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He storms out, ignoring my calls of his name. I flop down into my chair. Running my fingers through my hair, I pull angrily and groan. What the fuck am I going to do now?
AS I WALK INTO my place, I’m hoping Tessa is here so we can come up with some kind of game plan. A way to get out of this. However, that’s not the girl I find sitting on my couch.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Blaire glares at me and stands up. “Trent called me. Are you fucking serious, Asher? A high school student? Seriously?”
Of course he did. Once a rat, always a rat. “Don’t do that. Don’t look at me like some kind of pedophile. She’s eighteen.”
“And your student! I don’t think I need to tell you how badly this could ruin your reputation.”
“Oh, please,” I scoff. “Half the players in the NFL are dating younger women.”
“None of them are in a position of authority with those women,” she argues. “Not to mention their lives aren’t as scrutinized as yours is right now.”
I roll my eyes and go to the fridge to grab a beer. Lord knows I need one. Blaire follows behind me like a damn Chihuahua that doesn’t know when to quit.
She places a hand on her hip and stares at me, clearly fed up. “You have to end it.”
I snort. “Yeah, no. Not an option.”
“It’s the only option, Asher,” she presses. “You’re lucky Trent called me and not Jon Hyland. You can’t have Tessa without throwing away everything you’ve spent your whole life working for.”
The thought of not having her puts an actual pain in
my chest. I’ve spent every single day with her for months, and now I’m expected to just end it? To go without her? No. Not happening.
A newfound determination flows through me as I realize what I need to do.
“Watch me,” I tell her, putting my beer down and grabbing my keys. “I’m going to talk to Trent. You can show yourself out.”
TWO HOURS LATER, I pull back into my parking garage and get out of the car. I literally spent the whole time at Trent’s listening to him scream at me about how fucked up everything is. He said that I’m not only risking my reputation, but his as well, being as he was the one who recommended me in the first place. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought of that, but it still doesn’t change my mind. He’s going to be pissed off for a while, but he promised he’s not going to speak a word of it to anyone, and that’s all I need.
I toss my keys down onto the counter. “Tess?”
No answer.
“Tessa?”
The sound of footsteps comes around the corner, but it’s not Tessa who appears. I roll my eyes, wondering if calling security to have her escorted out of here would be worth it.
“She’s not here.”
“What are you still doing here, Blaire? I thought I told you to leave.”
She grins, but it’s nothing but fake. “I decided to stick around.”
“Well, I’d rather you don’t. Where’s Tess?”
“I told you,” she says slowly. “She’s not here.”
The look on her face makes my stomach drop. “What did you do?”
Her eyes glimmer with something wicked. “Exactly what you should have.”
Dread fills my entire body as I race toward my bedroom. I yank open the closet to find half of it empty. The drawers on the dresser are still open from when she obviously hurriedly grabbed her stuff from them. The mask from Saturday night lies on my nightstand. I take it into my hand, feeling like it’s the only thing I have of hers to hold onto.
“What the fuck did you say to her?” I shout as I come back into the living room.
