One More Night

Chapter 7

Tessa

"I can't stay away from you, Tess..." He unzips his jeans and when I want to let them down, we hear the door.

"Shit. Molly's home."

I quickly jump off from the counter, Hardin quickly button his jeans, and I wipe my face with a napkin and a few second later, Molly come in the kitchen.

Molly: "Oh, shit. Sorry for interrupting you..." I can see a smirk on her face.

Hardin: "Uhm, I should leave."

Molly: "No, no, no. You can stay."

Hardin: "I'm sorry, but I remembered that I have something to do. I will text you later, ok?" he whispers the last sentence to me.

Tessa: "Yeah, sure."

Hardin: "Bye, girls!" He leaves and now it's just me and Molly. Great! Let's the fun begin.

"Girl!! You surprise me! What he was doing here?" She smirks.

"What do you think he was doing here?"

"I bet he was here to fuck you!"

"Yep." I smile. "We had sex all night long and it was awesome! We almost did it on the counter, but you interrupted us..."

"Gross." She whimpers. "So... you and mister Scott are a thing now?"

"No. Just friends... with benefits."

"You know it's not healthy to have a relationship like this?"

"I don't care. I just want to have fun until I graduate."

"And what if you will fall in love with him?"

"This is not going to happen. We keep our barriers and everything will be fine."

"I disagree. Hardin seems to be a good guy and he seems to be your type. And I can see he likes you, so don't miss you chance, babe. I want you to be happy."

"I know. We are not the only friends couple who has a friendship with benefits."

A few weeks later...

It's been a few weeks since me and Hardin started this thing and we are doing great. Sex and no feelings involved. Who thought that this will went in this way?

I'm busy reading something for a mid-term exam when I'm interrupted by a knock at my door.

"Come in!" I say and I see Hardin coming inside.

"Hi!"

"Hi." I look at him. "What are you doing here?" he comes to me, he leans on and he kisses me.

"I came to see you."

"I don't have time for sex."

"I'm not here for sex, Tess. I just came to see you."

"I'm learning for an exam."

"And what?"

"And I can't stay focused if you are here."

"So... you are sending me away?"

"Yes. We can meet later. I will be done around 6 pm. That's ok for you?"

"Tessa..." He closes my book and he makes me to get up from my bed. "I think I'm done with this shit."

"What are you talking about?"

"This back-and-forth game. I don't want to continue this anymore. I want a real relationship with you. Why? Because I am falling in love with you, Tess." Shit.

"I thought we said, no feeling involved. What's with this?"

"It's hard to not fall for someone like you..."

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. I mean, I like you, but..." he interrupts me.

"But what?!"

"I can't be with you!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm leaving after graduation. I'm moving to another country, on another continent. And I never liked the idea of a long-distance relationship."

"Then don't leave."

"I can't do this..."

"Why not? What made you to go there? You have everything here! Friends, family, a job, everything!"

"I can't tell you the truth."

"Tess... I like you a lot and I want to be with you. Why you can't understand? It's simple!"

"It's complicated, Hardin..."

"What's complicated, Tess?" He looks straight into my eyes. "Just tell me why you want to leave when all your life is here."

"It's a long story, Hardin." I avoid his look as soon as I feel my eyes wet.

"I have time, Tess. I want to know what's wrong. Why you can't be with me. We've known each other for two months and I really like you. A lot! So, tell me what made you to go there?"

"Well..." Do it Tessa. Just in this way you will free your emotions. "The truth is that... I want to find my dad. He's there and I want to talk with him. He left us when I was born. I don't know why, I don't know how he looks, I even don't know if he's alive. I don't know anything about my father and I want to understand why he did this. I want to know why he abandoned me, my sister and my mother. I want to know who the hell is he!" I end up crying.

"Oh, shit... I'm sorry. I had no idea... Come here." He opens his arms for me. "Tess... I'm really sorry." I go to him and he hugs me tight. It's so good to feel someone near you. I inhale his perfume and I know that I'm falling in love with him... This can't be true. I can't fall in love with him. I just can't do this...

"It's hard to grow without a paternal figure in your life. I always imagined him coming to us and giving us presents, but I never was able to feel the love of a father."

"I'm sorry to hear this, beautiful..." He rubs my back and I feel this gesture a comforting one. "I bet it's hard and I want to help you. We can do this together. But I want to know if you feeling are mutual." He looks into my eyes. "Just tell me..."

"Yes..." I whisper and I have no idea if he heard me. "I am falling in love with you and I know it's wrong... but you can't tell you heart what to do."

"We are in this together and we will see what we are going to do later, ok? Now... let's just live the present."

"Ok." He kisses my forehead and I suppose that now me and Hardin are more than a thing.