"What a way to begin the new year." Hardin says when he pulls away from our kiss. He rests his forehead against mine.

"Yeah." I say quietly.

I am happy that we are getting better at communicating with one another and managed to resolve a huge conflict without screaming at one another, when sober at least. I am not including last night in my praise.

"I really am sorry, so sorry for saying some of the things that I said." He tells me.

"So am I." I want to tell him how much I love him and how much he means to me, how sorry I am for what I did and that he has no reason to be so insecure but what if I have it all wrong? What if he isn't as insecure as I think he is?

"Are you ready to go back to classes Monday?" He asks.

"Yes, I haven't been in a while. Well not to an actual class so it will be strange to not just drop my work off and leave."

"I would much rather drop my work off than sit in a boring as lecture." He leans against the counter but keeps one hand on my hip.

"Not me."

"Yeah I know, you only miss being the smart one, the show off." He smiles.

"Show off?" I try my best to sound appalled.

"You like to be the one answering all the questions, don't try to deny it. I know you Tess." Hardin's brow raises and he chuckles.

I love this side of Hardin. This playful Hardin is so different than the angry Hardin who smashes things against our wall.

"Whatever." I immaturely answer and laugh with him.

He pulls me closer and brushes his nose gently against mine.

"You put up with so much shit from me." His voice is soft.

"This time it was my fault, stop taking the blame." I say and he shakes his head.

"It was huh?" He smirks and I swat at his arm.

"What did Dan's sister say after you apologized?" I stare at the wall behind Hardin when I ask.

"Nothing really, she really didn't care or even really remember when we fucked..our time together I mean." I cringe at the thought of him touching her and her annoyingly shiny hair. Seriously how is it possible to have that shiny of hair? Maybe it is a wig, I hope it is and someone pulls it off..

"Tess?" Hardin interrupts me.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear me? What has gotten you so distracted?" He inquires.

"Nothing.." Only being insanely jealous and crazy.

"Tessa it was nothing with her, it was one night.. well two but she meant nothing. to me. I only fucked her to piss Dan off. It was nothing like this." He assures me and runs his fingers down my arms slowly.

"I know it wasn't." I say and mean it.

Regardless of the terrible things he says out of anger, he is mine and I am his. We are not good for one another but we are even worse for anyone else.

"You are everything to me, you know that don't you?" He whispers.

I bring my hand up to his jaw and run my thumb along his bottom lip, focusing on the metal ring.

"I do." I tell him.

"I hope you do, last night was not a good night." He sighs before I press my index finger to his lips to silence him.

"It's over now, everyone has bad nights." I tell him. You just seem to have many more. My annoying subconscious adds.

"I guess." He shrugs. His eyes are still red and the skin underneath has a blue tint. He looks exhausted.

"Maybe we should get a little sleep before we have to get our things ready for tomorrow." I suggest.

"What things? It's only books."

"I still need to get them together, and write out my schedule in my planner. Oh, and I need to map out how far my classes are from one another. I can't believe I haven't done that yet! I almost forgot!" I am beginning to panic.

I have been so distracted lately that this entire winter break has went way too fast and I haven't properly prepared for my new classes.

"You don't need to map out your classes." He laughs.

"Yes I do! I have no idea how long it will take to get from one to the other, I don't know how the parking lot will be! I don't even know what time I should leave in the morning!" I have forgotten how stressful college can be because I have been dealing with so many adult problems that most of the time I don't feel like I am still a college student.

The entire month has been a blur. Has it really only been a month since I found out about the bet? It seems so much longer.

"Earth to Tessa.." Hardin waves his hand in front of my face.

"Ready for the nap?" He asks.

"No! I don't have time. I have too much to do. I haven't even gotten a parking pass, I need to know how far the café is from my first class so I can make sure to get my coffee before. I need to call Landon!" The list of things that I need to do keeps growing in my mind as I turn away from Hardin to go get my phone.

"I forgot how OCD you can be." He says.

"I am not OCD, I am responsible." I call back down the hall.

When I get to the bedroom I attempt to call Landon but he doesn't answer. Great. I open my planner and sit it down on our desk to begin to copy my schedule. I have less than forty-eight hours to prepare myself for my new semester and I have barely done anything.

I feel Hardin's hand on my shoulder and it startles me, my phone begins to vibrate at the same time.

"Landon! Have you went over your schedule? Do you know how far the café is from our World Religion class?" I ask him as soon as I answer the phone.

"Yeah, it's only about a block. If we meet there at eight we can walk to religion and make it at least twenty minutes early." He replies.

Thank god Landon and I seem to share a brain.

Hardin's large hand begins to rub my shoulder and it feels amazing.

"Okay great, I am going to see how long it will take to get to my yoga class. I am pretty sure it's on the other side of the campus." I groan.

"Yeah, I think it..." Landon is cut off when my phone is pulled away from my ear.

I turn around to see Hardin pressing the phone to his ear. When I get to my feet to try to take it back from him he steps back.

"Give me the phone." I whisper but he shakes his head.

"Landon, Tess will have to call you back." He says into the small speaker.

His free hand grips my wrist and he pulls close to him, my back to his chest.

Seconds pass before he says, "She is otherwise occupied."

His lips brush my neck and I shudder. Oh.

"Stop being annoying, you two need medication." Hardin says and ends the call before sitting the phone on the desk.

"Why did you do that, I barely have any time to get my things ready." I say, my voice betrays me when he licks and sucks at the skin on my neck.

"You need to relax baby."

"I can't, there is so much to do."

"I can help you." His voice is slow, slower than usual.

His grip on my hip tightens when he places his other hand across my chest to hold me still.

"Remember that time when I fingered you in front of the mirror and made you watch yourself come?" He asks.

"Yes." I gulp.

"That was fun wasn't it?" He purrs.

Heat is making it's way through my body from his words.  Not heat. Fire.

"I can show you how to touch yourself the way that I touch you." He sucks harshly at my skin.

'Whh..at?" The word breaks halfway through because I have now turned into a ball of electricity.

"Do you want me to?"

The dirty idea sounds somewhat appealing but way too humiliating to admit.

"I will take your silence as a yes." He says and lets go of my waist but takes my hand.

I stay silent, nervously going over his words in my mind. This is beyond embarrassing and I am not sure how I feel about it.

He guides me to the bed and gently pushes me back onto the soft mattress. He climbs on top of me and straddles my legs. I assist Hardin in taking my sweats off and he places a kiss on the inside of my thigh before sliding my panties off.

(I know I am terrible for ending it here!  I am giving the last warning I will ever give for this entire book, the next chapter will be dirty, detailed, and include sexual content. If that isn't your thing, please just skip the chapter. I will try to post again tomorrow but it will  be this length, I wasn't going to post this much since I have company and need time with my family but I can't help myself hah. So please don't complain. Ily all so much and please please vote and comment! xo)