TESSLYN'S POV
I throw up the second I get back to my dorm.
Barely make it to the bathroom. Knees hitting cold tile. Whiskey and regret burning my throat.
What did I do? What the hell did I just do?
I slept with a stranger. A man whose last name I barely remember. Whose apartment I left twenty minutes ago, sneaking out like a thief while he was in the shower.
This isn't me. I don't do one-night stands. I don't drink until I can't think straight. I don't fall into bed with beautiful older men who look at me like I'm something precious.
Except I just did all of those things.
I splash water on my face. The mirror shows someone I don't recognize—smudged makeup, messy hair, a hickey blooming purple on my collarbone. Evidence of last night written on my skin.
My phone buzzes. Again. It hasn't stopped buzzing since I turned it back on.
Fifty-three messages from Callum. I count them. Fifty-three desperate texts begging me to forgive him.
Tess, please answer
It was a mistake, I swear
Sienna means nothing
I LOVE YOU
We can fix this
Don't throw away three years
Please baby, I'm so sorry
Each message makes me feel sicker. Or maybe that's still the whiskey.
I'm about to turn the phone off again when my dorm room door slams open.
"TESSLYN MARIE VERNE!"
Rowan. My best friend storms in like a tornado—black hair wild, eyes blazing, face furious.
"Where the HELL have you been?" She grabs my shoulders. "I've been calling for hours! I went to Callum's looking for you and that bastard said you ran off and—wait." She stops. Really looks at me. "Oh my God. You didn't come home last night."
"Rowan—"
"You're wearing different clothes than yesterday." Her eyes go wide. "Is that a hickey? TESSLYN. What did you do?"
I sink onto my bed. Everything hurts—my head, my body, my heart.
"I slept with someone," I whisper.
Silence. Then: "WHAT?"
"After I found Callum with Sienna, I went to a bar. Met a guy. And I..." The words stick in my throat. "I went home with him."
Rowan sits beside me. For once, she's speechless.
"Say something," I beg. "Tell me I'm stupid. Tell me I'm a mess. Tell me—"
"Was it good?" she interrupts.
I blink. "What?"
"The sex. Was it good?"
Despite everything, I feel my face heat. "Rowan!"
"What? It's a valid question!" She grins. "You were with boring Callum for three years. If you're going to have a revenge hookup, at least tell me it was worth it."
A laugh bubbles out of me. Inappropriate, maybe insane, but I can't stop it. "It was... yeah. It was really good."
"Good!" Rowan punches the air victoriously. "That cheating scumbag deserves to know you moved on. Please tell me you're not taking him back."
My phone buzzes again. Another text from Callum: I'm coming over. We need to talk. Don't shut me out.
"I don't know," I admit quietly. "Three years, Rowan. That's a long time."
"Three years of him LYING to you!" Her voice rises. "He slept with Sienna for TWO MONTHS. While kissing you goodnight. While saying he loved you. While probably doing a lot more I don't want to think about."
"I know, but—"
"But nothing! Tess, you're the smartest person I know. Don't be stupid about this." She takes my hands. "You deserve better than someone who treats you like a backup plan."
"Maybe I wasn't enough," I say, voice breaking. "Maybe if I'd been prettier or more exciting or—"
"STOP." Rowan's grip tightens. "His cheating is NOT about you. It's about him being a selfish asshole who wanted his cake and to eat it too. You are enough. You've always been enough."
Tears spill down my cheeks. "Then why does it hurt so much?"
"Because you loved him. Because betrayal hurts even when we know it's not our fault." She wipes my tears with her thumbs. "But you know what? You're going to survive this. You're going to start university in two weeks, make new friends, have new experiences. And this Callum chapter? It's over."
"What about the guy from last night?"
Rowan shrugs. "One-night stand, right? You'll probably never see him again. It was just... a moment. A way to feel something other than broken."
She's right. Thayer—God, I can barely remember his full name now—was just a moment. A beautiful, gentle moment that helped me forget.
But now it's morning. Time to face reality.
My phone rings. Not a text this time—an actual call. Callum's name flashes on the screen.
"Don't answer it," Rowan warns.
But my finger hovers over the button. Three years. We had plans. We were going to the same university, building a future together.
Can I really throw that away over one mistake?
Even if that mistake lasted two months?
Even if he lied to my face every single day?
"Tess, please," Rowan begs. "Don't do this to yourself."
The phone keeps ringing.
I think about Thayer's hands in my hair. His voice saying "you matter." The way he looked at me like I was something precious instead of something convenient.
I think about Callum's face when I caught him. The panic. The excuses. "It meant nothing."
If it meant nothing, why'd he do it?
If I meant everything, why'd he risk losing me?
The phone stops ringing. Voicemail notification pops up.
I play it on speaker.
Callum's voice fills my tiny dorm room: "Tess, baby, please. I know you're mad. I know I messed up. But we can fix this. I love you so much. I've been going crazy not hearing from you. Just... just meet me. Coffee tomorrow at our spot. Give me a chance to explain. Please. I'm begging you. Don't give up on us."
He sounds broken. Desperate. Real.
Rowan makes a disgusted sound. "He's manipulating you."
"Or he's genuinely sorry," I counter quietly.
"Tesslyn—"
"I had my revenge." The words come out firmer than I feel. "I slept with someone else. We're even now, right? Maybe... maybe I can forgive him. Start fresh at university."
"You're not EVEN!" Rowan explodes. "He cheated for MONTHS. You had one night to deal with the pain he caused. That's not revenge. That's survival."
She's probably right. I know she's probably right.
But sitting here in my dorm room, body aching from last night, future uncertain, I just feel tired.
Tired of being angry. Tired of hurting. Tired of being alone.
Callum is familiar. Safe. I know what a life with him looks like.
Thayer was beautiful and unexpected, but he's gone now. Back to whatever life thirty-two-year-old professors live. I'll probably never see him again.
"I'm meeting Callum tomorrow," I say quietly. "Just to talk."
"Tess—"
"Just to talk," I repeat. "That's all. I promise."
Rowan looks like she wants to argue more. Instead, she sighs and pulls me into a hug.
"Okay. But I'm coming with you. I'll sit at another table, but I'm there. In case he tries to sweet-talk you into stupidity."
I hug her back, grateful. "Deal."
That night, I can't sleep. I keep thinking about two different men.
Callum—blond and familiar, promising change.
Thayer—dark and mysterious, who's already just a memory.
I touch the hickey on my collarbone. It'll fade in a few days. Everything fades eventually.
By morning, I've decided. I'll hear Callum out. Maybe give him another chance. People make mistakes. People change.
Maybe we can salvage something from the wreckage.
I text him: Okay. Coffee tomorrow. Our usual place. Noon.
His response is immediate: Thank you. I love you so much. I promise I'll make this right.
I stare at those words. Try to feel something. Relief. Hope. Anything.
But all I feel is numb.
Two weeks later, I'll start university. New campus. New life. Everything will be different.
At least, that's what I tell myself.
I have no idea that in fourteen days, I'll walk into Advanced Literature.
I have no idea Professor Murdoch will be standing at the front of the room.
I have no idea that my one-night stand is about to become my worst nightmare.
And I definitely have no idea that the hickey on my neck—the one I'm covering with makeup tomorrow to meet Callum—was left by the man who'll grade my papers.
If I knew, I'd run.
But I don't know.
So I fall asleep planning my coffee date with Callum, completely unaware that my life is about to explode in ways I can't even imagine.