After

Chapter 48.

 I don't see or hear Hardin in the showers at all so I hope he didn't go off somewhere with those girls. He didn't even bring any clothes with him so if he does shower, he would just be putting on dirty clothes. Hardin could wear clothes matted with mud and still look better than any guy I have ever seen. Except Noah, I remind myself. I dry off and pull my clothes on and make my way back to my room. I am relieve to find Hardin sitting on my bed. He is shirtless and his hair is still wet. I close my mouth to make sure my tongue isn't hanging out, panting. My loose purple shirt and jeans seem silly compared to his snug black jeans and bare skin. At least I am wearing my tight jeans.

"Took you long enough" He says and lays back. His muscles constrict as he lifts his arms back behind his head.

"You're supposed to be nice to me remember" I say and walk over to Steph's closet and open the door to reveal the mirror. Grabbing Steph's makeup bag, I sit myself down and cross my legs in front of it.

"I am being nice"

I stay quiet as I try to apply a little makeup. After three attempts of making a straight line on my top eyelid, I chuck the eyeliner at the mirror and Hardin laughs.

"You don't need it anyway" Hardin tells me.

"I like it" I defend and he rolls his eyes. "Fine, we can just sit here all day while you try to color on your face" he says. So much for nice Hardin.

He catches on and apologizes to me while I wipe my eyes off, giving up the makeup routine.

"I'm ready" I tell him and he stands up.

"Are you going to put a shirt on?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"Yea, I have one in my trunk" I remember at the stream how he pulled a t-shirt out of his trunk then too. I was right, he must have an endless supply in there. I don't want to think about the reason behind it.

True to his word, he pulls a plain black t-shirt out of the trunk and pulls it over his head.

"Stop staring and get in the car" he teases me. I stutter a denial and oblige.

"I like when you wear white shirts" The words are out before I can process them. He cocks his head sideways and gives me a smug grin.

"Is that so?" He raises his eyebrow. "Well I like you in those jeans, they show off your ass wonderfully" he says and my mouth drops. Hardin and his dirty words. He takes in my reaction and laughs.

I swat at him playfully but I mentally pat myself on the back for wearing these jeans, I want Hardin to look at me even though I would never admit it and I am flattered by his strange way of complimenting me.

"So where to?" He asks and I pull out my phone. I read him the list of car lots within a five mile radius and tell him about a few of the reviews on each.

"You plan things way too much, so we aren't going to any of those places" he says.

"Yes, we are. I already have this planned, there is a Prius that I want to see at Bob's Super Cars" I tell him and cringe at the cheesy name.

"A Prius?" He spits.

"Yea? They have the best gas mileage and they are safe and.."

"Boring, I knew somehow you would want a Prius, you just scream 'Lady with a planner in her Prius!'" He says in a fake woman's voice and I laugh with him.

"Tease me all you want but I will save hundreds on gas every year" I remind him and he leans over and pokes my cheek.

I look over at him, shocked by him doing such a small but adorable thing and he looks as surprised as I do that he did that.

"You're cute sometimes" he tells me and I look out the window.

"Gee, thanks."

"I mean that in a nice way, like sometimes you do cute things" he mutters. The words seem uncomfortable on his tongue and I know he isn't used to saying things like this.

"Okay.." I say and look out the window again. Every second I spend with Hardin increases my feelings for him, its dangerous for me to allow these small seemingly meaningless moments to occur, but I don't have control of the situation when Hardin is involved. I am merely a passer by to this storm.

Hardin ends up driving to Bob's and I thank him, I don't like when things don't go as planned, which is happening much more lately. Bob is a sweaty and over-gelled man who smells like nicotine and leather. His smile is equipped with a gold tooth and Hardin stands.. well hovers over him, making faces when he isn't looking. The little man seems to be intimidated by Hardin's harsh appearance, but I don't blame him. I take one look at the Prius and decide against it. I have a feeling the moment I drove off the lot, it would have broken down and Bob has a strict no return policy.

We visit a few more lots and they are all equally as trashy. After hours of countless balding men, I decide to halt the search for a car, I will have to go further away from campus for a decent car and I just don't feel like it today. We decide to get some lunch through the drive thru and we eat in the car and Hardin surprisingly tells me a story about when Zed got arrested for puking all over the floor inside Wendy's last year. The day is going better than I could have imagined and for once I feel like we could both make it through this semester without killing one another.

On our way back to campus we pass a cute little frozen yogurt bar and I beg Hardin to stop. He groans and acts like he doesn't want to but I see the hint of a smile hiding behind his sour features. Hardin tells me to sit and he gets our yogurt for us, piling on every candy and cookie imaginable, it looks disgusting but he convinces me it is the only way to get your moneys worth. As gross as it looks, it is delicious. I can't even finish half of mine but Hardin happily clears his bowl and the remainder of mine.

"Hardin?" A man's voice says. Hardin's head snaps up and his eyes narrow. Was that an accent I heard? He is holding a bag and a drink carrier full of yogurt.

"Uhm.. hey" he says and the man smiles. I know immediately that the man is Hardin's father. He is tall and lean, like Hardin and has the same shaped eyes, only his are a deep brown instead of green. Other than that, they are polar opposites. His father is dressed in gray dress pants, and a sweater vest. His brown hair has some gray scattered through the sides and he looks very professional. Until he smiles that is, his smile is warm, like Hardin's when he isn't putting so much effort into being a jerk.

"Hi, I am Tessa" I politely say and reach my hand out. Hardin glares at me but I ignore him. It's not like he was going to introduce me.

"Hello Tessa, I am Ken, Hardin's father" He says and shakes my hand.

"Hardin, you never told me you had a girlfriend, you two should come over for dinner tonight. Karen will make a nice meal for everyone, she's an excellent cook" I want to tell him I am not Hardin's girlfriend but Hardin speaks.

"We can't tonight, I have a party to go to and she doesn't want to come" he snaps. A gasp escapes my lips at the way Hardin speaks to his father. His fathers face drops and I feel terrible for him.

"Actually I would love to. I am friends with Landon too" I tell the sad man and his friendly smile reappears.

"You are? Well that is great. Landon is a nice kid. I would be happy to have you over tonight" Ken says and I smile.

"What time should we be there?" I ask and feel Hardin's eyes blazing at me.

"We?" His father asks and I nod. "Okay.. let's do seven, I need to give Karen a few hours warning or she will have my head" he laughs and I join him. Hardin stares angrily out the glass wall.

"Sounds great! We will see you tonight" I tell him. He says goodbye to Hardin, who ignores him rudely despite me kicking his foot under the table. After his dad exits the building Hardin stands up abruptly and slams the chair back into the table, it topples over and he kicks it before pushing open the door and leaving me alone to deal with everyone's stares. I clumsily pick up the chair he knocked over and run after him.

I call out his name but he ignores me until he gets halfway to the car. He turns around so quickly that I almost crash into him.

"What the hell Tessa! What the fuck was that?" He screams at me. People walking by start to stare but he continues.