by Hart, Rebel
“He—hey, there. Hi. Hi, Clint.”
He grinned. “Hi, Rae.”
I cleared my throat. “How are you doing?”
He nodded. “Been better. Yourself?”
“I’m getting along.”
“Study session time, I take it?”
“Huh?”
He nodded toward the door. “At school. Study session time?”
I snickered. “Oh. Yes. It is. I need a pick-me-up.”
“Don’t blame you. Sleep’s hard to come by nowadays.”
“Yeah. I suppose so.”
The cashier sighed. “Can I get you anything?”
I whipped around and saw there was no one else standing in front of me. Just an impatient woman behind the cash register softly glaring at me. I scurried up to the front and placed my order. An iced caramel macchiato. With an extra shot.
Then Clint leaned over. “And I’ll have a large rosewater and caramel coffee. Put it on the same ticket.”
I looked over at him. “You don’t have to do that.”
But he didn’t answer me.
Instead, he simply handed the girl his card, paying for my drink without so much as a glance down at me. I didn’t know whether to be thankful or frustrated, irritated or flattered. Clint ushered me over to the side where we waited for our drinks. And I watched as the girl behind the cash register followed Clint with her eyes.
Making me very jealous.
“So, how’s school?”
His voice pulled me from my jealous trance. “You’d know if you were there.”
He shrugged. “Finding a place to live is a bit more important right now.”
“So your father’s really selling the house?”
“Got a buyer and everything. I’ll be out on my ass in a few weeks, if I can’t come up with something. Oh, those are our coffees.”
I reached for mine. “Thanks.”
Clint took a sip of his. “Anyway, it is what it is.”
“Will you please let me help?”
“There’s nothing you can do to help. It’s just a shit scenario.”
“All I’m asking you to do is let me back in. We don’t have to date. We don’t have to see one another. Just let me help you. When have I proven to you that I can’t help?”
“This isn’t your issue to deal with anymore, Rae.”
I sighed. “Then why passive-aggressively bring it up like that?”
He paused. “What?”
“If it wasn’t my issue and you didn’t want me worried about it, then you wouldn't have brought it up at all. But you did. Which tells me you at least want to talk about it. So I’m here. You’ve already bought me coffee. Why don’t we sit, or take a walk, and at least talk about it?”
His eyes danced between mine. “Are you taking a psychology class or something?”
“Michael is.”
“Ah.”
“That’s beside the point, though. Are you going to let me back in long enough to help you? Or are you going to silently suffer and then proclaim the world’s against you?”
He grinned. “Did you just call me out?”
“Yes. I fully and completely did. But only because I want to help.”
“Rae, it’s just—”
My glare shut him up. “You don’t get to make choices for me, Clinton. If you push me away one more time, it’s because you want to. Not because you’re protecting me. Because the only thing you’ve caused me is heartache and sleepless nights. Don’t you dare fool yourself on that.”
And with a heavy sigh, I watched sorrow rush behind his eyes.
“Want to take a walk with me?”
I nodded. “I’m more than happy to. Come on. You lead the way.”
17
Clinton
I opened the door for Rae. “I don’t really know where to start.”
She walked out the door. “Well, you can start from the beginning.”
“You already know the beginning. Kind of.”
“Then, start from what happened after the last time I came to your house.”
“You mean where you almost killed yourself jumping over the porch railing?”
She shrugged. “I would’ve done anything to get away from you in that moment.”
Her words struck me hard. “I’m sorry.”
She waved her hand in the air. “It’s in the past. Talk to me, Clint. What’s going on? What did Cecilia want to talk to you so badly about?”
I sighed. “Ah. That.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“I mean, it’s not. But it also doesn’t shock me. Cecilia finally got in touch with Dad. He confirmed that he was selling the house. That he already had a buyer for it. And that I wasn’t welcome to come with them to their next destination.”
She stopped in her tracks. “What?”
I nodded slowly. “Yep.”
“Wait, can he actually do that? Just… abandon you like that?”
“I’m eighteen. I’m a legal adult. He doesn’t have to take me anywhere.”
“That can’t be right. Clint, that just can’t be right.”
I sighed. “Well, it’s the reason why I haven’t been at school. I’ve been here every morning, giving the illusion I’m at school in case Dad randomly stops by the house.”
“But Cecilia knows you aren’t in school right now?”
I nodded. “She does. We aren’t talking about it. But she does.”
“Why are you coming here?”
I started walking again. “I’m using their computers to do some research. Figure out my options. Find my next moves.”
Rae walked alongside me. “Have you come up with anything substantial?”
“I mean, not really. Some working theories. There are states where, if I live there and declare residency, community college is free. But that’s assuming I can get out of school with the grades I need. Which we both know won’t happen.”
“You never know, Clint. If you get back to school and let me help you, we can easily ace your classes. That’ll bring your GPA up.”
“Yeah, but even if I did that, I’m not sure more school is my route. I hate school. I can’t stand it. I’ll need money, and quickly.”
She nodded. “So what kind of jobs can you get? There isn’t much out there for someone without a high school diploma. Which means you’ll still have to come back to school and graduate.”
I paused. “How did you know that?”
And when she blushed, my heart went out to her.
“Who did you ask?”
She shook her head. “It was nothing. Just a passing question.”
“Rae, what happened?”
“Just a rough conversation with the guidance counselor. That’s all.”
I reached out for her, stopping her in her tracks. “What did you say to the counselor?”
“Nothing that implicated anything was going on. It was just a passing question. Nothing more. Okay?”
“Are you sure?”
She scoffed. “Do I look like I’m lying to you?”
I searched her eyes. The last thing I needed was for someone at the school to be breathing down me and my father’s necks. Things were bad enough. I didn’t need them to get any worse.
“Why were you in the counselor’s office?”
Rae shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.”
“Well, maybe that’ll be our next conversation.”
I sighed. “You want me to talk, but you won’t talk?”
“The focus isn’t on me right now. We can put the focus on me after we’re done with this conversation. Okay?”
“You promise?”
She gazed into my eyes. “With all my heart.”
The look in her eye tugged at my gut. At my soul, really. How she still had care for me in her eyes, I’d never know. Rae was a mystery. Unlike any person I’d ever met in my life. And I had no idea how the fuck she still cared about me. I wanted to take her in my arms. I wanted to
kiss those lips of hers. I wanted to taste her coffee on the tip of her tongue and erase any fear or pain or doubt from her mind.
I still care about you, too. Can you see it?
“Clint?”
I blinked. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s fine. Just—traffic’s picking up. So we better cross the road now.”
Without thinking, I took her hand. We jogged across the intersection, and the heat of her skin against mine sent tingles up and down my spine. But once we touched down on the side of the road, I dropped her hand. I couldn't stand to hold it. I didn’t have a right to hold it.
Even though I wanted to thread our fingers together and lead her onward.
“What else is going on?”
Rae’s voice forced me to speak. “I mean, that’s really it. I got in contact with a lawyer. You know, that one I went to talk to after my accident?”
“What did he have to say?”
I shrugged. “He gave me some good advice. Apparently, many of the things in that house are mine, though I didn’t purchase them. He said something about ‘common use,’ or something like that. You know, the couches and fine china. Since we all used it in the house, it all belongs to us. Just like he can’t force me to replace it if I break it, he can’t sue me if I sell it.”
“So you’re thinking about getting money that way.”
“Not thinking about it. Doing it. I put some things up for sale last night. Took pictures with my phone. That’s the reason I was at the coffee shop today. I was meeting various people with things that already sold.”
She looked over at me. “So you’ve got some money in your pocket now.”
“More than ‘some money.’ Let’s just say I’m itching to get back to the house so I can stash it away somewhere. It’s making me nervous to carry it around.”
She smiled. “I mean, I hate that you’re having to go to those kinds of lengths. But I’m glad it’s working out for you.”
“It sucks, but it’ll give me what I need to take my next steps.”
“How much are you hoping to get?”
“If I can sell everything I want to? Three hundred thousand.”
“Holy shit! Are you serious?”
I chuckled. “I don’t expect to sell all of it, though. That’s a lot of money in a small amount of time. I’d be fine with even a third of that.”
“Do you mind me asking how much you have right now?”
“Including what’s in my bank account? About twenty grand.”
Her jaw dropped open. “Wow. Then, yes. We need to get you to a bank or something.”
“Not a bank.”
“Why not? Don’t you have a bank account?”
“I do, but my father can access it at any time.”
She paused. “Wait, your father still has access to your bank account?”
I nodded. “He does. I’m working on that, though. I placed a call today to a completely separate bank. I wanted to open up an account and I’ve already got an electronic transfer in the works. Come tomorrow morning, the account I have right now should have all my funds transferred into this new account my father can’t touch. Then I’ll put this money in my account.”
“Once you know your father can’t access it.”
“Exactly.”
She puffed out her cheeks. “It makes me sick you even have to go to these lengths.”
“My father’s a control freak. Any amount of control I can rip away from him puts me in a much better position.”
“Is it bad that I kind of want to wring his neck?”
I chuckled. “You and me both.”
I worried that being seen with me would be bad for Rae. But she didn’t seem to give a shit at all. We got to talking so much that we weren’t paying attention to where we were walking. It wasn’t until the smell of her neighborhood caught my nose and I realized I’d walked her to her doorstep that I understood why I had aimlessly walked here with her.
Because for days, all I’d wanted was to come over and lie down with her.
“I probably should’ve walked you back to school, huh?”
She snickered. “I’m kind of over school right now.”
I furrowed my brow. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just not resonating with me right now.”
“Rae, you can’t let your—”
“I know, I know. Clint, my grades aren’t slipping. I’m not behind on work. In the whole of my high school career, I’ve had four absences. I’m good. I promise.”
I sighed. “Okay, then.”
“I just don’t want to be bad for you. And I feel like the more I’m around you, the worse for you I become.”
She opened her front door. “I mean, if you want to get technical, none of this shit started happening until you broke up with me. So, I guess I have an argument for how not being with you is bad for me.”
“Do you always have an argument for everything?”
“When people try to dictate what’s best for me instead of letting me do that? Yes. Come on in.”
I stood my ground. “I’m not sure if that’s smart.”
Rae snickered. “Stop denying yourself what you want and get the hell inside. No one’s home.”
“Which is the issue. I’m bad news, Rae. And the more wrapped up in me you get, the more of my life you get with it.”
“And how is that bad? When did I ever give you the impression I didn’t want to be wrapped up in it? You do get that, right? You do understand that you don’t get to decide what’s bad and what’s good for me. Right?”
“I just want to keep you—”
Her face turned red. “Damn it, Clint. Cut the shit for a second! I want to be with you. Really be with you. How the hell is that a bad thing? You aren’t your father. I know you think you are, but you aren’t. You aren’t a culmination of the bad things that have happened to you. You're just you. Why can’t you see that? Why are you punishing me because you can’t see that?”
I stood there, dumbfounded as she reached for my hand. She took it and threaded our fingers together. An action I hadn’t had the balls to do myself. She softly tugged me inside. And after she closed it, she held my hand tightly, physically refusing to let go as I looked down into her gorgeous eyes.
Eyes I had missed.
“You’re all I want, Clint. And whatever life comes with you, I’ll weather it. Because that’s what people do when they care about each other. And I care about you. I always will.”
My eyes danced between hers. I felt so shell-shocked by her words that I couldn't move. She rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips softly against mine. I froze. I didn’t pucker my lips or flinch as her hand slid up my arms. I tried to stand my ground for as long as possible. I tried to resist her warmth and her loving demeanor and her perfect words.
Until I couldn't any longer.
“Just let me have you. That’s all I’m asking,” she whispered.
Settling my hands against her hips, I backed her against the door as my tongue invaded her mouth.
18
Raelynn
My God, how I missed him. His kiss. His touch. His forceful nature. And when his hands fell to my hips, I opened my mouth for him. I felt his tongue slide across the roof of my mouth and I could have cried.
He ripped my shirt off and kissed down my neck. I managed to slip off his jacket and wondered where his leather one had gotten off to. Clothes came off in a flurry as his lips slid down to my chest. Kissing and sucking. His teeth sank into my skin and marked me as my hands slid through his hair.
It had grown so long, and I loved it.
I slid my hands down his back. He buried his face into my cleavage. His warmth encompassed me as his hands slid up and down the backs of my legs. I panted with need for him. I had to have him. And as he picked me up, he slung me over his shoulder, my eyes level with his lower back as he carried me into the living room.
But not before cracking his hand against my ass.
“Clint!”
He growled as he tossed me to the couch. I watched him with wild eyes as he slid out of the rest of his clothes. Those rippling muscles came into view before he ravaged my body, pulling off the rest of my clothes. I was bare, naked underneath him as his lips crashed back to mine. The heady feeling I got from his body settling against mine turned my brain to mush. I raked my fingernails across his skin. He kissed down my stomach before shifting me how he wanted me. And with my back melting into the couch cushions, he knelt between my legs.
Before diving into my body.
I moaned. “Clint, yes.”
His tongue parted me and my back arched. My hands twisted into his hair as he stroked me to a constant high. He kept me on the edge. Teasing me. Filling me with his fingers. Stroking those wondrous parts of me I had ached for him to touch. My legs wrapped around his head. My heels dug into his shoulders. He drank from my fountain as I poured forth for him, ravenously bucking against his face. Feeling his stubble against my lower lips. Feeling his hands meander up my curves until he massaged my breasts.
“Clint. Clint. Clint. Clint.”
His name fell from my lips like a desperate prayer. And as my body locked out, I spiraled into a darkened abyss. I felt like I was floating and sinking at the same time. Light burst behind my eyes before being swallowed up by the darkness. My toes curled as he buried his tongue between my lower lips and my nails raked along his scalp. He held me to him. Drank every ounce of arousal I offered him.
And when I collapsed, heaving for air, he kissed my inner thighs.
A trail of wetness followed his lips as he kissed up my body. My arms fell to the side, unable to move. I shivered with anticipation, puckering my lip as I waited for him to press against me once more, pick me up and mold me however he wanted, so long as it made him happy.
But he didn’t kiss me with the fury he did before.
His lips softly captured mine and I tasted myself on him. He wrapped his arms around me and effortlessly picked me up. He swung me around, settling himself on the couch as I straddled him. I sank against him, resting my naked body against his muscles. My curves dripped into the divots of his strength. I gasped for air against the crook of his neck. His hands massaged my back. My thighs, my hips, until I was strong enough to lift my head.