“Let’s not think about that,” he said, cutting her off. “I just want to be with you right now.”
“I know,” she said. “I just want to be with you, too.”
“So we’re on the same page?” he asks apprehensively. “We’re going to do this? You and me? Even if it’s a just-for-now title. I’ll take you however I can get you, baby.”
She hummed in contemplation and turned her head to kiss his chest adoringly.
“Yeah, you and me. And we’ll figure out the rest.”
CHAPTER 17
Tristan had the best game of his career the following day against The Jets, and the first thing he did when he returned to the locker room after the game was text Tessa to tell her she had ‘record breaking pussy’. Yards, catches, touchdowns – almost every stat of his that he could have exceeded, he did.
Therefore, the days that followed had Tessa at Tristan’s house every night, and in the morning he would awaken with an insatiable energy and raring to go.
Tessa was exhausted and deliciously sore, in the best way possible. She didn’t recall a time since she left Vanderbilt that she felt so happy and content. Every night spent in Tristan’s arms was even better than she remembered, and although most days she was able to focus on the present moment of their relationship, she also couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the inevitable truth that her time here would end. It was now late October, and she had three more months with the team, at best. If she was lucky and they made it to the Super Bowl, that time could be stretched to as much as four months, but the problem remained that at some point, she would have to return to New York.
Anytime Tessa would try to bring this up to Tristan and have a serious discussion about it, he would immediately shut it down or cover up the issue with humor or sex. And as much as she loved that part of him, the part that was so happy, funny, and easy going, it was eating her up inside that they were not acknowledging this. Tessa has always been a planner; keeping this neat and organized and having almost every detail of her life scheduled as far out in advance as she could.
But Tristan was the opposite. Tristan was a go with the flow, spontaneous, impulsive man who had a larger than lifepersonality and love for the unknown that most people couldn’t comprehend.
But his need to keep this very real issue as an afterthought was starting to get to her.
Tessa’s phone dinging with a text message breaks her from her racing thoughts as she’s walking down the long corridor of the stadium after having checked in with some of the athletic trainers. She stops in the middle of the hallway and pulls her phone from the back of her dress pants, and smiles to herself when she sees Tristan’s name on the screen.
Tristan: where are you???
Tessa: just had to finish a few things with leah and john, what’s up?
Tristan: came to your office to find you but you’re not here?
Tessa: what do you need?
Tristan: kinda losing my mojo out there. Care to help me out?
She couldn’t help but laugh at his insatiable sex drive but also felt her stomach swarm with butterflies at the thought of him angry and horny in her office.
Tessa: hhmm, I don’t know, kinda busy
Tristan: I’m not above begging
With another laugh Tessa bites her lip and puts the phone back in her pocket before walking quickly down the corridor and rounding the large corner of the stadium’s interior that leads to her small office.
She pushes the door open and then promptly closes it behind her. What she finds is him sitting in her chair behind the desk, hair damp and skin clean from his post-practice shower. His skin is dewy and golden from a long afternoon in the sun, and his cheeks still hold a pink tint from the exhilarating exercise the team is required to endure.
“I was hoping you’d still be in here,” Tessa says as she places her laptop and notebook carefully on the desk before slipping off her 6-inch heels and giving Tristan a sweet smile that he happily returns.
“I’m not letting you off the hook that easy,” he says smoothly, getting out of his chair and stalking towards her like she’s prey.
“This is awfully presumptuous of you,” Tessa says, slowly backing away from him, but he doesn’t relent. “You think you can just say you’re having a bad practice and expect me to bend over in my office?”
Her back hits the wall and his body covers hers, and he feels the instant shiver that runs up her spine.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” he says, bringing his lips down to hers and hovering barely an inch away. “Preferably over the desk.”
“Hhhmm…” she takes a few moments to dramatically act like she’s contemplating the issue at hand, making him chuckle and dip his head to her shoulder.
“Baby girl, please,” he whispers.
