Tessa’s POV“You look sick again,” Ruby pointed out to once everyone was getting ready to leave the assembly.“I think I just need to get some air,” I said, standing to my feet. “I’ll call you later.”“From the hotel?” She asked, raising her brows. I could tell from her tone that she was questioning if I was really staying in a hotel.“Yes,” I said in return. “From the hotel.”I turned and left quickly, leaving her staring after me.Joseph waited for me in his Bentley just as he told me he would via a text. I looked around to make sure nobody was watching me before I made my way over to his car and disappeared into the passenger seat.However, once I got inside, I noticed he wasn’t in the driver’s seat. He was in the very shaded backseat.“I’ve had enough sun exposure for one day. I’ll need you to drive.”“You want me to drive your car?” I asked. The last car I drove was Brian’s and that felt like a lifetime ago.“You have your license, don’t you?”“Yes, of course,” I said in return,
Tessa’s POVI only got a couple of hours of sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about Joseph all night. His question stuck in my brain.“What did you see in Brian?”I gave him a short answer, but truth be told, I wasn’t entirely sure myself. I mean Brian was definitely cute, and he had sweet moments, but he’s always been so arrogant and so unlike the guys I’m usually attracted to. But Brian was my first and only everything and I had an attachment to him.I was willing to change everything about myself to be with him. Everything except my passion for writing. That was something he desperately tried to change. But writing kept me sane. I needed it in my life to hold onto a piece of myself that was just my own.He never understood that.Once I finished getting dressed for the day, I made my way downstairs to grab a pop tart from the kitchen when I saw Joseph sitting in the living room. He was watching TV and a smile tugged at my lips at the image of him being so casual yet again.It was the
Tessa’s POVI froze when I saw Brian approaching. He was alone without Amanda, which was odd because she was always trailing behind him. Even when we dated.Brian had promised that he would leave me alone if Joseph retracted his statement, so I was surprised he wanted to talk to me.It’s been over a week since I’ve spoken to Brian and our last interaction wasn’t great. I rubbed my wrist at the memory of him grabbing me and dragging me along with him.Obviously, he wasn’t drunk now during school hours, but I really didn’t want to have any kind of conversation with him. There was nothing he could say that would change my opinion of him.“I’m going to be late for class,” I said to him.“I’ll be fast. I just want to talk,” Brian said, standing in front of me and blocking me from being able to step around him.“There’s nothing to talk about.”“I never got to explain myself with a clear mind. You left so quickly and that Professor just —”“You don’t need to explain anything, Brian,” I said,
Tessa’s POVIt was Friday and I couldn’t have been happier about that.The conversation I had with Brian stuck in my mind and I couldn’t seem to shake this nasty and unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. He had taken up so much space in my head and I just wanted him to get out.“Maybe you should think about getting a restraining order,” Ruby suggested as we sat down in our usual seats in Joseph’s classroom.“He’s not dangerous,” I said, shaking my head. “Just an asshole. I’ll be fine. I’ll just keep ignoring him until he gets the hint.”“And he doesn’t know where you are staying, right?”“Nope,” I answered.“Maybe it’s better if you stayed in the hotel then,” she said with a shrug. “Brian knows where I live, and I wouldn’t want to put you in danger.”“I really don’t think he’s dangerous. He has too much to lose,” I said in return. “But you are right. It’ll be better if he doesn’t know where I am.”“Good morning, everybody,” Joseph said as he walked into the room. “I was able to
Tessa’s POVI didn’t get much more engagement on my blog other than Ruby. Then again, I didn’t stick around long enough to find out if anyone else read my post.I looked around the room with a frown. It was very plain in there. I couldn’t wait to go to the store over the weekend and do a little shopping. I still had money in my savings account and my father still gives me an allowance every week. So, I had plenty of money to get a lot of things for this villa.Joseph liked dark colors it seemed. I didn’t want to get too many bright things, but I also didn’t want this place to feel so gloomy. He gave me permission to open the curtains of my room and I was pleased to see that I had a nice view of the garden.The garden was huge and led straight to the pool yard. Even at night, it was gorgeous and perfectly lit up with outdoor lighting. The pool water glistened under the illuminated lighting of the outdoor lights and the moonlight.I wondered if he ever used the pool. I also wondered who
Joseph’s POV“I had no idea you could cook,” I said as we sat down at the dinner table.She had a couple of bowls placed out with a big pot of stew in the center. She also managed to get into my wine cellar and grabbed some white wine to go with dinner.“My father taught me,” she explained as she poured wine into the glasses. “Stew was one of my mom’s favorite things to cook and he had her recipe after she passed away. I’m sorry I didn’t ask permission first. I just figured there was so much food sitting around, I might as well cook it.”“You don’t need to apologize. it smells delicious.”She smiled at the compliment.I don’t usually sit in the dining room when I eat dinner. Typically, the normal spot I eat is in my office while I’m doing work. Seeming it’s usually just me, it’s worked out fine for me. But now that Tessa was going to be around for a little while, I supposed I should get used to this.It was normal for a mortal to want company regardless of how tired they are.I began
Tessa’s POV“Can we please talk?” The text message from Brian read.I wasn’t sure what he could possibly want to talk about. It didn’t make sense to me. We spoke all that we needed to speak earlier. He promised that he would leave me alone.I didn’t want Joseph to know that Brian was still communicating with me, so I shoved my phone into my pocket without saying a word.Joseph only looked at me curiously for a long while. Probably trying to figure out why I was acting so suspiciously.I grabbed his plate and my plate and started to make my way into the kitchen area to clean the dishes, but Joseph stood up quickly, stopping me.“I can call back Monica and have her do the dishes,” Joseph said, eyeing my face carefully.“No, that’s okay,” I said quickly. “I wouldn’t want to trouble her. Besides, I’d rather do it myself.”“Then, I’ll help you,” Joseph surprised me by saying. “You cooked me a nice meal. It’s the least I could do.”I felt a smile tugging at my lips as I nodded. He was right
Tessa’s POVThere was a tightness in my throat as I looked up at Jospeh who had just finished cleaning the last of the dishes. I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage as I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.He read my blog?How much of my blog has he read?The only person I knew who read my blog was Ruby. I had a few other followers as well, but they were only random people that I didn’t know. I hadn’t even checked the names of my recent followers.Was Joseph one of them?“You’ve read my blog?” I found myself asking again, my voice sounding distant.He finished drying his hands and he nodded.“How did you even find it?” I asked, feeling the heat rising into my features.“I looked you up. It wasn’t hard to find.”“Why did you look me up?”“I was curious about you,” he said as he walked around me and toward the living room.I went with him, following closely behind him.It was the same living room that we sat in with the other students during his student dinner p