“Ugh, grossssss,” Katie whined again at the thought of having sex with a 65-year-old.
“I always thought you were a dumbass for getting involved with her in the first place,” Jordan said. “But thank God youwrapped it up with her. You might have ended up with five babies and five diseases.”
Tessa looked over at Tristan and squeezed his arm.
“Can we stop talking about my boyfriend fucking the crazy girl, please?” she said, and Tristan chuckled beside her.
“You’re cute when you’re jealous,” he whispered into her ear and she swatted him away.
“So can we figure out how we’re going to do this, please?” Tessa asked impatiently.
“After Tristan orders me a large pineapple pizza,” Katie said, rubbing her protruding belly. “I’m starving.”
“I’m not watching you eat pineapple pizza,” Jordan said with a grunt.
“It’s your fault! You put this baby in me and now I suddenly crave fruit on pizza.”
Tessa smiled wistfully as they bantered, her gaze fixated on Katie’s growing belly. Tristan watched Tessa closely, feeling that pull in his chest to finally tell her that he loves her and that he wants all of those things with her. His big challenge was going to be how to convince her not to run from it, and that they could somehow make a long distance relationship work. He didn’t care what it took, he just knows he needs to be with her, and that this time, it will be forever.
The four of them shared a cozy and informal dinner together at Tristan’s kitchen table, alternating between catching up, mostly Jordan and Katie with Tessa, and discussing how they would get irrefutable evidence against Dr. Hines and Kiana.
After brainstorming some ideas together, they ultimately decided that Tessa would consult with Tristan’s lawyer in the morning to see what the best route to take was, but they allagreed on one thing: the truth would come out this weekend, and Tristan would be immediately allowed back on the field.
“I can’t even tell you how good it was to see you again,” Katie said to Tessa as the four of them stood on the front porch saying their goodbyes. The sun had long since set over the horizon and the chill in the fall air was biting.
Tessa quickly embraced Katie in a tight hug and then gave her belly a Phil.
“I wish you guys could stay longer,” Tessa said dejectedly. Something about having Jordan and Katie here felt so familiar and comfortable, like all of this was real and unbreakable.
“Me too, but Jordan has practice tomorrow,” Katie answered with a sad smile.
“Might be my last season,” Jordan chimes in, jiggling the kay keys in his hand. “Something tells me we’ll spend plenty of time together in the off season.”
Tessa smiled and gave Jordan another hug, even though they had already shared about 10. Her heart had always hurt at the memory of their last phone call, so having him here was intensely healing for that part of her soul.
“Safe flight, you guys,” Tristan said, patting his brother on the back and giving Katie a kiss to her cheek. “Text me when you land.”
“Will do,” Jordan answered, grabbing Katie’s hand and leading her towards the truck.
“Love you guys!” Katie chimed, and Tessa’s breath hitched. Love. It felt so easy surrounded by him and his family.
“Let’s get inside,” Tristan said, placing a warm hand on Tessa’s lower back and ushering her inside. “It’s cold out.”
After a few minutes of fussing over cleaning up the remainder of the food and doing a few other domestic things that made Tessa’s heart soar, they found themselves sitting on the couch infront of the fireplace that Tristan had lit, Tristan with a beer and Tessa with a glass of wine.
“How are you feeling about everything?” she asked him tentatively.
“All over the place,” he said. “It’s like a part of me is relieved to know that I’m not crazy. I was going insane trying to wrack my brain about if I really did take Testosterone and not remember,” he said with a laugh. “It’s the craziest thing to have someone tell you that you did something you know you didn’t do. But at the same time,” he takes a deep breath before continuing, “I’m angry and dejected. How can someone be so selfish and evil? And how did I waste so much time on her? How did she trick me so easily into thinking she was a normal girl?”
“Narcissistic people are master manipulators, Trist. They’re abusive. They make you question everything. They know how to trick people. She knew exactly how to rope you in and how to make you stay. It’s not your fault.”
He sighs and shakes his head before reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips, kissing it slowly.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Tessa letting Tristan sit with his thoughts, she puts her wine glass down and scoots closer to him, placing a soft, lingering kiss on his lips that makes him exhale and relax.
“I’m going to go get ready for bed,” she says slowly before giving him another kiss.
“Okay, I’ll put the fire out.”
