“As soon as I heard the name Tessa, I was going crazy wondering if it was you,” he says with a soft laugh, “How have you been? What the hell are you doing here?”
He shakes his head in disbelief and lets his eyes wander over her body, appreciating every inch of the full-grown woman before him. Last time they saw each other they were just kids, 20-year-olds stumbling through life in college and figuring out who they were. The woman standing before him now looks as if she’s figured it out, and he feels a pang of jealousy wondering who helped her along the way.
“Yeah, crazy right?” She says with a laugh and tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve been working for the New York Times, and they assigned me to you guys for a few months. Apparently, you guys are a pretty big deal.”
She gives a small laugh and his face breaks out into a smile. She’s timid and uncomfortable, but at least she’s talking to him. He could work with that.
“We are,” He answers with a cocky grin, earning him a playful eye roll that makes his heart flutter. “But this is amazing, it sounds like your career is going well. You knew what you wantedto do back then and it looks like you went for it and gave it your all. Not a lot of people can say they’ve achieved that, Tess. You should be proud of yourself.”
She takes a deep breath and clears her throat, clearly uncomfortable with his compliment, which makes Tristan feel like he just took a step back from the little laugh she had given him just a moment ago.
“Thanks, I uh, it’s been a lot of hard work.”
“So do you live in New York?”
“Yeah, in the city.”
“Wow,” he says and shoves his hands in his pockets, “What’s it like being in Kansas City after living there?”
“I’ve only been here for a few days, but the people are nicer, that’s for sure.”
“And the food is better,” he answers quickly.
“I don’t know about that.”
Her smile is back, making him feel warm and more at ease. The Tessa he fell in love with 10 years ago started off like this – hesitant to open up to him with clearly defined walls up around her heart. He wonders if he could break them down again, just like he did when they were at Vanderbilt.
The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway breaks them from their conversation, and Tessa watches as what looks like another teammate is walking towards them. Her eyes dart over to Tristan who suddenly looks like he’s annoyed.
“Hi, I wanted to properly introduce myself,” the very large and handsome football player says. He gives Tessa a kind smile and holds out his hand for her to take, which she does, and returns his smile.
“I’m Alex Watkins, D Line, Safety.”
“English please,” Tessa says with a giggle, and Alex laughs along with her. Tristan crosses his arms and turns his body towards Alex as if putting on a defensive posture.
“I play defense,” he answers. “I wasn’t at the meeting today, but Andy filled me in that you’ll be hanging with us for a while. I gotta say, usually the media that follows us around are men, you’re a very pleasant surprise.”
“Alex,” Tristan says with a stern voice, “She just got here, give her a minute before you pounce.”
Tessa looks over at Tristan and notices his rigid posture and tight jaw line. She saw this Tristan a few times at parties and thankfully didn’t see him go full cave man the night that he was arrested, and she suddenly feels uncomfortable as the two men size each other up.
“I don’t mean any harm,” Alex says, flashing Tessa another smile. “Do you want a tour of the grounds? I can show you where we practice and our locker room and all of that.”
“I got it,” Tristan says, cutting off Alex before he can say more.
Alex squints at Tristan and cocks his head to the side, and the two of them look like they’re having some kind of secret conversation with their eyes. Tessa rolls her eyes and huffs, annoyed with their weird macho behavior.
“You got it?” Alex repeats.
“Yes,” Tristan responds tightly. “Tessa and I went to school together at Vanderbilt. I haven’t seen her in a while, and I’d like to catch up with her. So, I’ve got it.”
Tessa wonders why Tristan feels like he has to over explain himself to his teammate, and watches as Alex nods with a look on his face that she can’t quite place.
“If you say so,” he says, backing away, “Nice to meet you, Tessa. I’ll see you around.”
“Bye,” she says, giving him a small wave before turning back to Tristan.
“What was that all about?” She asks.
