“You keep it.” I grab my bag, and he hops out of his truck. He opens my door before I can.
“Thanks.”
He walks next to me as we walk towards the building. I shiver, and Slater notices. “Here.” He pulls a sweatshirt out of his bag and helps me pull it over my head being careful not to bump my nose. Instantly, I’m much warmer. I don’t even care that it’s way too big on me. It does not escape my notice that most of the females and nearly as many males turn to watch Slater walk in. He has shades on, but he’s pretty hard to miss with his shaved head and bronzed skin. He's an icon on campus, and pretty much everybody knows who he is. We get nearly to the front door when we’re nearly bowled over by a pair of redhead twins. “Tessa,” they squeal, not really looking at me but watching Slater. Then Faith turns to me. “Oh. My. Word. What happened to your face?”
At her words, Felicia turns to me as well. “Oh, Tessa.” She reaches out like she’s going to touch it, and I flinch back. “You poor thing. Are you going to class like that?”
I take a small step back and feel a hand at my back, steadying me. “Yep.”
I start forward, but they block my path. “You’re so brave,” Faith says with a condescending, sad expression on her face.
“Brave?” I ask.
“Yes. To go to class looking like...well, like that.”
That hand on my back nudges me forward, and I move forward with it. “Well, it’s good to see you both, as always.” Slater opens the door and all but propels me through it.
I can feel my face burning as we are walking into the large commons area. “Is it really that bad?” I ask Slater. I’m not usually a self-conscious person, but I guess today everything feels a little too much.
Slater puts a hand on my arm and stops me. I can feel his gaze on me, and I drop my head. There’s a finger under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “You’re perfect, Tess. Always.” He doesn’t say anything more, not that I expected him to. If there’s one thing I’m learning about Slater Thorne; it’s that he’s a man of few words. He puts his hand on my back again. This time, though, he slides it up and down once. “Don’t let them get to you.”
I nod and take a deep breath because he’s right. Normally, I don’t let such catty behavior get to me. We walk up to the second floor where my class is. The double doors are open, and the large hall is already filling up. I see Connor before he sees me. We always sit next to each other for this class. Of course that was before...before whatever this is. Connor and Slater have already had one run-in, and I'm not looking to have another one. I stop and look up at Slater, hoping to send him away before he sees Connor. It’s too late. I nearly groan when I see his gaze locked on Connor.
“Tessa?” Connor asks, approaching us. “Tessa, what happened to you?” There’s an urgency to his voice, and I turn to face him fully. He grips my arm almost painfully, pulling me away from Slater. “What happened to your face?”
His voice is loud, and I feel my face start to burn. “Connor, it’s fine.”
“Let her go.” The order from Slater is fierce, and I know he’s not messing around.
“What did you do to her?” Connor asks, pulling me even further from Slater. His grip is even tighter on my arm. I try to pull away, but he won’t let me.
“Connor, stop.”
I pull my hand free, and too many things happen at once. He overreacts and reaches blindly for me, and his elbow connects with my face. Pain shoots through me so fierce, I can’t breathe. I hear several shouts, and I force my eyes open. Through watery eyes, I see Slater has Connor up against the wall. “No,” I breathe. Students are starting to gather. Some of them are trying to intervene; others have their phones out, recording the whole thing. “Slater, stop.” It’s like he doesn’t even hear me.
He’s saying something to Connor, something so low I can’t hear. Real fear shows on Connor’s face, and his face pales. Another guy joins in and wraps his arms around Slater, pulling him back, saying something to him. It takes me a moment to realize it’s his teammate, Ben—their goalie. Slater is fuming; I can see it all over his face. He turns to me, and those dark eyes fix on mine. There’s something in his eyes I can’t read or understand. He takes a step towards me, but Ben steps between us, putting a hand on Slater’s chest. Something drives me forward to close the distance between us. Slater sees me coming and sidesteps Ben to reach out and snag my hand. He pulls me towards him, but Ben is still right there. “Are you okay?” he asks in a voice that sounds so different than his usual voice
I nod, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in my nose. Everything seems to hit me at once, and I don’t think I can do today. I glance behind me and see all the phones recording, and I just bolt.
“Tessa.” I hear Slater call my name, but I keep going. I make it almost all the way to the front door before he catches me. I notice Ben is right next to him. He does not look happy. It hits me then that Slater could get in trouble for all this, and with playoffs this weekend, this does not bode well for the team. No wonder Ben looks so mad. I decide to put an end to this right now.
I lift my chin. “I’m going to head back to my room to lie down for a little bit and let those pain killers kick in. You’re right. I should have just called in sick.”
He steps towards me. “I’ll drive you to your dorm.”
I take a step back, and he goes still. “I’m good. Thanks, though. You get to class. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.” I glance at Ben’s stern face. “Anymoretrouble,” I clarify.
Slater scowls. “It’s fine.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s not. You need to get to class, Slater.”
“But—” he starts.
“Listen to her, Man,” Ben says. “Let’s go.”
I force a smile. “I’ll see you later.” With that, I turn away and walk outside. I keep my head down all the way to my dorm. When I finally get to my dorm room, I drop my bag on the ground, kick off my shoes and sit on my bed. I lay back, staring up at the ceiling. Worry for Slater has me checking my phone. I check the school’s socials, and it’s already buzzing. Somebody got video footage of Slater ripping Connor away from me and slamming him up against the wall. I click on another video, and I go still at the look of rage on Slater’s face. I couldn’t see his face when he had Connor up against the wall, but I can now. The entire world can see. “Slater, what did you do?” I whisper. I close out the photos and videos and stare up at the ceiling. My phone buzzes a minute later. I check it and see Evie’s name. “That didn’t take long,” I mutter before I swipe to answer. “Hey, Evie.”
“Tess, are you okay?” I nod and swallow, fighting back tears again. “Tessa?” I can hear the worry in her voice.
