“Aren’t you going to give me a good-night kiss?” He smiles.
I look around at his friends and they all look a little surprised but mostly confused. “W-what?” I stammer. I straighten my shoulders and look at him again.
“You’re not going to kiss me before you go?” He stands up and walks toward me. I wanted this, but now I am uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on us.
“Um . . .” I don’t know what to say.
“Why would she?” Molly laughs. God, I can’t stand her.
“They are like together, obviously,” Steph tells her.
“What?” Molly says.
“Keep your mouth shut, Molly,” Zed says and I want to thank him, but there is something behind his voice that makes me wonder about his choice of words. This is beyond uncomfortable.
“Bye, guys,” I say again and walk toward the door.
Hardin follows me and grabs my wrist to stop me. “Why are you leaving? And why are you even in this place to begin with?”
“Well, I was hungry and came here to eat. And now I’m leaving because you were ignoring me and I—”
“I wasn’t ignoring you, I just didn’t know what to say or do. I wasn’t expecting to see you here. It caught me off guard,” he explains.
“Yeah, I am sure it did. You haven’t texted me all day and now you’re here with Molly?” My voice comes out much whinier than I wanted.
“And Logan, Tristan, and Steph. Not just Molly,” he points out.
“I know . . . but you guys have a history and that bothers me.” I surely broke the record for the quickest jealous fit.
“It’s just that, babe: history. It wasn’t like this . . . not like us,” he says.
I sigh. “I know, I just can’t help it.”
“I know. How do you think I felt when I walked in there and saw you sitting with Zed?”
“That’s not the same thing. You and Molly have slept together.” Just saying it stings.
“Tess . . .”
“I know, it’s crazy, but I can’t help it.” I look away.
“It’s not crazy. I understand. I just don’t know what to do about it. Molly is in our group and she probably always will be.”
I don’t know what I expected him to say but the equivalent of “too bad” isn’t what I wanted to hear. “Okay.” I should be happy that he basically told everyone we are dating now, but the whole thing felt so off.
“I’m going to go,” I tell him.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“You sure you want to leave your friends?” I snap.
He rolls his eyes and follows me to my car. I try to hide my smile as we get in the car. At least I know he would rather be with me than Molly.
“So how long were you there before I arrived?” Hardin asks as I pull out of the parking lot.
“About twenty minutes.”
“Oh. You didn’t meet Zed there, did you?”
“No. It was the last place open to eat I could find. I had no idea he was there—or that you would show up. You know, because you never texted me.”
“Oh,” he says and pauses for a beat. But then he looks over at me again. “So what did you guys talk about?”
“Nothing; he was only at the table for a few minutes before you got there. Why?”
“I’m just wondering.” His fingers drum on his knee. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too,” I say as we pull onto campus. “I got a lot of homework done and I prepared everything for my first day at Vance.”
“Do you want me to drive you tomorrow?”
“No, that’s why I got my own car, remember?” I laugh.
“Still, I could drive you,” he offers as we get to my dorm and head inside.
“No, it’s fine. I will drive myself. Thank you, though.”
Just as I am about to ask him what he did all day—why he hadn’t texted me if he missed me so much—my breath gets locked in my throat and panic takes over.
My mother is standing in front of my door with her arms crossed and a deep scowl on her face.
chapter seventy-four
Hardin’s eyes follow mine and widen as he sees her. He reaches for my hand, but I pull away and step out in front of him. “Hi, Moth—”
“What the hell are you thinking!” she yells as we approach.
I want to shrink and disappear.
“I . . . what?” I don’t know what she knows yet, so I stay quiet. In her anger, her blond hair looks brighter, more angled toward her perfectly