Hooked Read online

  Clay was handsome, there was no denying it. He was tall and broad and built like an athlete, but as far as she knew he didn’t play any sports. His nearly black hair was on the longer side and thick, and even as she looked up and caught his eye she could see just how dark they were.

  After they started high school she’d never really talked with him, never had a reason to, but she’d noticed him for as long as she could remember.

  There was something about him that was different. He seemed to be two people sometimes. Some days he was outgoing and friendly, and then others he was quiet and almost hostile.

  He was different from most guys in their class—he was interesting.

  “It’s tempting, but I have my eye on someone else.” Kaylee shrugged.

  “A certain someone who plays on the basketball team, perhaps?”

  “Maybe.” She grinned. “But I don’t see him anywhere.”

  “He’ll show. He’s been dropping enough hints he wanted you here. He’ll show.”

  “Hopefully, or I might be making friends with a certain bad boy.”

  She just gave Kaylee a distracted smile and glanced over at Clay. He was talking with Trey and wasn’t looking at them anymore. She couldn’t really picture him and Kaylee together, but if Kaylee went after him then they would be.

  She didn’t know how she felt about that. She had no claim on Clay, but for some reason it was bothering her how casually Kaylee was talking about hooking up with him. She’d never mentioned wanting him before, and Jenna hated to admit there was a part of her that didn’t want Kaylee to get him. She wanted Clay to be the one guy Kaylee kept at a distance.

  “Here.” Kaylee shoved a drink into Jenna’s hand and took her empty cup, breaking her free from her thoughts. “You might not want to fuck anyone tonight, but we’re having a good time.”

  Jenna just laughed and drank down some of her drink, trying to forget about Clay and how he might end up being Kaylee’s flavor of the night.

  Chapter 2

  The Party

  JENNA looked into her cup, swirling the contents around as she sighed.

  Kaylee was talking with her current crush, the captain of the basketball team. She was flirting and laughing and had turned the charm up to one thousand, and now Jenna was bored.

  She didn’t really have many friends outside Kaylee, and she didn’t see anyone she would normally talk to around. She was used to being the third wheel while Kaylee flirted and had fun, but tonight it was depressing her.

  She would find a bathroom. That would at least give her something to do. She shot back the rest of her drink and put her cup down on the ground at her feet. After a moment she picked her cup back up and held it loosely at her side. She felt bad littering, especially since it wasn’t her house.

  “I’m going to the bathroom.” She tapped Kaylee on the shoulder, waiting for her to acknowledge she’d heard her. “Kayl, hello…”

  “Yeah, bathroom, have fun,” Kaylee said, not taking her eyes off the captain in front of her.

  “Yeah, a blast,” Jenna muttered, rolling her eyes.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, ’kay?” Kaylee glanced over at her quickly. “I’ll call you.”

  “Sure.” She sighed. This wasn’t the first time she’d left a party alone because Kaylee found better company.

  Still gripping her empty cup in her hand, she turned and started to make her way into the house. She skirted around the many groups of people and several very involved couples as she navigated her way into the house. She found a plastic bag to toss her cup into and headed up to the second floor. She had no idea which door could be the bathroom, but by the cluster of people all grouped around one of them she assumed that was it.

  “Is this the bathroom?” she asked the closest girl. She couldn’t place her for the life of her, but the girl just nodded and went back to waiting.

  Jenna sighed. She didn’t feel like waiting, and she didn’t even have to pee. She would just go home. She was just turning to head back down the stairs when her foot caught on something and she lost her balance.

  She felt herself pitching forward and groped blindly for something, anything, to grab a hold of to stop herself from toppling headfirst down the stairs. Her adrenaline rose, her stomach felt as though it dropped down to her knees, and she shrieked as panic took over.

  She was falling. She was falling down the stairs, and she just squeezed her eyes closed as her mind went blank.

  She hit something solid, but it was a soft solid. It was also upright and holding her.

  “Jenna? Are you okay?”

  She heard the voice and cracked her eyes open, and the first thing she saw was black material. It took a second before she could get her wits about her enough to glance up, and when she did she saw who was holding her.

  “Are you hurt?” Clay asked as he shifted her in his arms.

  He was holding her against his body with his arms wrapped around her waist. Her feet were dangling off the floor, and he didn’t seem to be in any rush to put her down.

  “I think so,” she stammered as she realized she also had her arms around him. She didn’t even remember grabbing him.

  “How much have you had to drink?” he asked with a grin as he held her.

  “Not that much.” Her voice was a little shaky and a little breathy. She was still trying to force her adrenaline back down and relax her body.

  “And you still tried to fly down the stairs?” he teased.

  “I tripped.”

  “On what?”

  “Probably nothing.” She smiled up at him. “I do that a lot.”

  He laughed and turned his body as he shifted her slightly, letting her slide down his body as he put her down on the step he was standing on.

  As soon as her right foot touched the floor a sharp pain exploded in her ankle, and she cried out and lifted her foot instinctively. As she did she was tossed off balance again and started to tip over.

  “Whoa, there.” He grabbed her a little tighter and pulled her against his body again. “Are you hurt?”

  “My ankle.” She nodded. “I twisted it.”

  “Good thing you’re not wearing heels. You’d be dead ten times over by now,” he joked and shifted so he was standing beside her with his arms around her waist. “Hold on to me. We’ll get you off that foot for a few minutes and see how bad it is.”

  “Thanks.” She leaned on him gratefully and let him help her up the stairs.

  There were five doors in the hallway, and he helped her over to the closest one.

  “Busy!” two voices called out when he knocked.

  “Fuck off!” more than two voices shouted when he tried the second.

  “Of course.” He closed the third one, it was a linen closet.

  “Here’s hoping.” He knocked on the last door before the bathroom and when there was no answer, he cracked it open. “It’s free.”

  She sighed as he helped her into the room. It looked to be a spare room of sorts. There was a bed and a dresser and a night table, but not much else. There was nothing personal in it other than a well-worn quilt on the bed.

  Clay locked the door as he helped her inside and then brought her over to the bed.

  “So, you pretend you’re Superman often?” he asked with a grin as he sat with her and motioned for her to put her foot up on his lap.

  “Only when I’m walking.” She smiled and shifted so she could lift her leg, making sure to push her skirt down so she wasn’t flashing him.

  “Clumsy?”

  “Very.” She nodded and sighed as he pulled off her shoe and put his hand over her ankle.

  “Does that hurt?” he asked, pushing down on her foot and twisting it gently. “It doesn’t seem swollen.”

  “I think it’s more shock.” She shook her head. “It twinges, but none of that really hurts.”

  “Then I think you’ll be able to walk away from this one, literally.” He grinned.<
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  She laughed softly and noticed he didn’t move his hand or drop her leg.

  “We’ve known each other for ten years and never really talked,” he said as he looked at her.

  “Not true, we were friends in elementary school.” She smiled. “We sat next to each other in every class for four years.”

  “True.” He laughed. “Reynolds and Scott, I’d forgotten about that.”

  “And in the junior high classes we had together too.”

  “Very true, but we didn’t have all that many of those.” He looked at her. “And when we got to high school we didn’t have any.”

  “We took different courses.” She shrugged.

  “You mean we were in different streams.”

  She hadn’t wanted to say that, but he was right. She’d done AP courses and he hadn’t.

  “Well high school is over now.”

  “Almost.” He nodded. “Grad’s in two weeks.”

  “You going away to school?”

  “No.” He shook his head and looked away for a second.

  She didn’t know if he meant he wasn’t going, or he was going to the local community college. She didn’t want to ask which in case it was because he couldn’t get into school with his grades.

  “Are you taking a year off or something?” she asked, hoping it was a neutral enough question.

  “No, I’m starting classes in the fall.”

  “What are you going to take?”

  “Mechanic.”

  “They teach mechanics at college?”

  “Community college they do.” He nodded. “The one here does.”

  “Oh that’s cool. You like cars?”

  “Just because I can’t afford one doesn’t mean I don’t like them.”

  “I can’t afford one either. I wasn’t implying anything.”

  “Sorry. I get defensive sometimes.”

  “I remember that from junior high.” She smiled. “Hot and cold.”

  “What?”

  “You were always hot and cold. One minute you were fine and seemed happy, and the next you seemed like you were about to explode.”

  “That bad, huh?” He smirked.

  “It’s not bad. It’s just what I saw.”

  “What are you going to take?”

  “Communications.”

  “That sounds like a degree for someone who doesn’t know what they want in life.”

  “It pretty much is.” She was shocked to hear him say that—it was exactly what she’d been thinking.

  “So why take it?”

  “I need to take something. I have to get out of this town, away from everything, and I don’t really know what I want to do. This is pretty open, and it’ll give me opportunities when I get out.”

  “You have big plans to go to New York or LA? Make it in the big city?” He grinned at her.

  “Not at all.” She chuckled. “I don’t want to leave Indiana, but I do want to leave town and live in a bigger city. Not sure which, but I’ll figure it out after grad.”

  “So you don’t know what you want to do or where you want to do it, only that you don’t want to do it here.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “You must have some idea of what you want to do.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You look like you do.”

  “I honestly don’t. I don’t have a passion or anything I love to do or wish I could do.” She shrugged. “I have things I like but nothing I love. Nothing I’m particularly good at.”

  He just looked at her thoughtfully, and a moment later he started to rub his hand over her ankle. It wasn’t exactly a sexual move, but it wasn’t completely casual.

  “You’re looking forward to college?”

  “I’m ready for high school to be over.”

  “Aren’t these supposed to be the best years of our lives?”

  “I hope to God not, otherwise my future looks very bleak.” She grinned. “I think that’s true for people who peak in high school. Hopefully that’s not me.”

  “Me either.”

  His hand started to slide up her leg slightly so it was resting on her shin, just under her knee.

  “Am I overstepping?” he asked. His expression changed, and his eyes seemed to get even darker as he slid his gaze over her.

  “No.” She barely managed to get the word out.

  “And now?” he asked as he started to slide his hand up a little farther. His voice had taken on a husky tone, and he was absolutely smoldering. It was the only way she could describe him.

  “No,” she gasped when his hand moved past her knee and started to move up her inner thigh.

  “No?” He paused, a teasing smile on his lips.

  “I mean yes. I mean no, don’t stop.” She shook her head and tried to concentrate.

  She couldn’t believe Clay was looking at her like he was, that his hand was moving up her leg and he was giving her that smile.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he pushed his hand under the hem of her skirt and started to slide it up toward her thigh.

  “Fine.” Her head was almost spinning. He was inches from touching her panties, and she was frozen in place.

  “Do you want me to stop?” he asked as he paused.

  “No.”

  He twisted his hand at the last moment so he was gripping the top of her thigh, right next to her panty line.

  She just stared at him, her lips parted and her breathing fast. She felt a shiver run up her spine, and her body tightened as he just stared back at her.

  She’d never had anyone look at her like he was. She’d never felt her body respond to someone the way it was responding to Clay, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  She wasn’t completely inexperienced. She’d kissed a few guys, had messed around with one of them, but other than some kissing and a little dry humping she was innocent. Clay hadn’t really touched her other than putting his hand on her thigh, and she was so wet and wanting him it was almost frightening.

  “Jenna? How much did you have to drink? Tell me honestly.”

  “Only two. I swear.” She shook her head, trying to focus. “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to kiss you, but I’m not going to do anything more if you’re at all drunk.”

  “I’m not. I’m not lying to you.”

  “Do you want more, Jenna?”

  She loved the way he said her name, the slight lilt he put on it was so damn sexy and made her want him even more.

  “Yes.”

  He looked at her for a moment, almost as though he was trying to decide something. She just held still and stared at him, hoping he would see how much she wanted him to kiss her.

  After a moment he reached out with his free hand and shifted toward her, pulling her leg so it was pretty much draped over him. His grip on her thigh tightened, and his other hand gently cupped the side of her face.

  The contrast was so stark it almost confused her. His hand on her thigh was so strong and he was holding her tight enough she could feel his fingers digging into her skin slightly, but his other hand was feather-soft as he gently pressed it against her cheek.

  He was giving her that look again. His eyes showed her how much he wanted her. His gaze moved from her lips, to her eyes, and back again, and she unconsciously held her breath as she waited for him to move.

  Slowly, he leaned toward her, tilting her face to meet him. He paused when his lips were a hairbreadth from hers, and she just closed her eyes, inviting his kiss.

  His lips brushed against hers so softly she let out an involuntary sigh, and that sound seemed to inflame him. His lips became a little more pressing and insistent and when his tongue traced her bottom lip, she opened her mouth to him.

  A pulse moved through her body as his lips and tongue teased her. It felt as though he was touching her skin with electricity. She gasped as he forced her lips a little farther apart and deepened the kis
s even more.

  She’d never been kissed like this before. There was so much passion and need behind each and every move, and his hand started to shake against her cheek.

  “Jenna,” he groaned against her lips as he shifted the slightest bit closer to her.

  “Yes,” she gasped. She didn’t know if she was answering him or asking for more. The moment he shifted his hand on her thigh so it was gripping the inner part of her leg, right at the apex of her thighs, she knew she wanted more. “Yes!”

  With a groan he slid off the bed, dropping his hand from her cheek and pulling his lips from hers as he looked down at her. The look in his eyes was so hungry she could only nod to him.

  He pulled her leg so it opened up her body and he was able to move around it. He tightened his hand on her thigh as he moved between her legs. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her up against his body.

  She gasped as he moved her so she was mostly in the middle of the bed, taking care to fan her hair out above her head with his arm as did.

  The way he moved her, the way his strong body felt against hers, and how powerful and solid he was nearly overwhelmed her and when he pressed himself down over her and caught her lips under his, she nearly lost herself.

  His kiss was hard, hot, and insistent. He wasn’t being rough or forceful—more passionate—and it was the most involved kiss she’d ever had. She felt her body tighten, and a pressure started to build low in her abdomen. He moved one hand so it rested against her hair, and moved the other down her body and started to pull her skirt up.

  Everything was happening so fast, but it was exactly what she wanted. She gasped against his kiss as he pulled her leg up around his waist and ran his hand over her hip and thigh, grinding his pelvis against her slightly as he did.

  He groaned against her lips as he hooked his thumb over her panties and started to tug them down.

  “Oh God!” she gasped when he pulled away from her and stripped off her panties, tossing them aside as he pushed her skirt up around her waist. She didn’t even have a chance to feel exposed before he was on her again, slipping his hand under her shirt as he moved it toward her breast.

  “Oh my God, oh,” she cried out softly when he closed his hand over her breast, and he started to tease her nipple through the material of her bra.