“I’ll see you Thursday,” Tristan said, turning to walk back towards his truck. “Thanks again for coming guys!”
He hopped back into his truck and started the engine and waited for the front door to close before he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and let out a long breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. She needed more time; that was obvious, and he was willing to do that for her. He drove home in silence, thinking about Tessa’s beautiful smile and all the ways that he could make her smile that like again.
CHAPTER 4
10 Years Ago
Two more Thursdays hadpassed studyingwithTessa. Tristan had pulled backsignificantly,and Tessa noticed. Shecouldn’thelp but feel a pang of sadness and regret when she realized that he was closing himself off to her due to her rejection after the party. She wished that she had theguts to tell him that she really did like him too, but that she was too nervous about how certain things would play out and she desperately did not want to get her heart broken, especially by him.
Did a guy like him evendorelationships? Because she was certainly not afriendswithbenefitskind of girl. And she hada hard timeimagining the star football player of ahugeuniversity just ignoring the onslaught of girls begging for his attentionon a daily basis.
Again, she had a decent amount ofconfidence.She knew she waspretty and kindand smart, but she justwasn’tsure if he would be satisfied with those things.
And now they were stuck in a place where they felt awkward around each other when just a mere two weeks ago it had felt like they had known each other all their lives, and Tristan was really battling internally with the change between them.
Tristan found himself on a Monday afternoon walking across campus. The team had just played an awaygame the previous Saturday that they hadwonina field goal. And now that he had returned to campus and it was business as usual,he had toresumehis normalcollegiate duties.
He had a meeting with his admissions counselor to discuss his current grades, nextsemester'sclasses, and whichNFLscoutswerecoming out during the next game to watch him play. He almost never found himself on this side of campus due to his apartmentand most of his classes being on the far east side of thevery largeuniversity grounds. Vanderbilt was an old school, anda very largeone. It was covered in trees and old brick buildings and was always crowded with students bumping into each other, always in a rush to get to their next class. He only came to this side ofcampus once a semester to meet with the counselor and decided to stop by the student-runcoffee shop to grab a drink. He desperately needed caffeine after the very physical game they had on Saturday, the long drive back home, and then the wild party they held on Sundaywhere he did not hold back in his alcohol consumption. So today he was nursing a slight hangover, which usually included a decent amount of irritability on his part.
He gave the barista his order and handed over the money to pay for it. She wasa very shortand cute blond that had her hair up in a poly tail. He could tellimmediatelythat his presence made hernervous,and she giggled out a very shy “great game on Saturday,” as she handed him hisreceipt. He smiled at her politely and wandered over to the other side of the coffee bar to wait for his drink. Hestuffedhis hands in his pockets and looked out the large windows and watched the plethora of studentsrunning byin the cool October air.
His eyes caught a very familiar head of blonde hair and his body froze.
There was Tessa, looking beautiful as ever. Her blonde hair was straight and in aFrenchbraid that hung delicately down her back. Shehad onacream-coloreddress with lace stockingspeekingout of the hemline that stopped right above her knees. Her boots were tan with a slightwedge,and shewore the same cardigan that she had on their not-date at the Shakespear play that sheaccompaniedhim to. Asalways,she looked effortlessly feminine and regal.Her height, her smile, and her piercing blue eyes always stopped people in their tracks, and what amazed him the most was that she had no idea how beautiful she truly was.
Hecouldn’thelp but smile at herand appreciate everything that she was. But his smile quickly faded when he could see who she was talking to - who was making her fucking laugh.
He immediately headed for the door, oblivious to anything going on around him.
“Wait, your coffee!” The little blonde barista said to his retreating back.
“Just a minute,” he mumbled, and flew the door open with such a force he was lucky hedidn’thit any students walking by, and he beelined straight for them.
Tessa spotted him almostimmediatelyand gave him a warm smile with the slightest hint of apprehension that hewouldn’thave been able to notice if hedidn’tknow her so well.
“Hey Trist!” She said, but her smile faded when she felt the iciness of Tristan’s demeanor and his refusal to smile back at her. Anxiety started pulsing through her veins when she realized she recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look she had noticed during the football game she attended, and she was suddenlyvery uncomfortable.
“How do youtwoknow each other?” Tristan asked, not bothering to greet either one of them.
“Who? Jake?”
His green eyes squinted ather,and he shifted his weight before giving her a sarcastic, “Uh, yeah,” asananswer. She was taken aback and silenced by his reaction.
“You okay Kelly?” Jake asked,giving him a friendly slap on his shoulder.
“What is this?” Tristan asked, motioning between them, keeping his eyes glued to Jake.
He knew Jake. Jake played thirdbaseon the baseball team and was the school’s best home run hitter. He was also a major player,waspretentious, rude, and came from an uppity family that made Tristan’smiddle classMidwest blood boil.
“Uh...we’re lab partners inbiochem,” Tessa said in a soft and unsure voice. Her eyes darted between the two men in front of her, both of their chests puffed out, eyes intense and brooding.What the fuck is wrong with them?
“Lab partners?” Tristan said with a sarcastic laugh. “So,whatyou’re‘tutoring’ him then too?” Tessa winced at his use of airquotesaround the word tutoring. What was he trying to say?
“What are you talking about bro, I don’t need a tutor. We are literally in the same class, we’re lab partners.”
“Tristan, what’s going on?” Tessa asked gently,attemptingto take a step towards him but being discouraged by his tough exterior.
“So do you just hang out with all of your lab partners around campus?” He askedboth of them, his eyes bouncing from Jake to Tessa.
