24. Tristan
24
TRISTAN
“ M ate, you’ve got to try this.” Blaine pressed a shot glass into my hand, and I tipped it to my lips without even checking the contents. Not the brightest idea, but it was probably okay if it came from him.
“Ugh! Fuck! What was that?” I grimaced at the overly sweet flavour. Blueberry? Blackberry? Something like that.
“Don’t worry about that. Have another.”
I shrugged and downed another shot, then ditched the glass and made a circuit of the marquee. It took a while because people kept coming up to me to congratulate me on our recent lacrosse win and to ask what I thought about our chances of winning the league in our final game. It would come down to us winning our game and St. Peter’s losing their game, so in a sense, it was out of our hands. I knew we could easily win our game after all the prep we’d done, but I wasn’t so sure if Burford would be able to beat St. Peter’s.
Another thing that delayed me as I made the rounds was the steady stream of girls coming up to me, batting their lashes, sliding their arms around my waist, flirting obsessively. All the usual, and normally I loved it, but a certain raven-haired little scorpion with soft honey eyes and a viciously sharp tongue had wormed her way into my brain. That was a big problem and one I didn’t yet have a solution to.
I detached yet another girl from my person with a sigh, smoothing out my T-shirt where she’d rucked it up. Shit, was my hair okay after that other girl had touched it? Pulling my phone free from my pocket, I flipped on the selfie camera and spent a minute rearranging my hair to my satisfaction. That done, I continued on, ducking outside when I’d finally completed a full circuit of the marquee.
Out here, the air was cooler, and it was a relief after the stifling atmosphere in the tent. Fairy lights had been strung up between the marquee and the spectator stands, which were currently roped off, off limits to students tonight.
In the roped-off stands, a flash of shimmering black caught my eye, and I was moving before I’d made a conscious thought to. I took in the scene in an instant—Aria, reclining back across the seats with her mouth set in a grimace, and Graham leaning over her, his hand moving up her fucking thigh as he kissed her neck.
I saw red. Grabbing a handful of his shirt, I yanked him off her, sending us both staggering backwards.
“What the fuck!” he roared, twisting around and tearing himself out of my grip.
I drew my fist back and punched him square in the jaw. He reared back, swaying on his feet before lunging at me with his arms swinging.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I snarled, ducking out of the way of his fists and getting him in a headlock.
“Fuck you, wanker.”
We grappled for a moment longer, and it was already getting tiring. Did he seriously think he had any chance against me? He was just wasting his energy at this point. Not to mention, the fucker was messing up my hair when I’d only just restyled it. Bellend .
“Do I need to remind you who the fuck you’re dealing with? I can end you—” I snapped my fingers. “—just like that.”
My words hit home, and the fight instantly went out of him. “Fuck you. Fine,” he spat, holding up his hands as he backed away from me, tripping over his own feet. “Enjoy the freak. She’s like a dead fish, anyway.”
“What the hell did you say?” I lunged for him again, but arms came around me, holding me back. I struggled against the tight grip. “Let me go!”
“Tristan. Don’t,” Roman hissed in my ear. I blinked, realising we’d attracted a crowd. Fuck.
“Did you hear what he said about Aria? Ro, I need?—”
“Yeah, I did. Stop fucking struggling. We’ll deal with it. You deal with your girl.”
He released me, and the next moment, Knox came out of nowhere with another punch to Graham’s jaw. This time, he went down, accompanied by several cheers from the small crowd.
“Don’t you dare talk shit about any of our girls again. Don’t you dare even fucking breathe near them,” he said, low and threatening. Trusting my friends to deal with it, I turned away,shaking out my stinging fist. Aria was my priority now.
When I reached her, she was making an attempt to sit up, rubbing at her head. Her hair was a mess, her eye make-up was smeared all over her face, and her eyes were so bleary I’d be surprised if she could even see.
“Tristan?” she slurred, her gaze unfocused, and rage filled me again. How fucking dare he? Taking advantage of someone in this state. I should’ve done more than punch him. I should’ve broken his hand, permanently, so he could never touch someone again.
Exhaling heavily, I pushed my anger aside for now. “Little scorpion,” I said softly, helping her upright. She instantly curled into me, resting her body weight against my chest, trusting in a way she’d never be if she was sober. I brushed some of her hair away from her face, and she nuzzled into my hand.
“Missed you,” she murmured.
“I missed you, too, baby.” There was no harm in admitting the truth. It was unlikely she’d remember any of this tomorrow, not with the state she was in.
She licked her lips. “I-I think I’m drunk.”
“Yeah. I think you are, too. Want to stay here, or do you want me to take you somewhere more comfortable where you can lie down?”
“Lie down,” she whispered.
“Okay. Hold on.” Carefully scooping her up into my arms, I carried her out of the stands. The crowd had dispersed, with just my two best mates remaining.
Knox glanced from me to Aria, his brows pulled together. “Need us to do anything?”
“Or get the girls?” Roman added.
I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ve got it. If I need anything, I’ll text you. I’m gonna take her back to our room and keep an eye on her.” Glancing down at Aria, I found her eyes closed, her head lolling to the side, and I adjusted her position so her head was supported by my arm. I looked back at my friends. “Thanks.”
Roman nodded. “We’ve got your back.”
Knox’s lips curved into a smug grin. “And you’ve got Aria’s. Go and take care of your girl. We’ll take care of things here.”
“This doesn’t mean what you think it means, sodon’t get any ideas,” I warned, but they just looked at each other and laughed. Dickheads.
I turned towards the school, but instead of making my way up the lit pathways where people would see us, I took the long way around, keeping to the shadows. My arms were aching by the time we reached my room, despite the fact that Aria was so tiny, and after carefully lowering her onto the bed, I shook them out with a groan of relief.
A hand curled around my wrist before I could move. “Don’t go. Need…need to talk.”
Aria’s eyes were still closed, but her grip was strong.
“Alright. I’m just gonna get you some water. I’ll be back in a second, and then I’ll stay with you. Want me to get anything for you to change into?”
“Want yours…” She trailed off. Her words were mumbled, but I heard them clearly enough. She wanted to wear something of mine?
I dug out a soft black T-shirt from my drawers. It was a loose fit on me, so it would be huge on her and hopefully comfortable enough to sleep in. “Here. Do you think you can manage to change? I don’t want to undress you while you’re like this?—”
“I can manage,” she slurred, some of her usual fire returning to her voice, and I smiled. As I helped her upright, propping my pillows behind her back, she blinked down at the T-shirt. “It’s black.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “You like wearing black.” Before she could read anything into that, I stepped back and turned away, leaving her to get changed while I dug out a sick bowl and paracetamol. When I’d done that, I filled a pint glass with water from the drinking fountain in the corridor and returned to my room.
While I was sorting everything out, Aria had managed to put my T-shirt on, leaving her dress and bra in a crumpled heap on the floor. Scooping them up, I placed them on my desk chair, realising as I did so that her shoes were nowhere to be seen.
“Where are your shoes?”
“Huh?” Her lashes fluttered, her brow furrowing. “Oh. Forgot to take them off…sorry.”
“It’s okay. Don’t move. I’ll take them off.” I lowered myself to the edge of the bed, sliding my hand beneath the duvet to reach her feet. As I unstrapped her shoes, she groaned.
“I feel so drunk.”
“You are drunk, baby. Take those paracetamols and drink all that water, okay? It’ll help. Do you know what you drank?”
She was silent for a moment, following my instructions to take the tablets, and downed a third of the pint. Wiping at her mouth, she nodded her head slowly. “Raspberry vodka…from the shop?—”
“By the train station?” I finished. No wonder she was wasted.
“Yes.”
“Okay. You can sleep it off now, and tomorrow, I’ll sneak down to the kitchens and charm Mrs. Smith so she’ll make you a bacon roll.”
“Will you stay?”
“Yeah. I’ll stay in Knox’s bed. He never uses it—he sleeps in his private room in the crypts with Elena.”
“Stay here. With me. Please,” she whispered, making an attempt to pat the sliver of space next to her.
Fuck. Okay. This means nothing, Tristan. She’s drunk and wants comfort. It would be the same with whoever was here .
While she lay down, her eyes fluttering closed again, I changed into cashmere joggers and a fresh T-shirt and then slid into my bed next to her. It was a tight fit, but as soon as she curled into me with a sigh, resting her head on my chest, I forgot all about the lack of space. Wrapping my arm around her and tugging her closer, I closed my own eyes, although I knew sleep wouldn’t come.