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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After sitting in silence for several minutes, Tessa lifts her head and turns to look at me. "Hardin..." she begins. "I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry for how I treated you," she says as she looks down.
"Tess... look at me," I say as I tilt her chin up to force her to look at me. "I understand."
"You understand?" She looks puzzled.
"Yes."
"How do you understand that I didn't believe you?"
"I know you. I know you want to see the best in everyone. That's all you wanted, you just wanted to see the best in Zed. I get that."
"Yeah, and look where that got me," she sighs.
"I know you don't believe it now, but everything is going to be okay."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Well, because you have me." I smile at her.
"That's very true." She smiles back. "I'm so grateful for you. I was afraid you wouldn't ever speak to me again after last night."
"That would never happen, but I was afraid of the same thing. I've never seen you so angry."
"I'm sorry for everything I said, and for slapping you," she says with a guilty look on her face.
"Yeah, that was a little uncalled for," I say jokingly as I nudge her shoulder with mine.
"If you think that was uncalled for, you should have seen how I dealt with Zed and Molly," she laughs. It's so good to hear her laugh again.
Wait. She said something about dealing with Zed and Molly, like together? So she did catch him?
"What does that mean? What happened after you left me?" I ask curiously.
"That's a long story."
"We've got time. Tell me everything."
"Well, I invited Zed over and he said he was working all night, but I could tell he was lying. I knew I made a mistake not believing you. But it was when he went to the bathroom that I saw Molly texting him and then when she called I answered it," she pauses to take a breath. "She thought I was Zed and let it all out, proudly informing me that she was, well... pleasuring him all night." She cringes.
"Tess, I'm so sorry."
"There's more. Zed caught me and I let him know that I knew everything. We fought and I threw a paper weight at him as he left," she quietly laughs remembering the moment.
"That explains the shattered glass. Well, it sounds like you can handle yourself," I chuckle. Thinking of Zed being chased out of the dorm by Tessa threatening him with a paper weight is more than a little funny.
"How do you know about the glass?"
"Oh, Steph called me worried about you. She went out looking for you, too."
Shit. I forgot to text Steph. I quickly text her to let her know I found Tessa.
"I'll have to apologize to her, too. Anyway, there is something bothering me," she says with worry in her voice.
"What's that?"
"When Zed and I were fighting, he told me I would regret breaking up with him."
"Of course he said that. He knows he lost the best thing that has ever happened to him," I state.
Tessa blushes before continuing. "He also said that he would destroy me and when he was done with me no one would ever want me. The way he said it was actually quite bone chilling," Tessa says, clearly freaked out.
"I'm not going to let him hurt you ever again, you know that, don't you?"
"I do, but it scared me. And Hardin, I'm sorry I ruined your friendship with him."
"You didn't. He did."
"Speaking of your friendship going to Hell, did he do that to your face?" she asks as she gently rubs her thumb against the bruise he gave me.
"Yeah. But I gave it to him a lot worse."
"Hardin!"
"What?" I say, surprised she is still defending him.
"I didn't want you to start fighting again because of me. Please tell me you didn't start drinking again, too," she says, worried.
"I started to, but then Zed walked in and hit me."
"He sure has some nerve," she groans. "I wish you wouldn't have let him get to you."
"You didn't hear the things he said about you. I had no choice but to hit him," I say before realizing I just told her too much.
"What things did he say?"
"No, Tessa, you don't want to know."
"I do. I want to know what kind of monster he really is. It's like I never really knew him at all," she says angrily.
And because I know she won't let this go, I decide to tell her enough to satisfy her curiosity. "He was saying vulgar things to me about what you guys did together," I say and look down.
"Oh..." she says, but something seems off about her reaction.
"What?"
"Nothing," she sighs.
I'm about to press her more when I realize something. "Tess, where the hell did you sleep last night?"
"In my car."
"Man, he sure fucked you over, didn't he?" I say angrily. "How about you come back to the apartment and you can have a proper nap?"
"Uh...Hardin-"
I cut her off and add, "Don't worry. I made him move out last night. I wouldn't let him near you again."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Come here," I say as I pull her into a hug. I want to kiss her in this moment, but I could never take advantage of her. Instead, we get up to walk back to our cars.
