After

Chapter 27.

I keep quiet as Hardin continues down the gravel road. He turns the music off finally so the only noise is the gravel crunching beneath the tires. We are out in the middle of nowhere. I am nervous now, we are alone, really alone. There are no cars, no buildings, nothing.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring you out here to kill you" he jokes and I gulp. I am more afraid of what I might do when alone with him than if he was to actually try to kill me.

He continues to drive for another mile and finally stops the car. I look out the window and see nothing but grass and trees. Granted, it is nice and serene out here. There are yellow wildflowers littering the land, and the breeze is perfectly warm. But why did he bring me here? "What are we going to do here?" I ask him as I climb out of the car.

"We have a bit of walking to do first" he informs me and I groan. So he took me here to exercise? He must notice my sour expression because he says, "Not too much walking" He begins walking along a part of the grass that is flattened, almost like a trial from being walked on many times.

We both stay quiet for most of the walk, except a few rude remarks from Hardin about me being too slow. I ignore him and take in my surroundings. I am beginning to understand why he likes this seemingly random place, it is so quiet. I could stay here forever as long as I brought a book with me. He turns off the trail and goes into a wooded area, I am a little suspicious but I follow. A few minutes later we emerge from the woods to a stream, or maybe a river, I have no idea where we are but the stream is quite big and looks pretty deep.

Hardin doesn't say anything as he pulls his shirt over his head then bends down to untie his dirty black boots. "Why are you undressing?" I ask and look at the stream. Oh  no. "You are going to swim? In that?" I say and point to the water.

"Yea, I do it all the time. You are too" he unbuttons his pants and I have to force myself to not stare at the way the muscles in his back move when he bends down to pull his pants through his legs.

"I am not swimming in that" I don't mind swimming, but not in a random stream in the middle of nowhere.

"And why is that? It's clean enough that you can see the bottom"

"So.. there are probably fish and god knows what in there" I realize how ridiculous I sound but I don't care. "Besides you didn't tell me we were going swimming so I have nothing to swim in" he can't argue with that.

"You're not wearing a bra and panties?" he smirks and I gape at him. So he thought I would come out here and take all my clothes off to swim with him? My insides stir as I think about being naked in the water with Hardin. What is he doing to me? I have never, ever had these types of thoughts before him.

"I am not swimming in my bra and panties you creep" I say and sit on the soft grass. "I will just watch" I tell him and he frowns. He is now only in his boxer briefs, the black material is tight against his body. This is the second time I have seen him in just his boxers and he looks even better this time.

"You are no fun. You're missing out" he says and jumps into the water. I keep my eyes on the grass and pluck a few blades out, playing with them between my fingers. "The water is warm Tess" Hardin calls from the stream. From my spot on the grass, I can see the drops of water falling from his now black hair. He is smiling as he pushes his soaked hair back and wipes his face off with one hand.

For a moment I find myself wishing I was someone else, someone braver, like Steph. If I was Steph, I would strip down and jump into the warm water with Hardin. I would splash around and climb up the bank just to jump back into the water. I would be fun and carefree. But I am not Steph, I am Tessa.

"This friendship is beyond boring so far" Hardin laughs and swims closer to the bank. I roll my eyes and he chuckles. "At least take your shoes off and put your feet in, it feels amazing and pretty soon it will be too cold to swim in"