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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The school week went by very slowly. Hardin still hasn't come clean about what's going on with him. I'm still upset with him, so I try to avoid any physical contact with him. Luckily, he doesn't seem to notice because he doesn't want to touch me anyway.
It's his birthday today and I got up early so I could get ready for it. I decide to start by hanging the banner I made him before everything turned into such a mess.
I finally hang it so it's perfectly straight, and out of anger, I rip it back down. Then guilt takes over and I hang it back up again. I do this two more time before I finally decide to go through with his party. Although I'm very upset and angry with him right now, I still love him and I want him to know what it feels like to have a birthday party surrounded by people who love him.
I continue to decorate the apartment while Hardin sleeps. I blow up some balloons, hang some streamers and get the party games I picked out ready. I hope Hardin doesn't think his party is lame. I wanted to be supportive of his sobriety, so I'm not serving alcohol. There will only be dinner, cake, gifts and games.
"Tess... This place looks amazing!" Hardin says from behind me.
"You think so?"
"Yes! You did a great job, baby. But... I thought it was just dinner."
"Hardin, please don't start. I worked very hard on planning this. It's still just going to be the four of us, but I planned a birthday dinner and some games for us to play."
"Tess..."
"Hardin, please!"
"No, Tess, come here, baby," he beckons as he takes my hands in his. "I need to tell you a secret."
Finally, this is it. He's going to explain everything to me and then we can enjoy his party as a happy couple again. "Okay, Hardin, what is it?" I ask as I look directly into his emerald eyes.
"I'm actually really excited about having my own birthday party." He smiles brightly.
"What?"
"I know I was fighting you on this whole thing, but I actually feel excited. I don't have any happy birthday memories from my childhood. My mum was never able to throw me a real party. Even when I got to America, I never had any real friends until I met you. Now I have you, Emma and Nate to spend my twenty-first birthday with. I feel so lucky."
I have no idea what to do with Hardin's heartfelt speech. Part of me feels so bad for him. All I want to do is hug him, smother him with kisses and help make all his birthday wishes come true. But another part of me is extremely angry he still hasn't come clean about what he's hiding from me. Unfortunately, my emotions get the best of me and decide for me. I start to cry right in front of Hardin.
"Baby, why are you crying?" When I don't answer, he gently places his hand on my cheek and wipes away a tear with his thumb. "I know something is wrong, Tess. Please tell me what it is."
I angrily turn away from him. "I'm surprised you even noticed! It's not like you even want anything to do with me anymore!"
"What are you talking about?!"
I turn to face him again. "You lied about going to work, you won't cuddle with me or even touch me, you won't let me touch you, you lock the door so I can't bother you..." I trail off as I begin to sob uncontrollably.
"Tess..." He tries to cup my cheek, but I pull away.
"And then there's this!" I shout as I pull the crumpled sticky note from my pocket and shove it into his chest.
"Wh-what's this?" he asks as he tries to keep his balance.
"It's your floozy's phone number!"
"My what?!" I watch as Hardin takes the paper and looks at it. His face turns pale. "Tess, how... how did you find this?" he stutters.
"It fell out of your jacket pocket when I was going to hang it up. I guess I should be thankful you're such a messy pig," I cry.
"Tess, please just listen to me. I'm begging you," he pleads with me.
"Fine, Hardin." I sniffle. "Please, make me understand what I did to make you turn to another woman."
"I know this looks bad."
"Really bad," I correct.
"I know this looks really bad, but I can explain everything. I swear."
"I'm listening." I sniffle.
"I promise I'll explain everything, but I can't until after my party."
"What? Why not?"
"I'm sorry Tess, but you're just going to have to trust me. As soon as Emma and Nate leave, I'll explain everything... The odd behaviour, the sneaking around, the woman's number. Everything. Do you trust me?"
I take a deep breath before answering, "Yes."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, but you'll understand soon enough." He cups my cheek. This time I don't pull away.
"Okay," I whisper.
"I love you more than life itself, Tess. I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't want you. I always want you," he promises and surprises me by kissing me.
As Hardin pulls out of our kiss, I look up at him and stare into his brilliant green eyes. I can tell how sorry he is for making me feel this way and I hope he really can explain everything. I miss him so much. "I love you, Hardin."
"Tess, do you want to cancel my party because of everything?" he asks sadly.
"No, Hardin. I want you to have the best twenty-first birthday. You deserve to enjoy your party. Just promise we'll talk after."
