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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"Tessa? Tessa, wake up!" Hardin says through my sleep.
I slowly open my eyes and squint until Hardin comes into focus. He's standing next to the bed and doesn't look like he's in a good mood. "What is it, Hardin?"
"We have a problem."
"What's the problem?"
"You better come with me." He grabs my arm and drags me out of bed.
"Hardin, you're worrying me. Is Emma okay?"
"What? Yeah, I guess so..."
"Then what's the problem?"
Hardin continues to pull me with him until we finally reach the kitchen. "Someone ate my cereal!" he growls.
"What?" I ask as I shake my head at him.
"Someone... ate... my... cereal," he says slowly as he shakes the half empty box of Crackle Flakes.
"So? You have four other boxes."
"That's not the point! This is my cereal."
"I'm going to go get ready for the day while you deal with your cereal emergency."
"So, you're not going to do anything about this?"
"What would you like me to do, Hardin?" I sigh.
"Talk to your best friend and get her to tell her boyfriend not to touch what doesn't belong to him!"
"I'm not doing that!" I shout, then walk back to our room. On my way back to our room, I pass Emma in the hallway.
"Oh, Tessa, you're up!"
"Yeah. Hardin had a very serious cereal emergency."
"What?" she laughs.
"Never mind."
"Okay, I'm on my way to make breakfast. Do you want anything special?"
"No, anything you want is fine!" Emma's about to leave when I notice something. "Emma, what happened to your neck?" I gasp.
"What? Oh, um..." she stutters as she fixes her hair to cover her neck. "I accidentally burned myself with my curling iron."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you downstairs," she says and rushes off.
As I walk back to our room, I feel like something is off with Emma, but I'm not sure what.
I shower and get dressed and finally go downstairs for breakfast. When I reach the kitchen, I see that Hardin is sitting at the table eating his cereal, while protecting the box like a mother bear protecting her cub.
Emma is busy serving pancakes and sausages to Dan. "Are you in the mood for pancakes?" she asks me.
"Sounds great!"
"I also made sausages and bacon, and here's some maple syrup."
"Everything smells delicious. You're spoiling us!" I giggle.
"Emma is a fantastic cook!" Dan says while shovelling a fork full of sausage into his mouth.
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Emma asks Hardin.
He shakes his head no while staring into his bowl of Crackle Flakes.
"Don't mind him, he's in a bad mood," I explain.
"Oh, okay," she laughs. "Well, there's plenty left if you change your mind," she says before placing pancakes and bacon on her plate and joining us.
While we eat, Emma and Dan tell us about the ski run they're going to try today.
"Are you excited to try skiing, Tessa?" Dan asks me.
"I am!"
"Well, if you turn on the television, there's a channel that shows you information on all the ski runs."
"Oh, okay. I'll check it out."
"We better get going before it gets too crowded, Em," Dan says.
"Okay, I'll just do the dishes quickly," she replies.
"You guys go ahead. Hardin and I will clean up! Have fun!"
"Okay, thanks! You, too. See you guys later!" Emma says cheerfully.
After they leave, I clean up the kitchen and then watch the channel Dan suggested.
"Did you find one you want to try, Tess?" Hardin asks.
"Um, this looks a little scary!"
"So, you don't want to go skiing anymore?" he chuckles.
"Not really! I don't want to go home with a broken leg!"
"Okay, that works for me. Let's go back to bed." He grins and then nuzzles into my neck.
"I see you're in a better mood."
"Well, we do have the whole place to ourselves..."
"Not so fast, mister! I might not want to go skiing anymore, but I still want to go do something else."
"I'm afraid to ask..." he groans.
"Let's go skating!"
"What? No..."
"We're going! Now, go get ready!
"But there's a big, warm bed upstairs and I promise you'll still get your workout in."
"That's tempting, but I still choose skating!" I giggle. "So, go get ready!"
