Chapter 6
Tessa
The sound of my alarm wakes me out of a dead sleep. I turn it off, and it takes me a moment to remember where I’m at. It takes even longer for me to sit up and get out of bed. I’m thankful for the deep sleep; I needed it. I snag my phone and see a few text messages. One is from Connor.
Connor- want to eat lunch tomorrow together? I can save you a seat.
I don’t answer that one yet, not feeling awake enough to do so. The next message is from Evie.
Evie- Hey Girl, come see me when you get back on campus. Coffee’s on me.
I respond to that one.
Tessa- I need caffeine!
The last message I pull up I almost don’t open because I don’t recognize the number, but then I see that it says my name in the preview. I open it and read the message.
Unknown- Tessa, it’s Slater. Hope you got some sleep. I had to leave to get back to practice on time. I left the keys for my truck on the kitchen counter. If you don’t want to drive it, let me know, and I can order an Uber for you. Text me so I know.
I read his message two more times and then finally stand up.
After changing into my ugly uniform, I straighten Evie’s bed, grab my phone and bag, and slip from the room.
When I get to the kitchen, sure enough, there are the keys to his truck.
I’m not really sure how I feel about driving his massive truck, but I really don’t want to wait around for an Uber.
I pocket his keys. “How hard can it be?” I make my way out to his truck and climb in.
As soon as I stand in front of it, I wonder if this is a bad idea.
I open the back door and drop my bag inside before opening the front door.
I manage to hoist myself into the truck.
As soon as I turn the key, the truck roars to life.
I spend the next few minutes moving the seat up, adjusting the mirror, and reminding myself that I know how to drive.
I back up slowly and turn onto the main road.
It’s terrifying to drive something this big, but I force myself to relax and focus.
After a few minutes, it doesn’t seem quite as daunting.
By the time I get to campus, I’m much more relaxed.
I’m super cautious as I pull onto campus because there are a lot of crazy drivers on campus.
I slowly make my way over to where the soccer field is.
I'm glad I left when I did because I’m still barely going to have enough time to get across campus to the coffee shop and then to the guard shack on time.
I study the truck a moment, wondering what I should do with the keys.
I finally decide to leave them under the mat.
I pull out my phone to text Slater to let him know.
Me- Hey Slater, it’s Tessa. Thanks for letting me borrow your truck. I put the keys under the mat, so you should be good to go. Unless somebody else finds them first. In that case, I owe you a new truck. I add a facepalm emoji and a smiley face and hit send.
I walk over to the sidewalk that runs parallel to the soccer field and try to make out the players at the other end of the field.
And then they’re not so very far away as they run up field.
They’re all doing some kind of soccer drill, and it’s not surprising to see Slater’s the one leading it.
He looks up at that moment and locks eyes with me, even from across the field.
I’m about to keep walking when he jogs towards me.
I wait for him, figuring I’ll tell him about his keys now.
But I sort of lose my train of thought when he gets close.
He’s wearing navy soccer shorts and no shirt, and he looks all kinds of good. I force my eyes to his face.
“Hey,” I say when he gets close. “I parked your truck right over there.” He barely glances in that direction. “I put the keys,” I look around a moment before I whisper, “Under the mat.”
He gives me that sexy smirk of his. “Got it.”
“Yeah. Hopefully, nobody steals it. Otherwise, I’d owe you a new truck, and I do not have that in my budget.”
“It will be fine,” he assures me. His eyes skim over my face. “You got some sleep?”
“I did. I feel so much better; thank you.”
“Slate!” Somebody yells from the field, and I cringe.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“It’s worth it.” Before I can overthink those words, he continues. “I’ve got an away game this weekend. Zane and Evie are coming? Will you come?”
I blink and stare up at his gorgeous face. “You want me to come to your game?”
“Yeah.”
“Slate! Let’s go,” somebody yells again.
“Go; I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
He jogs a few steps backwards. “The game?”
“Slate!” the voice booms.
“Go. I’ll look at my schedule.”
“Come,” he says one more time, and then he turns and jogs back over to his teammates.
I can’t see them clearly from here, but I watch a few of them give him a hard time.
I really hope he doesn’t get into trouble for talking to me.
I think about how he said it was worth it as I walk, and I wonder what exactly he meant by that.
I still can’t believe Slater Thorne is even talking to me.
I’m not sure what alternate universe this is, but it feels.
..good. Really good. I can’t keep the grin off my face as I walk across campus.
When I get to the coffee shop, I’m out of breath. Evie sees me right away and waves me up to the counter where there’s only a short line. “Hey,” She greets when it’s my turn. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It's just a longer walk than I realized.”
“Did you walk here from the soccer field?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“You should have driven here. Slate wouldn’t have minded.”
“And make him walk to his own truck? No way. Now, what’s good? I really gotta move so I’m not late.”
“I’ve got just the drink for you. It’s my own specialty.” Her eyes practically dance with delight, and I can’t help my grin.
“Okay. Hit me.” I pull my wallet out, but she waves me off. “Evie, I told you, you have to let me pay for my own drinks. You can’t keep giving me your free drinks.”
“I’m not,” she argues.
“Evie,” I start.
“No, seriously. I have this.” She waves a card at me too fast for me to see it.
“What is it?” I ask skeptically.
“It’s a gift card, and it’s loaded.” She grins maniacally.
“By you?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. Somebody filled this for you to use every time you come in.”
“Are you messing with me?”
Before she can answer, somebody taps me on the shoulder. “Excuse me, are you going to order?”
“Sorry,” I tell the guy behind me.
I turn back to Evie in time to see her swipe the card.
“One specialty coming right up.” She winks at me, and I have no choice but to move away from the counter.
I move over to the wall, so I’m out of the way.
It also gives me a view of the entire shop.
I hear loud giggles coming from the back of the shop and turn to see none other than my suitemates—Faith and Felicia.
Unsurprisingly, they have several guys at the table with them, and a few more that look like they wish they could be.
Faith looks up and sees me. She whispers something, and soon the entire table laughs.
I don’t have to wonder what they’re laughing at; I’d laugh at me too.
I have; this outfit is seriously ridiculous.
But I get paid, and that’s what counts. “Tessa.”
I turn back to the counter where Evie’s holding a drink and frowning. “Who are they?” she asks, looking behind me.
I don’t have to look back to see who she’s talking about. “Those would be my new suitemates—Felicia and Faith.”
“Well, I don’t like them.” I shrug and take a sip of my iced coffee. I don’t know what kind it is, but it has whipped cream and caramel drizzle. So, I’m all in. I take a sip, and my eyes nearly roll back in my head. “It’s good, right?”
“What is it?” I ask after another sip.
“It’s a honeybun latte.”
I lift it in a mock toast to her. “You make the best drinks. Thank you.”
“Hope it keeps you awake tonight. I mean, it’s got four shots; so, it should.”
My eyes widen. “Or I’ll have a heart attack. One or the other.”
She laughs and waves as another customer comes up to the counter. “Oh, Tessa, Slater has an away game Saturday night. Zane and I are going to go because he doesn’t have a game. Want to go?”
I don’t tell her that Slater just invited me; I’m still not really sure what to do about him.
I do a quick mental check of my work schedule.
I’m on tonight, and then I have off Tuesday and Wednesday.
Then I’m back on Thursday and Friday. I’m off again on Saturday and Sunday.
“Yes! That would be so fun! I haven’t been able to catch many soccer games this season. ”
“Yay! It will be so fun! I’ll find out all the details from Zane and let you know.”
“Thanks, Evie.” I'm almost to the door when I remember. I turn around. “Evie, who was it?”
She looks up at me and grins and mouths, Slate.
I ponder the fact that Slater left a gift card for me with Evie for me to buy coffees.
Why? Why would he do that? Then I chalk it up to him knowing I work nights.
He must have seen how tired I was and wanted to help.
I take another sip of my coffee as I walk across campus.
My mind runs over the enigma of Slater Thorne.
I don’t quite get him. Evie said he was a jerk, and he was when I first met him.
But he’s been really nice to me. Maybe he just feels bad, some voice in the far recess of my brain argues.
I’m not really sure, but I owe him big time.
First, he drove me to the house where I could sleep; then he let me borrow his truck.
And now, he bought a gift card for me to use to buy coffee. I pull out my phone.
Me- Slater Thorne. You confuse me. I thought you were a jerk, but then you drove me to your house today so I could sleep.
You let me drive your truck, and now Evie tells me there’s a gift card with my name on it for coffee from you.
What gives? I pause here and then grin. You better be careful treating a girl this way.
She’s bound to get attached to you and not let you go.
I laugh in my head at the panic that surely’s going to cross his face.
I haven’t been around Slater too much, but I know he avoids people like the plague.
The idea of a girl following him around probably makes him break out in hives.
I get to the security shack and wave to Dan. “How was it today?”
“Fine,” he answers easily. “Is Hayes training you again tonight?”
“I think I'm flying solo.” I scan my card. “Anything I need to know?”
“There’s a big group gathered on the North end by the music hall. There’s some sort of music competition the band is heading to, but that shouldn't affect you.”
I pocket a flashlight. “Nope.”
“Other than that, it should be a pretty quiet night. No games.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Dan.”
“You’re welcome.”
I head out and towards the beginning of my route. I snag my ear buds from my pocket and put them in and start up my music. It’s not until about an hour into my shift that my phone dings with a return text from Slater. It’s just three words long.
Slater- that's the idea