After

Coming back to her room, Tessa feels tricked and betrayed by Hardin. She feels stupid for believing that Hardin could have feelings for her, but there he is, waiting for her. She wants to make him leave, but he wants to know how she feels about him, and it seems like he feels something for her too but can’t express it. Steph comes in and sends Hardin away, telling him to mess around with a different girl. Hardin leaves angrily, saying, “I don’t want to see her again! And if I do, I will ruin her!” (183)

Tessa is thankful for Steph, who feels like her only friend right now. She tells Steph about fooling around with Hardin, and how he made her tell Noah about them. Steph warns Tessa again that Hardin doesn’t know how to care for girls. When Tessa sees Landon on Monday, the bruise on his face is evidence of a fight he got into with Hardin when Hardin came back to the house angry after Tessa and Steph sent him away. Landon and Tessa make plans to go to the campus bonfire together, along with Dakota who will be in town. Steph starts to date Tristan, a boy in her friend group who seems kind. When the next weekend comes around, Steph convinces Tessa to come to dinner with she and Tristan, and Tessa agrees to let Steph give her a makeover before they leave. 

Steph does Tessa’s hair and makeup and gives her a black dress and heels to wear. The dress is much shorter than what Tessa would normally wear, but when she sees herself in the mirror, she’s pleasantly surprised with how she looks. At the restaurant, Zed and Nate tell Tessa how amazing she looks, and unexpectedly, Hardin and Molly show up too. Tessa is overcome with jealousy to see Hardin with his arm around Molly, and she flirts with Zed when she sees that it bothers Hardin. When everyone starts talking about Hardin’s fight with Landon, Tessa realizes that Hardin lied to them, saying a professor broke up their fight, rather than his dad. She doesn’t say anything to correct them when she sees the worried look on Hardin’s face. As they leave the restaurant, Hardin insists he be the one to give Tessa a ride back to campus, ordering Tessa to get in his car.

In the car, Hardin comments on Tessa’s appearance, saying that she doesn’t need to wear so much makeup, and that her clothes make it impossible for him to stop looking at her. He asks why she kept his secret about he and Landon, clearly thankful that she didn’t tell anyone their parents are engaged. Tessa doesn’t let Hardin get to her this time, and as soon as she gets back to her dorm, she takes off the heavy makeup, changes out of the dress, and calls Noah, who tells her he still loves her, but he needs her to stay away from Hardin.

A couple of hours later, Hardin shows up drunk at Tessa’s room. Tessa tries to send him away, but she knows he shouldn’t be driving drunk, so she makes him sit on the floor while they finish the movie she had started. As they sit together, Tessa feels a sense of calm that she hasn’t all week. Hardin convinces her to let him sit on the bed with her, and as they both fall asleep in front of the movie, Tessa realizes that she’s spent the night with Hardin several times, but never with Noah.

Hardin and Tessa end up sleeping in the same bed after Hardin claims he sleeps better when she’s next to him. Tessa is honest with Hardin about the mixed signals he sends, being kind one moment, then mean the next. She admits that she missed him this week, and he seems relieved to hear it, saying, “I missed you, too” as they fall asleep side by side (215).

In the morning, Tessa feels guilty for sleeping next to Hardin after promising Noah she wouldn’t see him again. However, she tells herself that sleeping beside Hardin was, “worth never speaking to Noah again” (217). Hardin convinces a reluctant Tessa to let him come car shopping.

On the way to the used car dealer, Hardin is fun and playful, and Tessa can’t keep from developing feelings for him. They visit several dealerships without any luck, and they end up stopping for frozen yogurt, where they run into Hardin’s father, Ken. He assumes Tessa is Hardin’s girlfriend and invites them for dinner. Tessa accepts the invitation without looking at Hardin, and when his father leaves, Hardin angrily knocks over the table and storms out. 

When Tessa chases after Hardin, he explodes in anger; he hates his father for living in a “mansion” (224) while his mom works overtime to make ends meet. Tessa says she is going to attend dinner since she already accepted, but she will go alone if it will hurt Hardin too much to be there. Hardin’s anger dissolves as he presses Tessa for why she would care if he was hurt, and he later changes his mind about going to his dad’s house. He picks her up from her dorm after she fills in a surprised Steph on the details of the last few days.

At the dinner, Tessa meets Karen, Landon’s mom, and finds out that Hardin’s dad is the chancellor of Washington Central College. Ken expresses surprise that Hardin didn’t tell her about his position, and Hardin angrily storms out of the dining room. 

Tessa follows him outside, where they fight, Tessa telling Hardin that he doesn’t deserve her kindness when all he does is ruin things. Hardin grabs her and pulls her to him, and they kiss passionately until Landon comes out and sees them. Tessa is embarrassed, and Landon is confused about her behavior, but he doesn’t question her before heading back inside. By now, Hardin’s mood has calmed, and they go back to the table where he apologizes to Ken and Karen. When Tessa mentions she’s interested in working in publishing, Ken tells her he has a connection at Vance and can get her an interview. However, this brings about an abrupt shift in Hardin’s demeanor, and he goes upstairs. 

After dinner, Tessa finds Hardin, who tells her that he wanted to be the one to help her get a publishing job, not his father. He admits that he wants her “more than I have ever wanted anyone or anything” (244). Overwhelmed with her attraction for him, Tessa pulls him to her and feels intense electricity as they kiss, and he brings her to orgasm. Tessa finds it hard to believe that he wants her after being with so many other girls, and she is simultaneously in love with, and terrified of, the way he makes her feel.

During dessert downstairs, Hardin leaves the room for a moment, and Ken and Karen both thank Tessa for convincing Hardin to come over. They both see her influence as the reason for his attendance at dinner. They insist that both Tessa and Hardin spend the night because of the storm that has developed outside. Landon comes to Tessa’s guest room and expresses his surprise at seeing she and Hardin kissing earlier, but he doesn’t judge her. After talking to Landon for a while, Tessa says goodnight. She can’t shake the feeling that something has shifted between she and Hardin, but she reminds herself that Hardin never said he had feelings for her. 

During the night, Tessa hears Hardin cry out, and upon entering his room, sees he’s having a nightmare. She wakes him and climbs in bed with him, letting him hold her as they fall asleep. In the morning, Hardin thanks her for staying and comforting him. After breakfast, Tessa is sad to leave. She loves Karen’s kindness towards her and has been glad to escape from life’s busyness.