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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I was so worried about Tessa when she called me last night and wouldn't tell me where she was. I knew I couldn't push her, though. I didn't want to risk her changing her mind about talking to me today.
I'm pacing around the room, waiting for a knock at the door, when it finally comes. I rush over to answer the door. It's not Tessa at the door. It's another visitor I invited over. I open the door and let him in.
"What the fuck am I doing here, Hardin?" Zed asks.
"You mean you don't know?"
"I don't have the faintest idea," he lies.
"I think this might jog your memory," I say as I toss the blue lacy bra at him.
"What's this?" He plays dumb.
"I found it in my bed. Or should I say Tessa found it in our bed."
"You should be more careful next time you cheat on her then," he chuckles.
"You don't have to play innocent anymore, Zed. She dumped me because of your bright idea to frame me."
"I know," he laughs. "I was pretty proud of myself for pulling it off," he boasts.
"Yeah... Tell me how you did it."
"Well, hiding a bra in your bed was plan B."
"What?" I ask in shock.
"Yeah. In the original plan, you were supposed to sleep with Janine."
"I should have realized you two were working together. You're both despicable."
"Yeah. She didn't take much convincing. She couldn't wait to jump your bones. Who knew you really were a one woman man now?"
"So, when I didn't really cheat on Tessa you had her plant her bra?"
"No. I had to do that myself. I just used the spare key to the apartment I never gave back," he laughs.
"You really are a sneaky bastard."
"Yeah. I even got your heartbroken ex-girlfriend to sleep with me to get back at you for cheating on her with Janine."
"Tessa would never do that."
"Maybe a sober, logical Tessa wouldn't, but a drunken, heartbroken Tessa would." He smirks.
"Bragging about trying to get a drunk girl in to bed? Classy."
"She couldn't resist when I mentioned how sleeping with me would drive you insane. You can't say you're the only one who has been inside her anymore, Hardin."
"You're nothing but a lying bastard."
"You'll never know for sure, now that Tessa wants nothing to do with you."
"She'll come back to me once she knows the truth."
"You can tell her whatever you want. She'll never believe you."
"I don't have to tell her. You just did."
"What?" Zed gasps.
"Tess, you can come out now!" I yell to Tessa.
Tessa opens the bedroom door and walks over to where Zed is standing. I gleefully watch as she slaps him across the face. "You're even sicker than I thought!" she shouts.
"You two deserve each other," he spits.
"So do you and Janine. Now, get the fuck out of our apartment and stay away from Tessa. I mean it. If you ever come near her again, it will be the last thing you ever do!" I threaten.
"You can have the stuck-up little bitch," he says as he walks out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"Hardin... I don't know what to say. I want to apologize, but I don't deserve your forgiveness," Tessa says as she starts to cry.
"Tessa, I can't say it didn't hurt when you thought the worst of me, but I have no choice except to forgive you. I can't live without you. When I came home to find you had left me... Well, I've never felt pain like that before."
"I'm so sorry," she sobs.
"I know you are," I say as I hug her. "Tessa, I need to know if anything Zed said was true. Did you have sex with him?"
"Hardin, I already went over this when we were planning how to trap Zed earlier."
"Please, Tessa..."
"No. I didn't sleep with him. He tried to get me to have sex with him, and I have to admit that I almost did out of anger toward you, but in the end, I couldn't do that to you."
"Did anything else happen?"
"No. He started to kiss my neck, but I stopped anything else from happening. I swear."
"Okay. Thank you for coming over today, so I could explain my theory to you."
"As soon as you told me you thought Zed framed you, it all clicked. That's how he already knew you cheated on me and he already had a plan to use that to get me to sleep with him. He's disgusting."
"I know. I never want to see him or Janine again."
