I say goodbye to my family, to my mum and Mike, Ken and Karen, Smith, Kim and Christian, Luke and Kaci... too many people to even name. My social battery is so drained, so by the time I say goodbye to the last person, I just want to curl up in bed and go to sleep. Tessa puts a lot more effort into this, making sure everyone is properly thanked and hugged. I admire how she can keep up this bubbly personality for so long. I can barely even fake a smile now.
"So newlyweds, anything fun planned for the honeymoon?" Josie asks once everyone else leaves.
"I think we're planning on going to Europe." Tessa answers.
"Oh, fun! I have never been, but I heard it's beautiful. Do you ever want to go back to England, Hardin?"
"No." I state plainly.
"Tessa, have you ever been to England?" Josie asks. Why does she have to bring England up?
"Yeah..." She sighs, and I want to yell at Josie for putting Tessa in a sad mood.
"Did you like it? I heard London is lovely! A lot of old architecture, plus the bars are great. Drinking age is lower, so I used to beg my parents to let me go, but they never agreed."
"It was nice, I guess."
"You don't sound too enthusiastic about it, Tess. Have a bad experience?"
"Can you just drop it!" I raise my voice. I'm not in the mood to go over the horrible experience Tessa had for her first time in England because of me.
"Hardin..." Tessa places her hand on my arm.
"Still a snippy as ever, I see." Josie says and my heart drops.
"What?" Tessa questions her.
"Oh, I just meant Hardin hasn't lost his rudeness."
Oh my god. I never told Tessa about me and Josie. I hope Josie doesn't tell her right now, but Tessa picks up on stuff very quickly.
"How did you know Hardin was rude to begin with?" Tessa questions Josie, and I can just tell she's gonna expose what happened. Fuck!
"Oh please, Hardin Scott was known as an asshole all around WCU. But at least he's good in bed right?" She giggles, but Tessa doesn't giggle back. Shit shit shit shit!
"What do you mean?" Tessa looks confusingly at Josie, without glancing at me.
"Hardin didn't..." Josie glares at me, and I know I am totally fucked.
"Hardin didn't what?" Tessa glares at me as well.
"He told me he would tell you, so I'm just gonna do it. Back when I was in high school, I went to a WCU party, and yours truly was there. We hooked up."
"You what!" Her eyes widen. "You slept with Hardin?"
I am completely speechless. I have no clue what the fuck to say, but I am terrified.
"Well, we didn't sleep together. I um... did other stuff, but it was before he even knew you!"
"Is that true? You fucking slept with my best friend from high school and didn't think to tell me?" Tessa turns towards me with fury.
"I... uhhh."
"I don't even want to hear it." She puts her hand up to stop my talking. "You..." She points her finger at Josie. "Get out. Get the fuck out of my house."
What?
"Tessa, come on. It was years ago..." Josie defends herself.
"You did god knows what with my fucking husband, and you have the nerve to show up here and congratulate us! This was probably all bullshit!" She is flinging her arms around. I didn't expect her anger to be towards Josie. I expected it to be towards me for keeping such a secret.
"Hardin invited me! I didn't even know it was him when I accepted the invitation!" Josie stands.
"You really expect me to believe that you came out here to wish us good will when you have had Hardin's dick in your mouth!" Tessa yells louder. Holy shit. Tessa is fucking pissed.
"It was before you two met! What the fuck do you want me to do!?"
"You know what? I'm not surprised. You were a whore in high school, always having some guy in your pants."
"Hey, maybe we shouldn't-" I try to stop this argument that is escalating way out of control.
"Shut up, Hardin!" Josie and Tessa say in unison.
"You know what, Tessa? I think you're just jealous."
"Me? You're fucking with me right? I think you're jealous. You were always jealous of Noah and me!"
"You two didn't do shit together! The most he did was make out with you and grope you, so why the fuck would I be jealous of that!? That was always your issue, Tessa. You think everyone wants to be like you, that everyone wants you, when in reality, no one gives a single fuck about you!"
"Josie, stop." I say with force. I will not allow her talk to Tessa that way.
"Fuck you, Hardin! Honestly! Tessa deserves better than you. You used me, and you used hundreds of other girls."
"Yeah, you would know right? How many fucking pothead drunks did you have in your bed in high school?" Tessa fires right back. I don't think this fight is going to cool down anytime soon. I don't know what to do besides sit here and watch Josie and Tessa verbally abuse one another.
"You know what, you two deserve each other." She points her finger at both of us and begins walking towards the door.
"At least I have someone who loves me!" Tessa screams back, following her.
"At least I didn't have a drug addict father who abused the shit out of my mother and me!" Josie screams and Tessa is silent. That was a really low blow of Josie to bring Tessa's father into this.
"You did not just say that." Tessa whispers so low.
"I did. It's fucking true, and you know it. He was a fucking druggie, just like-" Josie is cut off by Tessa's hand going clean across her face. The slap echoes all throughout the house. If this is about to get violent, I need to go over there and break it up quickly.
"Did you just hit me?" Josie asks, and Tessa nods. "You bitch." Josie lifts her hand and returns a slap to Tessa's face.
"Hey!" I run over quickly, grab Josie, and pin her against the wall. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!? She's pregnant!" I say with my hands against her arms so she can't move.
"She hit me first!" She tries to struggle out of my grip.
"No one, and I mean no one, lays a hand on her and gets away with it. Get the fuck out of this house, you aren't welcome back here."
Josie is breathing heavily, but then breaks out into a smile and begins laughing.
"What the fuck are you laughing at?" I ask her, but she continues to laugh. I turn around to find Tessa laughing as well.
"What the fuck is going on?" I ask as I release Josie from the wall. She walks over to Tessa and gives her a high-five.
"Nice job mentioning my father. That was pretty savage." Tessa giggles with Josie.
"Hellooooo!? What the fuck is happening!?" I ask again, louder.
"Just a little revenge for not telling me that you hooked up with Josie." Tessa smiles smugly, and I cannot wipe the shocked expression off of my face.
"So this... this was all fake?"
"Yep. It was Tessa's idea. Maybe next time you will tell your wife things." Josie shrugs.
"So you're not mad?" I ask Tessa. I was sure that she would be upset about me and Josie.
"No, I'm not. It was before we met, so how could I possibly be mad. I'm more upset that you didn't tell me, so I had to have a little bit of fun."
"I guess taking Mr. Mendelson's drama class junior year still pays off." Josie laughs as her phone rings in her purse. When she takes it out, she announces that it's her Uber. She gives Tessa a hug goodbye, and an awkward wave to me as she walks out the door. Josie leaves, and I am just left alone with Tessa.
"You..." I walk over to her with my arms crossed. "Not cool."
"Did you learn your lesson?" She asks, looking into my eyes.
I sigh. "Yes, but that was not okay. She slapped you! Are you hurt?" I reach my hand out to her cheek, lightly stroking it.
"No, I'm fine. We agreed to do that. Thanks for sticking up for me, husband." She shoves her hands into the back pockets of my dress pants.
"Of course. I will always stick up for you... wife."
"Good." She kisses me on the cheek and removes her hands from my back pockets.
"You really aren't mad at me?" I ask one last time, just to be sure.
"I mean, am I happy you have had a sexual experience with Josie years ago? No, but I'm not mad. Why did you think I would be mad?"
"Because she was your best friend in high school, and I know how much you don't like it when you hear about the girls I used to sleep with."
"Well yeah, I don't like it, but we're married now and that's in the past. I would never be mad at you for sleeping with someone before we met."
"When did you get so understanding?" I ask her with a grin, indicating that I'm teasing.
"Since this was put on my finger..." She holds up her wedding ring, repeating the same thing that I said to her a few weeks ago.
In a quick move, I swoop down and pick her up, throwing her over my shoulder.
"What are you doing!" She yelps. "Don't drop me!"
"It's time for me to take that dress off for you."