More Than Friends

Part 152 (Tessa)

It's almost time for Hardin's party. Emma and Nate will be here soon, so I rush to finish getting ready. I put on the new dress I bought for tonight, along with some light makeup and my charm bracelet. I stare at it on my wrist for a moment and start to tear up. I'm so nervous about what Hardin has to say, but I hope it's something we can move past. I love him so much and I can't lose him.

I walk into the living room and Hardin immediately stops what he's doing and stares at me for a moment, before walking over to me and taking my hand in his. He spins me around so he can get a better look at my new dress. "You look breathtaking. I can't wait to unwrap my present," he says and smiles that charming smile of his.

I'm still unsure how to feel until I know what's going on, but it's hard not to be charmed by the man. "Um... I hope you don't find your party lame. After dinner I thought we could play some games. I know it's not as exciting as a frat party, but I didn't want to serve alcohol and—"

"Tess, calm down. The party will be fun. I'm just grateful you're still speaking to me after everything that's been going on."

"I won't lie... It's really hard to focus on having fun when you won't tell me what you've been hiding."

"I will, soon. It's not as bad as you think, Tess. You know I would never cheat on you."

"It's still hard to wait for an explanation to all this."

"Please, try to have fun with me tonight. I love you and I want to make good memories with you tonight."

"Okay, Hardin. I'll try."

Minutes later, there's a knock at the door. "I'll get it," I say and rush to answer the door. I open the door and I'm greeted by a very cheerful Emma and Nate. I hope I can hold it together tonight. I don't want them to know anything is wrong.

"Hi, Tessa. I brought the cake," she whispers and passes me a covered cake platter.

"Thank you so much for doing this!" I hide the cake as Emma and Nate wish Hardin a happy birthday.

"Happy birthday, Hardin!" Emma says and hugs him.

"Happy birthday, man!" Nate says and pats him on the shoulder.

"Okay, I thought I'd spare you guys from my cooking and I ordered some pizza. It should be here soon."

"The place looks great, Tessa!" Emma beams.

"Yeah, you should help Em and me decorate. Apparently all the stuff I brought from the frat house is unacceptable." Nate chuckles.

"There's no use fighting the inevitable, Nate. The woman gets to decorate. I mean look at all this froufrou stuff that's taken over our apartment," Hardin jokes and I roll my eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, the pizza arrives and we continue to make small talk while we eat. Emma and Nate talk about how living together is going. Hardin actually joins in on the conversation and I smile to myself because I can tell he's enjoying himself.

After dinner, I usher everyone into the living room and start setting up the game. We divide into teams, girls against boys. Of course Hardin wanted to be on my team, but I still feel like I need space from him.

As we're playing the game, my mind starts to wander. How is Hardin actually going to explain away him having a woman's number in his pocket?

My thoughts are cut short by Hardin yelling out a bunch of our favourite authors' names.

"This category isn't fair!" Emma says with annoyance. "You're majoring in English! That's basically cheating!"

"Whoa, Em, don't be a sore loser." Nate laughs.

Hardin continues to name authors, just to annoy Emma. When I look over at him and see him smiling as he plays the game, all my bad feelings toward him disappear. I'm really happy he's having such a good time.

"This game is stupid!" Emma crosses her arms over her chest. "There better be a cooking category to make things more fair!"

"Nate, your girlfriend has quite the temper," Hardin teases. "But who am I to talk? Tessa is the same." He chuckles.

"We like fiery women. Who can blame us?" Nate jokes.

We continue taking turns answering trivia questions. I'm answering against Nate and he keeps the game fun because he's an easy going guy. But every time it's Emma and Hardin's turn, things turn ugly.

"Wow, they are really competitive." Nate laughs.

"I've never seen Emma like this." I giggle. "I secretly hope she takes Hardin down," I whisper and Nate laughs.

"I win this round! In your face, Hardin!" Emma cheers.

Nate and I have our turn and he wins the round. "Okay guys, next round decides the winner!" Nate points out.

Emma and Hardin take their turn. The category is about cars, so Hardin wins the round. "Yes!" He jumps up cheering and high fives Nate.

"We let you win because it's your birthday." Emma pouts.

"Oh, boy. I'm not going to have a good night at home tonight," Nate jokes.

"It's just a game, guys! How about we have some cake?" I suggest.

"Cake?" Hardin asks curiously.

While everyone moves back to the table, I light the candles and then bring the cake over. "I'm not going to be singing 'Happy Birthday' since Hardin makes fun of my singing all the time."

"Come on, baby, I love your singing."

"And by the way, I had Emma make this beautiful cake."

"Wow. Thank you, Emma." Hardin smiles.

Hardin blows out his candles before I cut the cake and we all have an extra big slice. It looks, smells and tastes delicious.

"This is amazing," Hardin says with his mouth full.

"Thank you." Emma laughs.

"It really is," I agree. "You need to open your own restaurant or bakery or something!"

"Maybe, someday..." She smiles.

"You're definitely making our wedding cake," Hardin says, taking me by surprise.

"It'd be my pleasure!"

At least Hardin still wants to marry me. I'm hoping that means what he has to tell me won't be so bad after all.

By the time we finish our cake, it's pretty late.

"Thank you for such a fun evening, you guys. I think we should get going, though," Emma says.

"Okay, thanks for coming!" I chirp.

"Yeah, thank you for everything. It was a great birthday." Hardin smiles.

"You owe me a rematch!" Emma jokes as she leaves.

"Okay, Tess, let's talk," Hardin says and that familiar sick feeling returns.