Chapter 11
Tessa
Slater grabs our food, and we head back to the table. When we sit, I realize Slater isn’t the only one that ordered a ton of food. I’m starting to get used to it because I’ve eaten with Zane and Evie a time or two now. “How was the friendly guy at the counter?” Zane asks Slater with a smirk.
“Too friendly,” Slater returns.
“There’s nothing wrong with being friendly,” I add. “He was telling me that he has a cousin that goes to FMU. I wonder if any of us know who it is. Wouldn’t that be crazy?”
“Yep, crazy,” Quint says, grinning. “I bet you make friends everywhere you go, Tessa. Don’t you?”
I shrug. “You never know what somebody’s going through. I try to at least smile. Of course, some people you can’t cheer up, no matter what. They just walk through life frowning at anything and everything.”
“Like Slate?” Quint asks, still grinning.
Slate throws a nugget at him, which Quint impressively catches and pops into his mouth. “Slater doesn’t frown all the time.” I glance at him right beside me and notice the frown.
“You sure about that?” Quint asks with a laugh.
I eye Slater. “Well, I guess he’s a work in progress.” Everybody around the table laughs.
Slater scowls at me. I shrug. “What? You could smile more.”
He goes back to eating, and I hope I haven’t offended him. We finish up and throw our trash away. “I have to go to the bathroom,” Evie says when she tosses her stuff in the trash.
“I do too. I’ll go with you.”
I follow her to the bathroom. “I’m so glad we got to make this trip.”
I look over at Evie and finish washing my hands. “Thanks so much for inviting me; this was so fun.”
“It’s extra fun when you get to snuggle up in the backseat with a certain broody soccer player, right?”
“What?”
She grins. “Oh, come on. Don’t think I didn’t notice you all cozied up back there.”
“It’s just because he needs to stretch his legs out.” Then I grin. “But if that just so happens to put me right next to him, that’s just a sacrifice I have to make for the good of everyone in the van.”
Evie laughs. “You’re so full of it. Admit it; you enjoy sitting next to him.”
“Are you kidding?” I nearly squeal. “It’s like a dream come true. Sitting right next to Slater Thorne! Did I mention he smells ah-mazing!”
Evie grins. “There’s my Tessa; I got worried for a moment.” She pulls the door open. “Believe me; I get it, Girl.”
Zane’s waiting for us just a few feet from the bathroom.
I watch as his eyes light up when they land on Evie, and I smile.
It’s my favorite thing to see. He wraps an arm around her, and I lose all of her focus.
But I'm okay with that; I love that she has Zane. I follow them towards the exit. “Hey.” A voice pulls me from my thoughts. I turn to see the guy that took our order. He grins widely. “I’m Stuart, by the way.”
“I’m Tessa,” I tell him with an easy smile.
“Tessa, good to know.” He smiles. “Can I get your number?”
I blink. “Oh.” I hate when guys do this, because I don’t want to be heartless. But I also don’t like the idea of giving my number out to random strangers. I try to put it gently. “I don’t—”
He grimaces. “You’re going to let me down, aren’t you?”
I scrunch up my nose. “I’m sorry?”
He laughs. “It’s okay; it was worth a try.”
“If it helps, it’s not you. I just—”
“I get it. It’s the guy you were with, right?”
It takes me a moment. “Oh. Slater? Oh, no. We aren’t together. That would be...” I shake my head.
He gives me a sweet smile. “I get it. Have a great day, Tessa.”
“Thanks. You too, Stuart.”
I turn around and see Zane and Evie standing over by the door waiting for me.
Evie has a big ole’ grin on her face. “Not a word,” I mutter as I walk past her.
Zane opens the door for both of us and thankfully doesn’t say anything about it.
When we get outside, Slater is leaning against the van with his arms folded over his chest. When we get to the van, Reid steps out, and I climb in.
Slater follows me in and sits in the middle in the backseat again, so his legs can stretch out.
I’d already forgotten what it was like to be this close to him.
I don’t forget any longer as his cologne and all-around masculine scent surrounds me as does the heat of his body.
I try to take a settling breath and force myself not to make a big deal out of this.
“Everybody in?” Zane asks.
“Yes, Dad,” Quint responds.
Zane pulls out of the parking lot and onto the main road. I think I’ve avoided anybody making a big deal, but that fades as soon as Evie opens her mouth. “So,” she starts, and I already know what’s coming. “Stuart,” she overenunciates his name. “Asked for Tessa’s number.”
“Who the—” Slater pauses. “Who is Stuart?” His voice is low.
“The guy at the counter,” Evie says before I can answer. “He was very into our Tessa.”
“He was not,” I respond.
“Pretty sure he was if he asked for your number,” Quint says. “That’s how it works with guys.”
I roll my eyes. “I know all about how it works with guys.” It goes quiet in the van, and I think about how I sounded just then. “Okay, that didn’t come out right. I just meant I know what it means when a guy asks for your number.”
I feel Slater’s gaze on me, and I finally turn to him. “You get a lot of guys asking for your number?” he asks in a low voice.
I scoff. “No. He wasn’t really interested,” I say, trying to deflect.
“Um, pretty sure he was, Tess,” Evie pipes up from the front seat.
Thankfully, the conversation finally moves away from me. I check my notifications on my phone and get settled for the long drive back. I think we’ve finally moved on, but Slater surprises me like twenty minutes later. “What kind of a name is Stuart anyway?”
I sigh in exasperation. “Oh, my word. Why can’t everybody just let it go?” Needing a new topic of conversation, I direct my attention to Reid. “So, Reid, when’s your next basketball game?”
He turns his head towards me. “Tuesday.”
“What about the football boys?” Quint asks. “We’re the ones playing real sports.”
“You guys have your first playoff game next weekend, right?” I ask.
“Yep,” Zane and Quint both confirm at the same time.
“I cleared my work schedule for it. Did you, Tessa?” Evie asks.
“Of course. I had it cleared months ago.”
“You weren’t even working security months ago,” Evie counters.
“Exactly. So, when I went in, I let them know exactly when I needed off.”
“And they gave it to you? I’m surprised; I have to work so hard to get time off at the coffee shop.”
“Well, I think they were desperate; that probably played into it. Anyway, I am free for the big game next Saturday. We will be there with our jerseys on and our signs,” I tell her with full confidence.
“Wait, what?” Evie asks. “We’re making signs?”
“Of course we’re making signs. It’s a playoff game. I've been dreaming about being at one as a college student for as long as I can remember.”
“You’ve always been a fan?” Quint asks me.
“My mom and stepdad both attended FMU. It’s crazy; they didn’t actually meet each other in college. They met later in life. My older brother went here as well. It’s in my blood.”
Slater turns to me. “You know our quarter finals are next Friday, right?”
I scoff. “Of course, I know. I’m hoping to change my schedule, so I can make it to that one as well.”
“Wait, let me get this straight,” Quint says turning all the way around in his seat, so he can look at me.
“You asked for time off for our football playoff games, but you didn’t take off for the soccer ones?
” His grin nearly stretches off his face.
“Oh, this is good. Sorry, Slate. I think this proves that football is the superior sport.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he responds.
“Actually,” I chime in. “I asked for soccer as well, but they wouldn’t let me take off for that because two people had already taken off Friday night.”
“Guess soccer is right back on top,” Slater says.
“You’re both wrong. Everybody knows basketball is where it’s at. Anybody ever heard of March Madness?” Reid adds.
Quint and Zane both groan, and Slate shakes his head. “I’m guessing he’s played that card more than a few times,” I whisper loudly to Slate.
“Always,” he mumbles next to me.
“Nobody cares about March Madness,” Quint spouts off.
Reid pulls out his phone and reads. “An estimated sixty to one hundred million brackets will be filled out this year.”
“Sixty million to a hundred million?” I repeat in shock. I look at Slater and then at Quint. “Sorry, Boys. I think he’s got you both beat.”
Quint fake whines. “No. Football is America’s sport.”
“It’s really not,” Slater interjects.
I look at him and whisper. “It kind of is.” He turns that scowl on me, and I give him an apologetic look. “Sorry, but it is,” I whisper.
The guys continue arguing about which sport is the best, and I start to fade a little.
My few hours of sleep earlier were not enough; I’m dragging now.
I'm feeling the nights of no sleep this week. After a few minutes, I finally get my pillow where I want it, so I can try to sleep for a little bit. I cover up with my blanket, all the while still listening to the conversation flowing around me. It’s relaxing and peaceful, and I find myself drifting off in spite of the loud voices.
When I open my eyes next, there’s a weight on my head that keeps me from moving.
I really slept hard and am trying to come out of a deep sleep, so it takes me a moment to get my surroundings.
I finally remember that I’m in the van with the guys, headed back to campus.
I address the weight on my head next. It takes me no time to realize that it’s Slater’s head on top of mine, weighing it down.
I can hear him breathing evenly, so I can tell he’s asleep.
I want to move, but I don’t want to wake him up.
I’m sure he’s exhausted from his game. I must move a little too much, though, because I feel him shift next to me.
The weight comes off my head, and I lift my head.
I feel my cheeks heat, because I realize right in that moment that I had my head on his shoulder.
My head was on Slater Thorne’s shoulder.
I sit up slowly, unsure how to respond. I decide to handle it the way I do everything else in life.
“Sorry, I fell asleep on your shoulder.”
Slater glances over at me, and those dark gray eyes meet mine. “I’m not.”
I blink slowly, still trying to come out of the coma I was in. “You’re not what?” I ask in confusion.
“I’m not sorry you slept on me.” I feel my face heat, and I stare at him, completely unsure what to say.
“This is your stop, Tessa,” Zane says from the front seat. His words snap me out of my stupor.
“Oh, thanks.” I start gathering my stuff. Quint hops out of the van, and Slater climbs out next. After I make sure I have everything, I move towards the front. “Thanks for the ride, Zane.”
“You’re welcome; I’m glad it worked out for you to come.”
Evie hops out of the van ahead of me. When I climb out, she’s waiting with a hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for a great day.”
She and Quint climb back in, and I turn to Slater. “Have a great night.”
“I’m walking you in.”