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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"Merry Christmas, baby," Hardin says before nibbling at my earlobe.
"Merry Christmas," I say as I turn to face him.
"Last night was fun." He smirks. "I really loved my gift." He continues to smirk.
"I knew you would." I giggle.
"You know what would have made last night even better?"
"What's that?"
"If you would have let me fuck you," he whispers in my ear.
"Hardin! I told you we're not doing that while we have a house guest."
"You didn't mind doing other dirty things last night..." He nuzzles into my neck.
"I know, but that was just a one time thing. So, hands off until Emma leaves!"
"You're killing me, Tess..." he groans.
"I'm going to go make some coffee. Why don't you take a cold shower or something?" I giggle.
"You're pure evil," he groans and then pulls the covers over his head.
I head to the kitchen and start the coffee while Hardin finally gets out of bed and goes to shower. After I pour myself a cup of coffee, I'm startled when Emma drops something. I look up and see she has all her luggage with her. "Emma? What's going on?" I ask, concerned.
"I'm leaving," she replies.
"You're leaving? Why? What happened?"
"Last night after I left you guys, I started to feel sad again. So... I called my ex."
"No, Emma... You didn't call Dan, did you?"
"Of course not!"
"Noah?" I ask with a puzzled look on my face.
"Not him, either."
"You mean you called—"
"Yes." She smiles.
"What made you decide to call him after all this time?"
"I tried to remember the last time I felt truly happy and his face popped into my mind."
"And?"
"I told him how much I miss him and that I never really stopped loving him. He said he's been thinking a lot about me, too and he's always regretted letting me go and not fighting harder for us. He's coming over to pick me up and we're going to spend Christmas together."
"Emma, that's... Well, that's amazing. I know he was always the love of your life. I'm so happy for you."
"I'm happy for me, too." She blushes. "Oh, I forgot my purse. I'll be right back."
A few seconds later, there's a knock at the door. I walk over and answer it. I'm greeted by the handsome boy with dirty blonde hair, tattoos and piercings I admittedly once had a crush on.
"Tessa! It's so great to see you again. You're looking beautiful, as always!"
"It's great to see you, too, Nate." I smile.
Before I know what's happening, Nate's pulling me into a hug and I hear Hardin's voice boom from behind me. "Hey! Get your fucking hands off her!" Hardin growls.
"Nate, I'd like you to meet my unnecessarily jealous boyfriend—"
"Hardin?" Nate gasps.
"Nate? What the fuck are you doing here?" Hardin asks, as shocked as Nate is.
"It's good to see you," Nate says as he walks over and pats Hardin on the shoulder. "I'm here to pick up Emma..."
Emma suddenly walks into the room and her and Nate lock eyes. "Em... I-I've missed you..." Nate stutters.
"I've missed you, too." Emma blushes.
"Tessa, what the fuck is going on?" Hardin asks, more confused than ever.
"Nate, I'd like you to meet Tessa's boyfriend, Hardin," Emma says.
"Wait, so you date now, Hardin?" Nate chuckles.
"You already know Hardin?" Emma asks as confused as I am right now.
"Yeah, we were roommates at the frat house before this guy decided to move out," he explains. "Tell me, Hardin, how'd you get someone as amazing as Tessa to date you?" he jokes.
"Actually, she's my fiancée," Hardin corrects him. "How exactly do you two know each other?" Hardin asks suspiciously.
"Hardin, Nate was Emma's first boyfriend. She called him last night and they're trying to work things out," I calmly explain.
"Oh..." Hardin says and I can tell he's relieved to know that nothing happened between Nate and me.
"Wait! So if you and Hardin were roommates, then how come Tessa and I never met him when we were hanging out in your room?" Emma asks.
"Hardin rarely spent the night in our room. He was usually off with some slutty—" Nate is interrupted by Emma tugging on his arm and I watch as Hardin's face drops. He looks like he's going to be sick. "Sorry," Nate says apologetically.
"It's okay. I know Hardin isn't that man anymore," I say before taking Hardin's hand in mine and smiling up at him.
Hardin gives me a small smile and squeezes my hand.
"So, when is the wedding?" Nate asks. "I can't believe I'm actually asking Hardin Scott that." He chuckles.
"Um, we haven't set a date yet," I answer quietly.
"Okay. Well, I'm expecting an invite." He smiles.
"Hardin, I can't believe I was so close to you, but I never met you until we met at the library," I say, still trying to wrap my head around everything.
"I know... But I guess fate wanted to make sure we met. I knew we were inevitable." Hardin smiles at me and tucks my hair behind my ear.
"We should all go out on a double date sometime," Nate suggests and Hardin, Emma and I all look at each other. "What did I say?" he asks, confused.
"We don't have the best track record for double dates," Emma quietly laughs.
"Oh." He chuckles. "You'll have to tell me about that sometime... Em, we should get going. I have a busy day planned."
"You do?" she asks curiously.
"Yes. We have a lot of catching up to do and I don't want to waste another second with you."
"I'm so happy for you guys." I can't help but smile.
"Thank you for everything," Emma says before hugging Hardin and me. "Enjoy your Christmas together!"
I show Emma and Nate out and then I turn to Hardin. He's smiling. "You know, I saw that," I tease.
"What?"
"You were smiling! You really care about her and her happiness." I start to smile, too.
"I do. She's like the slightly more annoying version of you," he jokes. "So, if Nate was her first boyfriend, that means he's the one who saved her from Neil and the one she told me was the love of her life... Well, I'm happy for them. Nate's a good guy. But if he hurts her, I won't mind beating the shit out of him."
"He won't. He's always treated her well. They only broke up because they had been inseparable since they started dating and wanted time apart to find themselves. I've never seen her happier than when she was with him, though. I'm glad they found their way back to each other."
"Now that that's settled, I'm going to have my way with you," Hardin says before picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me to the bedroom.
