After (The After Series) by Anna Todd Page A

he’s running his fingers across a small hole at the bottom of his worn black T-shirt.
    I expect him to be smiling or laughing, but he’s not. If I didn’t know any better I would think he was . . . hurt? But I do know better and I know he couldn’t care less. “I’m not trying to play games with you,” he says and runs his hand over his head.
    “Then what are you doing—because your mood swings give me a headache,” I snap. A small crowd has gathered around us, and I want to curl into a ball and disappear. But I have to know what he will say next.
    Why can’t I stay away from him? I know he’s dangerous and toxic. I have never been as mean to someone as I am to him. He deserves it, I know, but I don’t really like being mean to anyone.
    Hardin grabs my arm yet again and pulls me into a small alleyway between two buildings, away from the crowd. “Tess, I . . . I don’t know what I am doing. You kissed me first, remember?” he reminds me.
    “Yeah . . . I was drunk, remember? And you kissed me first yesterday.”
    “Yeah . . . You didn’t stop me.” He pauses. “It must be exhausting,” he says.
    What? “What must be exhausting?”
    “Acting like you don’t want me, when we both know you do,” he says, and steps closer.
    “ What? I do not want you. I have a boyfriend.” The words tumble out too fast and reveal their absurdity, making him smile.
    “A boyfriend that you’re bored with. Admit it, Tess. Not to me, but to yourself. You’re bored with him.” His voice lowers, and slows to a sensual pace. “Has he ever made you feel the way I do?”
    “W-What? Of course he has,” I lie.
    “No . . . he hasn’t. I can tell that you’ve never been touched . . . really touched.”
    His words send a now-familiar burn through my body. “That’s none of your business,” I say and back away, making him take three steps toward me.
    “You have no idea how good I can make you feel,” he says, and I gasp. How does he go from yelling at me to this ? And why do I like it so much? I have no words. Hardin’s tone and dirtywords make me weak, vulnerable, and confused. I have become a rabbit in a fox’s trap.
    “Really, you don’t have to admit it. I can tell,” he says, his voice thick with arrogance.
    But all I can do is shake my head. His smile grows and I instinctively back against the wall. He takes a step toward me, and I take a deep, hopeful breath. Not again.
    “Your pulse has quickened, hasn’t it? Your mouth is dry. You’re thinking about me and have that feeling . . . down there . Don’t you, Theresa?”
    Everything he is saying is true and the more he talks to me like this, the more I want him. It’s strange to crave and hate someone at the same time. The attraction I feel is purely physical, which is surprising 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. I don’t want him to have this power over me and win, too.
    “You’re wrong,” I mutter.
    But he smiles. And even that sends electricity through me.
    “I’m never wrong,” he says. “Not about this.”
    I step to the side before he fully traps me against the wall. “Why do you keep saying I throw myself at you if you’re the one cornering 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.”
    “I was drunk and had a long night—as you already know. I was confused because you were being nice to me; well, your version of being nice.” I scoot past him and sit down on the curb so I can get out of his space. Talking to him is so exhausting.
    “I’m not that mean to you,” he says, looming over me, but it sounds more like a question than a statement.
    “Yeah, you are. You go out of your way to be mean to me. Notjust me, but everyone. But it still seems like you are