Hooked Read online

  Hooked

  A.T. Brennan

  Published: 2016

  ISBN: 978-1-62210-379-9

  Published by Liquid Silver Publishing. Copyright © 2016, A.T. Brennan.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Manufactured in the USA

  Email [email protected] with questions, or inquiries about Liquid Silver Books, Liquid Silver Publishing, or Ten West Publishing.

  Blurb

  Jenna and Clay have known each other since they were eight years old, and at eighteen they’re about to start the next chapter of their lives. Jenna wants to make her own life in a new town. Clay’s chosen to stay put so he can take care of his family. After a brief but passionate fling at a graduation party they part on bad terms, and that incident sets the tone of their relationship for the next ten years.

  It would seem fate has more in store for them, even if they’re unable to see it. Over the next decade they keep meeting up in the most unlikely places and reconnecting, both physically and emotionally. Each hookup could be the start of something perfect, but life and their own decisions keep driving them apart.

  Will Jenna and Clay finally be able to admit how they feel and see that they’re perfect together? Or will they keep letting love pass them by as they focus on themselves instead of each other?

  Dedication

  To J, D, and L, who’ve shown me what true love really is. To Mom and Dad for always supporting and believing in me, and to E, J, and T, for being the best friends a girl could ask for.

  Chapter 1

  Good Girl/Bad Boy

  2006—High School

  “JEN. Jenna…Jenna!”

  “What?”

  “You’ve been staring at the wall for like five minutes,” Kaylee Andersen said impatiently, her hands on her hips as she stared at Jenna. “Which one?”

  “Which one what?” Jenna shook her head and turned away from the wall to look a little more closely at Kaylee. At that moment Kaylee wasn’t holding or pointing to anything, so Jenna really had no idea what she was asking about.

  “The shoes.” Kaylee rolled her eyes as she motioned to her feet. “Which pair?”

  In Jenna’s opinion neither shoe looked all that comfortable or practical. One had a platform on the front and a spiked heel in the back and a lot of straps that seemed to be more artistic than functional. The other was a sky-high wedge with very flimsy-looking straps. Each pair was brand-new.

  “Can you walk in either of them?”

  Kaylee rolled her eyes and picked a wide belt off the bed. “They’re not for walking in.”

  “Last I checked, shoes were made for walking.” Jenna grinned. Kaylee had more shoes than any one person would ever need, and Jenna had only seen her wear a handful of them.

  “These shoes are for looking sexy and complementing my outfit.” She tossed the belt down and picked up a different one, examining it closely. “Which you still haven’t helped me choose.”

  “Wear the wedges,” Jenna said after a pause. “The other ones look like torture devices.”

  “Fine. Wedges.” Kaylee nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull off the way-too-tall heel. “Clothes?”

  “Those tight jeans—”

  “Skinny jeans.”

  “Yeah, they work on you because you’re skinny. Whatever you call them. Those and that sheer top and tank combo thing.”

  “This is why you need my help.” Kaylee picked up the shirt she’d chosen and looked at it. “You don’t even know what to call clothes.”

  “It’s stupid they even have names.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “Pants, skirt, top—what else do you need to call them?”

  “Hopeless.”

  Jenna just rolled her eyes again and waited while Kaylee pulled on the other wedge heel and grabbed a short wrap dress and a wide red belt.

  “Why do you even ask my opinions if you’re just going to wear what you want?” Jenna asked as she leaned back in her chair.

  “I took your advice on the shoes.”

  “True, but you honestly can’t tell me you didn’t already know which one you wanted to wear before you asked.”

  “Guilty.” Kaylee grinned at her.

  “Bitch.”

  Both girls laughed and Jenna pulled her long brown hair over her shoulder, combing out the strands with her fingers.

  “So, you’re wearing what?” Kaylee asked as she looked at her friend.

  “This.” She nodded down to her clothes and waited as Kaylee laughed at her. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  “Jenna, sweetie.” Kaylee shook her head. “You’ve been telling me for a year you don’t want to finish high school a virgin, yet you want to go to the last party of the year dressed like a gym teacher?”

  “I’m not dressed like a gym teacher.”

  “You’re never going to hook up if you don’t at least look like you’re trying, or available.”

  “So I need to wear slut shoes and a mini-dress in order to get some guy to pay attention to me?”

  “Worked for me—still works for me.” Kaylee grinned.

  Jenna just looked at her friend and sighed. “What do you think I should wear?” she asked after a long pause.

  As Kaylee went to her closet to try to find something she deemed suitable, Jenna could only think about what she’d said.

  She was tired of being the good girl. She was tired of always being in the background and the perpetual wallflower. She’d spent the past four years desperately trying to fit in and failing miserably. She never said the right thing; she never did the right thing; and she never wore the right thing.

  Kaylee was the complete opposite. She was perky and popular and gorgeous, and she was confident. Standing next to her best friend Jenna looked and felt frumpy and unattractive. If Kaylee had advice, then she would be wise to take it.

  “No.” She shook her head when she saw the outfit Kaylee wanted her to wear. The dress actually belonged to her, so it was at least three sizes too small. There was no way she would ever squeeze into it. “No way in hell.”

  “Come on, you need to loosen up. Just let go and say ‘fuck it’.”

  “In that dress I might as well be saying ‘fuck me’.”

  “Isn’t that kind of the point?”

  “I want to look available, not audition for a porn.”

  “Fine.” Kaylee put the dress back in the closet and pulled out a skirt and shirt combo that was a little on the flirty side and very much on the sexy side, but it wasn’t too revealing. “This?”

  “I can wear that.” Jenna nodded.

  “These?” Kaylee held out a pair of strappy heels.

  “No heels. I need to be able to walk if I’m going to be drinking.”

  “Fine. These?”

  “Perfect.” She nodded when she saw the ballet flats Kaylee was holding out. “Those work.”

  “So, you have any guy in mind, or are you going to fuck whoever offers?” Kaylee asked as she watched Jenna pull off her clothes and start to get dressed.

  “I’m not going to fuck anyone.”

  “But you said—”

  “I want to make love with someone, not just get fucked,” Jenna said as she pulled her hair loose from the neckline of the shirt, sighing when she felt the static explode around her.

>   “That’s what making love is, sweetie.” Kaylee grinned. “You fuck someone, call it making love, and both of you have a good time.”

  “I want there to be romance and tenderness. I want things to feel special and—”

  “Oh, sweetie, you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think all of that’s going to happen at a grad party. The best you can hope for is a quickie in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

  “Then I’m not going to hook up with anyone tonight.” Jenna tried vainly to smooth out her hair and tame the static.

  “What you’re looking for doesn’t happen in real life. It’s only in movies and those stupid books you read.”

  “I don’t see why it’s so weird to want to be cherished.”

  “It’s weird because you’re eighteen, you’ve never had a boyfriend, and you think your first time will be something out of a cheesy romance novel. No guy is going to light candles and play soft music for you, especially if you’re not dating him.”

  “I don’t want candles and music; I just want to feel special.”

  “A hookup isn’t going to do that for you. If you want special, then you’d better hold out for Mr. Right and a long-term relationship, because that’s just not realistic.”

  “Then I guess I’m not going to be doing anything tonight. I’m going to hold on and wait, because I want more.”

  “Then you’re going to be waiting for a long time. You’re going to be in college and a virgin.”

  “Is that really the worst thing?” she asked as she looked in the mirror above the dresser, checking herself out from every angle.

  “I guess there are worse things, but if you think high school guys are lacking in romance, college guys are even worse. It’s all about parties and hooking up, there’s no romance.”

  “All college guys can’t be that bad.”

  “Think about it. We’re all away from home for the first time. We can get our hands on booze even though we’re underage, and we live in coed buildings. How could there ever be anything other than random hookups?”

  “Some guys must want a girlfriend.”

  “Why would any guy want to pin himself down with one girl when he can have dozens?”

  “You make it seem like all college guys are sex fiends.” She tugged the bottom of the skirt down and looked over at Kaylee.

  “Maybe I’m wrong, and you’ll find Mr. Awesome, and he’ll sweep you off your feet, and you’ll get all the romance and cherishing you want. But what about when you’re actually going to hook up? You’ll have no idea what to do; you won’t enjoy it; and he’ll literally have to break you in. It’s better to get it out of the way and get broken first, then get the romance later.”

  Jenna looked over at Kaylee’s open and honest face and sighed. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was expecting too much. It was only sex after all.

  * * * *

  “Yo, Reynolds!”

  Clay turned toward the very loud voice, knowing exactly who was calling out to him. There was only one person who called him by his last name.

  “Hey,” he greeted as he waited for Trey to catch up to him, noticing the six-pack he had tucked under his arm. “I thought you already got here.”

  “Nah, I got sidetracked.”

  “Gaming?”

  “Shut up.”

  Clay laughed and looked up at the house in front of them.

  The party was already in full swing, and there were people milling all around. He could hear people in the back yard, and there were cars lined up down the block. It would be a miracle if one of the neighbors didn’t call the cops.

  “Ten bucks says we get busted in less than an hour.” Trey looked over at him.

  “I say an hour is being generous.” He grinned.

  “If you see flashing lights, and you don’t see me running, you’d better get your ass in there and find me.”

  “And why would I risk my ass for yours?”

  “Dude, you owe me.”

  “For what?”

  “One word: Angela.”

  “You’re seriously still on that?”

  “I had to take the ugly sister home so you could hook up with the hot sister. You owe me.”

  “I’ve paid you back for that a hundred times over.”

  “You’ll never fully pay back that debt,” Trey said seriously as they headed into the house.

  “You only had to take her home; you didn’t have to fuck her.”

  “No, but I did, so you owe me.”

  “I never told you to get your dick wet.” He shook his head as they went into the house. Between the music and the crowds of people talking and laughing, it was loud, and he had to raise his voice to make sure Trey heard him. “Especially not in her.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not you. I don’t have chicks beating down my door begging me to fuck them.”

  “Yell that a little louder, I dare you,” Clay shot back. “And I don’t have chicks beating my anything.”

  He and Trey just looked at each other and started laughing at his unintentional pun.

  “Whatever, you do better than me.”

  He just shook his head and looked around the crowded living room. Other than a handful of people he didn’t recognize anyone they’d seen inside or outside, and quite a few guys standing around looked a lot older than them. It seemed word of the party had spread outside their class.

  “You see anyone interesting?” Trey asked over the music.

  “Not really.” Clay shook his head.

  “You see Tanya anywhere?”

  “No, and if you see her, do not tell her I’m here.” Clay shot Trey a warning look.

  “I got your back, man. No worries.”

  “Come on, let’s get some drinks.”

  They made their way through the house and out into the back yard and each cracked open a beer. There were a lot of people around, a lot of drinks lying around, and it was getting really loud.

  He didn’t even know why he was there. It was the last party before grad, and Trey had wanted to go. He didn’t really hang out with anyone from school. He didn’t really do anything in school. He was a loner, and he’d had maybe three conversations with Brad, the guy who lived here.

  “Dude.”

  He glanced over to where Trey was staring and immediately saw what he was looking at.

  Kaylee Andersen and Jenna Scott were standing near the back door, sipping on drinks and looking incredible.

  Trey had a thing for Kaylee, had ever since they were in junior high, but Kaylee had never given him the time of day. She was way above Trey, and way above Clay too.

  “All I ever wanted was a chance with her. Just one chance.”

  “If she came over here and talked to you, would you seriously be able to do more than drool and stare at her?” Clay asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Fuck you. I guess I could always go for her second,” he added thoughtfully.

  “Jenna?”

  “Yeah, she’s not Kaylee, but she’s the closest I could get, and she’s looking hot tonight. She’s wanting someone, judging by that outfit.”

  Trey was right about Jenna looking different. Kaylee always looked amazing, and she always dressed to kill. She was Jenna’s complete opposite, but it was Jenna who had his eye at the moment.

  “Seriously, man, just because she’s put on a skirt doesn’t mean she’s looking to have your nasty ass after her.”

  “And you think she’s looking for you?”

  “I’m saying a skirt doesn’t mean she’s looking for anyone. It just means she put a skirt on.”

  “Would you do her?”

  “Come on—”

  “If she came on to you right now, are you saying you wouldn’t do her?”

  He just rolled his eyes and finished off his beer. Sometimes Trey could get a little tiresome with his obsession with sex and hooking up.

  He’d known both Kaylee and Jenna since the third grade
, ever since he’d moved to town. Kaylee had always been the pretty one, the popular and the perky one, but there was something about Jenna that had always made him wonder about her.

  She was pretty, but she never seemed to think she was. The outfit she was wearing looked amazing on her, but he was used to seeing her in casual and loose-fitting clothes. Her hair was hanging loose around her face in long waves when she normally pulled it back in a ponytail, and she’d put makeup on. He couldn’t ever remember her wearing makeup. She also looked happy. Her blue eyes were sparkling, and her smile was real.

  He wondered what was different about her.

  * * * *

  “Check your three o’clock,” Kaylee said as she grinned at Jenna. “No, your other three.”

  “That would be my nine and your three.” Jenna grinned as she looked to her left and saw Clay Reynolds and Trey Menders standing under a tree looking at them.

  “He’s been drooling after me since junior high.” Kaylee giggled and looked back at her. “Not my type, but maybe Clay.”

  “Really? You have a thing for Clay?” Jenna asked casually.

  “Maybe. He’s hot. Way hotter than most of our class, and he’s mysterious.”

  “He’s not that mysterious; we’ve known him for ten years.”

  “But we don’t know him, know him. All we know is he moved here with his mom when we were kids, she’s a waitress, and he’s a bad boy.”

  “What exactly makes him a bad boy?” Jenna asked as she glanced over at Clay. He was still staring at them, and it appeared as if he was looking at her. But he couldn’t be, could he?

  “He’s from the wrong side of the tracks—”

  “His grandparents hardly live on the wrong side of town.”

  “He lives with his grandparents and his mom. He never does anything in school. He’s always working, and he has, like, one friend.”

  “And that makes him a bad boy?” Jenna rolled her eyes.

  “He got arrested.”

  “Yeah, but he was never charged. It was obviously a mistake.”

  “So they say, but he was arrested. He’s got street cred.”

  Jenna just shook her head and smiled. Kaylee certainly had a different way of looking at things.