Hooked (A New Adult Romance)

by Heart, Alison

  Then I started to feel depressed again.

  I knew I was just talking shit. I was desperate. But not for sex.

  For love.

  But there was no one to love me.

  “Hello? Earth to Ruby? Are you out there? Hello?”

  I blinked and looked up. Julie was dodging her head back and forth while waving both hands at me, trying to get my attention.

  “Where have you been?”

  “Uh, oh nowhere,” I stammered, falling back to Earth. “Sorry, lost in my thoughts, I guess.”

  “Yeah, I guess is right,” she grinned sarcastically. “Daydreaming about Jake, huh? Yeah, he does that to girls. Hell, he’s done it to me.”

  “No,” I lied vehemently and scowled. “I’m not thinking about Jake. I’m just thinking about how fucked up guys are. Combative, promiscuous, lying, cheating, asshole players.”

  Julie rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  “I’m serious. They’re all pricks. They’re only charming when they want to get in your pants. After they’ve conquered you and bragged about it to all their Facebook friends, you’re just another vagina to them.”

  “Oh Ruby,” Julie sighed sadly. She scooted her chair close to mine, put her arm around me and took another sip of her drink.

  “Ohmygosh! Look over there! Quick!” I said abruptly as soon as she placed her glass down on the table.

  “What?” she said, sharply jerking her head in the direction I was pointing; I quickly slammed the rest of her drink.

  “I’ve decided one thing: I’m going to walk into Dan’s office tomorrow and tell him it’s over.”

  “Now that’s my girl! Glad to hear it. Finally you’re—hey!—where’s the rest of my drink?!”

  Chapter 9

  Jake

  “Shit, dude, I can’t believe that’s all you had in you. The old Jake Bishop would have at least asked her out, probably banged her, too. I’m telling you, man, med school is changing you. Two beautiful women without wedding rings, and you didn’t so much as make a move on either.”

  “Shut up, Zach,” I grinned. “Something was wrong. She looked sad. It just didn’t feel right, that’s all.”

  “What doesn’t feel more right than having a pussy like hers bobbing and milking your cock?”

  I smiled and shook my head. Zach and I were seated on a park bench, not far from the bar. It was a warm, pleasant evening, but I could tell by the silent flashes of light deep in the clouds that it was about to storm.

  “Ooowee! And her friend! Damn! She was all about you. I was afraid I was going to have to beat her off with a pool cue, the way she was eyeing you.”

  Hm. Her friend; I totally forgot to introduce myself. Where have I seen her before?

  In any case, Zach was right: in the past, I would’ve been all over those girls. But now…

  “You know, Zach, I don’t think med school is changing me that much. I’m simply more focused now, and I don’t have time for fun and games like I used to.”

  “Yeah, maybe. But you know as well as I do that the ‘old you’ would have asked at least one of those girls out. Hell man, I haven’t seen a girl latched onto your arm for ages. You going gay on me or something?”

  I actually had to stop and think about when I last had a girlfriend. For sure the last girl I bagged was…Ginger—or was her name Jen? I forget. Anyway, it was a girl from my intro to radiology class, that’s for sure, and it was a while ago.

  Looking back now, I should’ve had sex with Amber the other night; it would’ve been really good for my mental health.

  “Oh shit. You are going gay,” Zach frowned, his voice dropping low.

  “Ha! No man, sorry, I was just thinking. No I ain’t going gay, don’t worry. But yeah, I haven’t had anything serious for awhile.”

  “You know, come to think of it, I’ve never known you to have a girlfriend. What gives?”

  I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know. I guess it’s less complicated when you don’t have a significant other. It’s easier being a player.”

  Of course, the real truth was that Ruby rejected me at a critical moment in my development. What I needed from her back in high school was a little restraint; what I got instead was unbridled freedom.

  “Yeah, that may be true,” Zach half-heartedly agreed, his voice growing pensive, “But I think as we get older we need a stabilizing force in our lives, something to reign us in a bit. I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying married life. In some ways it’s simpler. I go off to work in the morning, then return in the evening to my wife and kid. I certainly don’t have the stress of a big fight weighing me down, the constant worry of rupturing my spleen or a kidney or some—“

  “OH FUCK!” I almost yelled, slapping my forehead with my hand. I glanced at my watch: 9:30pm. “I totally forgot I had an evening lecture on the spleen tonight with my favorite prof! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

  “Can you still make it?”

  “Fuck no! It started at eight—it’s finishing up right now.”

  Ruby

  I felt as if a gigantic weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

  The promise I made to myself last night wasn’t an easy one, but it had to be done. No matter how difficult I imagined it would be to call off the wedding and let everyone down, it would have been even more difficult to go through with the ceremony and know in my heart of hearts that I was a complete fraud, not only to myself, but also to my friends and family.

  I even took the day off of work to prepare for the moment.

  I got up early and went for a long run, then followed it up with a light breakfast and a 9am Ashtanga yoga class.

  Now I was sitting in my car in the medical center’s parking lot, where Dan works. On Tuesdays he isn’t very busy, so I decided that today would be as good as any to drop the bomb.

  I pulled down the visor and did a quick once-over of my face: prim, proper and put-together.

  Don’t cry, Ruby.

  Be strong.

  I unclipped my Saint Christopher pin from my visor, squeezed it tightly in my right hand, and said a little prayer: “Dear Lord, please give me the strength I need today. I don’t ask for much, but please don’t let me cry in front of Dan. If you want to strike him with a bolt of lightening, he deserves it, although I am by no means asking you to do such a thing, just saying. Well, maybe in his penis. Thank you Lord. Give me strength. Amen.”

  I clipped Saint Christopher back onto my visor, took a big drink of water, and stepped out of my car.

  Twelve ‘o’clock sharp.

  I adjusted my clothing and began walking towards his building.

  I stepped inside and took the elevator to the eighth floor, where he has his office.

  ‘Breathe, Ruby. Breathe’ I coached myself, watching the floor indicators illuminate as the elevator ascended.

  I marched down the long, brightly lit hallway to his office.

  A few corners away from his office door I stopped to take another deep inhale.

  Okay. Here we go.

  Chapter 10

  Jake

  God did I feel stupid.

  How could I have ever missed a lecture? Because of a girl?

  That’s fucked up.

  I can understand a car accident, or a grave illness—but a girl?!

  I had to apologize to Dr. Hartley. It was the least I could do.

  I had never been to his office before, but I knew it was on the eighth floor of the west wing of the medical arts building. According to the course syllabus he held his office hours once a week in W-806.

  I looked at my watch: 12:02pm.

  I stepped off the elevator and glanced around for the first room number.

  “Okay,” I spoke quietly to myself as I made my way down the hall, “W-810, W-811…W-812.” Wrong way.

  I turned around and went the other direction; his office must be around the corner.

  I hurried as fast as I could. I had a lecture to attend at 12:30, and all I wanted to do was q
uickly bounce in and tell him how sorry I was for missing his class last night, that I had no intention of disrespecting him, and I wasn’t asking for any handouts, only that I was truly sorry. It would suck if he had other visitors to attend to.

  I came around the corner rather quickly—and who in the fuck should I damn near steamroll over? Ruby fucking Cain!

  “Ruby?!” I blurted out, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

  “Jake?!” She blinked up at me with jaw ajar, as if I was a space alien who just slipped through a tear in the space-time continuum.

  “What are you doing here?” we both asked in unison.

  “Uh, well I—“ I started to say, but was cut short by Dr. Hartley coming out of his office.

  “Jake. Ruby. I thought I recognized your voices. What a pleasant surprise,” he smiled warmly. “My favorite student, and my fiancé. Do you know each other?”

  Ruby and I glanced awkwardly at each other.

  Fiancé? Shit!

  “Yeah…sort of,” I said. “We went to the same high school together. A long time ago.”

  Ruby, with a shocked expression on her face, demanded, “You’re a student of Dan’s?! In what?”

  “Uh, I’m in my final year of medical school; Dr. Hartley is one of my professors, and is helping me through the process of applying for residency.”

  “Yes, what other kind of students do you think I have, dear,” Dr. Hartley chuckled, putting an arm around her.

  You could tell she was blown out of the water by the revelation. I smiled inwardly as I considered what was going through her mind at that instant; I guess I amounted to more than she thought I would after all.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you both,” I said, shifting on my feet. “Dr. Hartley, I came by to apologize for missing lecture last night. I had, ah, a personal problem to attend to, and the night simply slipped away from me. I’m very sorry, I promise I’ll never let it happen again.” I looked over at Ruby, then back at Dr. Hartley. “I should get going, I have another class soon. Congratulations to you both, sorry again for interrupting.”

  With surprising bitterness in her voice, Ruby interjected, “No need to apologize, Jake. You didn’t interrupt a thing. I just came by to tell this two-timing son-of-a-bitch that the wedding is off! I know you’ve been cheating on me!”

  Now it was Dr. Hartley’s turn to be stunned.

  “Don’t you dare ever contact me again, Dan. I don’t want to hear so much as a ‘goodbye’ from you.”

  With tears welling in her eyes, Ruby spun around on her heel and bolted.

  We stood there, gaping after her. I looked at Dr. Hartley, but he appeared to be too ashamed and lost in thought to return my gaze. Silently he turned and retreated into his office, closing the door behind him.

  I stood in the hallway a moment longer.

  Call me an asshole, but the first thing that flashed through my mind was the fact that Ruby was now single.

  The second thing that flashed through my mind was, ‘I better claim her before another guy does!’

  Ruby

  Learning that Jake was in the process of applying for residency was almost as staggering as finding out Dan was sleeping with another woman.

  Actually, check that: it was more staggering.

  To think that Jake Bishop, King of the Trailer Trash Kids, not so many years ago, could make it through med school was nothing short of astounding, practically miraculous.

  I guess people can change.

  I left Dan and Jake standing there bewildered because I began to feel the hot sting of tears burn my eyelids.

  I literally ran out of the building and across the parking lot. But as I was about to get into my car, I heard Jake’s deep, smooth voice shouting after me.

  I turned around. He slowed to a jog, and when he finally approached my car asked if I was o.k.

  At the time I was too caught up in the throes of my own wretchedness to even care he was there. But after he sensitively laid a large, muscled arm around me, I began to calm down and compose myself.

  After I stopped crying he asked if there was anything he could do for me.

  At first, I shook my head.

  But after wiping the tears from my cheeks, and looking up into his concerned, grey-blue eyes, I began to reconsider.

  God he was hot: his chiseled face, incredible body, careless hair—at that moment, I needed him more than any person I ever needed before.

  “Get in my car,” I demanded spontaneously, opening my door and getting in.

  He paused for a moment. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll find out.”

  He got in.

  I put the car in gear and drove three blocks to a liquor store. Then I headed to the most upscale hotel I could think of.

  During our drive, I did the talking and Jake did the listening.

  And he was a good listener, that boy; didn’t say a peep. Or maybe I’m just a spectacular storyteller.

  In any event, by the time we had arrived at the hotel I had unloaded the last eight years of my life onto Jake.

  “Room for two, please,” I said to the hotel clerk as we approached the front desk.

  Jake gawked at me as if I was mad—at that moment it finally dawned on him what I had in mind.

  We were rebound fucking.

  Actually, I was the one rebound fucking.

  He was just along for the ride.

  But whatever. I had him where I wanted him. And his big dick was going to split me in half. I laughed silently as I imagined what was going through his mind.

  I cracked open two bottles of tequila as soon as we entered the hotel room.

  “Here. Drink,” I ordered, handing him a bottle.

  “I don’t want to,” he frowned, not taking it.

  “I don’t care. Take it,” I insisted. He reluctantly took a sip from the bottle.

  I chugged mine. Then I removed my shirt.

  “Ruby, no,” he shook his head. “I’m not going to do this.”

  “Oh yes you are. What? Don’t you find me attractive?”

  “Of course I do. I…I just think—“

  I took off my bra, chugged some more alcohol, then walked up to him making full contact with my bare breasts on his chest. “Stop thinking. Just fuck me.”

  Jake Bishop was going to do to me what no man had ever done before.

  Julie was right. I needed a good fucking.

  And Jake was just the stallion to do it.

  Chapter 11

  Jake

  Out of control.

  That was the only way to describe her.

  It’s 11:30pm. I kick a rock and watch it bounce off the sidewalk and onto the deserted street.

  “Hey, spare a dime?” a gravelly voice calls out from the dark.

  I jump. A fucking bum startles me. I’m so lost in thought I didn’t even see him sitting there on the curb; in the dark his hunched body looks like a bag of garbage.

  I ignore him and continue walking.

  Ruby’s a wreck, poor girl.

  I couldn’t possibly bring myself to bang her, but by God that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to. Her fucking nipples were so erect, my dick was so hard, she had me going damn near out of my mind. I never imagined in a million years that dry humping and breast fondling could be so arousing! I thought for sure my penis would rupture, that’s how turned on I was.

  Fuck. I was out of control, too. At least I caught myself before we both plunged over the precipice.

  I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

  Damn that was close! I’m all about taking quality pussy when I can get it, but not when a girl is hurting like she is. How heartbreaking would that be to catch your significant other cheating on you days before your wedding?

  I did my best to console her, I tried my damnedest to encourage her and make her feel attractive, beautiful and desired, but I nevertheless had to leave her distraught and crying back at the hotel.

  Only a total douchebag would take a girl in
that kind of pathetic state.

  As for myself, I’m all but fucked. I’ve missed nearly a day of class now, without so much as a call-in or email. I don’t know what’s happening to me. In some ways, I’m about as fucked up as Ruby.

  Something has got to give. Somehow I’ve got to get my life back on track. I can’t let her do this to me. I’ve worked too hard.

  But at the same time…her eyes. Her face. Her body. God damn, her ass and legs and tits! She’s been blessed with the most perfect package I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen a lot of packages. There’s not a model or movie star in the entire world who can hold a candle to her.

  I can’t believe I’m saying all this.

  I can’t believe this is what Jake ‘The Surgeon’ Bishop is coming to.

  But deep down, I know why I’m acting like this; it’s just hard to admit. For the first time in my life, I care about a girl.

  For some inexplicable reason, this brown-haired, hazel-eyed beauty with the most sensual rose petal lips on the planet has me trapped and twisted like a fly in a web.

  That is slightly depressing to think about.

  And there is something else, something even worse: I’m afraid.

  I’m afraid that if I don’t act fast I will lose her; and I’m afraid by the fact that I am afraid.

  Which leads to an even bigger problem: I don’t have a plan to win her. I don’t so much as know where she works or lives. We just seem to bump into each other randomly.

  And on top of it all I have school to consider…

  Is fate trying to tell me something?

  Ruby

  A whirlwind of inexplicable events and feelings has overwhelmed me. I don’t know what to make of my life anymore. Everything I thought was true, isn’t, especially my assumptions about men. Well, not all men, mind you.

  Not Jake.

  I’ve been able to place Dan into a nice little box of stereotypes—early-40’s, good-looking doctor-teacher, handsome, with cute young things fawning over him all day—okay, I guess I can see a guy like him cheating. And in hindsight, I should’ve seen it coming.