Chapter Nine: I've Got Prime Real Estate In The Doghouse

Cole

Six Months Later

Felix catches me on my way out from the library and stops me to discuss a paper we have due next week. I'm already done with it so I don't have any problem in helping him out but I've got a date tonight that I'm already running late for and this is going to hold me up for at least the next fifteen minutes.

"In a hurry?" He looks amused as I try and rush through the sources I used and the books that helped me and I have to bite back a smartass reply because the man has grown to become one of my closest friends on campus and Tessa seems to love him too.

Not as much as she loves me though.

"Kind of, I messed up and spent too long in the library and Tessa's probably going to be pissed off because we'll miss our reservations." She'd wanted to go out for a special meal because this author she'd been rooting for for months had managed to snag a book deal and Tessa had played a huge part in pushing the manuscript through the door. I remember vividly how she'd stayed up the entire night reading the five hundred page book and been so excited about it because, as she told it was the first book she'd genuinely been excited for and the first time she thought she had a shot to make a recommendation to her editor. It's been a huge change for Tessa, going from having a huge say at the women's magazine she'd worked at before to her entry level job at Peak Publishing but she loves the grunt work and has slowly been building up her place at the firm and this week has been huge for her so of course I want to celebrate but this second year of school is literally kicking my ass and when I'm not attending class I need to be at the library to work on all the papers and assignments that line up.

Tessa's probably the world's most understanding girlfriend and I'm a lucky bastard to have found her. She knows what my schedule looks like throughout the week and when I'm not doing any of the above, I'm busting my ass at the legal aid clinic trying to get as much hands on experience as possible by assisting my professors. The competition has gotten ridiculously cutthroat this year, everyone wants the best clerkships and the highest scores to ensure they land the dream job right out of the gate. I don't even know what direction I want to go in come next year but I push myself hard and do the best I can and hopefully by the time the third year rolls around I will have picked a specialisation. It's a demanding job and I'd hoped that Tessa wouldn't get upset by how busy my routine is day in and day out but she's gone above and beyond. She's the first one up most days and feeds me when I'd gotten in the habit of surviving on coffee and vending machine protein bar. She'd been appalled by the state of my pantry and fridge and I have to say, not to sound like a total chauvinist pig but one of the biggest perks of living with my girlfriend again is that I get to have home cooked meals at least twice a day.

Speaking of, if I don't hurry I'm pretty sure I'll be starving this week.

"Okay, I think I got it. Thanks a ton Cole, we're still on for drinks on Saturday yeah?"

I pull my backpack higher up wanting to ditch the deadweight as soon as possible and nod, "See you and Vic then." Victoria is his girlfriend of the moment but they've been going strong for three months and Tessa likes her more than the previous one so we try and go out with them on the weekends if we're not doing something alone. I walk away feeling proud of just how much Tessa's managed to fit in with my group of friends and how quickly she's settled in because the last six months have been nothing but pure bliss.

I hurry home, my apartment building a fifteen minute walk from campus that I make in ten. By the time I actually get home I'm more than an hour late than when I promised shortcake I'd be home. Closing my eyes and praying to any divine entity that'll listen right now, I unlock the door and prepare to face Tessa's wrath.

Only the living room is empty. I'd been so sure she'd be waiting for me, ready to tear me a new one but I immediately know she's not here. Still I check our room, the bathrooms and the balcony but she's definitely not home. I grab my phone which I know for a fact is dead and curse, loudly because this was supposed to be a special day for Tessa and I fucked up. I immediately plug it in to charge and when it finally lights up I see the calls and the texts that I missed from her. This isn't usual behaviour, when she knows I have a lot of things going on she says she doesn't like to interrupt me when I'm studying so if she's calling then I know I'm in serious trouble because I promised her repeatedly that I'll be home early.

The last text she sent me says that she hasn't gotten a call from the police telling her I'd been in a car wreck so she's going to go to dinner alone because the next time we'd get a reservation at the Michelin star restaurant would probably be in another two years.

Fuck.

I quickly change my clothes and rush back out the door, choosing to go with the stairs instead and taking them two at the time. I get a few choice looks from my neighbours but who the hell cares, the doorman asks if there's an emergency and I tell him it most definitely is and together we manage to hail a cab in rush hour and I give the driver the name of the restaurant, telling him that there's a big fat tip for him if he gets me there in less than ten minutes. If Tessa got there on time then I'm hoping she's still somewhere on the second or third course and I couldn't be more grateful for these fancy restaurants and their seven courses worth of tiny morsels of food.

I probably risk dying six times before we get to the restaurant and I throw a hundred dollar bill on the passenger seat and rush out. The hostess standing at the front, behind a podium looks at me like I'm crazy and I watch her eyes go to a security guy standing near the entrance, prepared to throw me out if I dare cause I scene. Once I actually manage to catch my breath, I tell her that I have a reservation but she seems too suspicious to believe me.

"My girlfriend's waiting for me inside."

Times like these call for turning up the charm a little, schmoozing and doing everything that I promised to do less of as I get older. There's some tricks that are certain to work on women so I stand to my full height, make sure to look assertive, try to be charming and cocky at the same time because women like a man who knows how to take charge and when to let go of control. Right now I need to be the smooth, confident, grab life by the horns kind of guy and immediately I notice her breath pick up, her pupils dilate and her chest rise a little faster.

I don't do this often just when I absolutely have to, like right now when I could possibly have to sleep in the lobby tonight.

"Right this way sir."

I don't miss the extra sway she adds to her hips but that's because she insists on walking right in front of me and really close by. It's a wasted effort and I'm busy scanning the restaurant, trying to find those luscious golden locks but the place is packed and the hostess seems to be leading me further back. These reservations were part of a gift certificate from Tessa's dad and we'd gotten them for Christmas last year. We'd saved them for a special occasion and this week had been the best opportunity to come up in months and Tessa had been so excited. I couldn't believe how badly I'd let her down.

"This way, your table should be right around the corner Mr. Stone."

And there she is, looking way too beautiful for me to handle. Even now after all this time together she manages to catch me off guard all the time and takes my breath away on a regular basis. I don't get to see much of her from where she's sat at her table but she's pulled her hair back into a low bun tonight and it emphasises her gorgeous face, smooth creamy skin, the high cheekbones and roman nose, full pouty lips that look so damn juicy because of the strawberry scented lip gloss she loves so much and she's done something to her eyes that makes the green in them pop so that they almost hypnotise you. She's wearing the I picked out for her when we went shopping last weekend, a strappy short number that of course shows a lot of leg and makes all my Baywatch fantasies come to life.

It's perfect, all of it is perfect.

What isn't so perfect is the guy she's sitting across from who is leaning a little too close and whose seems to be pretty fucking funny considering how much she's laughing.

I'm going to have to cut in and interrupt their little moment because if this guy thinks he can move in on a girl eating alone than he's got a second thought coming. I know how guys like him think and how willing they are to take advantage of women they find alone in restaurants and bars. He's a scrawny little shirt from what I can see, the kind that has owned a guitar at some point in his life and is probably shit at playing. His hair's long, unruly like he hasn't ever heard of a hairdresser. Maybe after I'm done annihilating him I can loan him a comb. He's got those hipster glasses on and looks pretty damn uncomfortable in his suit seeing how much he's pulling at his collar, probably because he's never worn one enough before today. This guy? I could take him down in five seconds flat but I've got to be careful because Tessa sure seems friendly with him and he's looking way too comfortable sitting at my seat. Playing this completely by ear, I move in and hope this night hasn't completely gone to hell.

***

"Hey buddy, thanks for keeping my girl company but I've got this now."

Okay so maybe subtlety isn't my thing, I try I really do but some things never change.

"Cole!" The two of them look at me at the same time but it's Tessa shooting daggers at me. If she weren't so mad I'd tell her how sexy she looks when she's angry. I might get drenched in wine if I do that and this suit is expensive.

"Hey shortcake, sorry I ran a little late. I just lost track of time at the library and my phone died on me but I got here as soon as I could. It's so nice though that you had someone to keep you entertained till I got here. I'm sure he can go back to his own table now." I smile at the hipster but it's one that says that he needs to leave and needs to leave now.
"Cole!" She admonishes again and it seems a bit over the top for her to feel this angry on behalf of a guy she's just met. "This is Wyatt McKinnon, he's the author of the book that I was telling you about, remember."

Oh shit.

She fake laughs, grits her teeth and now I know for sure I at least be sleeping on the couch tonight. This is the guy whose book Tessa's been raving about and who she helped got published. She'd rallied for him for months, gotten his manuscript through the door and convinced her editor to give it a shot. I'd seen just how hard she'd worked to make this happen and I think I've just made a colossal mistake.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you Cole. I've heard a lot about you."

He offers me his hand which shows he's trying to be the bigger man here. I would've appreciated it if he'd thrown a tantrum instead because right now in Tessa's eyes I'm the uncivilised asshole and he's this brilliant writer whose work she's obsessed with. Who do you think she finds more attractive?

"You too man. I'm sorry about acting like an asshole just now. I thought you were some random piece of shit guy trying to take advantage of my girlfriend."

"Cole!"

I need to shut up right this instant.

"No, no it's totally fine. It's not everyday a guy like you feels threatened by a guy like me. Let me have this moment Tessa, I'm trying to savour it."

"I'm sorry Wyatt, I had no idea he'd actually show up when I offered you to join me."

He waves his hand, "No need, I can see why it'd be an honest misunderstanding between the two of you but since we're almost done with dinner here why don't you join us for dessert Cole? I'm sorry I took your spot."

He's really laying it on thick right now and no wonder Tessa looks at him with stars in her eyes. He's being the bigger person, taking the high road and making me look all of two feet tall because lets face it I'm the Neanderthal and he's your basic millennial Da Vinci. The maître d' only grumbles a little bit but lets me join in their table however I'm starting to think I really should have made the wise decision to leave because Tessa won't even look at me. I've obviously embarrassed her in front of this very important guy and I bet she's dying to take it out on me.

"So, Tessa tells me you're going to become a lawyer. That's impressive, I lasted all of one semester in grad school before dropping out." He pushes his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose and grins at Tessa like they're sharing an inside joke. "If it hadn't been for her taking a chance on me I'd probably have to go back and try and so something with my life."

"Please, I didn't do you any favours. Your book is wonderful, exciting and so relevant and everyone at the firm can attest to that."

I try and participate for shits and giggles but it's a lost cause. Tessa is in a dark mood and not ready to play nice with me so I let the two have their moment and when we're ready to leave and I ask him if he'd like to join us for some drinks, I'm relieved he refuses. He's got to attend some sort of writer conference in the morning and has an early flight. We wait as he calls his Uber but as soon as Wyatt is out of sight, Tessa begins stomping away.

"Hey, Tessie come on I apologised. I'm sorry I was late and I'm sorry I talked to Wyatt that way. How was I supposed to know who he was?"

"Do you think that justifies it?" She looks stressed, sounds stressed and I'm trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. "You can't just talk to guys like that Cole, it's not okay. He's my client and if he were a different person and was actually insulted by how you spoke to him I could've been out of a job."

I sigh because I can't argue with that. I could tell her that there's no use coming up with all these scenarios because apparently Wyatt McKinnon is a great guy and can do no wrong. We've averted the crisis and everything's okay yet she's still walking away from me at record speed. I jog to catch up her, simultaneously trying to get an Uber back home.

"I know I shouldn't have done that and not just because you're working with that guy. I said I wasn't going to freak out about every single guy you hang out and I like to think I've done pretty well so far."

"Mattie doesn't count, you know he's gay."

Mattie is her colleague from work, a fellow editorial assistant and a guy I really like and not just because he's gay. He's a huge Patriots pan and a fellow New England native which basically means we get along like a house on fire. He started his job around the same time Tessa did and according to her he's one of the few assistants who isn't waiting for an opportunity to stab you in the back. So of course I like him if he treats me girl well but now would not be the time to make the point.

"Listen I know there's absolutely no justification for how I acted but it looked like he was trying to take advantage of you while you were obviously upset and I..."

"Should be more confident in my ability to read people and to take care of myself. We talked about this Cole, you can't just barge in to try and save me from all these dangerous men when I've told you I can do it myself."

"Hey, shout at me as much as you want because I know I fucked up but I'm always going to look out for you, I'm always going to protect you."

The look in her eyes softens a little bit and she lets me come close enough that I can see just how she trembles at my proximity. She might be mad at me but she still wants me and this suit in particular is one of her favourite ones.

But Tessa's made of stronger stuff so she clears her throat and gives me a pointed look. "There's a difference between protecting and overreacting. How about you work on the former and maybe try not standing me up when all I've talked about this week is this dinner?"

I run a hand down my face and exhale because there's no talking my way out of this. "I'm sorry. I don't know know what else I can do or say but you know I would never disappoint you, not on purpose."

I can see her giving in, I'm almost there and I take her hand in mine and bring it to my lips, kissing the back of it. We're in the middle of a crowded street, people milling about but Tessa's stuck staring at me and at my lips on her skin and I'm aware that I'm going to need to do a lot of grovelling to make up for tonight's disaster but for now I think I've got it.

Until.

She pulls her hand back and groans, "I cannot believe you embarrassed Wyatt like that!" and with that she begins to stomp away again.

Okay then folks, I've got prime real estate in the doghouse now and it's going to take something rather spectacular to get out of this mess. Lucky for me, Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

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Happy reading and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I used to be so obsessed with writing in strict chronological order and writing about every single day in each chapter but I'm happy with these time leaps now <3

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Love,

Blair