She threw her head back and laughed, loving his humor as well as his confidence level to make such a depreciating joke. She found everything about him to be so charming.
“Soare you free on Sunday? We have an away game the daybefore,butI’llbe back Sunday morning and would love you take you out Sunday night.”
“I would love to.”
They shared one more kiss before Tristan made a dramatic show of not allowing Tessa to walk barefoot in therain andinstead carried her out of his truck and placed her gently back inside of the house, her roommates caught sitting and eavesdropping by the front window.
He drove home with the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. It had been two months of him yearning for this beautiful girl who seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him. But it had all been worth it, even if just for that one moment with her in his truck.He made a promise to himself that hewouldn’tdo anything to fuck this up.
CHAPTER 5
10 Years Ago
Tessa felt her whole-body freeze when she stepped onto the field.
She and Tristan had just finished dinner - their first real date. She was smiling so much that her cheekshurt,and she knew for sure that she had never laughed as hard in the past few hours than shehadher entire life. Their conversation flowedperfectly, and Tristan’s easy going and joyful energy hadimmediatelyput Tessa at ease when she had started the date a bit nervous.
And after dinner Tristan had insisted on taking Tessa on a short walk over to the football stadium. Shedidn’tknow what toexpect butwas completely in awe once she followed him onto the field.
“It’s okay Tess,” he said with an amused smile, pulling on her hand.
“It’s huge,” she said quietly as she took a few tentative steps onto the turf.
The stadium lights wereon,but it was completely empty and unnervingly quiet. The last time she was here it was filled with tens of thousands of cheeringstudentsand the noise was overwhelming. Now she was standing in the eerie, echoing silence of the empty stadium, looking at the intimidating length of the field.
“How do you do this?” She asked, “Look how big this field is, and the stadium, I feel like a tiny ant standing here. How do you not die of nerves doing this?”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand, taking in the awed expression in her blue eyes.
“Honestly, we almostdodie of nerves. The adrenaline is the most insane but also addicting thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“And you want to do this in the NFL? With even bigger stadiums and it being broadcast on TV?You’recrazy!”
He laughed out loud and continued to walk with her down the field.
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s just who I am. From the second I started watching games with Jordan and my dad when we were little, it’s all I’ve thought about. If I didn’t have football, I don’t know what I’d be doing with my life.”
They stopped in the middle of the field and looked around. She really did look so tiny standing here, and she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair was straight and long, framing her pink cheeks that perfectly complimented her bright blue eyes.She wore a casual floral dress that was flowy and hit just above her knee with a wedge sandal that gave her a few extra inches on top of her already tall frame. Hehadn’tkissed her againyet butfelt the need to pull her body into his warm arms, which she happily accepted and sank into the solid heat of his broad chest. She wrapped her arms around him and unashamedly buried her face into his shirt, inhaling his scent and noticing how comfortable she felt against him like this.
“I’ve got a few recruiters coming to the game this weekend,” Tristan said into her hair, “I’m so anxious about where I’ll end up, if I’m lucky enough to even get drafted of course.”
“Do you not get to choose?” Tessa asked, looking up into his eyes. He gave her a small smile, loving the factthat she knew nothing about how any of this worked, but also knew how difficult it would be to explain to her that he could end up across the country from her, and that no matter how far away the offer was, he was going to have to take it.
“No,” he replied gently, “Whoever selects me first in the draft gets me. Although I willprobably havea decent idea of who it will be in the months leading up to theit,I stillwon’tknow for sure until I get the actual phone call.That’swhat Jordan is goingthrough right now.This is his last year at Vanderbilt before he gets drafted.”
“And he doesn’t know what team he’ll end up with?”
“Nope. He has an idea based on which scouts have come out to see him multiple times and which ones have interviewed him more than others,but for the most part, itwill be a surprise until the actual day.”
“Wow. Is everything about football so high pressure?”
He laughed and gave a gentle kiss to the top of her head, “Yeah. But for whatever fucked up reason, we like it, we thrive in the chaos.”
She nodded her head and rested herface backagainst his chest. Although she very much liked havingalmost everydetail of her life planned out and loved thinking ahead, she also was someone who did well under pressure and chaos, so a part of her did understand it. She justdidn’tunderstand how they could do it on such a large scale.
“Speaking of Jordan, his birthday is on Saturday. I want you to come to the game and then come with us out to his favorite bar to celebrate.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to crash his party or anything.”
