Chapter 170

Tessa’s POV

I was seeing red.

I stared at Brian’s smug and excited face as he yelled into the microphone of that reporter before running off to join his teammates to celebrate their victory. The reporter looked baffled by Brian’s announcement before trying to recover herself.

“What are you going to do?” Ruby asked, breaking through the silence.

I pressed my lips firmly together, trying hard to keep my cool.

“First I’m going to get to the school,” I said through my teeth. “Then, I’m going to give Brian a piece of my mind.”

I turned away from them and headed toward the door.

“You can take my car if you’d like,” Ruby shouted after me.

“It’s fine,” I said, pausing at the door. “I think I could use the walk anyway.”

On that note, I pulled the door open and walked through it, slamming it on my way out. There was no way I was going to let this shit slide. I was beyond pissed off. Did he seriously think that was going to work in his favor?

Why are men so clueless?

The fresh air and the walk helped calm my nerves and helped me figure out what I was going to say to both Brian and Joseph. They were both acting stupidly, and I’ve had enough of them playing games with my emotions. I

don’t know how much more my heart could take.

The school halls were crowded just as I thought they would be this early in the morning. I only had two missions and then I’ll head home and rest for the day.

When I approached Brian’s locker, I was annoyed to see one of the cheerleaders leaning against it and batting their long lashes up at him. I furrowed my brows together, wondering where Amanda was.

He had a smug grin on his lips, and he was flexing his biceps as he spoke to her. She was chuckling and placing a hand on his arm.

I pressed my lips together and walked toward them.

Brian saw me before she did; once he saw me his entire body stiffened. The girl, whom I recognized as Abby, continued babbling while twirling her perfect blond hair.

When I stepped beside her and folded my arms across my chest, she narrowed her deep blue eyes in my direction.

“Um… can I help you? She asked, raising her brows with clear annoyance in her tone.

“Yes, you can help by walking away,” I said in return, trying not to sound as bitter as I felt.

Her face reddened as she turned to face Brian as if she was hoping he would say something. But he said nothing, making her face grow even redder. She pressed her lips together and looked back at me.

“If you knew what was good for you, you’d step away, Abby,” I said, feeling incredibly heated.

She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Brian.

“Abs, I’ll see you later,” he told her, making her snap a startled look at him. “I need to talk to Tess.”

She sighed.

“Fine,” she murmured, she then proceeded to put her hands on his shoulder and rub her body against him as she walked away. “Don’t forget about me,” she whispered, thinking that I couldn’t hear her.

I folded my arms across my chest and rolled my eyes.

He was stupidly watching her as she disappeared through the crowd of people who were hurrying to get to class. I knew they didn’t care if Brian was late for class; as long as he won the football games, he could basically do whatever he wanted.

He was here on a football scholarship after all.

But I also knew I had about 5 minutes before class started so I needed to talk quickly. However, before I did, he spoke first.

“I looked for you after the game,” he said with narrowed eyes. “Where’d you go?”

“I had somewhere to be,” I told him, trying to keep all emotions out of my voice.

His frown deepened.

“I spoke to Amanda after the game. She was crying,” he said, furrowing his brows together. “She said that you tried to steal her bag and got her suspended for 2 months.”

So, that’s why Amanda wasn’t here and one of her cheerleader followers was all over Brian. I would have laughed if I wasn’t so annoyed with him.

“It’s more complicated than that, Brian,” I muttered, sighing. I really didn’t want to talk about this.

“More complicated than stealing someone’s bag?” He asked, shaking his head at me. “Liz was a witness to it, so don’t even try denying it.”

“I’m not denying it,” I quipped. “It’s a complicated story that I’m not going to get into. But I had my reasons.”

He sighed again and dropped his gaze from mine. Now he was staring at the ground. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I saw sadness crossing his face and oddly enough, it made me sad in return.

It tugged at my heart to see him as hurt as he was. Ruby’s warning about him rang through my head, so I couldn’t tell if this was an act or not. Maybe it was my feelings toward Joseph that were clouding my judgment at the moment, but I truly felt sad for Brian.

“I don’t know if you saw what I said to that reporter…” he finally said, his voice so low I had to strain to hear him.

“That’s actually why I’m here,” I told him gently.

He lifted his gaze and met my eyes, surprised.

“You heard?” He asked, raising his brows.

I nodded.

“I saw it this morning on TV. It’s all over the news. You certainly left an impression on that reporter,” I told him, remembering the look on that reporter's face after Brian’s announcement.

A small smile played on his lips as he stepped closer to me.

“I know a lot has happened between us and we were trying to get our friendship back. But I can’t help how I feel about you, Tessa. Despite everything… I still love you—”

“That’s the problem, Brian,” I said, cutting him off. “You never loved me. Or else you wouldn’t have done what you did. We’ve been through too much for us to backpedal and go back to the way things were. Truth be told, I don’t want to go back to the way things were. We were terrible together and your friends are even worse now than they were before. I don’t want to put myself through that…”

“It’ll be different this time,” he said, trying to reach his hand toward me, but I stepped away from him and out of his reach.

“I don’t love you anymore,” I told him, shaking my head. “I don’t want to make this work and besides, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble getting over me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I know you and Amanda are still together,” I told him, shrugging. “Plus, Abby is still lurking around here waiting for you.”

“Amanda is just my friend, and I can explain Abby—”

“I don’t want you to explain anything,” I said, holding up my hand to stop him. “This thing between us isn’t going to happen. It isn’t going to happen. It’s better if you just forgot about it.”

I turned away to leave, finished with this conversation.

“Tessa!” He called after me, but I didn’t stop walking, I needed to speak to Joseph.

…..

Joseph's POV

It felt like time was standing still despite the loud ticking of the wall clock on the far side of the room. I stared down at the mounds of papers I still had to grade, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Tessa. Carter had said she was still sleeping when I checked in this morning; he was going to be staying there for the day and leave once the sun went down.

It’s been driving me crazy not seeing her for myself. All I wanted to do was hold her tightly in my arms and never let her go. But last night was a horrible reminder that my life is too dangerous for her. I almost lost her, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Keeping my distance outside the classroom was the best thing for her. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

I was so wrapped up in my mind that I didn’t even realize her scent was filling my office until I heard a light and hesitant knock on my door.

“Come in,” I said quickly, bringing myself back to reality.

I wasn’t prepared for Tessa to open the door and step into my office. As soon as she did, I jumped to my feet.

“Tessa…” I breathed as she walked further into my office and shut the door behind her.

She turned to face me, her eyes filled with tears.

“I thought you were dead…” she whispered, her voice barely audible; it broke my heart to see her hurting.

“I’m so sorry…” I said, unsure of what else to say.

She had a little pink bump on her neck where Ryan bit her and it infuriated me.

“Why didn’t you come to see me? She asked, her voice cracking slightly as she struggled to hold back her crying.

“I wanted to. But I—” my voice broke off when I realized I didn’t have an excuse that would please her. I sighed and shook my head. “I’m sorry…”

“Is that all you have to say?” She asked, a little louder.

I could tell she was getting angry with me.

“How are you feeling?” I found myself asking her.

She raised her brows.

“Do you care?” She shocked me by asking.

I reached my hand up to touch her face, but she flinched away from me, and I dropped my hand.

“Of course, I care…” I answered, keeping my eyes on hers.

“You didn’t come to check on me…” she said again, furrowing her brows together. “I woke up thinking you were dead and you didn’t bother coming to see me…”

“I had Carter stay with you—”

“That doesn’t matter, Joseph,” she said, shaking her head. “Carter is not you. Do you even care about me?”

“Of course, I do,” I said firmly, stepping closer to her, but she took a large step back. “Tessa—”

“You left me…” she whispered, tears falling from her eyes. “You destroyed my heart and you left. Then you had sex with me in your classroom. All last night you couldn’t even look at me…” She stopped talking as a sob escaped her lips. “And when I thought I had lost you forever, I found out that you were alive and well… you just couldn’t bother to come and see me…”

“That’s not fair…” I tried to argue but she held her hand up, stopping my words.

“What’s not fair is this hot and cold treatment you’ve been giving me since I met you,” she murmured. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Whatever this is…” she answered, gesturing between me and her. “I loved you… you know,” she breathed, tears rapidly falling down her features. “I loved you with all of my heart and I know we never spoke about love or the future… but I saw my future with you. It never mattered to me about what you were. My heart and body belonged to you.”

Her voice cracked at that last word. I wanted to say something, but no words left my lips. I didn’t know what to say, so I remained silent.

“I thought I meant more to you than a quick lay in your classroom,” she muttered, lowering her gaze. “But I was wrong… I can’t keep doing this to myself…”

“What are you saying?”

She raised her tear-filled eyes to meet mine.

“I’m saying it’s over between us, Joseph,” she said, her lip quivering as she stifled another sob. “Whatever was happening between us, it’s done. We are over.”

Without another word, Tessa turned away and walked out of my office, walking out of my life.