Chapter 20 #2
“Are you sure?” Tessa asks on a whisper, and Diane chuckles.
“Go to him, honey. He’s dying for you, I can tell.”
Tessa squeals and breaks free from Diane. She practically skips towards Tristan, her whole body vibrating with happiness and excitement. Tristan stands still, tall, and proud as he waits for his girl to reach him, and she throws herself eagerly into his arms.
Tristan takes his hat off and leans down to capture her lips, which Tessa eagerly grants and wraps her hands around his sweaty neck, so desperately wanting to burrow herself into the deepest parts of his soul and stay there forever.
“I love you, Tess,” he says into her neck when they break away from the kiss, and Tessa doesn’t miss the way his voice breaks and trembles.
She pulls back to see a single tear slipping down his face, his breath ragged and heavy.
“I am so fucking proud of you,” she says sternly, grabbing his face in her hands and shaking to enunciate each word. “You did it. Even when people tried to get in your way, you fucking did it, baby.”
“Thank you,” he says, chin trembling. “This is so much sweeter with you here.”
They embrace once more before Diane, Jordan, and Ed make their way over, everyone embracing Tristan and showering him with hugs and kisses.
“Back to back, baby!” Jordan screams, pumping his fist in the air and patting a heavy hand on his little brother’s shoulder.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Tristan says to Jordan, who tries to wave him off.
“Oh please,” he says. “You’ve always been the better one at everything we did.”
“That’s not true,” Tristan says seriously. “And your support and loyalty have meant more to me than anything else that got me to this point. I love you, brother.”
“I know,” Jordan says with a nod and another shoulder Phil. “I love you too.”
The ceremony begins right after Tristan hugs his mom and dad, and he leans into Tessa before he goes on the stage.
“How drunk are we getting tonight?” he says with a mischievous grin.
“So drunk,” she answers. “And I want filthy nasty drunk sex, too.”
Tristan laughs out loud and plants one more firm kiss on her lips before heading up to the stage with his teammates.
“Where’s my girlfriend?” Tristan slurs as he bumps into Phillip and Jordan.
“Her and Brinley and Ana went to the bathroom or something,” Phillip answers, taking another swig of his beer.
Jordan dances around mindlessly wearing a Titan’s themed luchador mask and Tristan almost pisses himself laughing.
“Guys,” Tristan says, grabbing Phil and Jordan by their shoulders to bring them in closer. “I want to marry her,” he screams out, and Jordan stops dancing.
“I wanna marry her and get her pregnant. Can I get her pregnant tonight?”
Phillip laughs out loud and shakes his head, but Jordan’s face is much more serious.
“You’re for real,” Jordan says, and Tristan nods.
“How soon is too soon to ask her?” Tristan says.
Phillip shrugs his shoulders and looks helpless at the question.
“Don’t look at me,” Phil says. “Me and Brinley were together since high school, and I didn’t ask her until two years ago.”
Jordan and Katie didn’t wait nearly as long to tie the knot, but they were still dating for a few years before Jordan proposed.
“You think it’s way too soon,” Tristan says as he looks into Jordan’s wide eyes.
“I think when you know, you know,” Jordan says. “Who am I to tell you when the right time is. Just make sure you two are on the same page.”
“But I want to put my baby in her,” he whines like a drunk child, and Jordan chuckles at him.
“I want to marry her tonight so that I can knock her up.”
“They’re heading back over this way,” Phillip says, warning Tristan to shut down the conversation.
“You do whatever feels right, Trist,” Jordan says. “I don’t doubt for a second that you two are meant to be.”
Tristan smiles and nods his head appreciatively at his brother before their moment is stolen by a belligerently drunk Tessa sneaking her way under Tristan’s arm and sliding her hand under his shirt.
“Hey big boy,” she slurs, and Tristan’s eyes sparkle with admiration looking down at his girlfriend. She’s so far gone it’s not even funny – eyes red and glassy, make up smudged, hair a mess…and goddamn she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
“Wanna take me home?” she whispers into his ear, the tips of her fingers dipping under the waist band of his jeans.
“You talk a real big game for someone who is just going to pass out the second we get in the car,” Tristan laughs, but Tessa’s face shows no humor.
“I will not!” she protests, sticking her lower lip out in a childlike pout.
“You wanna bet on it?” he asks, his smile smug and playful.
“Absolutely,” she answers. “What are we betting?”
“Hhhhmmm…” he takes a second to feign concentration before looking back down at her and saying. “Loser doesn’t get to come.”
Tessa’s eyes go wide and she swallows heavily, suddenly not feeling as confident as she was just a second ago.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Tristan asks, pulling her against his body. “Scared you’re gonna lose?”
“I’m not losing shit!” she says, trying to push away from him but only ends up stumbling backwards, to which his long arms catch her and pull her back in.
“Well let’s go then. Can’t wait to watch you lose.”
Tessa fell asleep within minutes.
Tristan cradled her sleepy, heavy body against his in the backseat of the SUV as it cruised smoothly down the Kansas City streets. The view of the night sky was breathtaking, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Tessa.
He sat staring at her as if she were a precious work of art that could disappear at any moment.
He felt tears sting in his eyes but didn’t allow them to fall.
Instead, he took a deep breath and tipped his head back against the seat, silently thanking whatever God had mercy on him and placed Tessa, literally and metaphorically, right in his lap.
All of the years he kept himself up at night thinking about her, wondering where she was, who she was with, if she was safe or happy, if some other guy had swept her off her feet, if she ever thought about him at all – it was all worth it to hold her in his arms again, but this time as a strong woman that he knew was the result of the years they spent apart.
And as much as he hated being away from her and as much as the heartbreak nearly killed him, it was all worth it to see who she is now.
When they got back home, Tristan carefully carried Tessa’s passed-out body inside and up the stairs, laying her carefully on her side of the bed.
He removed her shoes and her clothes, all while her heavy limbs protested and she whined and groaned.
His heart swelled with love and admiration.
She was so cute and helpless in his arms, and he knew he would do anything to take care of her and make her happy, and that persistent feeling in his gut only grew stronger.
Leaving her safe and asleep in their bed, Tristan found his way back down to the living room and sat heavily on the couch before calling Jordan.
“Yo,” Jordan’s voice screams into the phone over the chaos in the background. “You good?”
“Yeah,” Tristan says quickly. “Can you come to my place though? I just really want to talk about what I said back at the club.”
Jordan was at Tristan’s house within 30 minutes, a mess of wrappers of McDonalds burgers the only evidence that food was ever here, and a beer in each hand.
“I don’t want to scare her away,” Tristan says. “But I can’t let this go. I need to marry her, Jordan. But she has a history of being flighty and unsure. What if it just makes her run?”
“Then she’s not the one, Trist,” Jordan says bluntly. “If you propose and she says no and runs then she’s not it for you.”
Tristan’s body deflates and he closes his eyes, willing the tears to stay put.
“But here’s the thing, Trist,” Jordan speaks again, and Tristan gathers the courage to look back at his brother. “She’s not going to run, I know it.”
Tristan’s heart accelerates quickly, and a smile nearly too big for his face shines brightly at his older brother.
“How soon can I get a ring?” Tristan says, frantically waving his hands around. “Can I get one, like, tomorrow?”
Jordan laughs and pats his brother’s knee.
“I suggest you don’t do that. You have the resources and money to work with someone to make something special, meaningful, and unique. A couple months of waiting won’t hurt while you get something made.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s true,” Tristan says, suddenly thinking of all the ways he could make the ring uniquely Tessa. Something about her and her style and her aura has always been so specific, and he was giddy at the thought of how many ways he could make a piece of jewelry so uniquely her.
“Damn, and then we have to plan a wedding, huh?” Tristan says. “I just want to marry her tomorrow. Do you think she’d be down to just legally get married and then do the big wedding and ring after?”
Jordan cackles loudly and places a hand on his chest, feeling so much happiness for how sickly in love his brother is that it makes his heart feel like it’s going to burst out.
“Don’t do that. Trust me. She strikes me as the type of girl that will want it done the old-fashioned way.”
“Okay, yeah, right,” Tristan nods his head and takes a deep breath. “But in the meantime, I can get her pregnant, right?”
“Triiiiist,” Jordan groans in exasperation.
“Okay, fine,” Tristan says with a sigh. “She’s going to be mine, though. Officially.”
“Tristan, something tells me she always has been,” Jordan replies.
Once Jordan had finally left Tristan’s house to travel back to his hotel for the night, Tristan sat back down heavily onto the couch, letting a long breath out as he sat silently for the first time all day.
He took the opportunity to lean his head back against the couch and process the past 24 hours.
He had won another Super Bowl, this time back-to-back, which he still couldn’t believe was real. But nothing compared to what having Tessa back felt like.