CHAPTER 1 #2
“Chivalry aint dead or whatever they say,” he smiled and put his elbows on the table, leaning in closer to her – so close that she could smell the fresh scent of his body soap. “Are you sure your boyfriend doesn’t mind you spending time alone with me?”
“Tristan come on,” she said with an eye roll, giving him a stern look.
“Okay, okay I’ll stop teasing you.”
“Gee thanks.”
“Only if you give me a real answer.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend!” She said exasperated. They had only been here for all of 5 minutes, and he was already causing her to roll her eyes multiple times.
“How can a girl as pretty and smart as you not have a boyfriend?”
“Oh please,” Tessa said with a heavy sigh, “How many times a day do you use that one?”
“Just right now,” he said with a shrug and a snarky smile.
“Alright I’m going to give you one more chance to be serious before I leave and tell your coach I quit.”
With that he decided to quit his antics and turn studious.
It took a lot of effort for him, but he listened intently and followed her directions throughout their study session.
It was evident to him how naturally gifted she was, and it was easy to guess that she was probably good at almost anything she put her mind to.
He also couldn’t help but notice how kind she was – it genuinely seemed like she wanted to help him, and her warm and gentle nature allowed him to relax and stop putting on the mask and show that he was used to with people.
Tessa had lived a decently sheltered and very comfortable life. She was from an upper middle-class family in Pennsylvania. Her childhood was warm, happy, and very easy going. And Tristan was right – she did pretty much perfect anything she set her mind to.
Her first love was reading, and then she started writing poetry at a very young age.
Eventually when she picked up the guitar and piano, she began turning her poetry into songs.
Over the past few years though, she had developed a special interest in journalism.
She loved the diversity and research aspect of it.
She loved the idea of getting to know many and all different kinds of people, places and things.
She had gotten lost deep in the world of reporting and award-winning journalism and at this point couldn’t see herself doing anything other than writing intense and emotionally captivating articles for established and respected newspapers.
Tessa wouldn’t say she was innocent or naive.
She had participated in her fair share of parties, enjoyed occasionally drinking with her friends, had gone on more than enough dates and had plenty of spicy make out sessions.
She had a copious amount of girlfriends and loved getting to know new people and challenging herself with new activities.
With that being said though, she was a very cautious young woman.
She didn’t push herself too far outside of her comfort zone and was not easily impressed, especially by boys.
She still considered herself a hopeless romantic, and she loved writing poems and reading romance novels, but she had yet to really be swept off of her feet.
After a few hours of studying, Tessa and Tristan decided to call it a night. Their conversation and the overall energy between them had greatly improved as time went on. They had both let their guards down, and Tessa even allowed herself to laugh at a few of his corny jokes.
“What are you up to after this?” Tristan asked, glancing down at his watch to see it was around 8o’clock.
“I’m just gonna head home,” she said casually.
“Would you maybe want to go grab a bite to eat or something?” He could immediately sense her apprehension and tried to ease her anxieties. “Nothing fancy, we could just go run to the diner down the street. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you on a date or anything.”
She laughed nervously and bit her lip in contemplation.
He said himself it wasn’t a date. It would be a neutral and casual place – the local diner.
She ran through the pros and cons and realized there weren’t really any significant cons.
Her friends had been telling her for her whole life to loosen up and do something fun, maybe this was the perfect opportunity to push herself.
“Um...yeah sure. I guess that would be okay.”
Tessa was surprised to find that their easy and comfortable conversation had flowed over to their casual diner meal.
They sat across from each other in the small booth in the back of the room.
Tessa wasn’t particularly hungry, but was very much enjoying a slice of blueberry pie and cup of coffee while Tristan was ravenously devouring a massive burger and fries.
He had mumbled something to her about starving and not eating before practice or their study session.
Sitting across from him as he ate made his size and masculinity that much more evident.
It didn’t bother her at all; she was just kind of in awe.
She hadn’t really been around a football player before.
At least definitely not one this tall with these kinds of muscles.
“You know for someone who kept making so many jokes about how they can’t read you’re really very smart.”
“What?” He said, stuffing a fry into his mouth. “Are you insane?”
“No, and I mean it,” she replied, pushing the remaining pieces of pie around her plate.
“You caught on quickly to everything we were reading and discussing. I don’t think your issue is intelligence.
I think it’s more your attention span. I think you get bored easily and have trouble focusing on things you’re not interested in. ”
Tristan stopped for a moment to contemplate what she was saying. He swallowed his food before responding.
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Nobody has every really noticed that before.”
There’s a silence between them that isn’t awkward but is filled with many thoughts and emotions that neither of them are speaking out loud.
“I have a feeling there’s a lot that nobody notices about you,” she said quietly, avoiding eye contact.
In the very short time that she has known him, she can tell that there is much more to him than he lets on.
She can tell that he likes to be the class clown and the center of attention, that he is comfortable with the spotlight and loves to make others laugh.
But there are layers beneath all of that, and she’s undeniably intrigued by it. She wonders if anyone really knows him.
“I’m a pretty simple guy,” he says with a shrug. “I’m not sure there’s much to be revealed. I like football and hanging out with my friends. That’s about it.”
She stays quiet for a few moments, her eyes studying him and he squirms.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Tessa asks, trying to make her tone as light and unthreatening as possible.
“No not at all,” he responds with a soft smile, “I’m actually really enjoying talking to you.”
“Me too...you’re not so bad.”
They both share a laugh and lean back into the comfortable silence that falls between them. Tessa couldn’t help but notice how quickly their nervous and awkward energy had dissipated and turned into something much more gentle and easy.
Suddenly the front door to the diner swung open and an intense rush of loud voices enveloped the air around them.
Tristan looked up and his eyes filled with dread.
It was a group of his teammates, and they spotted him immediately.
Tristan let out a long sigh before flashing Tessa a smile that was hard to read before he mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to her.
“Hey, what the fuck is going on over here!”
Tessa was startled by the very loud and very large group of guys that had suddenly appeared at their booth. Two of them were able to squeeze into Tristan’ side of the booth while one had wiggled his way next to Tessa.
“And who is this?” The guy next to Tessa said. He was very large and had very dark hair that covered nearly his whole face, and she immediately noticed that his eyes were the same color as Tristan’s.
“Tess, this is my big brother, Jordan.”
Tristan’s eyes threw daggers in Jordan’s direction, which he found to be very amusing.
“Oh, uh, hi,” Tessa said in a squeaky voice.
“Ah so this is Tessa, the new tutor who you said was, how did you put it, super hot.”
“Jordan shut the fuck up and leave her alone,” Tristan said, his blood boiling hearing all the chuckles coming from his friends.
Tessa’s face was bright red, and she wanted to crawl into a hole and die, but she was quite literally trapped.
“Trist, you sure Veronica is okay with you being on a date with another girl?” One teammate, Drew, said in a teasing tone.
“We broke up you shit head, you know that,” Tristan said through gritted teeth.
His eyes darted across the table at Tessa and his heart sank.
She looked so small being trapped underneath his brother’s huge arm, and her blue eyes were glued to the table in front of her.
She seemed so out of her element and uncomfortable.
“Would you assholes get the fuck out of here and leave us alone? You’re gonna scare her away and cost me my scholarship. ”
“My bad my bad,” Jordan said giving Tessa some room. “You really are helping Trist out a lot Tessa. I know he really appreciates you.”
Tessa simply gave Jordan a timid smile and took a deep breath, her eyes darting up towards Tristan.
“I’m gonna go back home now, can you let me out please?”
“Let me drive you home,” Tristan said, pushing his friends aggressively out of the booth.
“No it’s okay you don’t have to. Excuse me, I need to get out,” she said waving her hand in front of Jordan’s face. He chuckled lightly at her assertiveness and stood up from the booth.
“I like her,” Jordan said nodding his head over towards Tessa who was urgently scooting out of the booth, “She’s cute, blonde, and spunky.”
“Ugh,” Tessa said under her breath, grabbing her bag from the floor.
“Tessa, it’s late I’m driving you home, my truck is just in the lot.”
“No, seriously. I live right around the corner. I’ll see you next week.”
“I still can’t have your number?” He asked, his green eyes searching her blue ones desperately.
“No,” she said simply giving him a small wave, “See you Thursday at 6.”
He sighed defeatedly and watched her walk out of the diner and down the street. He took a deep breath before he turned back towards his teammates, who were all snickering like little kids.
“I fucking hate you guys,” he said with a disapproving shake of his head. “You really know how to ruin everything for me.”
“Man, you better watch out,” Drew said with a laugh, “Veronica is gonna be pissed when she finds out you’re dating a cute blonde bookworm.”
“I’m not dating her dipshit, she’s helping me raise my English grade. And I could give a fuck what Veronica thinks. I broke up with her because she’s crazy.”
“Yeah, crazy about your dick,” another teammate, Aric said with a loud laugh. “You’ve got that girl following you around like a lost puppy.”
“Christ, don’t remind me,” Tristan said with an eye roll.
“Alright listen, you guys better leave Tessa alone and be nice to her. She’s helping me out a lot and she’s very sweet and doesn’t deserve you guys being weird towards her.
And she’s helping me not lose my fucking spot on the team, so this is kind of a big deal. ”
“Alright bro you have our word,” Jordan said, patting Tristan on the back. “We’ll leave her alone so you can keep your scholarship. Even though we can tell you have a giant crush on her.”
Tristan grunted and pushed his way past his friends, being done with the conversation and wanting to just head back to the small apartment that he shared with Jordan.
He had so many thoughts running through his mind on his drive home.
He mostly was thinking about how Tessa had made him feel.
Throughout their whole study session, she was kind and encouraging.
She didn’t once make him feel stupid or not good enough.
She gave him very positive and constructive feedback, as if she actually wanted him to do well.
Their conversation after their study session was meaningful but lighthearted.
He didn’t usually feel comfortable like this around women.
Not because he was nervous, but just because he didn’t find that he had much in common with them outside of wanting to hook up and pass time.
She had made him feel different, and he didn’t really know what the meaning of that was.
All he knew at this point was that he liked her and was very happy that their paths had unexpectedly crossed.