Chapter 3
Tessa
He keeps coming towards us and then stops just a foot or so in front of us. I take a breath and lift my chin. “Slater Thorne.”
“Tessa Parker,” he surprises me by returning. Evie must have told him my name. He looks at Hayes and then back at me. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, security. I work security at nights.”
His gaze never strays from my face. “Security?”
“Yes. I’m here to keep the streets safe and the students secured.”
“Keep the streets secured and the students safe,” Hayes corrects quietly.
“Aw stink. I always get them confused. Anyway...” I smile brightly. “I’m here to protect and serve.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the police,” Hayes mumbles.
“I got it, Hayes,” I respond tightly.
Slater narrows those dark gray eyes at me. “Why are you doing security?”
“Oh. I had nothing else to do. I figure I’d stay out all night and keep the student population secure.”
“Safe,” Hayes mutters next to me.
I turn to him. “If I want to keep the students secure, would you let me please?” I turn back to Slater.
“All right then. We are going to do security now. Aren’t we, Hayes?
” He glances at Slater and then back at me and gives me a slow nod.
I pull open the door and stride inside. Hayes hurries to catch up with me.
“You know Slater Thorne?”
“Not really.”
“But he talked to you. He never talks to anybody.”
I laugh. “Well, that’s obviously because of his charming personality.”
We walk through the large workout center, and Hayes shows me where to scan our card to register that this building has been cleared by security. “This is my third year doing security, and that guy’s never said a word to any of us.”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Hey,” he snags my arm. “Can you get him to autograph something for me?”
“Why?” I ask in confusion.
“Because when he goes pro in a few years, he’s going to be famous.”
I don’t argue with that because it’s probably a pretty accurate assessment. “I really don’t know him,” I try again.
“Yeah, but he talked to you.” There are more soccer players present now, and I smile to myself when I recognize the guys I root for. “Will you at least try?” Hayes continues.
I finally turn to him. “Hayes.” I take a breath.
“I don’t know Slater Thorne personally, but my friend does and she said he’s a jerk.
And she loves everybody.” I am suddenly aware that the entire room has gone silent.
I meet Hayes’s wide eyes and close my eyes for just a moment until I hear a low voice right behind me.
“Evie called me a jerk?”
I blow out a breath of frustration. How do I get myself into these situations? I paste on a smile and turn around. “Slater. Hi. I was just talking about you.”
“Yeah. Got that.” His voice is flat and devoid of emotion.
Before I can say something to get myself out of this mess, Bruce, one of his teammates stands next to him and grins. “She’s got your number, Slate. But if you don’t want her, I’ll take her off your hands. What’s your name, Sweetheart?”
I eye him and keep the smile on my face. “Aw, did you call me Sweetheart?”
His grin increases even as Slater elbows him. “I sure did. I’m Bruce. What’s your name?”
I give him a blinding smile. “Aw, didn’t I tell you my name?
” He shakes his head, and I continue. “My bad. It’s,” I pause.
“Not interested.” Several whoops and hollers follow my declaration, and Bruce’s smile drops.
“All right. Well, then. Have a great practice, boys. And don’t forget, we’re here to keep you safe.
” I grin at Hayes. “I got it this time.” He shakes his head, and I follow him to the door.
When we get to the door, Hayes opens it.
I'm just about to walk out, but I look back for just a moment.
Slater locks eyes with me and then gives me just the slightest smirk.
It's really only one side of his mouth turning up the tiniest bit. I might have thought I imagined it, but when he gives me a tiny head nod, I know I didn’t.
I walk out the door, grinning to myself.
“You might want to be careful,” Hayes says after a moment.
“Why?”
“I’ve heard about that guy. He's not very nice.”
“Slater?” I ask.
“No, the other guy. Bruce. There are rumors on campus that he’s a real jerk to girls.”
“Huh.” I take that in.
“I’m just saying in case he doesn’t take kindly to being rejected by you.”
I look up at him. “Rejected? I wasn’t rejecting him.”
“He was asking you out, and you rejected him.”
I wave off his concern. “No, he wasn’t. He was just being a flirt.”
“Well, either way, just be careful.”
I take in his words. “Thanks, Hayes.”
He looks uncomfortable. “I have three sisters; I would want someone to look out for them.”
“You have three sisters? Older or younger?”
He uses the rest of our walk back to tell me about his three younger sisters. “They sound wonderful, Hayes,” I tell him when we get back to the guard shack. We both clock out and step outside. “Thanks for training me today.”
He nods. “Are you good to go for your next shift, or do you think you need more training?”
“I think I’m good; you’re an excellent teacher.” I watch as his cheeks heat slightly, and I pull back. “All right. Well, I’m off. Have a good one.”
“You too.” I'm a few yards from the security shack when he calls out to me. “And don’t get into any more scuffles with certain soccer players.”
“No promises,” I call out without looking back.
I make my way towards my dorm. I’m hoping to get at least an hour of sleep in before I have to get to my eight-o-clock class.
When I get back to my room, I take the fastest shower and then drop onto my bed.
I manage an hour of deep sleep before I have to get up.
After throwing my hair on top of my head, I slip on a t-shirt and a hoodie, and throw my bag over my shoulder.
Connor is waiting when I get to class. “So much for quizzing each other.”
I drop into the seat next to him. “Hey, we have five minutes. Go.” He shakes his head but starts quizzing me.
After a minute or two, I snatch the notes out of his hand and quiz him.
Thankfully, our professor is a few minutes late.
I hand him back his notes. “See, we’re totally ready.
” He smiles and takes out a pen. I try to keep my breathing steady as our professor passes out the quizzes.
I always get nervous and end up blowing quizzes and tests; I’m just not a good tester.
I can know all the knowledge, but for some reason, I panic and end up not remembering anything, especially in this History of Civ. Class. It's slowly killing me.
“All right. You may begin as soon as you get your quiz,” our professor says. When my quiz gets to me, I take it one question at a time. Connor finishes before me, which isn’t a surprise. I finish a few minutes later.
“How’d you do?” Connor asks after we turn them in.
“Eh.”
“That good, huh?”
I pull out my notes as our professor starts waxing eloquently.
I do my best to stay awake for the rest of class and the remainder of my morning classes.
By the time I get to lunch, I’m dragging.
I grab food and make my way to Evie’s and my regular table.
“Hey, how was your morning?” Evie asks as soon as I sit.
“Fine. How about yours?”
“I mean, it’s Monday,” she says after a bite of food.
“So true.” I take another bite. “So, I have new suitemates.”
Evie’s eyes widen. “Really? That was so fast.”
“Yeah, they must have gotten a call as soon as you left.”
“Are they good?” she asks. I hesitate. “Ooo. Really?”
“I didn’t say anything,” I point out.
She waves her fork in the air. “You didn’t have to. Your lack of response was answer enough.”
“I mean it’s too early to really get a feel yet, but they’re,” I pause again, and Evie just laughs. “What? I’m trying to think of something. They’re redheads. Twins.”
“Really?”
I nod and take another bite. “I‘m sure they’re great when you get to know them.”
“Yeah, I’m sure—” Her eyes fix on something behind me, and her face lights up. I don’t bother turning around; I figure Zane is about to join us.
“Hey, Baby,” he says, leaning down for a kiss. I drop my head and focus on my salad. “Hey, Tessa.”
“Hey, Zane.”
I’m busy eating my salad, so I don’t realize they’ve gone quiet until a moment later. I look up and nearly jump in my seat when I see Slater standing at our table. “Is that seat taken?” he asks, nodding to the empty seat next to me.
“No.”
“Do you mind if I sit there?”
“Oh, sure.” It doesn’t surprise me all that much. Quint and Reid join us often when Zane’s sitting with us. It makes sense that Slater would as well.
“You sure you don’t mind a jerk like me sitting here?” Slater asks in a low voice. I turn to him and find him much closer than I realized.
I lean back slightly. “Okay. We might have gotten off on the wrong foot, Slater Thorne.”
“I think maybe we did, Tessa Parker,” he says in a low voice.
I take a breath and turn to him and put out my hand and give him a bright smile. “Hi, I’m Tessa Parker. I’m a freshman, studying history.”
He stares down at my hand only for an extra second before he takes it in his. “Slater Thorne.”
I don’t release his hand. “And?” I encourage.
“And what?”
I give a patient sigh. “Your year and major.”
“Junior. Security management with an emphasis on IT.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “Really?” I realize at this point I’m still holding his hand.
I release it immediately and drop it. “See that wasn’t so hard, was it?
” I go back to eating my salad. When it stays quiet, I look across the table to see Zane and Evie watching us in complete silence.
“What? We had a run-in earlier, but it’s all good now. ”
“You had another run-in after yesterday?” Evie asks.
“Already?” Zane asks, giving Slater a look I can’t quite read.
“Yep. I called him a jerk in front of all his soccer buddies this morning.” Evie’s eyes widen, and I hurry on. “Which I realize wasn’t the greatest thing to do, but I was just calling him what you did, Evie.”
Evie’s eyes widen even more. “What? I didn’t call him that.” Zane and Slater both look at her. “I didn’t,” she protests, but she follows it up with a scowl in Slater’s direction. “But you certainly didn’t help yourself any yesterday.”
I nod in complete agreement and take another bite of my salad. “Yep. You were awful.” I turn to look at him. “Why were you so unhinged yesterday? Are you always like that?”
Zane makes a sound that’s somewhere between a laugh and a cough. Slater meets my eyes. “Not usually.”
I study him. “So yesterday was just a fluke?” He nods. I continue to study him. “I don’t think I believe you.”
He shrugs. “You don’t have to. I’ll prove it to you.”
I laugh. “And just how are you going to do that? I’m pretty sure I’ve already made my opinion of you.”
His eyes meet mine. “I can guarantee whatever it is, I’ll change it.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Cocky much?”
“Confident,” he says in response.
“Hmmmm.” I take another bite of salad. “Okay, Slater Thorne. Let’s see what you’ve got.”