Temptation | HS AU

Chapter 3

    When he told his parents they were sympathetic, but also told him they didn't have anything extra to give him to help. They were paying for his tuition and his some of his living expenses on top of his fraternity dues, so they didn't have a lot left over to buy him a guitar. Harry's income from his campus job as a barista paid enough to get by, but wasn't enough for him to save up for a guitar, and he'd drained his savings over the break going skiing with some of his fraternity brothers in Canada.

    So when his friend Nash asked him to go out on Friday, he said yes without hesitation. It wasn't a party, just going to some bars with guys from the frat and maybe seeing some girls. Nothing crazy, but enough for him to get trashed and not think about all of the shit that had been running through his mind all week.

Harry had been at Slots, the bar on campus, for an hour when she walked in. He was on drink three, not including a handful of shots at the pregame, and was drunk by this point. And when Harry was drunk, he's a combination of happy and horny, a very dangerous combination. So when Nora walked in, his eyes found hers immediately, despite being on the complete other sides of the packed bar. She looked gorgeous, her long hair in messy waves, blue eyes staring back at him intensely, a gold shirt under her leather jacket that made her stand out from the crowd. Memories from last Saturday rushed back to him immediately—her underneath him, the sound of her gasps in his ear as he touched her body, the moan she let out when he kissed her neck.

    Nash handed him a tequila shot and a lime, and Harry took them, happy for the excuse to break eye contact with Nora. He wanted to see what she'd do, so he left himself in a position that was open and accessible—the corner of the bar on the edge of his friend group. There were two options in front of him: ignore her or talk to her.

    He chose the former. He didn't need to add rejection to the list of reason this week had sucked. He would let her come to him and if she didn't, he'd drop the whole thing. It was all up to her.

    So an hour later when he heard someone say, "H," behind him, he couldn't have been happier. Nora had come to him. She wanted him.

    He turned around and was faced with her beauty head on. He'd been attracted to her the moment he saw her, enthralled by her soft skin, her button nose, the way her cheeks grew red when she was embarrassed. Her wide eyes and her smile that warmed his heart the second he saw it. And her body—her body did positively sinful things to him.

    Harry wasn't usually possessive, but when he saw the hickey on her neck, faded and almost healed, it did something carnal to him, making him want nothing more than to kiss it again and never let it heal. He wanted the world to know that it was him who had given her that mark. He must've missed it on Monday or she'd done a better job of disguising it.

    The one she'd left above the swallows on his chest was still there, barely faded, and Harry had made no effort to hide it when he got dressed. The button down he was wearing was unbuttoned low and gaped open, the hickey on full display. He saw her eyes find it immediately, and the smirk that grew on her face made him smile.

    "Nora." He had missed her name on his lips.

    "I wasn't expecting to see you here," she said, setting her drink on the bar. It was almost empty. Good, he thought, he could buy her a new one.

    "I wasn't expecting you to talk to me," he replied, his honesty disarming even himself. But he was fearless when he was drunk. Happy, horny, and fearless.

    Confusion crossed Nora's face. "You're the one who ignored me."

    "You're the one who left so suddenly."