Hardin Scott has been madly in love with Tessa Young since the moment he first laid eyes on her, but there's no way she could ever see him as anything more than a friend. After all, he's a bad boy with a promiscuous past and she's a sweet and innoce...
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As I slowly open my eyes, I remember what a disaster my life has become in only one day. It's Tessa's birthday today and we're supposed to be leaving on our trip to spend Christmas with Emma, but everything is a complete mess right now.
As I'm lying in bed trying to figure out what to do, I suddenly hear a huge crash come from the living room. I quickly jump out of bed to see if Tessa's okay. As soon as I make it to the door, I hear voices— Tessa's and Trevor's.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Tessa! Was that expensive?" Trevor asks her.
"It's fine. I'll clean it up later. You better go before Hardin gets up."
"Okay. Are you sure you don't need help cleaning it up?"
"I'll be fine. Thanks for everything!"
"It was fun. See you later, Tessa!"
I hear the door close and I'm about to march into the living room and explode when Tessa walks into the bedroom.
"Hardin! You're awake!" she gasps.
"Yeah, I heard a huge crash, Tessa."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"Yeah, I bet you were hoping to sneak Trevor out of our apartment before I even knew he was here!" I shout.
"Y-you know about Trevor?" she gasps.
"I know there's something going on between the two of you!"
"Hardin, it's not what you think."
"Oh, really, Tessa? Then why did you lie to me about spending the day with him yesterday?!"
"You're right, Hardin. I did lie, but just give me a chance to explain."
"Okay... I'm waiting."
"Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Please, just close your eyes."
"Okay..." I say and do as she asks.
Tessa guides me out of the bedroom and into the living room. "Okay, Hardin, you can open them," she says quietly.
I open my eyes and instantly feel like the world's biggest asshole. "Tess..." As I look around the living room, I see boxes of Christmas decorations and the greenest, fluffiest tree waiting to be decorated. "Tess, what is all of this?"
"I felt so bad that all you wanted was to spend time decorating our first Christmas tree together, so I told Emma we'd be leaving tomorrow instead and I went to go buy this tree and all these decorations for us. I couldn't do it on my own, so I asked Trevor for help when I ran into him coming out of his apartment on my way to the lobby."
"I-I thought..."
"I'm so sorry I lied to you. I just wanted it to be a surprise," she says as she reaches up and gently rubs her thumb over my cheek.
"Tess," I say and pull her into me, "When I heard you talking to Trevor about spending the day with him and then you lied to me about it, well, I had some pretty dark thoughts. I thought I lost you."
"Hardin, I love you so much. You're not going to lose me." She hugs me tightly.
"Thank you for all of this. I can't believe you did all of this for me."
"I hope you like it."
"I do. I do. I can't wait to decorate it with you."
"Then what are we waiting for? Come on!" she says and takes my hand, pulling me over to the tree.
"What should we start with?" I ask as I peek in all the boxes.
"How about these? I bought them just for you," she giggles.
I take the box and look inside. It's full of assorted ornaments and all of them are coloured black. "They're perfect," I chuckle.
As Tessa decorates the tree with garland, I watch her adoringly. She has trouble reaching the top and has to stand on her tiptoes, which just makes me love her more.
"I thought you were going to help!" she giggles. "Here, put the star on the top. I can't reach it myself."
"You know Tess, you're so fucking adorable. I wish I could carry you around in my pocket," I say and then start to smother her with kisses.
"Hardin!" she roars with laughter. "We're never going to finish in time!"
"Oh, it looks great! Now, come here." I start to tickle her.
"Stop! That side... is... totally... uneven!" she says between giggles.
"Fine! I'll fix it." I take a bunch of random ornaments and start placing them on every empty branch.
"Oh, that looks awful!" Tessa laughs. "You're really horrible at this!"
"I know. But do you know what I'm really good at?" I whisper into her ear.
"Nope!"
"I think you do, Theresa," I say seductively and reach for her.
"Oh, no!" she says, holding me back by placing her hand on my chest. "I have a plan, and you're not messing it up!"
"Come on, Tess," I beg.
Tessa reaches for some ribbon and then stands behind me. She gently places it over my eyes and ties it in place.
"Okay, this is really fucking hot," I chuckle.
"No peeking!" she warns.
"Why? What are you doing?"
"Shhh!"
"Tessa!" I whine.
"Just one more minute, Hardin!"
The next minute feels like the longest damn minute of my life.
"Okay, you can take the blindfold off!" she says.
I quickly remove the ribbon and take in the sight in front of me. "Holy. Fuck." There's a completely naked Tessa lying on a throw blanket in front of the fireplace, just waiting for me to devour her.
