After We Collided

Zed explains the bet to Tessa, telling her that Hardin kept pushing off the deadline, lowering the amount of the winnings, asking Zed and Jace to keep quiet about the bet, and even offering Jace a lot of money to not tell Tessa about it. However, that was after Hardin told his friends intimate details about his physical relationship with Tessa.

Tessa arrives at her best friend Landon’s house and tells Landon everything. As they talk, Hardin shows up, begging Tessa to allow him to explain. Hardin becomes angry after being asked to leave and punches the wall. Ken and Karen, Hardin’s father and stepmother, tell Hardin he should leave, which he finally does.

Tessa has a paid internship at Vance Publishing, which Ken and Hardin helped her get. Kimberly, her boss’s secretary and girlfriend, comes to check on her, worried about her sickly appearance. Christian Vance, her boss, stops by later and invites Tessa to a publishing conference that weekend in Seattle. Tessa calls her mother and tells her that she broke up with Hardin. Her mother, a cold and distant woman, doesn’t offer any sympathy, but allows her to come home.

Tessa arrives at her childhood home, feeling more like a guest than a member of the family. She finds her mother dressed as impeccably as ever. Her mother suggests now that she and Hardin are broken up, Tessa might seek the forgiveness of her ex-boyfriend Noah. Moments later, Noah arrives, invited by Tessa’s mother. Noah offers sympathy about Hardin.

Later, Tessa and her mother discuss Tessa moving back into the dorms. Her mother promises to check into it. The following day, Tessa goes to the apartment she shares with Hardin to retrieve her things. As she packs, she reflects on their relationship, grieving the good times they had together. As she’s ready to leave, the door opens, and Hardin walks in with a pretty brunette.

Tessa instantly assumes the woman is someone Hardin intends to sleep with. She tries to leave, but Hardin stops her. He explains that the woman is just someone who works with him, who might sublet the apartment, since he cannot live there without Tessa. Hardin insists that he loves Tessa and understands he made a mistake. Tessa can’t be with someone she can’t trust. Hardin swears he never told his friends the truth about their sex life—that he just made stuff up that sounded good. Hardin expresses regret, but becomes instantly angry when he realizes she’s been to see Noah. He wants her to stay, not only so they can work things out, but also because she has nowhere else to go. She lies that her mother and Noah are waiting for her and leaves.

Tessa calls her mom to see if she can return to the dorms, but her mom hasn’t set this up yet. Tessa checks into a local motel and is surprised to run into Trevor, a member of the financial team at Vance Publishing. Trevor is staying at the motel because he’s having plumbing issues at his house. Tessa tells Trevor she and Hardin broke up. Trevor is going to the publishing conference in Seattle that weekend as well because Christian is thinking of opening an office in Seattle and wants Trevor to help run the numbers on a few potential buildings.

Hardin goes to Ken and Karen’s. When Ken suggests Hardin give Tessa space, Hardin grows angry and leaves. He calls Tessa again, but her voicemail box is full. Hardin has a nightmare about the night his mother was raped by some men that his father had gotten into a bar fight with earlier in the evening. Hardin was a young child when he witnessed these horrific events. Sleeping beside Tessa stopped the nightmares, but her absence has brought them back.

Tessa prepares for work, but when she attempts to start her car, it won’t start. Trevor gives her a ride to work. Tessa’s day goes well, except that her mother still hasn’t arranged for her to move back into the dorms. At work, Kimberly lets Tessa know that Kimberly, Trevor, Christian, and Tessa will all go to Seattle in Christian’s chauffeured car. After work, Tessa goes downstairs to meet Trevor only to discover Hardin. Hardin is jealous at the thought of Trevor driving Tessa around; he threatens Trevor with physical violence, but Tessa calms him down.

Hardin offers to have Tessa’s car fixed, but she refuses. They argue again about Hardin’s deception until Hardin finally agrees to back off. Trevor drives Tessa back to the motel. The next morning, Tessa prepares for the trip to Seattle, and then calls a mechanic to come pick up her car, but then learns from the front desk that Hardin had the car towed away himself.

On the drive to Seattle, Kimberly and Tessa talk about Hardin, and Kimberly suggests that they should all go out to a club that night. Tessa is only 18 and can’t legally enter a club, but Kimberly assures her that Christian’s connections can get them in anywhere.

Jace badgers Hardin into going over to Zed’s. As they drive, Hardin admits that sleeping around gets old quickly. Jace mocks that Tessa “really did a number on you” (55). Jace also points out that Tessa’s single again, laughing when Hardin gets angry.

Tessa and her coworkers arrive at their hotel and check in. They meet in Christian and Kimberly’s suite to discuss the itinerary. They have a quick lunch before going to the conference where Christian introduces Tessa to almost everyone in attendance, to help promote her career.

Molly, Hardin’s past fling, is at Zed’s when Hardin and Jace arrive. Hardin begins to drink, obsessing over the idea of Tessa spending the weekend with Trevor.

After the day’s events at the conference, Tessa and the others go back to their rooms to prepare for a night out. Trevor and Tessa return to the lobby together and Trevor is obviously impressed by Tessa’s dress. They go to dinner before going to a local club, where Christian’s influence immediately gets them admitted and given a table in the VIP section. Kimberly orders a drink called Sex on the Beach for Tessa despite Tessa’s protests that she doesn’t drink.

A drunk Molly comes on to Hardin, promising to make him forget Tessa. Hardin pushes her away, and Molly becomes angry, calling Tessa names and saying Hardin’s been different since he met her. Molly says that Jace put her up to revealing the bet to Tessa so that Jace could be with Tessa. Hardin loses control and beats Jace until Logan pulls him off. Hardin tells them not to say anything else about Tessa before storming out.

Tessa, feeling drunk, dances with Kimberly. When she gets a call from her mother, she ignores it, but it reminds her that Hardin hasn’t tried to call all day. She calls Hardin, but he doesn’t answer. Hardin calls back and Tessa answers, revealing that she’s drunk. Hardin asks where she is, but she refuses to tell him. When Hardin gets jealous that Trevor is at the club with Tessa, she hangs up on him. Tessa dances with a stranger and kisses him, before leaving the club with Kimberly and the others. Tessa goes back to her room and falls asleep.

Trevor comes to Tessa’s room because he and Tessa accidentally switched phones. As they talk, there’s a knock at the door—it’s Hardin, who grows instantly jealous when he sees Trevor, but Tessa convinces him that nothing is going on between them. After Trevor leaves, Tessa and Hardin argue. Being drunk emboldens Tessa. She straddles Hardin’s lap and seduces him. Hardin tries to stop her, aware that she’s drunk, but she’s persistent.

Hardin continues to attempt to make Tessa stop, but she performs oral sex on him before plopping on the bed and insisting he do the same for her. Hardin can’t resist this chance to be with her again. She asks if he has a condom, but is a little annoyed when he says he does. She refuses to think about whether he expected this. They have sex, and Hardin tells her he loves her. She silences him and falls asleep. He settles in next to her, reflecting that she’s turned him into the kind of man he never wanted to be: completely under the power of a woman.

Tessa wakes early the next morning horrified at what she has done. She jumps into the shower as Hardin tries to figure out where they stand now. Tessa still hasn’t forgiven him. He tells her they need to talk things out, but she refuses. They argue, and Tessa admits to kissing the stranger in the club. Hurt, Hardin announces that he slept with Molly.

After the conference, Tessa returns to her room to prepare for dinner with Trevor. She calls her mother, learns that she won’t be able to get back into the dorms until after Christmas break, and reluctantly agrees to spend the break at her mother’s house. Tessa checks her phone for calls from Hardin, but there aren’t any.

Hardin goes to Ken and Karen’s home, hoping to speak to his father about Tessa. Instead, he talks to Landon, admitting that telling Tessa he had slept with Molly was a jealous lie. Although everything Hardin did is unforgivable, he believes Tessa loves him. Ken comes downstairs and Hardin tells him that he’s changed his Christmas plans. Instead of going to England with Tessa, Hardin will take his mother to Washington.