“What aboutyourdreams?” Tessa asked.
Katie took her eyes away from the football field and looked at Tessa, contemplating her words and studying Tessa’s bright blue eyes.
“I guess my dreams are pretty simple,” she said, “I just want to be happy and have a family. Jordan can give me both of those things.”
Tessa smiled and nodded her head, her thoughts swirling rapidly in contemplation.
“I think your dreams might a bit bigger than mine though,” Katie said quietly.
Tessa took a deep breath and looked out at the football field. Her eyes locked withTristan’sand he gave her a smile that made her insides warm and her heart pound against her chest. No guy had ever come close to making her feel the way Tristan did. But what if shecouldn’tgive him the kind ofcommitmentthat itseemed likea footballplayers’girlfriend needed?
Tessa didn’t answer Katie’s question and instead asked Katie another question that had been plaguing her.
“And what aboutallthe female attention? How do you manage that? Does it bother you?”
Katie laughed and finished the rest of her beer.
“Luckily for me Jordan is painfully shy around girls. Trust me, he gets plenty ofattention,but hecouldn’tact on it even if he wanted to. I havebasically made100% of the moves in our relationship.”
“That’s cute,” Tessa said with a warm smile.
“Trist’s a bit different though, I’ll give you that,” Katie with a long sigh. “He’s much more outgoing and he carries himself in a more outwardly confident way. He’s more comfortable around women.”
“Mmhm,” Tessa said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.
“But,” Katie said, elbowing Tessa in the side, “He also has a very pure heart. He is genuine, and honest, and was raised to have the same exact morals as my boyfriend. It’s true that Trist has dated around quite a bit, but he has never led any girl on or lied or cheated or anything like that. He’s very straight forward in his relationships and I think he’ll be like that with you too. And if I’m being totally honest, I think the way he feels about you is like, light years beyond any of the other girls I’ve seen him with.”
“Really?” Tessa asked skeptically.
“Hell yeah. Tess, he has never let a girl sit in the family section. He reserves that for his parents and maybe the occasional childhood friend that comes to visit him. And although I have met a few of his exes at bars and parties, you’re the first one he has intentionally wanted me to meet and spend time with. He made sure we sat together today and go to the bar together after. You’re different, whether you believe it or not, and whether you’re comfortable with it or not.”
Tessa felt her cheeks blush at Katie’s words and let what she said sink into her bones. It was all a lot for her to take in. The way she thought about Tristannearly everysecond of the day. Theamountof times they texted throughout the day, their late night phone calls, their study sessions that went way too long into the night every Thursday, the absolutely life altering kisses that they had shared, and the way that her body responded to his in ways she had never experienced before – it was all so new and so overwhelming.
“I really like him Katie,” Tessa said quietly, lifting the plastic cup up to her lips once more.
“I know,” Katie replied with a knowing smile.
They watched the gametogether withtheir arms linkednearly theentire time. Theyyelled and cheeredand booed. Tessa asked Katie about a millionquestionsand Katie was able to answer them confidently and without passing any judgement on Tessa’s lack of football knowledge. Tessacouldn’thelp but let herself lean into the ease and comfort that being around Katie gave her, and how natural it felt to be more integrated into Tristan’s world. And the more time went on, the more she felt like hereally did wanther there. The amount of times he looked over towardsher during the game, the way he pointed in her direction when he made a touchdown in the 3rdquarter, and the way Katie brought her straight to the bar after Vanderbilt wonthe game “under strict orders from Trist that I did not lose you”; could this really be the love she had been waiting 20 years for?
“What do you want to drink?” Tristan asked in Tessa’s ear. They had found their way to the bar that Jordan requested for his birthday after the game. It was a hole in the wall down the street from campus. There were billiard tables and arcademachinesand thick smoke that wafted through the atmosphere. It was a collegeguyswet dream, and Tessa was eager to be down for the ride. Especially with Tristan’slarge framelooming over her, his arms on either side of her against the bar,cocooningher against his very warm andsafe embrace.
“I want wine,” she said looking up at him. He laughed and placed a gentle kiss onto her cheek.
“Look around baby, there’s no wine in this joint.”
“Okay then I want a cosmopolitan.”
That made him laugh even louder and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.
“You’re a classy little thing, aren’t you?”
“Don’t make fun of me!” She said, giving his big arm a slap.
“Trust me Tess, I’m not making fun of you at all.”
He whistled for the bartender and ordered a beer for himself and a mojito for Tessa.
“You’ll like it,” he said when she gave him a skeptical look.
