Campus King | 18+

Chapter Thirty-One

Hannah

The words hung in the air, surprising me as much as him. There were bigger issues to address, but that question tumbled out first. And suddenly, I needed to hear his answer.

He fell silent, thoughtful, as though weighing the question before speaking. "Once," he said after a pause, his voice quieter than usual. "In my sophomore year of high school."

A tiny flicker of jealousy flared in me, but I shoved it down and ignored it. I was the one who brought this up, after all. "What happened?"

Tristan's gaze shifted away from mine as he took a few steps back, heading toward my desk. He didn't look up as he replied, "The reality of me was different from the one she'd imagined."

I frowned at the cryptic answer but stayed quiet in hopes that he would elaborate. His attention drifted to a piece of paper on my desk and a knot tightened in my stomach as I realized what he was looking at — a list of the companies I'd been considering for my internship, some names already crossed out. I'd left it there deliberately to remind myself to finish researching them because the anxiety of deciding made me procrastinate.

Thankfully, he didn't linger on the list. He slid into the chair by my desk, straddling it backwards, and his arms resting over the backrest. "I was always busy back then — school, football practice, family stuff, hanging out with friends. I wasn't around much. And even when I was, I was... distracted." He scratched the back of his neck, a rare flash of sheepishness creeping into his expression.

"Distracted?" I echoed.

He shrugged. "Yeah. I didn't really understand what a relationship was supposed to be. She was hot, great in bed, and obsessed with me — and back then, I thought that was enough. I didn't realize she wanted more, that she needed more of my time and attention — of me. But I couldn't give her that, and eventually, being with her felt like another thing I had to check off my list of duties. Instead of just ending it, I did the cowardly thing. I avoided her, and did anything I could to stay busy, hoping she'd break up with me."

Before I could comment on how awful it was to treat someone like that, he lifted a hand as if he already knew what I was thinking.

"I know it was a shitty thing to do," he admitted, "And I did eventually apologize at our graduation, but at the time, breaking up with her felt impossible. I didn't want to hurt her, so I didn't do what I should have." He tapped a finger against his forearm, sighing. "My mother was the one who sat me down and explained that what I was doing — stringing her along — was hurting her more than a clean break. So I listened and broke it off. She didn't handle it well, but she moved on. And that whole mess taught me one thing: my dad was right. Don't waste your time, or anyone else's, on a relationship you're not serious about or ready for."

I walked over to my bed and carefully sat on the edge, studying him as my mind raced. "...and you're still not ready?"

A sudden bark of laughter escaped him as he shook his head. "Hell no. Now would be the worst time to get into a relationship. I'm captain this year — the only relationship I can afford is the one I have with my boys. They're counting on me to take them places."