Songs for this chapter are:
Maroon 5- She Will Be Loved
Taylor Swift- How You Get The Girl
Kelly Clarkson- Beautiful Disaster
Where You Belong- The Weekend
The moment her lips touched his for the first time, he felt it. He felt a shift somewhere deep inside, somewhere hidden and covered in dust. It was completely untouched since he could remember, likely forever. She awakened him, brought him light and laughter and longing and he knew from the moment her mouth found his, he would never be the same.
Tessa just threw water in my face and left my room in a storm of huffs and puffs and eye rolls. Yet, here I am, following her down the stairs after only a few minutes of sitting in my room, whining to myself like a little bitch.
I was only trying to lighten her mood in a failed attempt to cheer her up. I should have known that her lame ass boyfriend would have been a trigger for her temper.
She's so annoying, she's entitled and moody. Overly sensitive she is, and she pisses me the fuck off. Who throws a drink, water but still, into someones face?
When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Tessa's in the kitchen, taking a drink from a bottle of liquor.
"Have you seen Steph?" Tessa asks Zed. He shakes his head at her. Of course Zed would be latched onto her side the moment I'm not around.
"Look how cute they are," I look over to find Steph standing next to me, holding a wine cooler in her hand. Her red hair is messy, falling down around her face.
I look back to Zed and Tessa, this time paying more attention to the way she sighs, looking directly into his eyes. She looks comfortable, her shoulders are relaxed and her eyes are soft, nothing like how she is around me. She doesn't know him either, why the difference?
"I think her and Tristan may have left." Zed says back to her. Tessa looks towad the door and Steph jumps back, pulling my arm and I nudge her off.
"Don't tell her I'm here, I'm sick of babysitting her," Steph rolls her eyes. A drunk blond in a skin tight dress passes by, winking at me. I remember her, I think?
"You brought her here." I remind Steph.
"So? I"m bored with her for tonight and she's for you two to play with, remember?" She shrugs and walks away from me.
Well..
"You're going to lose if you just stand around like a creep!" Steph shouts as she walks toward the front door.
I'm going to lose?
No, I'm not.
But, I'm also not going to stand here in this doorway like a damn creep.
I walk back into the living room and find a seat on the couch. I'll wait for her to come to me. She's going to get bored with Zed and his stupid conversation of science and plants, saving the world one flower at a time, bullshit.
Tessa finds her way into the living room with Zed latched onto her side like a damn lost puppy. She doesn't even notice that I'm in the same room as she sits down on the floor with my friends, only a few feet away. I stand up and walk away.
"Do the buses run all night?" Tessa has passed buzzed and gone straight to drunk now. Her voice is thicker now and much slower. I force myself to stop listening to her and walk back into the kitchen.
"Ugh, just who I wanted to see." Tessa rolls her eyes at me. She seems to do this a hell of a lot. Not to Zed though, never to Zed.
"You and Zed then?" I raise a brow at her and she stumbles. How much did she drink?
"You're so obnoxious!" Her arms fly into the air and I try not to laugh at her dramatics. "I'm trying to find out about the bus!" She pushes past me, her shoulder bumping into mine and I gently grab ahold of her arm to steady her.
"Let go of me, Hardin." Her eyes search the counter and I suspect she's looking for another drink to throw in my face.
"Chill out." I let go of her arm. "It's three in the morning. There no bus. You're stuck staying here again." I find humor in this. She's so adamant about hating this scene yet here she is again, staying the night.
"Unless you want to go home with Zed." I nod toward the living room and she scowls. Without a word, she walks away from me.
What's the point of this? Me following her around, trying to get a rise out of her? There's no point and really it's a waste of my time.
When I get back to my room, I grab a book from the shelf and pull my shirt up and over my head, tossing it onto the floor and adding my jeans to the mess. I open the novel to a random page and begin to read,
"What use were anger and protestations against her silly credulity? We parted that night-hostile; but next day beheld me on the road to Wuthering Heights, by the side of my wilful young mistress's pony. I couldn't bear to witness her sorrow: to see her pale, dejected countenance, and heavy eyes: and I yielded, in the faint hope that Linton himself might prove, by his reception of us, how little of the tale was founded on fact."
"Hardin!! Hardin please open the door!" The voice is so loud, breaking through my sleep. Am I dreaming?
I jump up out of my bed, confused and panicked as the knob on my door jingles. Fists pound against the door again.
"Hardin!" She screams again. Is that..
I unlock the door and yank it open. Tessa's standing there, her face flushed in horror and her eyes wild with fear. The hair on my neck stands and I go into instant defense mode.
"Tess?" I wipe my eyes for clarity.
"Hardin, please can I come in? This guy.." Tessa looks back down the hallway and I step outside of my room. Neil is standing walking toward her, his eyes bloodshot and his shirt stained. He's disgusting. Why is she running from him? Did he..
His eyes meet mine and he stops immediately. If he knows what's good for him he will turn the fuck around and walk away. If not, Tessa might be in for a show.
"Do you know him?" She asks, her voice cracks at the end and I feel my hands shaking at my sides.
"Yes. Now get inside." I lead her into my room and sit down on my bed. Her gray eyes watch me intensely and I rub my eyes again. "Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah," she begins, "I'm sorry for coming here and waking you up." Tessa's words come out fast and shaky. She's saying sorry for waking me up?
I run my hand over my hair, pushing it back from my forehead. "Don't worry about it." I notice the way her hands, like mine, are shaking. "Did he touch you?" Murderous ideas float through my mind. No one would miss Neil, that's for sure.
"No, he tried though." She hesitates, "I was stupid enough to lock myself in a room with a drunk stranger so I suppose it's my fault."
Her fault? What the fuck?
"It's not your fault that he did that. You aren't used to this type of.. situation." I try to keep my voice calm and not frighten her further. Tessa walks toward me and I pat the empty spot next to me on the bed. She sits down and places her hands in her lap.
"I have no plans on getting used to it. This really is the last time I'm coming here, or to any parties for that matter. I don't know why I even tried. And that guy, he was just so.." she shivers and tears fall down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, Tess." I whisper to her and bring my hand to her cheek. My thumb catches the wet tears as they fall and she sniffles, it's such a vulnerable sound and I try to look away from her, but can't.
"I hadn't noticed how gray your eyes are," I confess. I haven't paid much attention to the details of her until now. I was too busy, too shallow.
My hand still rests on her cheek and she's still staring at me, full lips parted. I bring my metal lip ring between my teeth and tug on it the way I always do. Her eyes are glued to my mouth and just as I pull my hand away she leans closer, pressing her mouth against mine.
I take a sharp breath, completely caught off guard. What is she doing? What the fuck am I doing?
I'm running my tongue along her soft lips, I'm swallowing her small gasps as I cup her cheeks between my hands. She's sighing into my mouth, as if she's relieved to be kissing me. Her skin is hot, her mouth is gentle and nervous and I move my hands to her hips.
I can taste the hint of vodka on her tongue and I pull back. "Tess," I breathe into her mouth. She sighs and I swipe my tongue across her lips, parting them again. I gasp, trying to clear my mind. How did we get to this?
I feel cool, the opposite of the fire inside of me. It feels good. It's a relief of the constant burn. I've never felt this sense of calm before, it's threatening.
My mind is no longer in charge, the feel of her mouth on mine has taken over all sense. I pull her closer, tightening my grip on her hips and lay back on the matress. She climbs up onto my torso and rests her hands on my chest. Her tongue teases mine, never leaving my mouth. She's so good at this. Fuck, is she good at this.
Her hair falls down onto my skin and I pull my mouth away from hers. The whimper that leaves her lips when I do this, makes me instantly hard. She wants me. Her hands are moving up and down my chest now, testing her limits, I can tell.
I won't let this get too far. Not tonight. She's been drinking and that's not my thing. I want her, hell, I want to fuck her over and over again. I will feel her, all of her. But not tonight. She's a virgin, but how far has she gone with her boyfriend? Has he had her like this, ontop of him when he's only wearing boxers, rocking her hips over his, teasing him like this?
Has his tongue traced along the soft skin of her neck? By the way she's gasping under the touch of my tongue against her skin, I would say no. She moans and I hold her by her hair as I kiss her neck. I move my mouth lower, gently nipping at her collarbones and she moans again, saying my name under her breath.
I bring her mouth to mine and she continues to rock against me. I know she can feel how hard I am, how badly I want her.
"Hardin.. stop," she moans, her tongue still running gently over mine. "Hardin," she repeats. I pull back and look at her. Her lips are swollen, sinfully pink and her eyes are wild.
"We can't." Her fingers leave my skin and the dull burn turns to ice. I knew it wouldn't last, it was just a.. a heat of the moment type thing, that's it.
I pull myself up onto my elbows and she rolls off of me, to the other side of the bed.
"I'm sorry." Her voice is low, raspy and she sure as hell doesn't sound sorry by the heavy breaths falling from her lips and the way her eyes can't seem to look away from my mouth.
"Sorry for what?" I stand up from the bed and walk over to the dresser and dig through the messy drawer full of black t-shirts, grab one and lift it over my head. I see her looking at me, down to my boxers and her cheeks flush.
"For.. stopping." Why would she apologize for stopping? If she doesn't want to do anything with me, I don't want her to. Not while she's been drinking. I want to win this yes, but not while she's drunk. Simple as that. I wasn't going to let it go that far, does she think I'm the kind of guy who would do that? Well, she probably does.
"Okay?" I purposely keep my voice neutral. She's going to regret this and run for the hills any second, I know it and I refuse to give a fuck when she does.
"Or for kissing you." She stares at the floor. "I don't know why I did that." She's already regretting kissing me and she can't even look at me?
"It was just a kiss, people kiss all the time." I defend myself against her judgement.
"Can we not make a big deal of it then?" Tessa asks. I knew this was coming. She's embarrased that she kissed me, of course she is.
"Trust me, I don't want anyone to know about this either. Now stop talking about it."
"Now you're back to yourself, I see?" Her eyes are sharpening now, preparing for a battle.
She doesn't know a damn thing about me. It pisses me off that she thinks after a few encounters with me she's some sort of Hardin Scott fucking expert. She thinks she's so much better than me and she's terrified that people might find out she kissed me because.. well, I'm.. me and she's Little Miss Perfect.
"I was nevr anyone else." I tell her. "Don't think because you kissed me, basically against my will, we have some sort of bond now." I can feel my words run into her like a goddamn wall and she stands to her feet.
"You could have stopped me," she seethes.
"Hardly," my mouth reacts before I can think of anything to say. Tessa sighs and brings her hands to cover her face. I look away. She's so emotional and that's not even the strange part. The act of being emotional is normal I suppose, but she's just so open to it. I'm not her friend or family and here she is throwing her emotions around like I've known her my whole life.
Theresa Young is such a maddening mystery to me. She's so open and fragile yet guarded and sharp like glass. I can't figure her out. It's pretty damn strange. Slightly, endearing, the ease she has while allowing me to see her this way, but still strange.
"You can stay in here tonight since you don't have anywhere else to go." I queitly offer. Tessa shakes her head, her hands on her full hips and she scowls at me. I want to tell her that maybe I'm sorry for being harsh to her, maybe I sometimes say shit that I shouldn't, but why use energy on a stranger? She doesn't know me and she never will.
When she dissapears down the hallway, I grip the door hinge and silently wish her a goodnight sleep, knowing that I won't get one.
(Happy Valentine's Day guys!!! What are your plans? Remember last year when Hessa had a Valentine's Day chapter? It feels soooo long ago :( I'm doing a giveaway on my IG and Twitter page to celebrate After Ever Happy's release! So stop by there to check it out :)