Hardin's POV.
"Hey." I say as Landon opens the door for me to come inside.
"Hey?" He questions.
I dig my hands into my pockets, unsure what to say or do.
"Tessa isn't here." He tells me and walks towards the living room.
"Yea.. I know. She is in Seattle." I say, following a few feet behind him.
"So.." I know he wants to know why the hell I am here.
"I.. uhm.. well I came to talk to you.. or my dad, I mean Ken. Or your mum." I ramble on.
"Talk? About what?" He takes the bookmark from his book and begins to read. I want to snatch the book from his hands and toss it into the fire but that won't get me anywhere.
"Tessa." I say quietly. My fingers fiddle with my lip ring as I wait for him to burst into laughter.
He looks at me and closes his book.
"Let me get this straight.. Tessa doesn't want anything to do with you so you're here to talk to me? Or your father or even my mother?" He says.
"Yea.. I guess that is what I am doing." He is irritating me.
"Okay.. and what exactly do you think I can do for you? I don't think she should ever speak to you again and I honestly can't believe you are still trying, I figured you would have moved on by now."
"It's only been a week." I snap.
"Yea, a week of her moving out of that apartment and hiding from you in a hotel room."
"She wasn't hiding from me." I say through my teeth.
"Well she sure wasn't running to you." He scoffs.
"Stop being a dick. I know I fucked up but I love her Landon. And I know she loves me, she is just hurt right now."
He takes a deep breath and rubs his chin with his fingers.
"I don't know Hardin, what you did is pretty unforgivable. You humiliated her and she trusted you."
"I know.. I know. Fuck, don't you think I know that?"
"Well seeing as you showed up here to ask for help I'd say you get how messed up this whole situation is." He sighs.
"So what do you think I should do? Not as her friend, but as my.. you know, my father's stepson?"
"You mean step-brother? Your step-brother." He smiles.
I roll my eyes and he laughs.
"Well, has she talked to you at all?" He asks.
"Yea.. I actually went to Seattle last night and she let me stay with her." I tell him.
"She what?" He is clearly surprised.
"Yea, she was drunk. I mean really drunk and she practically made me fuck her." I notice his sour expression at my choice of words.
"Sorry.. she made me sleep with her. Well she didn't really make me because I wanted to, I mean how could I say no.. she is just.."
"Okay!! Okay! I get it geez." He waves his hands in the air.
"So anyway, then this morning I said some shit that I shouldn't have said because she told me she kissed someone else."
"Tessa kissed someone?" Disbelief is clear in his voice.
"Yea.. some guy at a fucking nightclub." I groan. I don't want to think about that again.
"Wow. She really is pissed at you." He says.
"I. Know." I bark.
"What did you say to her this morning?"
"I told her that I fucked Molly yesterday." I admit.
"Did you? You know... have sex with Molly?"
"No, god no." I shake my head.
What the hell is going on here that I am having some twisted heart to heart with Landon out of all people?
"Then why did you say that you did?"
"Because she pissed me off." I shrug. "She kissed someone else."
"Okay..so you said that you slept with Molly, who you know Tess despises, just to hurt her?"
"Yea..."
"Good idea." He rolls his eyes.
"Do you think she loves me?" I ask him and he snaps his head up.
"I don't know.." He is a terrible liar.
"Tell me. You know her better than anyone, except me."
"She loves you. But she has never had to deal with this type of betrayal before. She is convinced that you never loved her. It will be hard to change her mind." Landon explains.
"What can I do? Will you help me?" I can't believe I am asking for his help.
"I don't know what I can do, but I guess I can try to talk to her. Her birthday is tomorrow you know that right?" He asks.
"Yea of course I know that. Do you have plans with her?" I ask him. He better not.
"No, when I talked to her a little while ago she said she's going to stay at her mother's house."
"Her mother's house? Why? When did you talk to her?"
"She text me about two hours ago and what else is she supposed to do? Stay at a hotel by herself on her birthday?"
I choose to ignore his last question. If I just would have kept my cool this morning she could have possibly let me stay another night with her. Instead, she is still in Seattle with fucking Trevor.
I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and my father's body appears in the doorway moments later.
"I thought I heard your voice.." He says and I look up at him.
"Yea..I came to talk to Landon." I lie. Well it's half the truth, I was going to talk to whoever I saw first. I am pathetic.
"You did?" He questions.
"Yea. Uhm, mum is coming Tuesday morning." I tell him.
"She is?"
"Yea. For Christmas."
"That's great to hear. I know she misses you." He tells me. My first instinct is to think of a comeback, some rude remark about how shitty of a father he is, but I simply don't feel like it.
"Well, I will leave you two to talk." He says and walks back towards the stairs.
"Oh and Hardin?" My father says from halfway up the stairs.
"Yea?"
"I'm glad you're here." He says.
"Okay." I state. I don't know what else to say. This whole day is a fucking mess. My head hurts.
"Well...I guess I am going to go.." I say to Landon and he nods.
"I will do what I can." He promises as I walk to the door.
"Thanks." I say and we both stand awkwardly in the doorway.
"You know I'm not going to like hug you or some shit right?" I mumble and walk out the door.
I hear him laugh as he shuts the door. I need to go pick up Tessa's car before she returns from Seattle, even though if I didn't pick it up she couldn't go to her mothers. The thought is tempting but it will only piss her off more.
Tessa's POV.
"Do you have any big plans for Christmas?" Trevor asks.
I raise my finger up to tell him to wait a moment while I chew my food. The food here is excellent and I am fairly certain we are at a five star restaurant.
"No, I am going to my mother's house for the week. You?"
"I am going to volunteer actually, I don't really like to go back to Ohio. There is nothing there, I have a few cousins and aunts but since my mother passed there isn't much there for me." He explains.
"That is very kind of you." I smile and take the last piece of ravioli onto my mouth.
The waitress brings our check and Trevor pulls out his wallet.
"You aren't one of those feminists who demands to pay half of the bill are you?" He teases.
"No, maybe if we were at Mcdonalds." I laugh.
He laughs but doesn't say anything. Hardin would have made some stupid sarcastic remark about how my comment set feminists back fifty years.
Trevor tells me to wait inside while he calls a cab which is thoughtful and very considerate of him. He waves at me through the glass a few moments later and I rush to get inside the warm cab.
"So what made you want to get into publishing?" He asks as we head back to the hotel.
"Well I love to read, it's all I do. It's the only thing that interests me so it was just a natural career choice for me. I would love to become an author sometime in the future but for now I love what I get to do at Vance." I tell him.
"That's the same with me and accounting. Nothing else interests me either. I have known from a young age I would do something with numbers and math." He smiles.
I despise math but I just smile as he continues to talk about it.
"So do you like to read?' I ask when he finishes.
"Yea, sort of. I mostly read non-fiction."
"Oh..why?" I can't help but ask.
"I just don't really care for fiction." He shrugs and helps me out of the cab in front of the hotel.
"How can you not? The best thing about reading is to escape from your life, to be able to live hundreds or even thousands of different lives. Non-fiction doesn't have that power, it doesn't change you the way fiction does."
"Change you?" He raises his brow.
"Yes, Change you. If you aren't effected somehow even if it is the slightest change you aren't reading the right book. I would like to think that every novel I have read has became a part of me, created who I am in a sense."
"You are very passionate." He laughs.
"Yea.. I guess I am." I say. Hardin would agree with me, we would carry on this conversation for hours, possibly even days.
When we step off of the elevator Trevor follows me down the hall that leads to my room. I am exhausted and ready to go to sleep even though it is only nine.
"I had an amazing time with you tonight. Thank you for accepting my invitation." He smiles when we reach the door to my room.
"Thank you for the invitation." I smile back.
"I really enjoy spending time with you, we have a lot in common. I would love to see you again, out of the work setting." He clarifies.
"Yea, I would like that." I tell him.
He takes a step towards me and I freeze. His hand reaches up and rests on my hip and he leans into me.
"Uhm.. I don't really think this is the right time." I squeak.
His cheeks flame in embarrassment and I feel terribly guilty for declining his advance.
"Oh, I understand. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." He stutters.
"No, it's okay. I'm just not ready for that.." I explain and he smiles.
"I understand. I will let you go now, goodnight Tessa." He says and walks away.
As soon as I walk into my room I let out a deep breath that I hasn't realized I was holding in. I undress and remove my makeup before laying down to sleep.
I wake up early on Sunday morning and text Kimberly to see what time she wants to go shopping. She responds that she wants to leave at ten, its only nine now so I decide to get dressed in jeans and a t-shirt before heading down to the lobby to get breakfast. I am not bothered to put on makeup and I pull my hair into a ponytail. It feels nice to dress so casually after a week of dresses and heels. I have missed my toms.
The entire day with Kimberly flies by and we do more gossiping than shopping.
"How was your night last night?" She asks me.
The woman filing my nails peaks her head up nosily and I smile at her.
"It was nice, Hardin and I went to dinner." I say and she gasps.
"Hardin?"
"Trevor. I meant Trevor." I would smack myself in the forehead if I wasn't getting a manicure.
"Hmm.." She teases me and I roll my eyes.
After our manicures we find a department store.
"I think I will get Christian a shirt as well." She tells me and pulls a navy button up shirt off the rack.
"He hates when I spend money on him."
"Doesn't he.. you know have a lot?" I ask, hoping not to sound too nosey.
"Oh yes, Shit loads of money, but I like to use my own money. I'm not with him for his money so I like to buy my own things." She says proudly.
I am glad that I met Kimberly. Aside from Landon, she is my only friend now. Christian calls her to tell her that it's time to go and I am glad. I have had an amazing time here in Seattle but it's been a horrible time as well. I sleep the entire drive back home and have them drop me back off at the hotel. To my surprise my car is there, parked where it was when Hardin had it picked up. I had forgotten about my car and I didn't think to mention it to Hardin last night. I pay for two more nights at the hotel and text my mother to tell her I am sick, I suspect food poisoning, I tell her. She doesn't respond so I turn the television on after getting into my pajamas. There is nothing, literally nothing on and I would rather read anyway. I grab my car keys and go out to the car to grab my bag.
When I open my car door something black catches my eye. A nook? I pick it up and pull the small post it note off the top.
"Happy Birthday -Hardin." It reads. My heart swells then tightens. I never liked the idea of portable reading devices, I prefer to hold the book in my hand but after the conference this weekend my opinion has slightly changed.
I still grab Hardin's copy of Wuthering Heights off the floorboard and walk back into my hotel room. When I turn the device on I immediately smile, then sob. On the home screen there is a tab named "Tess" and when I tap it with my finger, a long list of every novel Hardin and I have discussed, bickered over, or even laughed about appears.