CHAPTER 2 #2
The set designs were intricate, and the actors commanded the stage.
The set went through Shakespeare’s plays and the history behind them, and the play found a way to tie everything up together at the end.
It was actually very helpful for Tristan to have it explained to him like this. He was very visual learner.
Tessa sat with her arm sharing the arm rest on the chairs between them, their elbows touching gently.
She would lean in every once in a while to whisper into his ear about what was happening on stage with various pieces of information she knew or whenever she noticed his brow furrowed in confusion, she quickly leaned in to explain something to him.
His heart skipped every time she leaned in.
Her voice was thick and smooth in his ear, and he could smell whatever perfume she was wearing.
Whatever it was, it smelled like fresh oranges mixed with a deep vanilla scent and was arousing and made his head dizzy.
To be honest, everything about her was arousing and made his head dizzy.
They both stood enthusiastically at the finale of the play, clapping and smiling at each other.
He then led her to the building next door where there was the exhibit and let her take the lead.
He stayed about a half a step behind her, watching as she walked through each portion and waited eagerly for her to turn back towards him and explain whatever display they were at.
Truth be told, if he was doing this with any other girl he’s been with in the past, he would have been bored out of his mind.
Honestly, he would never have taken any of those girls to something like this and would have rolled his eyes at the notion of extra credit.
He always put 100% of his effort into things he cared about, but English Lit simply was not one of those things.
But something about Tessa ignited something inside of him that he didn’t know was there, and he didn’t even have a name for.
All he knew was that being around her for some reason made him want to be better and do better.
He thanked her genuinely for all the ways she was helping him and thanked her again for accompanying him.
“There’s a small coffee shop down the street that has some amazing desserts,” he said, pointing behind his back towards the street once they had finished everything and were standing outside of the exhibit.
“Oh, you mean Sagebrush? The little one on the corner?”
“Yeah, you been there?”
“I love it there,” she said with a smile before she took a few seconds of silence to contemplate if she should go with him or not.
She took a steady breath and looked around at all the people walking around, holding hands, laughing, and busying themselves around the college town.
Finally, she met his eyes and shrugged her shoulders lightly. “Yeah sure, why not?”
He tried, he really tried to keep his smile casual, but he beamed and his eyes crinkled in the adorable way that gave Tessa goosebumps. She felt a shiver run up her spine and she clutched her cardigan tighter around herself even though she knew it wasn’t from the cold.
“Hell yeah!”
She laughed out loud at his joyful outburst and followed him down the street.
Once they had ordered their drinks and a few decadent pastries, they sat outside at a small table and began happily sipping and taking small bites of their shared desserts.
The air between them was comfortable. To Tessa’s amazement, this larger than life, very popular star football player somehow had the ability to make her feel more comfortable than most other people she encountered.
It had taken a few meetings but now instead of being nervous or uneasy around him, she found herself looking forward to their meetings.
She also pleasantly discovered that he was very funny and was able to make her laugh in ways she hadn’t since she was a child.
There was a cool breeze that danced through the air. It was now late September, and the weather was just starting to change, reminding Tessa of the upcoming holidays which was her favorite time of the year.
“Do you usually go home over Christmas break?” Tessa asked. “Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you where home is!” She laughed, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. He gave her an easy-going smile in return. “Are you from Nashville? You don’t seem like you’re from Nashville.”
“Hell no,” he said, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his very large and long legs.
“I’m from Ohio, baby.”
“A Midwest boy,” she said with a smirk, her blue eyes dancing with curiosity. It made his heart jump. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“Oh yeah? Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“A good thing,” she said with a laugh. “It explains your kindness and humor.”
“What, guys in Pennsylvania aren’t nice and funny?”
“Not really,” she replied, her tone still light but with something else behind it that he couldn’t place.
A few moments of silence lulled between them as they sipped their coffees.
He didn’t want to overstep her boundaries and the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable, but the warm insistence in his chest was becoming too much to ignore.
There was so much that he wanted to know about her.
“So, are you every going to answer my question about if you have a boyfriend?”
She took a deep breath and looked up at him through her thick, curled lashes.
“Tristan if I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”
“Fair,” he said biting his lower lip.
“Do you have someone you left back in Pennsylvania?”
“I don’t see why that matters,” she said curtly. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude but, really, why does that matter? You seem so fixated on if I have a boyfriend. I’m just tutoring you, so I don’t see the significance.”
He sat and contemplated her words for a few moments. The way she spoke and swirled words together sometimes took him a few seconds to process, and he loved it.
“Well, I don’t really know,” he said simply, with a one shouldered shrug. “I guess I just...I’m intrigued by you. And I’m just curious if there’s anyone who gets to know you intimately. I don’t really know how else to put it.”
She felt her skin heat up under his gaze, his words rushing through her ears and down to her core. She reached for her drink to try to snap herself back into reality but didn’t take a sip.
“I’m very single,” she said in a whisper. “I’ve had boyfriends and I was with someone for a while in high school but nothing that has ever lasted long or really been very meaningful.”
“What’s your family like?” He asked, his eyes closely examining her beauty.
She sighed happily at the thought of her family and was grateful he was changing the subject.
“They’re great. My mom is like my lifeline.
Being away from her is so hard. My dad’s a bit more traditional and strict in a sense but he really loves me, and I look up to him a lot.
And then I have a younger brother, August. He’s about to graduate high school and go to U Penn which my dad is stoked about. ”
Tristan smiled at her and hummed quietly to himself. Of course she came from a good family – it radiated from her.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Yeah, well, my parents are both back in Ohio. They just divorced last year but our family doesn’t feel that different. My dad is a huge goofball and is a big reason Jordan and I love sports so much. And my mom is just great. She’s everything a good mom could possibly be.”
Tessa smiled and felt her heart skip at how he talked about his mom. A good midwestern boy who appreciated and respected his parents – it was a big green flag.
“And Jordan?”
“Yeah, you already met him,” he said with a nervous laugh. “He’s the only reason I’m here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just always wanted to do everything that he did. I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him. And he played football, so I wanted to play football. He moved to Nashville to play at Vanderbilt, and I did the same. I almost didn’t get the scholarship.
They said my character was questionable.
I don’t know what he told them but whatever it was they changed their minds. ”
“What does questionable character mean?”
“My grades were low in high school. I had gotten a few suspensions for fighting and one minor consumption ticket for getting caught drinking. Jordan whipped me into shape though. He made sure I didn’t get mixed in with the wrong kids and stayed focused on football.
Once I did that my skills really started to take off. ”
“It sounds like he really loves you,” Tessa said with a smile.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Excuse me kids,” the shop owner stuck his head out onto the patio and signaled to their coffees, “Go ahead and finish up, we’re closing soon.”
“Oh shit,” Tristan said, looking down at his watch. “I had no idea it was so late.”
“Me either,” Tessa said, giving the owner an apologetic smile before gathering her things and helping throw away their leftover trash.
“Will you please let me drive you home?” Tristan asked, his eyes desperately searching hers. “It’s late. I’m uncomfortable with you walking.”
She thought for a second and heard her own mother’s voice in her head about walking alone at night.
“Yeah thanks, that would be really nice.”
Tristan loved the sight of Tessa in the passenger seat of his truck. She looked so small and feminine in such a large vehicle next to his large body. He was grateful she felt comfortable enough with him to let him drive her home.
“Why don’t you live on campus?” He asked as he turned onto the street that the house she shared with two other girls was on.
“Ugh,” she scrunched her nose up at the memory, “Been there done that. I lived in the dorms last year and hated every second. It was co-ed and so loud and dirty.”