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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"Tess? What smells so good?" I hear Hardin ask as I slowly wake up.
"I don't know..."
Hardin and I get out of bed and as we open the bedroom door, we're hit with the most delicious smell.
"Merry Christmas Eve... day!" Emma chirps from the kitchen.
We walk over to the kitchen and see a table filled with every imaginable breakfast food. "Emma, did you make all of this? It looks and smells delicious." I smile.
"I hope you guys are hungry!" she says cheerfully.
"You didn't have to do all this."
"It's the least I could do after everything you both have done for me. Now, dig in before it gets cold!"
"Wow, Emma, this is delicious," Hardin says with a mouth full of food. "You really are a great cook."
"Thank you." She smiles.
"Um, Hardin..." I say and clear my throat.
"Oh, your food is great, too, Tess. I mean, most of what you make is pretty good. Well, some things you make are good... You know, cooking isn't for everyone. But don't worry, Tess. You have a lot of other talents."
I consider stabbing Hardin with my fork under the table when Emma interrupts.
"So, I hope you guys don't mind, but I thought that maybe we could celebrate Christmas today. I'm feeling really blue and thought it might help cheer me up. I got up early and went to the grocery store. I couldn't find any turkeys. All they had left was chicken, but it should be enough to feed all of us. I also picked up some stuffing, gravy, dinner rolls and cranberry sauce. I'm going to make the best Christmas dinner you have ever tasted! How does that sound?"
"Great!" Hardin quickly answers.
"Hardin!" I scold. "Emma, that's way too much. You're a guest here. You shouldn't be cooking."
"I want to. It'll make me happy."
"Well, if you're sure... I'll help you."
"Um..." she stutters.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, it's not that you aren't good in the kitchen, but... I bought the last of everything they had left and if it gets ruined, well, we won't have any dinner."
"Why would it get ruined?" I ask defensively.
"You really do have a lot of other talents, Tessa," Emma says with a small smile.
"Oh! You guys are unbelievable!" I shout, slightly irritated. "So, now you both are going to gang up on me?"
"You didn't mind when you two ganged up on me last night." Hardin chuckles.
"Fine, Hardin, you can help with dinner," I say and stick my tongue out at him.
"Hey! What did I do?" Hardin asks innocently.
After breakfast, Emma starts cooking the chicken. While it cooks, we decide to watch a Christmas movie. As a reward for sitting through the romantic comedy last night, we let Hardin pick the movie.
Two movies later, Hardin goes to help Emma finish making dinner. I try to help, but I'm banned from the kitchen, so I set the table instead and Emma and Hardin serve dinner.
"Wow. You've really outdone yourself, Emma!" I say, only slightly jealous of the amazing cook she is.
"Thank you! I hope you like everything."
The dinner Emma made is delicious. I can also tell Hardin is enjoying it by the way he's shovelling the food into his mouth. "Sorry Hardin eats like a pig." I quietly laugh.
"That's okay. As long as he's enjoying himself." Emma laughs.
"Did you say something?" Hardin mumbles with a mouth full of food.
"Gosh, Hardin! The way you're eating, you'd think I never feed you." I giggle.
"Sorry. This is the best Christmas dinner I've ever had. Well, it's the only Christmas dinner I've ever had," Hardin says sadly.
Emma and I exchange sad looks.
"Hardin, you and Tessa can always come to my place for dinner." She smiles brightly.
"And I'll bring the dessert!" I add.
"Sure, just make sure Hardin bakes it!" Emma laughs.
"I hate you both!" I say, but join in on the laughter.
Twenty minutes later, we're finally done with dinner.
"I'm stuffed," Hardin groans.
"I'll start cleaning up," I offer.
After Emma and I finish doing the dishes, while Hardin lazily relaxes his full stomach, we sit in front of the tree, ready to open presents.
"Okay, so, I wasn't sure what to get you, Hardin, but I hope you still like it," Emma says and passes him a tiny gift wrapped box.
Hardin stares at the box for a minute and I feel really bad for him. I can tell he's not used to getting many gifts from people, and especially not Christmas gifts. He carefully unwraps the box and opens it. He begins to laugh as he grabs what's inside. It's a replica of his 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle on a keychain.
"I know it's not much, but I know how much you love your car and I thought you could put your car keys on it," she says, slightly embarrassed.
"I think he loves that car more than he loves me sometimes," I joke.
"It's perfect. Thank you, Emma." Hardin smiles.
"Here, Tessa," she says and gives me my present.
I excitedly open it and reveal a gift certificate for a spa day. I immediately start laughing and Emma gives me a confused look. "Here." I pass her gift to her.
She quickly opens it and starts laughing, too.
"Okay, what's going on?" Hardin asks impatiently.
Emma answers him by waving the spa gift certificate I got her in the air.
"I guess we can go together!" I giggle. I reach under the tree and see there's another gift for Emma, so I pass it to her.
"From Hardin?" she asks, confused. She begins to carefully unwrap the box and open it. When she sees what's inside a giant smile takes over her face.
"What is it?" I ask and lean over to look inside the box. Hardin got her a set of friendship necklaces.
"I thought you could give one to Tess and you could keep the other. I know it's stupid..." Hardin begins to say as he looks down.
"No, Hardin! It's really thoughtful. I love it so much. Thank you," she says gratefully and gets up to hug him.
In this moment I feel really happy. My boyfriend— no, my fiancé —and my best friend are friends. Emma is healing. Hardin is making his first happy Christmas memories.
"Okay, guys, I think I'm going to call it a night. Thank you for such a great Christmas celebration," Emma says before hugging me and going to her room.
"Come on, Hardin... It's time for me to give you your gift, but you have to promise to be quiet." I smile seductively as I drag him to the bedroom.
