Harder Than Ever After [H. Scott]

08

Esther cuddles the covers as she looks at Hardin, fast asleep as it's still early. She can't help but smile to herself; Maya was right, he is good. That good. And she loved every minute of it. Of course she's done it before, a fair few times, but those times can all be forgotten now!

He stirs a little and she quickly closes her eyes. "You creep." He mumbles tiredly.

Esther giggles. "Caught me. Id apologise but I'm really not sorry." She opens her eyes, hers meeting his as he rolls over to face her. "Last night was..."

"Incredible." He finishes her sentence, smiling tiredly. "Jesus christ, what time is it?" He grumbles.

Esther looks over her shoulder at her alarm clock. "Almost 7." Hardin groans and rolls face first into the pillow. "Oh come on, it's not even that early."

"I haven't been up this early since school." He mumbles, his voice muffled.

She giggles and kisses his head as he peaks up. "I'll make it worth your while..."

He sits up a bit smirking. "Hmmm, you will?" He says, leaning down to kiss her.

Esther gently lays back, deepening the kiss, as she pulls him closer; his knee pushes her legs apart as his hands pull his t-shirt off her torso, then begin to roam across her ample breasts. She gives a soft moan, arching to his touch. But of course, before the real stuff can happen, a phone rings loudly.

Hardin pulls away with a huff and leans over, grabbing his phone. "What."

"Damn, I didn't expect you to be awake." Landon says.

Hardin moves off Esther as she giggles, rolling over to watch his angry expression. "Well, I didn't expect my brother to be a cock block, so I guess we're both surprised." He snaps. "What." He repeats.

"Tessa wants to see you." Landon says.

Hardin moves away from Esther, going to the bathroom and closing the door. Esther raises her eyebrows in confusion but shrugs it off, getting up and grabbing his shirt to put on. She wanders downstairs to the kitchen and makes some cereal; she has a class soon so the smut wouldn't have lasted long. Still, she's gutted it didn't happen.

Hardin comes out of the bathroom and heads downstairs to find her, his hair now a mess from his own hands pulling on it rather than Esther's. "Are you uh, are you okay to get yourself to class?"

Esther giggles. "Oh heavens, how will I make it? I've only done the last 2 years alone." She teases. "Course I will. Everything okay?"

He forces a smile and leans over, kissing her gently. "All good. Landon is having a drama queen moment about the wedding so I have to go calm him down."

"Okay. Shall I come here after class or head to yours?" She asks.

He shrugs. "I don't know yet, I'll let you know."

"Okay.." She calls, watching him jog upstairs. It's only a few minutes later that he jogs back down, dressed apart from a t-shirt. "Can um..."

Esther giggles and pulls the shirt off, throwing it at him; she's satisfied as his eyes hover on her nude body for a moment. "It isn't like Maya and I haven't seen one another naked anyways. Bye lovey." She winks.

Hardin grits his teeth. "Later. Later." He promises her and himself, rushing out.

Esther giggles in satisfaction, laying back on the couch. Well, having a boyfriend? This is fun.

-

Hardin deliberates getting out of the car as he states at the cafe across the street from where he's parked. It's somewhere Tessa used to always stop when they got the chance and it's where she wanted to meet him. He takes a deep breath and looks at his phone, noticing a message from Esther.