“Are you nervous for him to see me again?”
“No, that’s not it,” Tessa said quickly, turning back to her friend and giving her a smile. “You’re making me feel way less anxious by being here. Imagine what a wreck I’d be if I showed up alone.”
“So then what is it?”
“I don’t know, I just think now that he’s not with Kiana anymore, there’s so much potential for what could happen next. I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“I think you should just let him take the lead,” Amber replied. “Speaking of, he spotted you a mile away and is heading this way.”
Tessa whipped her head around to see Tristan towering over the other patrons in the restaurant, dressed in a fitted black button down and perfectly fitted pants, hair and beard perfectly trimmed, and the most annoyingly sexy and cocky grin on his face.
“You’re joking,” Amber whispered with a laugh. “Tessa if you don’t fuck that man I will never forgive you.”
“Ssh!”
“Hey,” Tristan approached them with ease and confidence, quickly taking Tessa into his warm arms. The act shocked herat first, and it took her a moment to regroup, but she eventually found a way to hug him back but broke it just as quickly.
“Holy shit,” Tristan said with a smile, looking down at Amber. “How many of my teammates are you going to make out with tonight?”
Amber laughed loudly at Tristan’ joke, remembering how many times they would go to a party with the football team at Vanderbilt and Amber ended up with a different player’s tongue down her throat.
“I’m hoping at least two,” she said with a casual shrug, playing along with Tristan’ teasing.
Tristan leaned down and pulled Amber into a friendly side hug, very different from the one he gave Tessa only a moment earlier.
“It’s good to see you, girl. How’s life?”
“Never better,” Amber said with a big smile. “Although I can’t really measure up to what your life must be like as a professional football player. You and Jordan being in the Super Bowl last year was crazy. You two should be very proud of how far you’ve come.”
“Thanks, Ash. Good to know someone kept up with my career,” Tristan said, flashing Tessa a teasing smile.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Amber said. “That’s literally all I know. Couldn’t tell you anything else about football.”
Tristan smiled, his green eyes shining with joy and that easy confidence that always made Tessa’s stomach flip.
“Still more than she knew,” Tristan whispered, tipping his head towards Tessa, who only rolled her eyes at his antics.
“Whatever. I’m hungry, can we stop talking shit about me like I’m not here?”
“After you, ladies,” Tristan said with a smile, holding his arm out for them to walk past him. “We’re all the way in the back. Just follow the path down and turn to the left when you get to the wall.”
Dinner was perfect in every sense of the word.
The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing, and there was no end to the constant chatter and laughter that erupted around the table. Tessa was sandwiched between Tristan and Amber, feeling dizzy from the way her head whipped around to each of them as they spoke to her. Amber hit it off with nearly every player that she met, flashing her mischievous smile that always got her into trouble, which was exactly where she wanted to be.
Tristan had been a complete gentleman all night, giving Tessa plenty of space and keeping their conversation light and casual. Tessa hated it. She wanted him to lean into her and put his large hand on her leg and push her buttons like he always did, but she knew from their conversation earlier that he could feel the icy walls she had put up all week, and she knew that it hurt him. Her heart broke at the thought that maybe he decided to pull away from her, too, and she suddenly felt like she needed some air.
“I’m going to use the restroom real quick,” she said, pushing her chair back and standing up.
“Okay,” Tristan replied with a smile. “Do you know where they are? Want me to walk you?”
“No, I see them right over there. I’ll be right back.”
“Kay.”
She noticed the way his eyes lingered on her body, specifically the swell of her full breasts and her thighs that were covered seductively in lacy black tights. She put an extra bounce in her step, knowing that his eyes were on her, and it made her skin feel hot. Tessa was aware of how much Tristan had grown up over the years, but she knew how much she had grown up, too.
Tessa had struggled with many years with an eating disorder. It started in high school and continued through college, peakingabout a year after Tessa left Tristan at Vanderbilt. At the time she was so clouded with the delusion of her disorder, but looking back at pictures of that time in her life was difficult for Tessa because it was so obvious she was struggling. She was impossibly thin with not a single curve or dip to her body, which wouldn’t have been an issue if that was how her body naturally was, but her frame was thin because she never ate.
