10. Tru
CHAPTER 10
TRU
I felt a real connection with another human being. With a guy who didn’t even know me. My eyes were fixated on his hand that never left mine. In the dark, our hands were one, extensions of each other.
His rough, calloused fingers were so comfortable resting over mine that I wanted to turn my hand over to feel him. When he reached over and lightly grazed the side of my cheek with his other hand, my heart fluttered, and my stomach dropped.
Was I imagining this? Was this happening to me?
His fingers once again moved to tug on the ends of my hair that framed my face. This simple yet meaningful gesture was the first crack in the wall I had built up against him. His knuckles grazed my cheek again, and I nervously licked my lips, peeking up at him through my lashes.
“You’re no one’s charity case, Tru. You’re actually the opposite. They’re lucky to have you. From where I’m sitting, you’re nothing but gold. Shining brighter than the stars in the sky.”
It was exactly what I wanted to hear. Nobody had ever said anything remotely close to that. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come from the mouth of the man I needed to stay away from the most.
I smiled. “It’s pretty out here.”
His hair whipped with the wind, slapping against his perfectly sculpted face.
“You’re pretty.”
“So I don’t scare you?”
“You fucking terrify me, but that just means you’re worth it. When you have to earn something, it makes it much better because you know that you might be worthy of it one day.”
“I know life can be heavy, and sometimes those heavy things need to be unloaded.”
“Are you saying I have baggage?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “We all do. Some are heavier than others, but shit happens to us all. The cards you dealt were shitty. I have both parents and still feel alone. Sometimes when I talk to my father, I swear he’s not listening. Nor does he care to. He has the power to make me feel like I don’t matter, and the things that matter to him don’t matter to me. The only thing we have in common is our love for sports. It’s how we bond.”
My heart was in my throat. I didn’t trust people, and I didn’t want to trust him. He seemed too good to be true, but none of it mattered at that moment. Not with the way he was looking and confessing his truths to me. I never had that before. Would I ever have it again?
“Can I ask you something?” he requested.
I narrowed my eyes, smirking. “I think you just did.”
“Alright.” He smiled back. “Can I ask you another thing?”
“What?”
He didn’t waver in questioning, “What would you do if I kissed you right now?”
I surprised myself when I replied, “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
He leaned forward, gripping my neck gently, and brought his lips to mine.
He didn’t invade my space like I thought he would.
He didn’t shove his tongue down my throat like I thought he would.
He didn’t do any of the things I thought he would.
No, he just massaged my lips as if they were the best things he’d ever felt in his entire life.
We stayed like that, embraced. My hands moved to tangle in his hair, and his hands moved to my body. Seconds later, he lifted me against him, and I was lost against his heat.
The way his mouth moved with mine.
The way the waves crashed against the rocks over and over again.
The way…
The way…
The way…
That was us.
Chaos and peace mixed into one.
I slid my tongue past his lower lip, and it was like he needed permission from me first because, after that, we were gone, both of us. He damaged me in a way I knew I would never come back from.
Nobody could come back from a kiss like that.
Where his tongue didn’t fight for dominance, it fought for pleasure. It slid against mine. It deepened. It retreated when it needed to. He never overdid it; he just did what came naturally to him.
To us.
And then he pulled away.
He didn’t ask for more.
There were no tricks.
No lies.
No come-ons.
It was simply a kiss I’d never forget.
Just the way he wanted.
Vaughan
Now: A week later
I had started practice the morning of the first day Tru tutored me, and I already felt so sore that I wanted to jump into an ice bath and stay there for days.
I could barely move as I walked into the library and sat beside her. She didn’t look up, giving me time to check her out. The girl even added in some Chucks and still looked hot as fuck.
“You ready to get started, or do you need to check your TikTok again?”
She sighed, dropping her phone onto the table. “I don’t really do social media. I just had to look at my schedule; it was a long day.” Her eyes looked like they were welling with tears.
I suddenly felt like shit.
Why the hell does this woman constantly make me want to save her when she doesn’t need saving?
“We can reschedule if you’re tired.”
“No.” She slammed open the chem book and stared me down. “Take notes, alright? We only have an hour to go over this, and I need you to get it through your thick skull before my next student gets here.”
I cocked my head to the side. “How many do you have?”
“Like, maybe twelve.”
I nearly fell out of my chair. “Tru, that’s way too many. You have your own workload on top of that. How many credits are you taking?”
“Don’t pretend you care about me or my workload.” She cleared her throat and looked away. “Now, open to chapter one. We’re going to go over the basics of the?—”
“Tru.” I waved a hand in front of her face. “You don’t need that many students.”
She shoved my hand away and started reading the first chapter. “Okay, so with chem, you have to understand that…”
And that was literally how my next hour went. She ignored anything personal and talked about organic chem like I was a fucking idiot. Which apparently, I was. No professor explained it the way she did, and I was thrilled I was getting it right. I solved almost every problem after she explained it in words I could understand.
“Alright.” She stood and then stumbled backward. I grabbed her before she could fall.
“When did you eat last?” I asked.
“I hate you.”
“Same.” I smiled. “But when did you last eat?”
She shook her head. “I had a lot of students and classes today, okay?”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve eaten today.”
It was seven at night.
I bit back my curse. “Okay, so now, as a thank-you, let me feed you.”
“I don’t need you.”
“Tru…”
“I’m serious. I can feed myself.”
“Yet you haven’t eaten today. You need to eat. You look like you’re going to pass out.” She was already too thin.
“I’m not your problem.”
“Cinderella, just let me fucking feed you.”
“No.”
“You’re so damn stubborn.”
“Says the man who won’t take no for an answer.”
She swayed in my arms. “That’s it.” Before she could say another word, I leaned forward and threw her tiny ass over my shoulder.
“Vaughan!”
“You can yell at me later.” Trust me, I enjoyed it more than I should.
“If you don’t put me down right now, I’ll?—”
“Hey, Tru, you ready?” a random guy asked her.
“Yes. As soon as this asshole puts me?—”
“You’re her next student?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“It’s not happening tonight.”
“Oh my God! He already paid me!”
Grabbing my wallet, I threw a couple of bills on the table. “She won’t be tutoring you now or ever. Find someone new.”
Her gasp was so loud it was hilarious.
I smacked her ass. “Let’s go.” Instantly, I spoke with conviction, “She’s mine, motherfucker. Make sure you tell anyone else she’s tutoring that she’s now closed for business.”
I meant every last word.