Chapter 28: Chapter 28

These thoughts circle around me like vultures until, finally, having pulled myself back from the abyss of a total breakdown, I dot the corners of my eyes with a tissue and grab my purse. In the elevator I nearly lose it again, but by the time I reach the bottom floor, I’ve regained control.

“Tessa!” Trevor calls from the other side of the lobby. “Good morning,” he says as he hands me a cup of coffee.

“Thank you. Trevor, I’m so sorry for Hardin’s behavior last night—” I start.

“It’s okay, really. He’s a little . . . intense . . . ?”

I almost laugh, but the thought of doing this makes me nauseous again. “Um, yeah . . . intense,” I mumble and take a sip of my coffee.

He looks at his phone then tucks it back into his pocket. “Kimberly and Christian will be down in a few minutes.” He smiles. “So . . . is Hardin still here?”

“No. And he won’t be coming back.” I try to sound like I could care less. “Did you sleep well?” I ask in attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah, but I was worried about you.” Trevor’s eyes travel to my neck, and I move my hair to cover where my mark maybe is showing.

“Worried? Why?”

“Can I ask you something? I don’t want to upset you . . .” His tone is cautious, and it makes me a little nervous.

“Yeah . . . go ahead.”

“Has Hardin ever . . . you know . . . he hasn’t ever hurt you, right?” Trevor looks at the ground.

“What? We fight a lot, so, yeah, he hurts me all the time,” I answer and take another gulp of the delicious coffee.

He looks up at me sheepishly. “I mean physically,” he mutters.

I snap my head to the side to look at him. He didn’t just ask me if Hardin puts his hands on me? I cringe at the thought. “No! Of course not. He would never do that.”

I can tell by the look in Trevor’s eyes that he doesn’t mean to offend me. “I’m sorry . . . he just seems so violent and angry.”

“Hardin is angry, and sometimes violent, but he would never, ever hurt me like that.” I feel an odd wave of anger toward Trevor for accusing Hardin of such a thing. He doesn’t know Hardin . . . but then again, neither do I, apparently.

We stand in silence for a few minutes, and I ponder that until I spot Kimberly’s blond hair coming toward us.

“I really am sorry. I just think you should be treated much better,” Trevor says quietly right before the others join us.

“I feel like shit. Absolute shit.” Kimberly groans.

“Me, too—my head is killing me,” I agree as we all walk down a long corridor toward the conference center.

“You look so good, though. I, on the other hand, look like I just crawled out of bed,” she says.

“You do not,” Christian says and kisses her forehead.

“Thank you, babe, but your opinion is quite biased.” She laughs and then rubs her temples.

Trevor smiles and says, “Looks like we won’t be going out tonight.” Everyone readily agrees.

When we arrive at the conference, I go straight to the breakfast bar and grab a bowl of granola. I eat it much faster than I should, and I can’t seem to shake Hardin’s words from my mind. I wish I had at least kissed him once more . . . No, I don’t. I must still be drunk.

The seminars go by quickly, and though Kimberly groans as the keynote speaker’s voice booms far too loudly through the room, come the lunchtime break my headache is almost completely gone.

Noon. Hardin would be back home by now, probably with Molly. He probably drove straight to her place just to spite me. Have they already slept together in our room? I mean, our old room? In the bed that was meant for us? When I remember the way he touched me and moaned my name last night, my body is replaced by hers. All I can see is Hardin and Molly. Molly and Hardin.

“Did you hear me?” Trevor asks and takes a seat next to me.

I smile apologetically. “Sorry, I was out of it.”

“I was wondering if you want to grab dinner tonight since everyone’s staying in.” I look into his shining blue eyes, and when I don’t immediately answer him, he stutters, “I-if you don’t . . . want to, that’s okay, too.”

“Actually, I would love to,” I tell him.

“Really?” he breathes. I can tell he thought I would turn him down, especially after Hardin’s behavior toward him.

For the next four hours of talks, I let it warm my heart that Trevor would still want to take me out even after being threatened by my crazy ex.

“THANK GOODNESS THAT’S OVER. I need sleep,” Kimberly groans as we get into the elevator.

“Looks like you’re just not as young as you used to be,” Christian teases, and she rolls her eyes and leans against his shoulder.

“Tessa, tomorrow we’ll go shopping in the morning while these two are at meetings,” she says and closes her eyes.

Which sounds great to me. As does a nice quiet dinner in Seattle with Trevor—in fact, it sounds amazing after my wild night with Hardin. I’m a little uneasy about my behavior this weekend already, kissing a stranger, basically forcing Hardin to have sex with me, and now going to dinner with a third guy. But the last of these is the most benign, and at least I know there won’t be anything physical involved.

Not for you, sure, but for Hardin and Molly . . . my subconscious throws in.

Man, she is getting on my nerves.

At my door, Trevor stops and says, “I’ll come get you at six thirty, is that okay?”