Breaking Tessa: A College Sport Romance

by T Christensen

  “Are you sure, Tessa?”

  Tears pricked her eyes at his sincere question, and she whispered, “Yes.”

  Jordan lowered his head and kissed her to distraction. He expertly stoked her desire back to life. When she was once again begging him, Jordan slipped on the condom and rose over her body.

  Tessa brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. That was all the encouragement Jordan needed, and he plunged forward.

  The amount of pain was unexpected, and they both stopped at her gasp. Tessa sucked in a breath and then concentrated on breathing through it.

  Jordan cupped her cheeks. “That’s it, keep breathing. Stay with me.”

  Tessa stared at him, concentrating on the warmth of his hands where they rested on her face. When the pain eased, she tentatively tilted her hips. Jordan took her cue and gently started moving. Tessa breathed a sigh of relief when there was no pain.

  Together they moved, slowly at first, and then Jordan gradually picked up the pace. Tessa moved her hands everywhere she could reach, wanting to ingrain this memory into her psyche.

  “Come on, Tessa, get there. I don’t want to go without you,” Jordan gritted out.

  Tessa slid her eyes closed, reaching for what her body so desperately wanted. Jordan brought her legs up and hooked them over his elbows, hitting the spot that sent her over the edge.

  Distantly she heard Jordan encouraging her through her orgasm. And then his voice turned guttural, and he was in the same place of heaven that she was.

  Tessa was having a hard time breathing with him sprawled on top of her, but she wasn’t in any hurry to push him away. She wanted to savor this moment. If she could freeze time, she would.

  Intimate was not a word Tessa would have ever used to describe sex, but it was with the right person. It scared her, how she felt like Jordan was now a part of her. She sucked in some breaths to clear her head. Now was not the time to process the unfamiliar emotions whirling inside her.

  Jordan unhurriedly peeled himself from her, taking care of the condom and returning to the bed. He gathered Tessa in his arms and took her with him as he rolled onto his back, tucking her into his side. Tessa didn’t have any words. She leveraged herself up to place a chaste yet lingering kiss on his cheek and snuggled back against him.

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  Chapter 19

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  A week later, Tessa was still riding the high of being with Jordan. It felt like she was in a Hallmark movie. It was almost scary how perfect her life seemed right now. Luckily she was too busy to analyze it to death, which she tended to do if she had a spare moment.

  Looking forward to spending time with Jordan got Tessa through her stressful but rewarding days of student teaching. Just thinking of him was enough to distract her from anything else going on.

  Her favorite memory, besides the amazing sex, was the morning after she’d lost her virginity. It was the moment that all of Tessa’s doubts about a relationship with Jordan were put to rest.

  She had woken up alone that morning feeling insecure and uncomfortable. Where was Jordan? Was she supposed to slink out of the house and do the walk of shame? To make matters worse, her shirt and bra were not in the bedroom. Tessa’s heart pounded as she tried to reason around her frenzied thoughts.

  In the end, she decided walking naked through the house in the bright morning sun was not something she could live through. After straining her ears, Tessa determined Jordan wasn’t anywhere close, so she sprung up from the bed and hustled into his walk-in closet. The first shirt she saw was a t-shirt, so Tessa slid it over her head and breathed through her anxiety.

  With the shirt on, she felt braver and walked out of the bedroom without her jeans. When she heard sounds from the kitchen, Tessa wasn’t able to decide if she was relieved Jordan was there or not.

  She forced herself to uncross her arms and walk with them at her sides. She didn’t need to broadcast that she felt like a duck out of water.

  “Fake it till you make it,” Tessa muttered.

  With one last fortifying breath, she went to find Jordan. She wasn’t ashamed of what had happened the night before, and it was time to find out how he was feeling about it.

  As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, a dimpled smile spread across Jordan’s face. Tessa relaxed her locked muscles and walked farther in.

  “Morning,” she said shyly.

  Jordan left the bowl of eggs he was whisking and prowled around the island to where she had stopped. He lifted her onto the counter, stepping between her legs and kissing the embarrassment and awkwardness out of her.

  “Are you okay?” Jordan asked.

  It took a second for Tessa to process the question after the mind-blowing good morning kiss.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I wasn’t too rough last night? I should’ve been gentler for your first time instead of acting like a caveman.”

  Jordan ran his hand through his hair and waited with his eyes glued to her face. Tessa put her hands on his face and pretended hers wasn’t the color of a tomato.

  “I thought it was amazing. I have no regrets.”

  Tessa saw relief flood Jordan’s body, and her cocky basketball player was back.

  “So, I’m a stud muffin?” Jordan drawled as he waggled his eyebrows up and down.

  Tessa busted out laughing. “I can’t think of a better description, stud muffin.”

  “Well then, I don’t want to lose my status. Seeing you in my t-shirt makes me want to give you another demonstration of my prowess.”

  And so, the second time they’d had sex had been on the kitchen counter, and Tessa had loved every moment. Of course, she couldn’t think of a time when Jordan touched her that she didn’t like.

  The happy memory was interrupted when Tessa was jostled toward the door to the bar. She missed Jordan and really wanted him to be with her to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. Instead, he was in another town playing basketball.

  Tessa was still excited. She’d enjoyed Deion’s party, and there was no doubt that tonight would be just as fun. Lindy, the life of the party, was with her, as was Lori. Both of them had invited a few of their friends that Tessa was acquainted with.

  Lindy handed over the cover charge for both of them and pulled her inside the doors. While they waited for the others to pay, Tessa looked around at the first bar she’d ever been in.

  Everything was black. The dance floor, which had lights shining up from it. The high-top tables with spotlights shining down on them. Even the backlit bottles of booze at the bar appeared black.

  The music's bass penetrated Tessa’s body, and she felt the urge to get in the middle of the dance floor. When everyone was inside, the group of ten girls made its way over to an empty table.

  As they settled around the table, Tessa lifted her phone to make sure she hadn’t missed Jordan's text. He’d promised to let her know when he got back. Just as she focused on the screen, a hand snatched the phone away.

  “Hey!” Tessa protested over the music.

  “I’m keeping this,” Lindy declared as Tessa’s phone disappeared into her pocket. When she opened her mouth to protest, Lindy wagged her finger in front of Tessa’s face.

  “Uh-uh. You are going to have a shot like a proper girl on her twenty-first birthday. No more checking your phone incessantly to see if a guy is texting you.”

  Tessa wasn’t sure about taking a shot, even when one magically appeared in front of her. When her friends formed a semi-circle around her chanting her name, she gave in. She wrinkled her nose, picking up the shot and downing it.

  Amongst the cheers, Tessa admitted that it hadn’t been that bad. When the second shot appeared, she downed it and soon got into the spirit of her birthday party. A few dances later, intermixed with a couple of Long Island Iced Teas, Tessa’s world was spinning. She carefully walked back to the table and downed a glass of water.

  Tessa could feel the liquor sloshing inside her
. She needed a few minutes away from the chaos, so she waded into the drunken dancers and tried to avoid their flailing arms as she searched for Lindy.

  When she found her, Tessa put a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear.

  “I’m going out back for a couple of minutes. Can you give me my phone?”

  Wordlessly, Lindy pulled it out of her pocket, handed it over, and went back to dancing. Tessa eagerly made her way toward fresh air.

  As soon as the door closed, she breathed in to clear the fog from her head. Tessa looked around the oasis, appreciating that the music had become a vague thud. The back porch was set up with bar-height tables and lighted umbrellas. Tessa wandered over to a table, sitting down to look at her phone. Her heart kicked up when she saw the text from Jordan.

  J: I’m back. Where are you?

  It had been sent at eleven p.m. It was now one a.m. Tessa knew he might be sleeping, but she didn’t care.

  T: At The Library. The bar, not the one with books.

  Dots started forming, and she bit her lip in anticipation. Before Tessa could see Jordan’s response, a hand once again snatched her phone away.

  “Stop doing that!” she bit out.

  Tessa whipped her head around and immediately regretted it. The world started spinning, so she hurriedly took some deep breaths while Lindy lectured her.

  “Oh no, this is a girls’ night, celebrating your birthday.”

  “Lindy!” Tessa hissed.

  “Come on, Tessa,” Lindy pleaded. “I hardly see you anymore. You’re either teaching, tutoring, or hanging out with Jordan. Come back and dance.”

  Damn, she used the guilt card well, especially because what she said was true. With a heavy heart, Tessa decided she could see Jordan tomorrow and tried to put some enthusiasm into her answer.

  “Okay.”

  “Yeah!”

  Lindy grabbed Tessa’s hand and led her back to the dance floor. The music seeped into her, and Tessa was back to dancing like there was no tomorrow. She flitted from partner to partner, only pausing to take a drink from the cocktail that had been thrust into her hand.

  When two new hands gripped her hips, Tessa kept dancing, but she stiffened when she was pulled back into a warm, hard body. When familiar flutters started in her core, Tessa held her breath, praying her sloshed brain was right. His lips brushed her ear, and an excited shiver traveled through her.

  “Happy Birthday, Tessa.”

  Jordan was here! Tessa spun around and leapt into his arms.

  “Jordan!” She heard his grunt as he caught her while taking a step back to maintain his balance. She started sprinkling kisses up and down his neck.

  “Tessa, you need to stop,” Jordan told her between huffs of laughter.

  His deep baritone rumbled in her ear. Tessa smiled against his neck and reluctantly stopped. As she was being lowered to the ground, Tessa thought it was a perfect opportunity to plaster her lips against his.

  Suddenly Tessa was kissing air, and her knees buckled from the abruptness with which her feet hit the ground. She struggled to find her balance. Had Jordan just dropped her? What felt like minutes later, everything came back into focus, and Tessa looked up to see Jordan’s head swiveling around.

  She squinted, trying to process what her brain was seeing. Jordan had a baseball cap on, and he was looking around frantically like a stalker was going to find him at any moment. When he finally looked at her, he was obviously annoyed.

  Tessa’s inner glow faded as she tried to figure out why he was mad. Maybe she shouldn’t have jumped on him—was she too heavy? She stepped toward Jordan, but he put both of his hands up to ward her off. Then he started scanning their surroundings again.

  Carefully, so the spinning wouldn’t return, Tessa looked around as well. A few people were looking their way, but that wasn’t unusual. Did Jordan not want to be seen with her? Her stomach plummeted. Wearing the baseball hat, not letting her touch him, and looking around to see if he knew anyone who might see them together?

  Tears sprang to her eyes. Jordan was embarrassed by her. Was it what she was wearing? A quick glance down at her skinny jeans and white, high-neck tank top confirmed that couldn’t be why. Nothing scandalous, unlike what Lindy had wanted her to wear.

  The phone waving in her face caught her attention, and Tessa looked up. It was Jordan. He was waving and pointing to it. Was he trying to tell her he was waiting for a call or text? Whatever. She was drunk, not an idiot. No one was waiting for an urgent call at this time of night. Jordan took a step toward her, but she wasn’t having it.

  Tessa spun away, thankful the crowd was large enough to support her body’s inability to balance itself. If he didn’t want to be seen with her, then she would find someone who would. Tessa knew she wasn’t the catch of the century, but she wasn’t exactly the worse fish in the sea. She would show him that if he didn’t want to be seen with her, other guys would.

  There. Tessa spotted the guy she was going to dance with to recapture her carefree feelings. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the emotional upheaval currently trying to take over. She made her way to a muscular blond guy who looked like he would pop out of his shirt. Tessa put a little extra sway in her hips and ignored the tightening unease gripping her gut.

  A familiar tall guy blocked her path. It wasn’t Jordan, but he was also wearing a baseball cap. Tessa squinted and realized it was Deion. He grabbed her hand, spun her around, and started dancing.

  At first she just stood there trying to figure out what was going on. Lindy appeared beside her, bumping her hip as she started moving to the rhythm. Realization dawned on Tessa. Lindy had come to rescue her from Jordan.

  Relief flooded her, and she started dancing with Deion and Lindy. After the song finished, Lindy grabbed her hand and led her to the front door. Tessa dug her heels in before they got there. She was sick and tired of being dragged everywhere, and she didn’t want to leave. The hurt was still swirling in her, and Tessa knew the grief would explode if she left the chaotic club.

  She had forgotten Deion was following her, and he rammed into her back when she stopped. That made her slam into Lindy, and they started laughing hysterically. Well, she and Lindy were laughing. Deion stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head with a small smile.

  Lindy and Tessa threw their arms around each other and used one another for support before they started weaving toward the entrance again. Tessa stopped abruptly.

  “I don’t want to go.”

  Lindy looked befuddled. Deion answered from behind them, “We’re not leaving, just getting some air.”

  “Oh, okay,” Tessa mumbled and started moving her feet.

  When the fresh air hit her face, she breathed in deeply. Lindy rambled as they walked, but the words washed right over Tessa.

  Slowly, it dawned on her that they’d been walking for a while. She looked back and realized they were already a couple of blocks away from the bar. Lindy’s chatter had distracted her.

  “Where are we going?” Tessa tried to sound stern, but it came out slurred.

  Deion, who was leading them, peered over his shoulder at her. “I forgot my phone in my car, so we’re going to get it.”

  As soon as Deion mentioned the phone, Tessa’s irritation came roaring to the surface.

  “What’s wrong with Jordan, Deion?”

  Deion slowed down and moved to her side. “What do you mean?”

  “He was waving his phone in my face, pretending he had an important call because he was embarrassed by me.”

  “He was?” Deion sounded amused.

  “Yeah, you can tell the jerk face that if he doesn’t want to be seen with me, don’t come to my birthday party.”

  He barked out a laugh. “Jerk face?”

  Tessa did not like being laughed at. She stopped and poked a finger into his chest. “Are you laughing at me, Deion?”

  Lindy unhooked their arms and poked her own finger into Deion’s chest. “Don’t laugh at Tessa.
If she thinks he’s a jerk face, then he is.”

  Deion raised his hands and swung back around to start walking down the sidewalk again. Tessa heard him mutter as he turned away, “He’s going to owe me big time for this.”

  Tessa narrowed her eyes and started walking after him.

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Deion kept walking and called over his shoulder. “Come on, ladies, we’re almost there.”

  “Where is there?” she asked Lindy.

  Lindy giggled. “His car. Remember, his phone?”

  “Oh yeah.” Now it came back to her.

  “I like your ass, Deion!” Lindy yelled.

  Tessa studied Deion’s ass and then solemnly agreed, “Me too, Lindy. Why haven’t I noticed it before?”

  Deion just shook his head and kept walking. Tessa and Lindy did more giggling than walking, but eventually they arrived at the truck he was leaning against.

  Tessa pulled her eyebrows together as she looked at the sleek black machine in front of her. Why did it seem so familiar? Then it dawned on her.

  “Deion, do you have the same truck as Jordan?”

  He drawled, “Yeah, same truck. Tessa, do you mind looking on the passenger floor for my phone?”

  “Why can’t you do it?” Lindy piped up.

  Tessa bobbed her head. That’s what she was thinking.

  “Tessa is shorter than me. It’s easier for her to bend over to look.”

  Lindy and Tessa looked at each other. That made sense.

  Tessa shrugged. “Okay.”

  She reached over and opened the passenger door, only to find herself being lifted into the seat. Someone buckled her seatbelt before she even could blink.

  Tessa’s door closed, and the truck sped away from the curb.

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  Chapter 20

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  “Hey!” Tessa pounded on the window while trying to piece together what was happening.

  When she realized she was being kidnapped, she whipped her head toward the driver. She immediately regretted the fast movements. The rioting in Tessa’s stomach and the blurry driver were too much. She leaned back against the seat.