(Sooooo I didn't want to wait until Thursday hah. I got impatient, but I will still update tomorrow :) love you! )

Hardin POV

I drive the car down one last narrow street and park toward the end of the small gravel patch nestled between a group of massive trees. I love it out here, no one ever comes here and that's perfect for me. Especially on a nice day like today when it's rarely not raining in the Olympic Peninsula. The dead sky is one thing I've been used to since growing up in Hampstead, the sun is a rare sighting most Fall days.

Tessa glances the around the area and her eyebrows draw together.  "Don't worry, I didn't bring you out here to kill you," I pester her, attempting to evoke a laugh from her. She stares toward the field of yellow wildflowers and her shoulders slightly relax. What is she thinking?

"What are we going to do here?" she asks me.

"Well, first, a bit of walking."
Tessa sighs and follows me down the dirt that used to be grass-path. She looks miserable already. What was I thinking? "Not too much walking,"

She doesn't trust me and she seems to be in a bad mood today. Go figure. When is she not? I focus my attention on the cloud of dust that my boots make when they hit the dry, dusty trail. Tessa's steps are nearly silent and she's incredibly slow.

"Well, if we hurry we may make it before sundown," I tease her when we reach a tree with an old abandoned bicycle tied to it. It's the halfway marker and the walk is about a mile. Not too bad. Tessa slows down the walk but her face when we reach the water is worth every wasted moment. She gasps a little, as if this simple stream in the middle of the woods is magical. Her lips lift and her eyes go wide.

Does she even like swimming? I probably should have asked her. I stay quiet and let her take in her surroundings before asking anything of her. Now that we're alone together I can't think of shit to talk about. Maybe I should just get into the water? Tessa's standing in the same spot she was the last time I looked at her. She's pushing the dirt around with her shoe to avoid looking at me.

Fuck this awkward shit. I'm getting in the water. I pull my t-shirt over my head and listen for the whimpering sound to come from Tessa. She doesn't say much but she's very animated when it comes to a soundtrack of her expressions. With a smile usually comes a sigh, with annoyance comes huffing, and with arousal comes her panting.

"Wait, why are you undressing?" She inquires. I don't think she's aware of just how hard she's staring at my bare chest. She clears her throat and asks, "You are going to swim? In that?"

She points to the water with a look of disgust on her face. Of course Little Miss Priss doesn't want to get her clothes and hair wet?

"Yeah, and you are, too. I do it all the time." I pop open the button on my jeans and Tessa continues to complain. She watches me undress while doing so.

"I am not swimming in that." This water is clearer than most lakes around here. This is exactly why I can't stand stuck up snobby girls who are afraid to get dirt under their manicured nails.

"And why is that? It's clean enough that you can see the bottom." I point toward the sparkling water. I thought she would be more impressed than she is. The idea that I never know what she's thinking unnerves me.

"So . . . there are probably fish and God knows what in there." She shrieks. Fish? Really? That's what this strange girl is worried about? "Besides, you didn't tell me we were going swimming so I have nothing to swim in."

"You're telling me you're the kind of girl who doesn't wear underwear?" I smile at her, desperate to see her in them.  "Yeah, so go in your bra and panties." There's no way in hell she's going for that. I can see the anger building behind those gray eyes and I can't wait to hear her reply.

"I am not swimming in my underwear, you creep." Tessa sits down on the grass a few feet above the bank.

"I'll just watch," she smiles and crosses her legs.

She's staring at my body again. This time she's looking at the outline of my cock in my boxers. Her cheeks are flushed and she's trying hard to look away and pretend to be focused on the bundle of grass blades in her hand. "You're no fun. And you're missing out," I call to her as I jump into the cold water.

Fuucckk, this water is colder than I thought. I swim out toward the other bank where the sun hits the water all day and the temperature changes drastically.

"The water is warm, Tess!" I call to her. She looks up from the pile of grass blades she's building to distract herself. She's bored out of her fucking mind and I don't have the first idea how to change that. She won't even get in the water with me, what am I supposed to do?

"This is one beyond-boring friendship so far . . ." Tessa rolls her eyes and lifts her head back to the sun. "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."

Tessa agrees and pulls her shoes off, placing them neatly beside her. Those shoes she wears are odd, scraps of cloth taped to a piece of floppy cardboard. They can't possibly be comfortable. She rolls her jeans up her legs and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she pushes her feet into the water. I wait for her to complain, but a wide smile fills her face. "It's nice, isn't it?" I ask her. She looks away, titling her head further into the sun. "So just come in." I dip my head back into the water and soak my hair, trying to convince her.

When I lift back up Tessa is shaking her head. She still won't get into the water. Christ, this woman is difficult. I splash water at her and she shrieks, quickly scooting back up the grass. I've never been here with someone else, it's a little weird having company out here.

How can I get her to come in? The entire day will be a huge waste of time if she doesn't get in the water. I need to negotiate with her. But what would she want in return?

She doesn't seem like the compromising type . . .

"If you come in the water, I will answer one of your always- intrusive questions. Any question that you want, but only one," I say my idea out loud the moment it comes to my mind. She's so nosy, this will thrill her.

"This offer expires in one minute," I have to give her a time limit or she'll surely take all damn day. I dip under the water and hold my breath as I swim about twenty feet. Tessa is probably scowling above the surface. The thought makes me laugh and I nearly choke on the water.

"Tessa," I wish she would just stop thinking so damn much, "stop overthinking everything, and just jump in."

She looks down at her outfit. "I don't have anything to wear. If I jump in in my clothes, I will have to walk back to the car and ride back soaked,"

"Wear my shirt," with my offer, she frowns and looks at my shirt lying close by on the grass. "Go on, just wear my shirt. It will be long enough for you to wear in here and you can keep your bra and panties on, if you wish," I add. I would very much enjoy if she didn't wear her bra or panties, but it's up to her, of course.

Tessa looks around again, taking in the water and my half naked body before she reaches down and plucks my shirt from the ground. I win.

"Fine," she's such a bratty little thing. She rests her hand on her hip and continues her wager, "but turn around and do not look at me while I am changing—I mean it!" The little roaring kitten is back. I laugh and she does this weird little thing with her hips, moving them back and forth as she pushes my black shirt between her thighs to hold while she lifts her shirt up over her head. I quickly turn around. I'm a gentleman, really, I am.

"Hurry the hell up or I will turn around," I impatiently remark after silently counting to thirty. I sneak a look at her while she's bending down to sit her jeans perfectly in line with her shoes. She's a complete psychopath, lining her shoes up like that. For a few seconds I wonder how she would react if I tossed her shoes into the calm water. She would be so pissed. I bite a smile back and finally look at her body. Her legs are tan, that's the first thing I notice. My t-shirt fits her body perfectly. Fuck, because of the size of her tits, my shirt barely touches the top of her thighs. I pull my lip ring between my teeth and enjoy the view in front of me.

"Um . . . come in the water, yeah?" I try to clear my throat and stop staring at the top of her thighs. "Just jump in!"

"I am! I am!"

"Get a little running start."

"Okay."

Tessa takes a deep breathe before galloping toward the water in an awkwardly stiff run. She squeals and covers her face when she reaches the edge and stops one step before she would hit the water.

"Oh come on! You were off to such a good start!" My laughter fills the air between us and I look at Tessa again. She's looking at me, smiling and laughing in the sunlight and it confuses me. What are we doing here? Laughing and Tessa each other at a stream? What is this? A Nicholas Sparks movie where the couple's fighting is so cute that I've seen that clip passed like wildfire on the internet. Bored woman thinking they have some literary hero to come save them. It's bullshit and they always, always end up with a shitty husband who doesn't and will never care about them or their family more than himself.

"I can't!"

She looks pretty frantic. Is she actually scared of the water? Good lord. "Are you afraid?" I ask her.

"No . . . I don't know. Sort of," I walk through the water to move closer to her. My foot gets caught under a large rock on the bottom of the water.

"Sit on the edge and I'll help you in." I offer. I reach for her as she scoots closer. She tries to hide her panties by clamping her legs shut and I appreciate the effort. The last thing I need is a distraction.

My hands grip her thighs and my cock immediately responds. Fuck her for having such soft, beckoning thighs that I'm dying to get my face  between.

"Ready?" I take a breath and move my hands to her waist. Her hips mold to my hands and I have to forcefully use my last bit of self control. They are itching to squeeze her hips, bend her over and take her here.

What's my problem? I'm never this much of a horny frat boy. Is it her innocence and sinful body or is it the competitive drive to win her body against Zed?

Her skin is warm as her body sinks into the water and I let go of her. The water hits just below her chest. She sprawls her hands out in front of her and feels out the water. Her skin is covered in tiny chill bumps accentuated by the sunlight.

"Don't just stand there." I need you to move so I don't just stand here and stare at you all fucking day. She seems to ignore me but she does move out further into the water. As she moves through the clear water the t-shirt lifts up from the water trying to take shape. Before I can look away, Tessa shoves the wet fabric down, smoothing it underwater the best she can.

"You could just take it off," I say. I sure as hell wouldn't complain. Tessa scrunches her nose up and pushes her hand through the water to splash me. She fucking splashed me? It's annoying how funny this is to me.

"Did you just splash me?" Tessa giggles and splashes her hands across the settling water. I shake the water from my hair and lunge at her. I grasp her waist, tugging her under the water. Her small hand reaches up and plugs her nostrils. She still plugs her nose? I laugh, hard. "I can't decide which is more amusing: the fact that you are actually having a good time or the fact that you have to plug your nose underwater," I can barely talk from laughing so hard.

Tessa moves toward me, a mission clear in her eyes. Her arms lift above her head and she attempts to push my head under the water, it's a comical attempt. At best. While I try to ignore the way my T-shirt floats up around her body, I don't budge and she laughs at herself and my stomach cramps from joining in. Her laughter is soft, it reminds me of the yellow wildflowers at the beginning of our date-thing.

"I believe you owe me an answer to a question," she pushes. I knew she wouldn't forget, but I assumed she would wait a little longer.

"Sure, but only one."

She's probably going to ask something stupid like, "Did your tattoos hurt?" I stare at the grassy bank of the stream and wait for her intrusion. "Who do you love the most in the world?" Her voice breaks through the silence.

What the fuck?

What kind of question is that? How fucking strange. I don't want to answer that. I don't even have an answer for that. Now I'm, growing even more suspicious of her and Landon's conversations about me. Love? Who do I love the most in the world?

Who do I love most? Well, I love my mum I guess. I haven't said the words to her in years, but she's still my mum. That's about it except for myself. I love myself the most. I don't even think it would qualify as "loving" myself.

"Myself," I answer truthfully. I wasn't one to have any girlfriends as a puberty stricken teen so I never even had any fake, "I love you's" before you actually know what the word means. I dive under the water to disappear for a few seconds while Tessa's brain racks up her assumptions about me.

"That can't be true," Tessa says the very second I feel the fresh air hit my skin. "What about your parents?" She crosses the line. Tessa Young has no fucking boundaries with her invasive personal questions. Her eyes are soft, her lips are parted as she waits for me to respond. I hate the way her eyes look when they are full of pity.

Stop it, Theresa.

"Do not speak of my parents again, got it?"

"I'm sorry, I was just curious. You said you would answer a question," her voice is quiet. "I really am sorry, Hardin, I won't mention them again," she apologizes. I'm not sure if I even believe her. She's up to something, I can feel it. She's too intuitive and way too pushy. I don't even know her and she sure as hell doesn't know me. Why does she keep thinking that she can ask such personal shit?

This afternoon is going to go one of two ways, her and I fighting until she rushes into her dorm room in a pissed off panic, or with me charming her, making her want to be around me.

I decide to keep it civil. I would rather not spend the drive back in awkward silence. I push my hands out toward her and lock my arms around her waist. Her body is light in the water when I lift her into the air and toss her aside. She shrieks and her arms flap around in the air like a bird. She pops up out of the water, her hair soaked and her eyes wild.

She's happy.

This could have gone one of two ways and she's happy.

"You're going to pay for that!" She cheers and wades toward me. She may actually believe that she has a chance at retaliation. Tessa moves even closer to me, water trickling down her face. Her skin is wet and shining and why is she still moving closer?

I'm supposed to be in charge here. I gasp when Tessa's thighs wrap around my waist and she lifts her body to line up to mine.

"Sorry," she tenses and loosens her legs. No, no.

I grip them, coercing her to put them back around my body. She feels so good pressed up against me, so warm. When she wraps her small arms around my neck, a twinge of panic flickers at the bottom of my spine. I look at her and try to read her mind, it's impossible.

"What are you doing to me, Tess," I wonder while slowly grazing her trembling bottom lip with my thumb. Her lips tremble beneath my touch and her hot breath comes out in low, deep puffs. The taste of her mouth in still fresh in my memory, I want another taste, need it.

"I don't know . . ." she doesn't know. I don't know either.  Neither of us have a grip on this, it could escalate quickly. I want it to.