“Really.”
He leaneddown,and they shared a passionate kiss filled with love, promise, hope, longing, and so many other emotions thattheywereperhaps tooyoung to truly know how to navigate. And as Tristan held Tessa in his arms that night, he waited for her to drift off to sleep, before quietly sneaking out from under her, tucking her into her blankets, and sneaking out of her bedroom door. He had only one thing on his mind, and he knew hewouldn'tbe able to function if hedidn’ttake care of it.
Tristan looked at the time on the dashboard of his truck to see that it was just past midnight as he parked his truck in the parking lot of the sports bar a few miles away from campus. It took a few phone calls and convincing, but he was eventually able totrack downJake’s location. And as if it were just another night out with friends, Tristan verycalmy– eerily so – exited his vehicle and walked towards the back patio of the bar, and hespotted himimmediately.
He was lounged out on a chair with a beer in one handand a cigarette in the other,and a very drunk blonde on the chair beside him. No one else was outside as it was still drizzling lightly and bitingly cold even with the heat warmers that were scattered around.
Tristan swung his legs over the railing, keeping his hands tucked into the pocket of his hoodie and his head down under the brim of his Cleveland Browns hat, but once he stepped up to Jake, he proudly tipped his head back up, making very direct andaggressive eye contact with him. And although Jake tried toappear like he was unfazed, Tristan noticed the slight tremor of his hands the moment he registered who was standing in front of him.
“Sup Kelly?” He said sarcastically. “You want a beer?”
“Get up,” Tristan said calmly, taking a few steps back.
“Why?” Jake asked, still trying to appear unfazed, but the slight dip in his voice betraying him.
“Because I said if you laid a hand on herI’dkill you. Now get up. Idon’twant to sucker punch you whileyou’resitting down. Although Idon’tknow whyI’mgiving you the courtesy of standing up to me like a man, becausereally,you’rejust asmall-dickedasshole who likes to try to force himself on my girl, is that right?”
The blonde next to Jake awkwardly gets up and says she’s going inside, leaving the two men alone outside.
“Listen, I don’t know what she told you,” Jake said, putting his hands up in mock surrender, still clutching his beer. “Yeah,I tried to get something out of her but the prude little bitch got all clammed up on me, so relax and don’t-”
Tristan lunged forward and grabbed Jake violently by the collar of his ugly brown leather jacket and smashed him against the brick wall of the building. Hedidn’twant to hear anything else fromhim andalsodidn’thaveanymorewords of his own. There was nothing that Tristan would be able to say that he believed his fistscouldn’tsay better. Sohe landed a very solid and clean punch against Jake’s cheekbone, causing him to stumble to the ground.
“Fuck that felt good, been wanting to that for months,” Tristan said with a wicked grin, watching as Jake stayed crouched on the ground. “Come on bro, get up,” he said his voice laced with annoyance. “Thisisn’tany fun if youdon’tfight me back.”
“All this over a girl, Kelly?” Jake sneered, finally gathering himself to stand back up. “A girl who probably won’t even put out for you. She sure is pretty but she’s probably a boring fuck-”
Another swing and perfect hit from Tristan knocked Jake straight onto his back, and at this point, Tristan is seeing pure red.He’scrouched above him, gripping his shirt in one hand, and pummeling Jake’s face with the other. He alternates between spitting insults at Jake and begging him to get up and put up a fight.
Tristan has no idea how much time has passed by the time a crowd begins to gather. It could have been seconds, could have been hours. He blacked out inarage over the thought of Tessa being alone and scared in his car, and he was also taking out his rage for himself on Jake for even letting the situation present itself in the first place.
Tristan is suddenly ripped from Jake’s bodyand then pinned onto the ground on his front, and itdoesn’ttake long for him to understandwhat’sgoing on when he feels his arms being painfully pulled behind his back.
“Way to go, Kelly,” thecopsaysflatly as he clicked the cuffs closed around his wrists. “Nice way to fuck up your career.”
Tristan sighed and begrudgingly stood up after thecoproughly pulledon the cuffs. His eyes scanned the crowd around him and was relieved to have found one of his teammates.
“Call my brother,” he said as thecopbegan to drag Tristan away from the crowd and towards the car. His teammate nodded andimmediatelytook out his phone to call Jordan.
“What are yougonnaget me on?” Tristan asked with a sigh as thecoppushed him against the car and began patting down his legs.
“Aggravated assault,” thecopresponded through loud smacks of his chewing gum before rambling off his Miranda Rights.
“Fuck,” Tristan swore under his breath, andwassuddenly aware of all of the ways this could change the trajectory of his life and career, but really at that moment all that he really saw was the look in Tessa’spiercing blue eyes as she said I love you, and suddenly everything else faded away, and he easily slid into the backseat of the cop car without a fight. All he could hope now was thatTessa and Coach Adams would be understanding.
CHAPTER 10
10 Years Ago
Tessa wakes the next morning by the sun shining through her window, and the house cat, affectionately named Fatty by Abigail, curling up against her neck. She opens her eyes slowly and takes in her surroundings, allowing the events of the previous night to creep into her mind. She instantly remembers Tristan, and quickly sits up in bed, looking around in confusion. She swears she fell asleep in his arms. Did he leave her here? Why wouldn’t he stay with her? And where is he now?
She quickly checks her phone and doesn’t see anything from him. She calls him three times in a row, each time his voicemail greeting comes only increasing her anxiety. She immediately walks out into the living space and sees Amber making coffee with Abigail sitting at their small wooden dining table going through some flashcards.
“Hey Tess,” Amber says, pouring herself a cup and bringing it up to her lips, “Trist still here?”
Tessa shakes her head and clears her groggy throat before speaking.
“I was hoping you guys knew where he went. He’s not here.”
