Happy Friday! Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter! Hang in there, Just remember this is a journey and there's a lot left in this story!
Tobias laid in bed in his apartment in Dallas as he flipped the channels on his flat screen. It was Friday and he actually had a night off after only having practice that day since he didn't have a game that day. He was having an okay year with the Mavericks as the season came to an end. His rookie season had been tougher than he could ever imagine. As a high draft pick, he knew he was going to a team that didn't have a great record and would be rebuilding their program. The pressure for him to perform immediately as a first-round pick was high. College ball had been a challenge but it was nothing that Tobias couldn't handle even though he worked harder than in high school. Playing in the NBA was an uphill battle. The schedule was grueling.
In high school, he probably played 25 games in a season, his one year in college 34. The NBA season was 82 games and there would be weeks on the road living out of a suitcase. He was the hotshot rookie who shot his mouth off which was consistently getting him in trouble with technical fouls. His playing time was okay but he knew his numbers weren't great. He also wasn't used to losing. There were only about 3 weeks left in the season and it was becoming pretty clear that the Mavericks weren't going to make the playoffs. Tobias had never been on a losing team and it was frustrating. He spent his childhood watching his father play in the NBA but he realized that he never truly understood what it was like for him to play in the NBA for 15 seasons.
When he left Dauntless, He had closed himself off from everyone. He and Will kept in touch but Will was in Charlotte. The only one he remotely hung out with in Dallas was one of his teammates Kenyon who was a power forward in his 3rd year in the league, a bench player who didn't get much playing time. They would grab a bite to eat or hit the club every now and then and chop it up at practice. That Thursday night they lost by 20 points to the Brooklyn Nets, Tobias was frustrated after getting into an altercation with Kyrie Irving from the Nets that resulted in him getting ejected from the game. He looked at his phone seeing his mother calling. He knew she was calling to chastise him about his behavior on the court. When his phone pings again, it's Kenyon. Kenyon suggested they go to a strip club to let off some steam with several of the other players.
The club was a good distraction. The girls always showered the NBA players with attention hoping to get good tips and private lap dances. Tobias had only been to a strip club a few times this season but he felt like letting off some steam. He hands the VIP attendant his credit card and he quickly comes back with $3,000 in $ 5 and $10 bills.
"You getting thrown out was complete bullshit" Kenyon comments as he leans back on the couch in the VIP lounge.
"Yeah, He really did start it, It pisses me off the refs acted like they didn't see him start with me. I hope he gets fined too"
Tobias says with an eye roll. He knew he was going to be facing a hefty fine probably upwards of $25,000. Jack had negotiated him a great deal, 7 million for the first year, 8 million for the second and third year, and an option for 10 million the 4th and final year if the Mavericks resigned him. There were other opportunities for bonuses so he wasn't really stressed about the money.
"Damn T. Check her out," Kenyon says as he knocks Tobias on the shoulder.
Tobias wasn't going to lie, her body out of this world. She locks on to him, giving him a sultry smile as she makes her way over. Tobias hears all his teammates chanting as he showers her with money. Tobias grinned and laughed, he smiled when he needed to but in that moment he was surrounded by people and he never felt more alone in his entire life.
The next day when he gets home from practice he falls into bed. Some nights he missed having a warm body next to him in bed, but he was tired tonight and was actually glad he was alone. He didn't have to be alone, He always had several offers from groupies to take home. His DMs stayed flooded with girls trying to shoot their shot. He could admit that since he broke up with Tris he had reverted back to his old ways before they were together. Meaningless sex, that's all it was because no one was her. He had no desire to be in a relationship with anyone. Tris had broken his heart and he wasn't going to give anyone that power. Late at night though he missed her. He missed holding her before falling asleep. He missed her laugh, he missed how they argued.
He pulled up his phone, he had deleted all the pictures he had of them in his phone the year before. He regretted it because now he would pull up her Instagram page just to look at her and see her smile. He had so many notifications he mostly ignored them. He posted every now and then but he really used his page to look at other people's stuff.
He pulls up Tris's profile and looks at the last picture she posted. He never watched her stories so she wouldn't know he was on her page. They had unfollowed each other last year and Tobias still had her number blocked. He was shocked he wasn't blocked from her IG page. He knew Coach Wu didn't allow social media during the season but now that it was over she was posting pictures again. A few she had saved from over the season, with the most recent being of her, Lynn, Marlene, Christina, Susan, Zeke, Uriah, and Caleb at Six Flags over Georgia.
His heart tugs, he missed his boys but just like Tris, he hadn't spoken to them either since he left Dauntless. He'd thought about calling Uriah a few times but never did it. He never thought that he and Zeke would have ended how they did. He feels a bit of anger again as he thinks about that night. Yes, he lashed out but infuriated him thinking about Zeke still wanting to be with Tris. He probably already made a move on her.
As he looks, Kenyon hits him on FaceTime and he answers.
"Bruh you need to go check out the Shade Room"
"For what?" Tobias asks.
"Someone posted a video of you last night…."
"A video? What the fuck, who had a camera?" Tobias groans. There were supposed to be no cameras and no video allowed, how the hell had someone gotten a video.
"Just check it out, you might need to do some PR after it. I know a guy if you need one"
Tobias sighs "No doubt" he hangs up the call and goes to Instagram and looks at his notifications.
"Fuck" he says sitting up as he sees the video. There he was sitting in a chair with money flying through the air and the stripper bent over in front of him. There were parts blurred out but it was clear that it was him and clear what was happening.
His heart sinks when he sees the comments.
Okay T Money!
T Money out her getting all the panties, I bet she went home with him after that!
Tris Prior must not be in the picture anymore for Tobias Eaton to be letting loose like this!
T Money had a good woman, this is so trash.
Look at those stacks! T Money out here putting strippers through college!
He puts his phone down. He had been thinking that he owed Tris an apology, he was just too proud to do. There was no way she was ever going to listen to him now. Maybe this happened to keep him from making a mistake. They were in two different places now and there was no need to revisit those old wounds.
With the season over, Tris and the girls relax a bit. They had a hard-fought season, making it to the Elite 8 this season. Tris had a hamstring injury in the first round and Marlene had sprained her ankle during the Sweet Sixteen. They both were fine now but Tris and the rest of the team had been disappointed but they could handle LSU without Tris and Marlene. The loss had them that much more focused on next season. A Friday night before finals Uriah convinces everyone that drinks were in order as he snuck in a few bottles to their dorm room.
"Do you think we will ever get off-campus housing? I hate having to sneak stuff in" Marlene complains as she pours some of the coconut rum into a red cup followed by some pineapple juice.
"Never" Lynn snorts.
The only athletes who lived off-campus were a few who had families. The Athletic Department wasn't known to cover the housing expenses for students for fear of it being seen as unequal treatment per the NCAA guidelines.
"Well Zeke and Caleb are getting a place together, that is going to be the new hangout spot for sure" Uriah adds.
"Oh, I can't wait! Tris, are your parents really going to go for that?" Christina asks as she takes the drink Marlene mixes for her.
Tris shrugs "Yeah, Caleb made a really compelling case since he and Zeke have internships downtown and the commute was going to be horrific from Erudite. And it helped that Mr. P agreed to split the costs when he and my dad talked numbers. The place they picked really isn't too far from here. Caleb has plenty of scholarships so they aren't shelling out nowhere the amount of money for us as they did for Lauren"
Caleb and Zeke had both strategized how to approach both their fathers about the prospect of moving off-campus. Having three separate options and price points laid out and visuals when Caleb and Zeke had gone home for spring break. Uriah and Tris had been waiting anxiously for the decision. Even though they wouldn't be allowed to live off-campus, it was going to be great to have a place they could get away.
An hour later and halfway through a bottle of rum, everyone is feeling free and relaxed.
"Where's Zeke?" Marlene asks.
"He had a fraternity meeting after work, he should be done now, I'll text him and tell him to come over," Tris says as she picks up her phone.
Zeke had shocked everyone when he started randomly disappearing in the Fall semester. When it came out that he was pledging Omega Psi Phi everything made sense. Tris, Christina Marlene, and Lynn all went to cheer him on at his probate show.
Zeke didn't need to work but he had a small part-time job in the administrative offices of the Athletic Department. The Pedrads were well off he didn't need the money but Reggie Pedrad had been impressed at his son's initiative to really learn all angles of the sports business. Working in the Athletic department gave Zeke a first-hand insight into the implementation of the NCAA's rules and regulations and how to navigate the situation for up and coming players. Since Jay Z was a huge fan of Reggie Pedrad's from his days playing professional football, Reggie had secured Caleb and Zeke internships at Roc Nation's sports Atlanta offices for the summer.
Tris pulls out her phone to send Zeke a text when she sees that her IG is blowing up with notifications. She had come to appreciate the social media breaks during the season to focus on the game but she felt like when she got back on, so much had happened she had a hard time catching up.
"What the fuck?" Tris says at the number of notifications she had coming in.
"What's wrong?" Lynn asks, coming to sit next to her and look at her phone.
"People keep tagging me in a Shade Room post"
Tris clicks on it and she feels like she's going to be sick. There on her phone is a post of Tobias, throwing money in a strip club as a stripper is bent over and twerks in his face. The comments are equally making her stomach turn.
Wow, T Money you left Tris Prior for this?
Tris Prior, you deserved better
Shorty has way more ass than Tris Prior! No wonder T Money bounced!
I don't care what ya'll say Tris Prior is way more pretty
Tris throws down her phone into the sofa and gets up and pours a large cup of straight rum and downs it in one gulp.
"Whoa, what is going on?" Christina aks concerned as she looks at Tris like she has two heads and goes to sit next to Lynn and picks up Tris's phone.
"I can't believe people, why the fuck would they tag her in these comments like this?" Lynn says.
"Oh, shit" Christina cringes as she looks at the phone and then back to Tris who was pouring another shot.
Uriah and Marlene run over to look and Uriah pulls it up on his phone.
"Hey Tris, slow down there," Uriah says as he gets up and goes over to her. They were all pretty tipsy already. Tris never drank heavily like this, she was going to be completely wasted if she didn't stop.
Uriah grabs the cup from her hand as Tris starts to cry. He sighs and pulls her into a hug wrapping his arms around her and lets her cry.
Lynn, Christina, and Marlene sit quietly. Marlene wipes a tear away. Tris had worked so hard this season and they hated that Tobias still affected her like this.
"I don't know why I'm upset, he walked away from me, we aren't together, I just….I just don't... " Tris sobs out.
"It's okay to be upset, Tris…" Uriah says quietly. He hated this for his friends. He'd tried to reach out to Tobias but he wouldn't take his calls.
"I need some air" Tris announces as she pulls away from Uriah and goes to her room. She emerges a minute later with her hoodie on and reaches for her phone from Christina.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Christina asks.
"No thanks, I just need to be alone and clear my head"
Everyone nods as Tris heads out the door not knowing where she was going.
Tris wipes her tears as she makes her way across campus. She wasn't even sure where she was going, just that she knew she couldn't breathe in her room and she needed some air. She knew it wasn't smart to take that last drink but she just wanted to numb the pain. Seeing that post of Tobias in that strip club just took her back to where she was last summer after he broke up with her. It was the realization that he wasn't her Tobias anymore, he was the attention-loving, womanizing selfish person he had always been.
She stops and realizes that she was at Zeke's building and decides to go up. She keeps her hoodie pulled over her head and her head down, not wanting to interact with anyone.
Zeke frowns when he sees Tris on the other side of the door, her hazel eyes red-rimmed. Uriah had texted that Tris was not in a great place when she saw that video on The Shade Room. He took one look and swore. He could only imagine what that did to Tris and it made him infuriated at Tobias all over again. He had just gotten home and he had planned on changing clothes to head over to hang out when there was a knock at his door.
"Can I come in?" She asks shakily.
"Yeah, come on let's go in my room"
Zeke got along with his roommates Jason, Bobby, and Ravi pretty well but he didn't want them to see Tris like this.
Zeke shuts the door as Tris sits on his bed and he goes to sit on the chair. Zeke's dorm was similar to the athletic dorm, full-size bed, desk, chair, nightstand and chest of drawers, and small closet.
"I'm sorry to just show up like this, but I just needed to get out and I couldn't drive anywhere"
"Hey I get it, Uri told me what happened" Zeke soothes as he stands up to hug her.
"I just, I don't know why I'm upset, it's been a year since he broke up with me but I feel so stupid. Why did I let him make me think he was different? It just hurts all over again. Christina keeps setting me up on all these blinds dates that suck and I just want somebody to love me and not have all these expectations on me"
Tris lets out a sob against Zeke's chest as she wraps her arms around his waist. She felt herself calm as he tightened his arms around her. Zeke pulls away and looks at Tris. His heartstrings pulling at seeing her like this, Tobias had broken her and he couldn't stand it. He'd been avoiding all of them, Uriah and Caleb, since that last day before he left campus when he and Zeke fought.
"Tris, you are perfect, just the way you are. And any man who can't see that doesn't deserve you" he says quietly as he brings his thumb to her cheek and wipes her tears. There was an energy following between them as Tris looked at Zeke.
"I should have chosen you," Tris says quietly. Zeke was the rock that had been there for her, steady and strong.
Zeke presses a kiss on her forehead. She was drunk and he wasn't going to let her say anything that she didn't mean while she was emotional. Tris suddenly leans up and kisses him. He's shocked at first, then he kisses her back but when Tris starts pulling at his clothes he comes back to reality.
"Tris, slow down, we are not going to do this…"
"Why not? Don't you still want me?" she whines as she tosses her shirt off leaving her in her black balconette bra.
Zeke had to fight back a groan, her body was insane, he had to control himself and take control of this situation as Tris kicked out of her sweat pants. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her in a bikini over the years but her being in her actual bra and panties behind the closed door of his room as she tried to take his pants off was robbing him of rational thought. He was attracted to her but he wasn't that guy to take advantage of the situation while she was drunk and emotional.
"Yeah I do actually but you are drunk Tris, this is not a good idea right now" He wanted to kiss her and worship her body and show her how special she was. He had stayed away all these years. But he needed to know if Tris really wanted this, wanted him.
Zeke chuckles when she pokes her lip out and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Come on lie down" he instructs, pulling back the covers on his bed. "You need to sleep this off"
"Stay with me, Please" Tris pleads as she gets under the covers. Zeke sighs and gets in next to her. She lays across his chest. He wraps an arm around her and places a kiss on her forehead as she drifts off to sleep.
Tris cracks an eye open the next morning. Her head was pounding. She rolls over and the faint scent of cologne invades her nostrils causing her to sit up quickly.
Shit, Where am I?
She looks at the things on the wall, the Omega Psi Phi letters, the Carolina Panthers poster and realizes this is Zeke's room. She runs over the events of the night before groaning as she remembered The Shade Room debacle and then that she came to Zeke's dorm. She runs her hands over her face and rubs her temples. Last night was not a good night.
Fuck, did we ?...
She looks down and panics when she sees she's only in her bra and panties.
She quickly gets up and grabs her clothes she saw discarded on the floor. She was just pulling her shirt over her head when the door opened.
"Good Morning, I thought you would still be asleep. I figured you might need this" Zeke smiles, handing her a bottle of water and a plastic bag after he closes the door behind him.
"Zeke, you went to Waffle House for me?" Tris sighs out as she takes the bag, touched that he was thoughtful enough to get her favorite hangover meal.
"Yeah, I figured you might have a hangover"
Tris sits down at his desk and pulls out the hashbrowns and starters to eat. After a few minutes, she works up the courage to ask.
"So did we umm" she raises her eyebrows and nods her head to the bed. Her stomach doing flip-flops while she watched Zeke as he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his bed to sit down.
"No we did not, not to say that you didn't try, I had to go sleep on the couch because you kept getting handsy"
Tris wishes the floor would open up and swallow her whole. This was utterly embarrassing. She was already ashamed that she had spiraled after seeing that video of Tobias in the strip club but to know that she tried to sleep with Zeke made this a really low point.
"I'm so sorry Zeke. Really, I was a mess yesterday. Thank you for being there"
"Tris, you said some stuff last night, I don't know if it was the liquor talking or if you really meant it…"
"Like…." Tris probes as she takes a swig of water and Zeke tosses her a bottle of aspirin. She really only had pieces of memories.
"That you wished you would have picked me"
Tris sets her fork down and closes the lid on her food and turns to face Zeke.
"Ummm, I know I was drunk last night but I can't lie and say that I haven't thought about it the past year. You are this incredibly sweet and thoughtful guy, and I looked past you because I was so caught up in the shiny thing"
Zeke nods his head and looks at Tris as she looks down at the floor.
"So do you want to stop looking past me?" Zeke asks with a hopeful tone. He knows he will regret it if he doesn't take this opportunity for real. He was crazy about Tris
He'd loved her afar for so many years.
Tris thinks for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed. Zeke literally was a really good guy. How could she complain about Tobias and she wasn't willing to give the good guy a chance. They were already friends, would that make a potential relationship stronger? Then she thinks about how fast she and Tobias moved in their relationship. They slept together and then dove into a relationship.
"I think I'm scared that if you and I don't work, I'll have screwed up another friendship…."
"Tris, I know he made promises to you but this is me, I want to try and make you happy, and if I don't I'm still going to be your biggest fan and rooting for you. I need you in my life even if we are just friends"
Tris sighs. This was possibly even scarier.
"Doesn't this violate bro code or whatever? I mean we were all friends and here I am bouncing between you two" Tris places her fingers on her temples and rubs them. Did this make her like the girls she used to look down on for going after Tobias?
"As far as I am concerned my friendship with him is dead. The things he said the night he left and what he did to you….I can't let that go"
Tris nods in response. Caleb told her how ugly the fight had gotten. He wouldn't elaborate on what was said not waiting to make the situation any worse than it already was but Tris could imagine after how Tobias acted with her that things got rough.
Sensing her hesitation and her worry Zeke decides to offer up a suggestion.
"How about we take it slow, no pressure. Let me take you out on a date and if you feel like this is something you want to do, then we talk about it"
"Just one date" Tris raises an eyebrow.
"One date" Zeke repeats, raising his index finger. "Now eat before your hash browns get cold"
Tris leans over and gives him a hug before she gets up and goes back to her breakfast. Zeke pulls out his and turns on the tv so they can watch some tv. This was what she appreciated about him. She could just go with the flow and it was refreshing.
I'm moving on. Tris tells herself.