Chapter One
Tessa
“Could you please slow down? My legs aren’t as long as yours,” I complain to my bestie, Evie...the same bestie who is currently practically dragging me across campus.
“You’re only a little shorter than me,” she reminds me.
“Uh, that’s not the point.”
Evie pushes open the door to the dining hall, and we step inside. She finally drops my arm and takes a breath. “Now what should we get?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Not so fast, Evie Bennett. I want to know what all that was about.”
She gives me an innocent look. “All what?”
“Seriously? I walk into your room this morning to help you pack, because I’m a good suitemate and also your best friend—”
“Thank you,” she interjects.
“And I run into the one and only Slater Thorne—”
She interrupts me again. “I told you he’s one of Zane’s friends and roommates.”
I continue as if she didn’t interrupt. “And he looked like he was going to murder me.”
Evie laughs, but it’s high-pitched and straight-up weird. “He did not.” I pin her with a look, and she caves. “Okay, maybe he did. But that’s just how he is. Slate is always like that, believe me. He always looks like he’s contemplating either murdering somebody or burning something to the ground.”
“Well, he’s kind of a jerk then.”
Evie’s eyes widen. “No. No, he’s really not. He's actually a really great guy. He...” she pauses here, and I can’t figure her out. “He’s...shoot, I can’t think of anything at the moment, but it will come to me.”
I sigh. “Well, they say never meet your heroes. I guess we’ll just sum that up with Slater Thorne.
” I grimace. “You know I used to have his posters on my wall? Well, it wasn’t just him.
It was him and a few of his teammates, but still.
” Evie stares at me. “What? I love sports; you know that. And FMU is my school; it always has been. My stepdad went here, my mom, my brother...it’s in our blood. ”
“Wow. That's—” Evie pauses, and I grin.
“Crazy, right? No, seriously. I watched every soccer game of Slater’s freshman and sophomore years of college.
I know all his stats by memory; which I won’t bore you with at this present moment.
But yeah, I have a thing for him. But like I said, meeting your heroes and all that.
So, I guess it’s time to move on.” I close my eyes and bow my head.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Evie asks.
I lift my head a moment later. “Moving on. All right. What do you want?”
Evie blinks. “What?”
“I moved on.”
Evie shakes her head. “That doesn’t even...I don’t...Does that mean you’re not going to watch his games anymore?”
I laugh. “Who are you kidding?”
She looks relieved. “Oh good. You scared me a minute.”
“It just means I’m not going to think about him ever again...outside of watching him play of course.”
Evie frowns in confusion. “I don’t get—”
“Tessa!”
I turn at the sound of the male voice and grin when I see Connor heading towards me. “How’s it going?” he asks with a grin. He leans forward and kisses my cheek, and I smile up at him.
“Good. Are you ready for that quiz tomorrow morning?” I ask.
He groans. “Don’t remind me.”
“If we get there early, we can quiz each other.”
He grins at my words. “Sounds good. I’ll see you there. Bye.”
“Bye.” I turn back to Evie who’s staring at me in shock. “What?”
“Who was that?” she asks, looking back at Connor.
“Oh, that’s Connor. He's my first-hour study partner.”
She frowns. “I think he’s more than a study buddy.”
I grin. “Study buddy. I love that; I’m totally using that.”
“Seriously, Tess, I think he’s really into you.”
I can feel my nose scrunch up. “Really? I don’t think so; we just study together.”
Evie raises an eyebrow. “Do all your study buddies kiss you on the cheek?”
I wave off her concern. “He’s just an affectionate person.” She doesn’t look convinced, but we move past it. “Now, come on. Let’s grab something to eat before they put it all away.”
“I’ll grab us a plate of fruit and juice. You grab the carbs and protein.”
“Deal.” Evie turns to walk towards the hot bar, and I make my way over to one of the fruit bars.
“Hey, Tessa.”
I grin at my friend Jenna. “Hey, Jenna, how’s it going?”
“Good. You?”
I smile widely. “Great.”
She returns my smile. “See you around.”
“See you.” I head over to the juice station, but the orange juice is empty and needs to be refilled.
I make my walk over to the other juice station halfway across the room because I’m really in the mood for OJ.
By the time I finally make it back to where I left Evie, I can’t find her anywhere.
I figure she’s at the table we usually sit at, so I head there.
She’s not there either. I drop off the fruit and cups of juice.
I glance around the huge room, wondering where she’s at.
I see the tall soccer player before I see her.
Slater Thorne. My heart speeds up a moment at the thought of running into him again.
But I take in his stance and frown. He's leaning over my friend in an aggressive way. Suddenly, I’m moving fast. Evie told me what a jerk he is.
I didn’t want to believe her, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to.
I have no idea what he’s saying to her, but he does not look happy.
Neither does she for that matter. I wonder absently where Zane is; normally, he’s her permanent shadow.
His head snaps up right then, and he looks right at me, even though I’m still quite a ways away.
His eyes narrow, and he watches me with somewhat of a predatory look.
Honestly, it’s terrifying. “Are you okay?” I ask Evie when I reach her, ignoring the intense gaze of the tall soccer player standing next to her.
Evie frowns. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” I point out. I turn to Slater Thorne and force myself to stay levelheaded and not think about the fact that this man is one of my most favorite players in the world.
I take a steadying breath. “I don’t know what your deal is but leave Evie alone. She didn’t do anything to you.”
“Oh, Tessa,” Evie starts, but she doesn’t get to finish because suddenly we’re joined by three more of my favorite, and FMU’s most popular, athletes.
Reid Marshal—top scorer for FMU’s basketball team, Zane Blackstone—FMU’s very popular and incredibly talented quarterback and also Evie’s boyfriend, and Quint—FMU’s wide receiver who’s already broken records in his sophomore year.
I sort of lose myself a moment at all the sports royalty that’s around me.
“Oh boy.” I take a breath and then meet Evie’s eyes. “This is so much.”
Quint steps forward and sticks out his hand.
“Tessa, on behalf of our group and as the most social of all of us, I’d like to say—” He doesn’t get a chance to finish because Slater knocks his hand away.
Quint just laughs, and I wonder if I’m missing something.
I brace myself and then look at Slater Thorne once again.
He really is something both on and off the field.
He's tall and lean and tan from soccer and has a mostly shaved head, but you can see the dark black of his hair if he were to let it grow. When you add in the permanent scowl and tats, he’s one really intimidating guy.
He turns back to look at me, and I take in his eyes.
They’re dark, but not. They're almost...
gray when you look closely. They just add to the full package that is Slater Thorne.
“We need to get going,” Zane says, breaking the awkward silence and snapping me out of my Slater trance.
I focus on my best friend. “I’m going to miss you.” She’s moving in with the guys off campus.
Evie’s face falls. “I know. I’ll miss you too, but it’s just at night. We can still eat lunch together every day.”
“And attend games together,” I add.
Evie nods. “Definitely.”
“And some time, I want an invite.” I’ve told her that before, and she said she would invite me over to the house sometime. I’m going to hold her to that.
“Of course.”
Zane wraps an arm around Evie and takes a few steps closer to Slater. “Let’s head out,” Zane says. Reid and Quint take a few steps towards the door, but Slater doesn’t move. He's still standing a few feet from me. “Slate, let’s go,” Zane calls out, but Slater just ignores him.
I cross my arms over my chest and return his stare. “Do you have a problem with me?”
“Hey, Tessa,” I feel somebody brush my arm and turn to see Connor is back. He looks down at me in concern. “You good?”
I wave off his concern. “Yeah, I’m good. I thought you were leaving.”
“I was, but I got stuck talking to somebody.” He glances over at Slater and then back at me. “You sure you’re good?”
“She said she’s good.” The low voice startles me, and I jerk my attention to Slater. I pause at the look on his face. I wonder what happened in the last few minutes to make his look so mad...well, more mad than usual. He always kind of looks angry.
Connor looks back at me for confirmation. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.”
“Tomorrow morning then,” Connor reminds me.
I smile at him. “Tomorrow morning.” There’s a low sound that makes the hair at the back of my neck stand up, and I pause and then look at Slater.
Had that weird sound come from him? Connor doesn’t seem to notice.
He steps close, squeezes my elbow gently, and then kisses my cheek again.
Suddenly, he’s shoved away from me. I stumble back in shock.
I can’t even process what I’m seeing. Slater has Connor by the front of his shirt.
Quint, Reid, and Zane are there a second later, pulling Slate back. Connor stares at Slater as they pull him back. “What’s your problem, Man?”
“Don’t touch her,” Slater says in a low, angry voice.
I whip my head towards him, trying to figure out what in the world is going on. “I’ll touch her if I want to.” I frown at Connor’s words that just seem to make the situation worse.
Zane doesn’t seem to be in the mood. “We’ve got him; just go,” he snaps at Connor.
Connor crosses his arms. “I’m not leaving just because you idiots said I should.”
“They’re not idiots,” Evie jumps in.
I shake my head at all the insanity and put my hand on Connor’s arm. I hear a sound from Slater, but I ignore it. “Thanks, Connor.” His brown eyes meet mine, and I smile at him. “I’m fine; you’d better go. It will just make everything easier.”
His eyes soften. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He nods “Okay. You’ve got my number. If you need me, call me.”
There’s some kind of commotion behind me, but I focus on Connor. “Thanks.”
He smiles down at me. “See you, Tess.”
“See you.”
When I turn back, Zane and Slate are practically fighting. I turn to Evie in exasperation. “What is their deal?”
Her worried face meets mine. “It’s just not a good day for Slate.”
I decide to just let them be. “All right. Have fun moving. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch?”
Evie nods. “Definitely.”
“See you.” I start towards the exit, not even bothering to face the guys behind me. I’m not getting in the middle of that mess. I'm almost to the exit when I remember I left my fruit and my OJ. “Man, I really wanted OJ.”