Hooked Read online

  She felt as though he was wanting to connect with her emotionally, not just physically. It was as if he wanted to really see her as a person, not just as the body he was fucking.

  “Oh God, oh my God!” she gasped as she felt something different happening. The friction was incredible, but there was also a pressure she’d never felt before.

  He kept his eyes on her as he moved a little faster, grinding against her a little more as he did.

  “Oh fuck…oh my God, Clay!” she cried out as her body tightened and suddenly contracted. It was the first orgasm she’d ever felt from having someone inside her, and it rocked her.

  “God, Jenna!” He buried his face in her neck and started to really pound into her, pushing through her contracting and writhing body as she clung to him, screaming for him to keep fucking her.

  He jerked against her, her name on his lips as his entire body went stiff for a moment. Then he collapsed on her.

  She just clung to him, wrapping her arms and legs around him as her body jerked and pulsed against and around him. It was taking some time for the pleasure to fade, and she was momentarily knocked senseless.

  “Jenna?” he asked as he pulled back, looking down at her with a satisfied but still slightly concerned look.

  “I’m good,” she managed, her voice breaking slightly as she finally felt the last of the pleasure leave her. “I’ve never felt that.”

  “Really?” He grinned down at her.

  “No. Wow.” She shook her head and smiled up at him. “Wow.”

  He bent his head and kissed her. It was a sweet kiss. It almost seemed to seal in the intimacy they’d shared. When he rolled off her she just sighed and cuddled up against him as he pulled her close.

  “That was amazing,” she said honestly as she glanced up at him.

  “It really was.” He nodded, grinning down at her.

  “Who would have thought my car breaking down would lead to us being in bed together, again.” She laughed.

  “Tough break for you. Lucky break for me.” He laughed along with her.

  “Lucky for us. I definitely think I got the better part of the deal here.”

  “I’d say we’re about even.” He grinned and leaned down to give her a kiss. “I definitely benefited as much as you.”

  She chuckled and saw him glance around.

  “What’s up?”

  “Do you have a clock in here?”

  “Yeah. I think we knocked it over.” She laughed and pointed to the night table. “It might be on the other side of the table.”

  “You’re closer.” He gave her a teasing smile.

  “You’re the one who wants to know the time.”

  “I think it was your clothes that knocked it over.”

  “You threw them.”

  “You didn’t complain last night.”

  She just laughed and shook her head. She rolled over and leaned over the side of the bed. She had to pull herself off the bed a bit as she reached for the cord she saw sticking out from around the night table.

  “It was my boot.” She grinned as she climbed back into the bed and looked at him. “And it’s almost eleven.”

  “I don’t mean to be a dick, but I have to go. I have to work today.”

  “Are you going to be late?”

  “No, I’m on the one ’til seven shift. But I should get home and check on Nan. I never told her I wasn’t coming home.”

  “Will she be upset?”

  “Nah, she’ll be happy for me.” He grinned. “I just want to make sure she took her morning meds before I go to work.”

  She smiled as he gave her another kiss. He really was a great guy. “You’re definitely not a dick, Clay. You’re a good person.”

  He smiled. “I try to be.”

  “You are.”

  She watched as he climbed out of bed and disappeared out the door. She heard water running for a moment, and when it stopped he came back to the room and started to hunt down his clothes.

  “You don’t have to get up. As long as you don’t mind me leaving the door unlocked when I leave,” he said as he pulled on his jeans.

  “I have to get up anyway.” She shrugged and sat up. “I can’t just languish in bed all day, as awesome as that would be.”

  He laughed and pulled on his shirt as she stood and went to her closet. As she was pulling out her robe she couldn’t help but notice how comfortable she was. She was standing in front of him completely naked, but she didn’t feel ashamed or self-conscious. Last night she’d felt terrible about her body and how she looked, but right now she was comfortable and felt beautiful.

  “What are you grinning about?” he asked as she did up the belt on her robe. When she looked over she saw he was already dressed and just stepping into his shoes.

  “Nothing, just something silly.”

  “Now you’ve got me really curious.”

  “Last night I was feeling self-conscious.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve put on some weight. I’m not the same person I was four years ago—”

  “You look amazing. You’ve filled out, but you haven’t really changed that much,” he interrupted.

  “Thank you.” She felt her face grow hot.

  “Do you still feel that way?” he asked as he picked up his coat.

  “No, I don’t.” She spotted his wallet on the floor and went to pick it up. “I feel good right now, and you might need this.”

  He laughed and took the wallet from her. “Could be important, and I’m glad you feel good about yourself. You should.”

  She smiled as he gave her another kiss. Together they headed out of her room and down to the door. Before he left he gave her one last kiss and told her he’d call her. She was about to ask how he had her number when she remembered she’d given it to him at the garage.

  As she closed the door behind him, she didn’t know what to do. She was moving in six days. Her parents were coming home in two, and she had a million things to do between now and leaving.

  She didn’t have a lot of time to see him. She didn’t know if he even wanted to see her or if he was just being kind by promising to call. As of Monday they wouldn’t have any privacy, and she had no idea what his schedule was like.

  She went into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. She’d worry about Clay if he called. Right now she had to make a list of all the things she had to do before her parents came home. She was really grateful they had a second car and had left her the keys.

  * * * *

  Clay did call her that night, and he came over again. This time he brought a box of condoms with him.

  They spent the evening and most of the next day in bed. She’d never felt such a hunger for someone before, and he seemed to want her just as much. He also had incredible recovery time. They made love three times during the night and twice the next day. She was pretty sure they would have gone again if she hadn’t started to get sore.

  It wasn’t until they were dressed and heading downstairs to get something to eat that he saw the folded moving boxes she’d piled in the kitchen.

  “Why do you have so many boxes?” he asked as he looked at them. “You putting stuff in storage?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m moving.”

  “What?” He stared at her. “When?”

  “Friday.”

  “As in five days from now Friday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow, okay.” He shook his head. “Care to explain?”

  “I’m moving to the city.”

  “Don’t you need a job to move there?”

  “I found one.”

  “But you said—”

  “Not in my field. At a plumbing company.”

  He just stared at her.

  “Reception.”

  “When do you start?”

  “Next Monday.”

  “
Wow, okay. You didn’t think of telling me this?”

  “Honestly, I didn’t think you were actually going to call last night.”

  “And when I did?”

  “I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

  “So you would have just left without telling me?”

  “I was trying to figure out how to bring it up.”

  “So that’s it? You’re going to leave? I thought we were starting something here.”

  “I know. I did too.”

  “So you make a habit of starting things when you’re moving away?”

  “No, I just mean I thought it would be a one-night thing. Then when it wasn’t I didn’t know what to think.”

  “I’m feeling kind of blindsided again, Jen.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  “So what does this mean?”

  “It means we have the worst timing ever.”

  “Yeah, we certainly do.”

  “Do you really think it’s the best time to start anything? I mean, are we really in the right place?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You seem like you’re still in a bit of a rebound.”

  “Maybe a little,” he said after a pause.

  “And I’m messed up right now. I have a million things I have to work on. I have a lot of shit I have to figure out, and my life is a mess. I’m moving two hours away, and I have to get my life and myself in order before I can even think about starting something.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Are you angry?”

  “Not angry, just surprised. You kind of had me thinking something different. I didn’t think this was just a final weekend fuck for you.”

  “It wasn’t.” She shook her head. “It might have started that way, but I didn’t mean for it to keep being that.” She sighed. “I know I led you on, and that was wrong. I’m sorry I hurt you. It was never my intention.”

  “Yeah.” He looked away for a moment. “I’ve got a lot of shit going on right now too. I work a lot. I have my Nan to take care of. Things aren’t settled for me either.”

  “I’m sorry, Clay.”

  “Yeah, me too.” He shrugged and gave her a strained smile. “Guess we should just call it what it was.”

  “And what was it?” she asked, worried about what he might be thinking of her.

  “Bad timing.”

  “Yeah, really bad timing.”

  “So, I should go. I have stuff to do, and I imagine you have tons.”

  “I do.”

  “Okay, well. I guess I’ll go.”

  “Do you want to maybe meet up again?” she asked hopefully before he could turn away from her. “I don’t leave until Friday.”

  “I’m working evenings next week. I won’t have a lot of time.”

  “Oh okay. My parents will be home tomorrow anyway, so…” She trailed off. She’d hoped he would want to see her one last time, even if they couldn’t hook up. It looked like she was wrong.

  “And my grandma’s always home.” He nodded and stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Your parts should come in tomorrow.”

  “What? Oh my car.” It took her a moment to follow the shift in the conversation.

  “Yeah. You can pick it up on Tuesday after seven. If it’s not done, the garage will call and set up a different time.”

  She noticed how he said the garage would call, not he would call.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “Sure.” He jingled his keys slightly in his hand. “Well, I should go.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  He didn’t try to kiss her. He just gave her a tight smile and turned on his heel. She watched him as he went to the door and left the house. As soon as the door closed behind him her chest tightened, and she had to push down the tears that sprang into her eyes.

  She’d hurt him. She could see that plain as day. She hoped he realized how much saying that had hurt her. It might seem that she’d used him and lied to him, but she’d never set out to do either.

  When they’d been lying in bed and talking she’d let herself forget she had to leave. She’d given herself over to the moment and had just enjoyed the closeness and the conversation. She should have told him sooner. She definitely should have told him before he saw the boxes, but she’d been scared.

  She felt something for him. She was sure with time the feelings could have become very strong. If she wasn’t leaving she would have wanted to try, to see if things might have worked between them. But their timing was off.

  She’d tried to think of a way to still see him after she’d left. She’d only be two hours away, but they’d both be working some weekends so seeing him would be hard. Neither had any privacy here, and he was rebounding while she was trying to get her life in order.

  Neither of them was ready. It wouldn’t have been fair to either of them to set up something that was bound to fail.

  She’d hoped they could part as friends, but friends didn’t hide things so she’d fucked that one up.

  * * * *

  Clay glanced at the time on his phone and sighed. It was nine o’clock. The garage was closed, and Jenna would have picked up her car hours ago.

  He’d told her seven because his shift had been over at six. He hadn’t wanted to see her.

  He was hurt. When he’d asked her out on Friday it had been to see if things were cool between them and if she was okay. When things had gone so well he’d thought they could be friends. When they’d ended up in her bed and had the most incredible sex of his life he’d thought maybe they could have more.

  It had started as a hookup, but when they’d made love the next morning things had changed. He’d felt connected to her, and he’d wanted to explore that connection. He’d felt something with her he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he’d fooled himself into thinking she wanted more too.

  He’d been a fool and a chump, again. He’d let his emotions out, and she’d slammed the door in his face. He didn’t doubt her when she said she’d felt something too, but she’d known the entire time that nothing would happen beyond the weekend.

  He sighed and went to his laptop. He needed to distract himself. He opened the lid and booted it up, waiting as it chugged and whirred a bit as it did. When the home screen finally opened he saw he had a notification on his social media site.

  He clicked on it and saw a Friend request from Jenna.

  He stared at it for a long time. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be friends with her. It was that he didn’t think he could be. She would figure her shit out, start her life, and meet someone. It would show up on his feed, and he’d have to see it.

  He didn’t want to see her happy with someone else. He didn’t want to see her great new life while he was trapped here.

  He moved his cursor over and clicked Decline. He might change his mind after he’d had a chance to process and deal with everything, but right now it was too soon. He exited out of the site and opened up a video game. He was in the mood to fly around in an animated plane and shoot computer opponents out of the sky. Hopefully it would distract him, and he could stop thinking about how Jenna was moving in three days. He would probably never see her again.

  Chapter 13

  THE Wedding Weekend

  2014 –The Working World

  “Ow!” Jenna tried not to yelp as the seamstress stabbed her with a needle for the fifth time since she’d put on her dress.

  “Sorry.”

  “Stop shifting and sighing and you won’t get poked,” Jenna’s mother said, grinning at her from the chair across from the fitting room.

  “I’m not.”

  “You are.” Her mother grinned again. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She sighed and gave her mother a look when she realized what she’d just done. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “I can imagine. We’ve been planning this for over a year. It’s finally all c
oming together.”

  “A wedding is just like prom or like grad. You build up to it for a long time, expecting it to be perfect and wonderful and magical. Then you have a big party and the day is over, and you realize it really wasn’t everything you hoped it would be and you’re disappointed.”

  “You sound like you’ve been married before,” the seamstress said as she looked up at her.

  “Nope, just observant.”

  “It’s not just a day. It’s the start of something wonderful. It’s the day you pledge your life to someone else’s, and he pledges to you. It’s the joining and creation of a family,” her mom said, shaking her head slightly.

  “Maybe in your time. Now it seems like an excuse to have a really big party and spend way too much money.”

  “Only if you let it be, which we haven’t. Well, not completely.” Her mother smiled as the seamstress stepped back. “Oh Jenna. You look beautiful.”

  “I should be able to get the alterations done for tomorrow. I only have to take in a few seams. You’re one of the few women I’ve seen who hasn’t changed size after buying their dress.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” She turned and looked at herself in the mirror.

  “It’s a good thing, sweetie. You’re radiant.”

  She watched as her mother came to stand behind her. She felt like an Amazon standing on the fitting stool while her mother stood on the floor next to her, but as she looked at herself she did feel pretty.

  The dress was beautiful, and it flattered her figure. The skirt was long and flowing while still hugging her curves. The bodice was beaded and had a modest sweetheart neckline, and the jeweled belt really set off the entire look.

  “Hopefully the next time we’re in a store like this, it’ll be your wedding dress we’re getting fitted,” her mom said slyly as she looked at her in the mirror.

  “Unless Dan divorces Ellie and remarries before I find someone, I think that’s likely.” She grinned as she smoothed her hand over the shimmery blue fabric of her skirt. “I have to hand it to my new sister-in-law. She could have made me look like a peacock, but this dress is really nice.”