Chapter 87

Tessa’s POV

He’s gone.

I woke up this morning and he was no longer in my bed. I knew before I even got out of bed and into the living room that he wouldn’t be there either. He wasn’t in my apartment. I could feel it.

He left.

It must have been in the middle of the night. Maybe he waited until he was sober enough to drive home. Or maybe it was immediately after I fell asleep.

This was nothing more than I mental game that I was falling victim to. How was I so easily tricked all the time? First Brian and now Joseph.

I knew it wasn’t fair to compare Joseph to Brian. But I felt used.

I was still naked when I woke up. I don’t really remember falling asleep, but I woke up covered by my blanket. I remember him kissing my forehead and telling me to go to sleep. I remember feeling like everything was going to be okay and that things were going to be different going forward.

Now I was feeling like a fool.

I pressed my knees to my chest and allowed a few tears to let loose. That was all I was going to give him for right now.

I had school in a couple of hours, and I needed to get dressed.

My stomach growled loudly. I hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet, so I didn’t have much for food. But I figured I would go into the kitchen to see if I had a little something left over to eat. If I had any eggs left from a previous recipe, I could scramble them.

I went into the kitchen and froze when I saw something on the counter that wasn’t there previously.

A box of Pop-Tarts!

When I approached the box, I realized there was a pink Post-It on the box.

Have a nice day.

-J.

I smiled knowing that it was from Joseph. Maybe I wasn’t completely after all. Maybe… just maybe… he liked me too.

I ate my pop tart and got dressed for school.

When I got to school, Ruby was at our side-by-side lockers. Before she even spotted me, I was already coming up behind her and speaking.

“I think I made a mistake last night,” I said, leaning my head against the lockers.

“Oh, you startled me,” she said with an annoyed frown before looking at me. Once she did look at me, the annoyance melted off her face and was replaced with worry.

“What happened?” She asked after a moment.

“I let Joseph give me a ride home because he didn’t want me walking there at night. I invited him inside and made dinner. We ate and drank wine. We got a little bit too drunk and—”

“Oh my god, Tess. Did you sleep with him?” She asked in a loud and harsh whisper.

I winced at her words and closed my eyes as I tried to process how my night went. It was amazing… it felt amazing. Everything seemed so perfect. I mean, we didn’t really get to talk about things or resolve any issues. But the sex had left me craving more and I thought he’d feel the same way about me. But he left.

“You did sleep with him,” she breathed, her tone softening. “What happened?”

“WE had sex and I thought we’d be able to talk about our problems and work through them. I thought it meant he wanted to get back together…”

“And it didn’t?” She asked, furrowing her brows together.

I shrugged.

“I don’t know. He was gone when I woke up,” I answered.

Her eyes widened.

“He left? Without saying anything?”

I nodded.

“Yes. But he left me a box of Pop-Tarts and a note that told me to have a good day,” I said, rolling my eyes at that last part.

She sighed and wrapped an arm through mine, leaning my head against my shoulder.

“You know what you need?” She asked. “A movie night,” she answered before I could say anything.

“That actually sounds really good,” I told her. “We could have a pajama party at my place and actually catch up with each other.”

I’ve been needing this an entire night with my best friend and talking about anything and everything.

“I’ll get wine on my way over tonight,” she said with a grin. “I can’t wait to see your new apartment!”

We walked to class and went our separate ways. The rest of the day went by slowly and painfully. All I wanted was to either go home and pretend I didn’t exist or go to Joseph’s house and demand answers.

It was Tuesday, which meant he wasn’t at school today. Previously, when I was in danger because of the new vampires, he would have been there to make sure I was safe. But now that those vampires have been captured and I moved out, he doesn’t see a point in coming to school on his off days.

I went straight home after a long day of school, almost forgetting that I still had a movie and pajama party with Ruby later. I decided to just order some pizza, so I didn’t have to make anything.

I quickly got into the shower and changed into a cute pajama set with a loose-fitted top and shorts, both pink floral. I tied my wet hair into a messy bun and went into the kitchen to grab some wine glasses.

Soon after, Ruby showed up with her sleepover bag, a large bag of our favorite movie snacks, and a couple of bottles of wine.

I loved her so much at this moment.

I giggled as she walked into the apartment, setting everything up on the counters.

“Do you have bowls for the popcorn and chips?” She asked, peering over at me, munching on one of the chips from the bag.

“Top right cabinet,” I told her, motioning with my head.

I heard a knock on the door, and I perked up. I knew exactly who it was.

As I opened the door, I smiled.

“An order for Tessa. One large pizza?” The delivery guy said, glancing at the receipt.

“That’s me,” I said, handing him a $10 bill. “Thanks.”

I took the pizza and brought it into the kitchen. Ruby had already poured some wine and grabbed the paper plates. We went into the living room with our assortment of foods and wine. Ruby sprawled out on the couch, stretching out her body tiredly.

“There’s a new movie on Netflix I’ve been dying to watch,” she said with a mouthful of food.

I found the movie and flipped it on. It was a funny movie and we both found ourselves laughing until there were tears in our eyes.

It felt good to laugh like this. I couldn’t remember the last time I did. It felt like a distant memory now.

The thought weighed heavily on my mind, and I suddenly felt sad.

The wine was making my head swirl.

Then, Ruby sighed and paused the movie, making me look at her.

“Tess, can I ask you something?” She went on to say, worrying me, but I nodded in response. “There’s a guy…”

I gasped. I’ve been so wrapped up with my own life, I forgot to check in with Ruby and her life. Ruby was gorgeous with her milky brown hair that hung in large curls around her face and big green eyes with naturally long lashes. She also had light freckles around her nose and an absolutely gorgeous smile.

I thought she had sworn off guys since her last boyfriend a couple of years ago. Since then, Ruby only does meaningless hookups saying that commitment and relationships are a waste of time.

“Like a guy you might actually be interested in?” I asked, raising my brows at her.

She blushed.

“I think so,” she breathed. “It’s weird because he kind of snuck up on me. I didn’t expect to like him this much. But I met him at the club last week. I went with a couple of girls, and typically I wouldn’t have hooked up with a guy from the club, but he looked so innocent and sweet.”

She paused to chuckle. I raised my brows even further while listening to her story. This was a typical Ruby story, and I shook my head at her, but I let her continue without interruption.

“And my main thought was ‘I want to ruin that.’”

I laughed and she laughed with me.

“Ruby, you’re awful,” I said, shaking my head.

“I know,” she agreed. “But I got to talking to him and I we had a lot in common, not to mention he was so hot I wanted to die.”

“And you hooked up with him, I’m assuming?”

“Not that night, no,” she said, meeting my eyes. “We left the club and went for a walk. We talked almost all night, and it was incredible. We lay on the beach and just talked. Then while the sun was rising the next morning, we had sex.”

She paused to gather her thoughts.

“I haven’t heard from him since and I’ve been lowkey stressing. I guess my question is, how do you know when you’re in love?”

“Love?”