Tristan spent half time with his head down, laser focused and mentally preparing himself for the second half of the game. He knew it was going to be tough to defeat LSU, but he knew they could pull it off. He took a few moments to reach deep and tap into the parts of himself that he usually kept hidden; the wild, aggressive, merciless side that he knew could win tough football games.
He had made it a point to keep his eyes out of the stands. He knew where the family section was and could see her out of his peripherals, but he urged himself not to make eye contact. He knew as soon as he saw her, his hard exterior would fade. For reasons he still could not figure out, she made him come undone, and what he needed to do right now was to be radically in control.
The third quarter went by with neither team scoring. Both defenses were fighting tooth and nail, not allowing any points to get through. The reason why this game was so anticipated and talked about was because Vanderbilt and LSU had two of the best defenses in college football. Tristan had knew he would have a difficult time getting past their D Line, but he was still beyond agitated that they could not score in the third half. And by the end of the third quarter, Vanderbilt was still unable to put up anymore points, while LSU was able to get a field goal.
This is the part that Tristan lived for; the part that made his heart race with adrenaline and excitement. He hated blow out games. They were boring and didn’t force him to use the best of his athletic abilities. But this was where he thrived. 20 seconds were left, and Vanderbilt had the ball. This was an absolute must score drive. Coach Adams had called a time out and was speaking with the quarterback, Zach Miller, about getting a first down so that they could get into field goal range and tie the game.
“I can do it, coach,” Tristan said, forcing himself into the conversation. “I can get the touchdown.”
Coach Adams looked at him with skeptical eyes. He knew Tristan was highly skilled and that if any player could do it, it would be him, but he also knew this was a difficult task even for seasoned NFL players.
“You wanna go for it?” Coach Adams asked Tristan, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, I don’t want to tie it, I want to win it.”
Coach then looked at Zach, who was listening intently to Tristan.
“What do you think? Can you get the ball to Tristan in the end zone?”
Zach, a very skilled senior who had played quarterback for Vanderbilt since freshman year, took a few moments to consider the play the coach had in mind.
“Fuck it, let’s run it,” he said putting his helmet back on. “Don’t let me down, Kelly.”
The players found their way back to the field in a huddle and listened as Zach called out the play. Jordan stood next to his brother on the field and nodded his head at the play. He was a center and was in charge of hiking the ball to Zach and blocking out LSU’s defense. “Let’s go Trist,” he said, grabbing the football and getting into position.
Tristan stood strong and ready, his long fingers twitching with anticipation, his heart pounding in his chest. He was practically salivating he was so overcome with excitement and adrenaline.
As soon as Jordan snapped the ball into the quarterback’s hand, Tristan’s body surged forward, and he used every muscle in his body to power himself forward, around the defense, his cleats digging into the turf, moving him closer and closer to the goal line. He got into position and whipped his body around just in time to catch the football securely into his hands and took two giant steps forward into the end zone just as the game clock hit 0. A powerful wave of relief and unbridled aggressive joy raced through Tristan’ body, and he spiked the ball in victory, hearing the crowd absolutely lose their minds and his teammates throw their large bodies on him in celebration. It was the most exhilarating play he had ever experienced to date, and within seconds of it being over, his mind immediately went to Tessa.
He pushed his way past the large circle of teammates around him and scanned the family section and found her almost instantly. She had a beautiful smile on her face and was laughing freely as her two friends had their arms wrapped around her and were jumping up and down, cheering loudly and high fiving the people around them. He immediately jogged over to her andremoved his helmet, happy to see she was right at the railing so he could easily get to her.
Her eyes met his and she froze, but his warm smile instantly put her at ease. He had sweat dripping down his face and he was panting, but he looked radiant and full of life. She leaned over the railing to get as close to him as she could and gave him an enthusiastic high five.
“Meet me at the entrance on the west side of the stadium,” he yelled over the crowd, pointing to the opposite end of the field. “I just need to shower and change but I’ll be quick.Don’t leave!” He pointed at her sternly to get his point across and then looked over at her two friends who were looking at him with wide eyes in stunned silence. “Don’t let her leave,” he said to them playfully.
“Sir yes sir!” Amber said with a laugh.
“Oh my god, stop,” Tessa hissed in embarrassment. Tristan only laughed and jogged away with his teammates.
Once they met up after the game, Tristan invited all three of them to a party a few blocks away at a teammate’s house. Tessa tried to protest, but her friends would not let her back out, telling Tristan enthusiastically that yes, they would love to come along. Tessa knew this would not be her scene, but once again, she would do anything to see the radiant smile Tristan had when she finally agreed.
“So youdidhave fun?” Tristan asked Tessa with a teasing smile as he poured a few drops of vodka into the red cup filled with cranberry juice.
“Yes,” Tessa said with a playful eye roll, taking the cup from him. “I mean I still don’t understand like, 90% of it but yes, it was fun. And you’re like...really good at football.”
He laughed and watched her cheeks turn pinkas she took a sip of her drink.
“There’s almost no alcohol in this,” she said, scrunching her nose up at him. “I saw you pour my friend’s drinks, why did you skimp on mine?”
Tristan felt slightly embarrassed and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing how to articulate why.
“I don’t know, I guess I just…want to make sure you don’t get too drunk?”
She eyed him suspiciously, not understanding his reason.
“Okay well I’m not a child. I’m the same age as you, you don’t have to treat me with bubble wrap. Put at least one more pour in here, I can’t even taste it.”
He sighed and took the red cup from her before he poured more, although still a very reserved amount, of vodka into the cup.
