someone was home.
“Thanks for driving me,” Tessa said, bringing the strap of her bag over her shoulder.
“Let me walk you to the -”
“No, it’s okay,” she said quickly. “Really, my roommates are home, I’ll be fine.”
He sighed dejectedly and nodded his head.
“I had fun though,” she said immediately when she noticed his mood shift. She reached a gentle hand out and squeezed his. His eyes met hers and he smiled at her, squeezing her hand back.
“I’ll see you next week,” she said softly.
“Yeah, next week.”
He watched her heavenly figure slip out of his truck and walk towards her front door. He kept his eyes fixed on her as she reached into her bag to find her house keys, and waited patiently until she found her way inside, and closed the door securely behind her. He sighed and ran his hand over his face. This was getting more difficult by the day.
Much to Tessa’s dismay, she found herself thinking about Tristan every day leading up to their next study session. She had fought with her own conscience multiple times, telling herself it would be the most idiotic thing she could ever do to fall for a football player. He wassonot her type.
She went for artsy, brooding, mysterious guys. And there was nothing artsy or mysterious or brooding about Tristan. He was rough around the edges, loud, and annoyingly confident. He was also the physical embodiment of an attractive man. He was tall, unbelievably tall. He walked with a stride that would make any girl swoon. He was talented at almost anything he tried, naturally athletic and physically commanding. His jawwas sharp, his eyes a shade of green that was hypnotic and she swears they change color in the sunlight.
She shook her head to get out of her thoughts and looked back at herself in the mirror. Each day that she spent more time with him, the more she felt her resolve slipping away. And now here she was, sitting in the mirror attempting to make herself look pretty before they met up to study. She decided to leave her hair curly, since he hadn’t seen the natural state of her blonde locks yet and she usually got rave compliments on it from guys. She kept her make up light and natural but did decide to emphasize her eyes with a bit more mascara than she usually used and put a little bit of a dark brown shadow on the outer corner of her eyes. It accentuated their foxlike shape and made the blue color of her irises pop. She kept her clothing casual, but feminine. Finally deciding to wear her favorite pair of jeans and a light blue top with a wedged sandal.
“What the fuck,” she whispered to herself as she stood alone in her room. “I am such an idiot.”
She chastised herself for spending even one second thinking any of this was a good idea or for even caring for one second about if he thought she was pretty. She knew a guy like him would never want a girl like her. She viewed herself as awkward, silly, and naive. She knew she was pretty but also knew that the star football player for such a successful school could have literally any girl he wanted. The fact that she let her mind even go there for one second made her feel ridiculous.
She looked at the time and realized that she was running late and did not have time to back out of whatever look she was trying to present to him, and she made her way towards campus and to the library.
Tristan began to get nervous as he sat in their usual study room waiting for Tessa. It was now 6:15, and she was never late. He bobbed his leg nervously up and down, mentally tellinghimself he would give her two more minutes before he starts to really worry and call her. Thankfully, she burst through the door not even 30 seconds later, her blonde curls falling in a perfect mess down her back.
He stood at the sight of her, not even realizing it. He was just so relieved that she was okay, and goddamn she looked beautiful.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly, “Sorry I was running late from um, my last session ran long,” she said, lying straight through her teeth.
“It’s fine, I was just worried if you were okay,” he said gently, his hand reaching out to touch her forearm. Her skin was so soft and warm under his rough fingers, and he pulled back immediately when he realized he was touching her. “Sorry, um...you look like…really pretty,” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
She realized immediately that he was nervous, which surprised her. He didn’t seem like the nervous type, especially regarding giving compliments.
“Oh thanks, yeah I uh, my hair,” she averted her gaze from him, pointing shyly to her hair.
“It’s so curly. Is that natural or do you..?”
“No this is my natural hair. I usually straighten it.”
“Wow,” he said, his green eyes growing dark with something she didn’t recognize and watched as they lingered on her golden locks before stopping to hold an intense gaze with her. “You should wear it like that more often. It...it’s beautiful.” What he really wanted to say wasit’s sexy as fuck, hot, gorgeous, breathtaking, you’re so fucking pretty- but he obviously decided against it and took a seat at the table.
