The rest of the day goes quickly as I am completely withdrawn from the world and fully enveloped in the manuscript which ended terribly sad and left me incredibly heartbroken. With tears staining my cheeks, I leave for the day and head home. I haven't heard from Hardin once since I left him asleep and grumpy in bed and Trevor words keep replaying in my mind. He just had to bring up weddings and marriage at the worst possible time to do so. I need a distraction from my pestering thoughts, sometimes I wish I could just shut my mind off like other people seem to. I don't like that I overthink everything but I can't help it. It is who I am and now all I can think of is Hardin and I not having a future.

I really need to do something to get my mind off of obsessing over this, he is who he is and he doesn't want to ever get married or have children. This is one of those times that I wish I had some friends to go hang out with, maybe I will call Steph after I go to Conner's to get groceries and do a load of laundry. Hardin and Landon will be going to the hockey game tonight, I hope that goes well.

When I arrive at the apartment Hardin is pacing back and forth in the bedroom.

"Hey." I say as I enter the room.

"Hey. How was your day?" He sits down on the edge of the bed.

"It was okay, I guess."

"What's wrong?" Hardin turns his head to look at me.

"The manuscript I read today was so sad, incredible but so heartbreaking." I say, trying not to get emotional again.

"Oh, it must have been good if you are still upset about it. I would hate to have been there the first time you read A Farewell to Arms." He smiles and I sit down next to him.

"This was worse, so much worse." I say and he grabs ahold of my shirt, pulling me to lay my head on his shoulder.

"My sensitive girl." He speaks, running his fingers up and down my spine.

The way the words sound make my stomach flutter, to be called 'my girl' in any form makes me much happier than it should.

"Did you even go to classes today?" I ask Hardin.

"Nope. Watching the kid wore me out."

"By watching the kid you mean watching television with him."

"Same thing. I did more than you did."

"So you like him then?" I'm not sure why I am asking this.

"No, well as far as annoying children go, he isn't at the top of the list but I won't be planning any play dates soon." He smiles.

I roll my eyes but don't say anything else about Smith.

"Are you ready for the game tonight?" I look up at him.

"No, I already told him I am not going." He tells me.

"Hardin! You have to go." I shriek.

"I am teasing.. he will be here soon. You owe me for this shit, Tess." Hardin groans.

"You like hockey though, and Landon is good company."

"Not as good of company as you." He kisses my cheek.

"You are in a good mood for someone who acts like they are being lead to slaughter."

"If this goes badly, I won't be the one who is slaughtered."

"You better be nice to Landon tonight." I warn him.

He raises his hands to mock innocence but I know better. A knock is heard at the door and Hardin stays put.

"He's your friend, you answer the door." He says.

I roll my eyes but I don't want to keep Landon waiting so I leave Hardin in the bedroom to answer the door. Landon is dressed in a hockey jersey, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. I have never seen anyone in a fitted hockey jersey before, only oversized ones so the snug fit of Landon's jersey throws me off guard.

"Hey Tessa." He smiles his usual friendly smile and greets me with a hug.

"How were classes today?" I ask him.

"Great, except they would be better if you were in them and not at your internship." He laughs.

"If there were more hours in the day."

"Are the two of you finished so we can get this over with?" Hardin interrupts us.

"Well I can see this will be a fun night." Landon rolls his eyes and runs his hand over his short hair.

"It will be the best night of your entire life." Hardin teases him.

"Good luck." I tell Landon and he chuckles.

"He's just showing off, trying to act like he isn't excited to spend time with me." Landon smiles and Hardin rolls his eyes like Landon just did.

"Well this is too much testosterone for me so I am going to change and run some errands. You two have fun."

"What errands?" Hardin asks while following me into the bedroom.

"Grocery shopping and I was thinking of calling Steph."

"For..?"

"Just to see what she is doing, I will be bored tonight while you are gone."

"So, don't you have studying to do or something?"

I open the closet and grab a sweatshirt then a pair of yoga pants from the bottom drawer.

"Ohhh no you don't." Hardin says, grabbing them from my hands.

"What?" I try to reach for them but he holds them over his head.

"You are not wearing these."

"Excuse me? I will wear what I want." I put my hand on my hip and he shakes his head.

"No, you aren't wearing them." He lifts them higher and I try to jump to reach them and fail.

"I thought you liked them?"

"That's the point. I do like them and so will every other guy."

"You are being ridiculous." I whine.

"Okay then, you wear these pants and I will be sure to take my shirt off during the game, or the next time we are at a party." He smirks.

"Fine." I give in and grab a pair of jeans.

"Your jealousy is unhealthy." I scold him and he laughs.

"When has anything about our relationship been otherwise?" He laughs again and leaves the room with my pants in hand.

I pull my hair into a pony tail and change into the jeans and sweatshirt before going back into the living room. Hardin and Landon have already left. When I grab my keys from the rack I notice that Hardin's keys are still hung in their usual spot, he must have let Landon drive. I grab his keys instead of mine and lock the door behind me.

The drive to Conner's is very short, less than five minutes and Hardin's car drives so smoothly that I almost turn back around just to make the short drive again. His heat works much quicker than mine and his radio is clearer as well. I find it amusing that The Fray CD was on and playing as soon as I started the car, meaning he was listening to it.

Conner's is deserted and there is only one car and a motorcycle parked in front. I wonder if it is Jonah.. Professor Soto's? Probably not. I stand corrected when I see him standing next to the register when I go to check out. 

"Small world." He grins as he spots me.

"Yes, that or you live close enough for us to share the same corner store." I say and he shifts his helmet to his free hand.

"That or you are stalking me."

"I am not! I come here all the time, I.." I begin but he cuts me off.

"I am messing around, it's a joke." He laughs.

"Oh." I bite my lip in embarrassment. I would usually laugh at a joke, no matter how uncomfortable, but he is my professor and I don't know what to say.

"You ready for class tomorrow?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, is there any chance of you hinting to what we will be doing tomorrow?"

"Not a chance." He runs his fingers through his black hair.

I pay with my debit card and wave goodbye to Profesoor Soto before leaving.

"Ms. Young!" I hear him call behind me as I unlock Hardin's car.

"Do you have plans tonight?" He asks.

What?

"Uhm..." I am at a loss for words. He is my professor.

"I don't mean it like that, stop looking at me like that." He smiles, his smile is very attractive.

"I play in a band and we have a gig down at Canal Street Tavern if you wanted to come, maybe bring some friends? We haven't been playing long and need all the bodies we can get in the place so they ask us back." He explains.

"You are in a band?" My voice comes out just as shocked as I feel.

"Yeah, does that surprise you?"

"I mean.. you are a college professor." I laugh nervously.

"I am only twenty-two. I know I don't fit the stereotype of a stuffy college professor."

"You certainly do not."

"Don't."

"What?" I ask.

"You say do not, you should just say don't, it sounds better."

"Do not is fine."

"No it isn't." He smiles.

"So what do you say? Can you bring some friends down to the show? I may give you a hint of what this weeks assignment will be." He persuades me.

He is nice and very funny, slightly cocky but I am used to Hardin's ego so this is nothing.

"Sure. I don't have many friends but I will see what I can do." I promise.

"You mean you do not have many friends?" He mocks and I am tempted to roll my eyes at him but I stop myself when I am reminded that no matter how casual he seems, he is still my professor.

"I will stop annoying you now so you can corral your friends." He places his small grocery bag in the side pocket of his motorcycle and climbs onto the seat. He waves to me before putting his helmet on and revving up the engine to his bike.

After I load my few bags into the backseat of Hardin's car, I drive home and call Steph. I have no idea if she will answer or even be free but I hope so.

My prayers are answered when she answers on the second ring and is ecstatic to hear from me.

"I will be right over. Can Tristan come, he's here." She asks through the phone.

"Of course, Hardin is with Landon though so he's not here. Someone I know has a gig at Canal Street Tavern, have you heard of it?" I ask.

"Yeah! I love Canal Street."

"Wait did you just say Hardin is with Landon?" She is clearly surprised.

"Yeah, it's a long story." I giggle.

"I can't wait to hear it." She says before we say our goodbyes and I promise to text her our address.

Hardin's POV.

"Why the hell is it so crowded already?" I groan as Landon and I try to push our way through the crowded line.

"Because you made us late."

"The game doesn't start for another fifteen minutes."

"I usually come an hour early." Landon explains.

"Of course you do. Even when I am not with Tessa, I am with Tessa." I complain.

Landon and Tessa are literally the same person, when it comes to their annoying need to be the first and best at everything they do.

"You should feel honored to be with Tessa." He tells me.

"Stop being a dick so we can enjoy the game." I tell him forcefully but can't help the smile that appears on my face at his annoyance.

"Sorry Landon, I am honored to be with her. Now would you chill out?" I laugh.

"Sure. Let's get our seats." He says and leads the way.

(yay for regular updates! Lol. I have missed updating every day! Ily all, please vote and comment. I love the theories, I know I always say that but I do haha.)