After

Chapter 25.

I have no words. Hardin's tone and dirty words make me weak, vulnerable, and confused. I have become a rabbit in a fox's trap.

"You don't have to admit it, I can tell." He says, his voice is so arrogant but all I can do is shake my head. His smile grows and I back against the wall. He takes a step towards me and I back against the wall. Not again.

"Your pulse has quickened hasn't it? Your mouth is dry, you have that feeling.. down there. Don't you Theresa?" Everything he is saying is true and the more he talk to me like this, the more I want him. It's a strange feeling to want someone and hate them at the same time. The attraction I feel to him is purely physical which is strange considering how opposite he is from Noah. I don't remember ever being attracted to anyone except Noah.

I know that if I don't say something now, he will win.

"You're wrong." I mutter and he smiles. Even his smile sends electricity through me.

"I'm never wrong." he says and I move away from the wall before he can push me against it.

"Why do you keep saying I throw myself at you if you're the one corning me now?" I ask, my anger pushing past my lust for this maddening tattooed boy.

"Because you made the first move on me, don't get me wrong I was as surprised as you were." he laughs.

"I was drunk and had a long night, as I already told you. I was confused because you were being nice to me, well your version of being nice." I say and sit down on the curb before I end up against the wall. Talking to him is so exhausting.

"I am not that mean to you." he says, the statement sounds more like a question than a comment.

"Yea, you are. You go out of your way to be mean to me. Not just me, but everyone. It just seems like you are extra hard on me." I can't believe I am being this honest with him. I know its a matter of minutes before he turns on me.

"That's just not true. I am no meaner to you than the rest of the general population." he smirks and I stand up. I knew I couldn't have a normal discussion with him.

"I don't know why I keep wasting my time!" I yell as I am walking away from him.

"Hey, I am sorry. Just come back over here."

I groan but my feet move before my brain can catch up. I stand a few feet away from him and he sits on the curb where I was previously sitting.

"Sit" he demands and I do.

"You're sitting awfully far" he says and I roll my eyes. "You don't trust me?"

"No, of course I don't, why would I?" His face falls slightly as my words hit him but he recovers quickly. Why would he care if I trusted him?

"Can we just agree to either stay away from each other or be friends? I don't have it in me to keep fighting with you." I sigh and he moves a little closer.

He takes a deep breath before he speaks. "I don't want to stay away from you." What? My heart beats out of my chest.

"I mean.. I don't think we can stay away from each other, with one of my best friends being your roommate and all. So I suppose we should try to be friends." I try to hide my disappointment from his words but this is what I want right? I can't keep kissing Hardin and cheating on Noah.

"Okay so friends?"

"Friends." He agrees and reaches out his hand for me to shake.

"Not friends with benefits." I remind him and feel the blood rush to my cheeks.

He chuckles and plays with his eyebrow ring as he speaks. "What makes you say that?"

"Like you don't know, Steph already told me."

"What about me and her?"

"You and her, and you and every other girl." I try to fake a laugh but it comes out as a cough. He raises his eyebrow at me but ignore him.

"Well me and Steph.. that was fun." He smiles as if remembering something and I swallow the vile rising in the back of my throat.

"And yea, I have girls that I fuck but why does that concern you?" He is so nonchalant about the whole thing while I am in shock. Hearing him admit to sleeping with other girls shouldn't bother me but it does. He isn't mine, Noah is. Noah is. Noah is. I remind myself.

"It doesn't, I just don't want you to think that I will be one of those girls."

"Aww.. are you jealous Theresa?" He mocks me and I shove him. There is no way in hell I will ever admit that.

"No, absolutely not. I feel sorry for the girls." I say and he laughs.

"Oh, you shouldn't. They enjoy it, trust me."

"Okay, okay. I get it. Change the subject please." I groan and lift my head back to look at the sky. I need to clear the image of Hardin and multiple girls out of my mind. "So will you try to be nicer to me?"

"Sure. Will you try not to be so uptight and bitchy all the time?"

"I am not bitchy, you're just obnoxious." I start laughing and he joins in.

It's a nice change from screaming at each other in class. I know we haven't really resolved the big issue here which is the feelings that I may or may not have for him, but if I can just get him to stop kissing me, I can focus back on Noah and stop this terrible cycle before it gets worse.

"Look at us, two friends." his accent is so appealing when he isn't being rude.

Hell, even then it is but when his voice is soft his accent makes it so much softer, like velvet. The way words roll of his tongue and through his pink lips.. I can't think about his lips. I tear my eyes away from his face and stand up. Wiping my skirt off.

"That skirt really is dreadful Tess, if we are going to be friends you need to not wear that anymore."

For a second I am hurt but when I look up at him he is smiling. This must be the way he jokes, still rude but I will take this over the malicious way he usually behaves.

My phone starts to vibrate, it's my alarm going off. "I need to get back and study."

"You set an alarm to study?"

"I set an alarm for a lot of things, it's just something I do." I hope he lets this go.

"We should do something fun tomorrow after class." he offers.

Who is this and where is Hardin?

"I don't think my idea of fun is the same as yours." I can't even imagine what 'fun' is to Hardin.

"Well we will only sacrifice a few cats, then we will burn down a few buildings.." I can't stop the giggle from escaping and he smiles back.

"Really though, you could use some fun and since we are new friends we should do something fun." I need a few moments to contemplate whether I should be alone with Hardin before I answer him.

Before I answer he turns to walk away, "Good, I am glad you agree. I will see you tomorrow." He says and he's gone.

I don't say anything back, I just sit back down on the curb. My head is spinning from the last twenty minutes with Hardin. He basically offered me sex, telling me I have no idea how good he could make me feel. Then, a few minutes later he was agreeing to try to be nice to me, we were laughing and joking and it was nice. There are still so many questions I have for him, like why he is the way he is, but I know the more I know about him the worse this will be. I can be friends with Hardin, like Steph is, okay not like Steph but like Nate or one of their other friends. This is really the best thing, no more kissing, no more sexual advances from him, just friends. As I walk back to my room, I try to shake the fear that I just walked into another one of his traps.