Hooked (A New Adult Romance)

by Heart, Alison

  I guess I could go down to The 69er and wait around until he shows up. The only problem is, I don’t have time for that. I have no idea how to get a hold of him. I sure as hell am not going to call Dan and ask him to look up Jake’s personal information; he can’t do that legally anyway.

  What to do?

  I could call Julie and have her shoot me a text next time he comes into The 69er.

  Yeah, that’s probably my best bet…but how pathetic. It would be like I’m stalking him.

  God, Ruby, you are a hopeless mess!

  And you’re too old for this nonsense! Grow up! You’re not in high school anymore.

  Just then my phone rings. OMG it’s Julie! My heart starts to beat hard. Maybe she’s calling about Jake…

  “Hey Julie. What’s up?”

  But I can barely hear her—all I can tell is that she’s talking excitedly.

  “What’s that, Julie? Can you speak up? Are you there?”

  “Geez! Are you deaf?!” she seethes. From the sounds of it she’s doing her best to scream in a hushed, whispered voice, probably holding her hand over the phone so that no one can hear her. “Get down to The 69er! Jake’s here! Maybe you can talk to him.”

  “Uh, Julie…” I totally froze with nerves. A second ago I couldn’t live without him. Now I was terrified of meeting him face-to-face again. “You know, it’s 9:30 at night. I’m tired and don’t want to go down there,” I lied.

  “Ruby! Get your ass down here right now! You know you like him! You know he likes you! I know this is all so sudden, but get over your woe-is-me attitude! This guy is ten-times hotter than Dan and just as rich. He just showed up, recognized me from the other night, and now wants to talk. To me! In private! And I’m on the clock! Vinny excused me and told me to use his office to talk to him. I told him I had to go to the bathroom first, but that was just an excuse to call you. Get down here now!”

  I scrambled to find some shorts and a t-shirt to put on. “Shit, it’s going to take me, like, at least fifteen minutes. Do you think you can hold him there that long?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll do my best. Hurry!”

  “K bye! Oh oh oh oh wait! Julie? Julie? Are you still there?

  ”Yeah. What?”

  “Don’t tell him I’m coming. I’ve already fucked up once with him; I don’t want him to bolt, just in case he’s already concluded I belong in a loony bin and wants nothing to do with me.”

  “K bye.”

  Chapter 15

  Jake

  Julie walked into Vinny’s office attempting to appear cool as a cucumber—but she was anything but. I could tell it was just an act. I knew she was nervous or that something was up, the way her eyes anxiously shifted around the room. It was as obvious as a punch in the face.

  “Okay, I’ll make this quick, Julie, I know you’ve got to get back t--.”

  “Oh, it’s no problem, take your time. Please, sit down, make yourself comfortable,” she offered awkwardly, smoothing the sides of her long hair.

  “Uh, no thanks. I’ll stand. All I need is to talk to Ruby. Can I get her number from you? Or an address?”

  “Mm, maybe,” she replied in a guarded manner. “What do you want it for?”

  I gawked at her. Was she fucking kidding me? What does she think I want it for? To write it on a bathroom stall?

  “Uh, I need to talk to her,” I said, trying to keep my cool.

  “What about?”

  “It’s personal?”

  “You know, Jake. She doesn’t trust you. She thinks you’re a player.”

  I was really starting to lose my patience. I clenched my teeth and did my best to remain calm. I know sometimes you can get to a girl through her friends, but I wasn’t in the mood to be charming and talkative.

  “I know. I can’t imagine she’d trust any guy at the moment,” I said as diplomatically as I could, hoping to win brownie points. “Especially me. But…I’m different now. I’m not the man she knew in high school.”

  She softened a little. “She needs time, Jake. To heal.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure she does. Look, all I need to do is talk to her. Nothing more. All I want is her number? I promise. All I want is to call her.”

  “Oh…I don’t know.”

  I went from clenching to grinding my teeth.

  “Okay, that’s fine. Never mind.” I said curtly and headed towards the door.

  As soon as my hand found the doorknob she cried, “Wait. Stop.”

  I turned to face her.

  She took several paces towards me. “She’s my best friend, Jake. And I don’t want her to get hurt anymore than she already is. She’s been through a lot and doesn’t need any further heartbreak. Nevertheless, I’ve been thinking about how to get her ‘back in the ring,’ so to speak, and I’ve hatched a plan. Are you willing to listen to it? It’ll just take a minute.”

  “Fine. Go for it. I’m listening.”

  Ruby

  I drove all the way to The 69er only to be told I missed Jake by a couple minutes. Julie claimed she couldn’t hold him there any longer, at least not without a gun. Apparently he was in a hurry and couldn’t hang out any longer. I didn’t feel like asking her to do any more seventh-grade sleuthing for me, so I simply dropped the whole ‘Jake thing’ all together.

  That was a week ago today.

  It’s Thursday night. I’ve got nothing going on. No one is calling. No one cares. I feel lonely.

  It’s funny, but when you’re happy and life is moving forward, everybody seems to like you, wants a piece of you, and desires to be your friend. But when your life is in the shitter, it’s like everybody ceases to exist; no one calls, no one texts, no one reaches out.

  I sigh, poor myself another glass of wine, and continue reading my sappy romance novel. Ah, the life of a spinster…how grand!

  Not.

  BZZZZZZZ, my phone vibrates.

  It’s Julie.

  “Hey Jules,” I chirp, trying to sound happy.

  “Hey. Watcha doin’?

  “Nothing. Just reading. What’re you up to?”

  “Nothing much. But I was wondering, do you have plans for tomorrow night?”

  “No. Do you have the night off? You want to go out?”

  “Yeah. Can I pick you up at six?”

  “Sounds good. What do you have in mind?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  I pause. Julie’s got something up her sleeve. She only says ‘Oh, nothing’ when she has a plan solidly in place.

  “Tell me,” I insist.

  “It’s nothing. Really. Just a fun girl’s night out.”

  “It’s not something wild and crazy, is it? I’m not in the mood.”

  “Mmm…” Then silence.

  “Julie, tell me. I’m serious. I’m not going to go unless you tell me exactly what you have in mind. I’m in no mood to go to strip club or get a lap dance from a gay guy or some weird shit like that.”

  “No no no, it’s nothing like that. It’s, uh…different. But I promise you’ll have a great time.”

  I roll my eyes and say nothing.

  “Jake will be there,” she sang in a teasing voice.

  “Really?” I perk up.

  “Really. So pick you up at six?”

  “Okay. See you at six.”

  Chapter 16

  Jake

  The roar of the crowd is positively deafening. And I’m eating it up!

  I can’t remember the last time I was so stoked for a fight.

  And it has nothing to do with my competition or the fact I’m fighting for $100,000.

  Nope. It has nothing to do with any of that. And it has everything to do with Ruby Cain.

  After my meeting with Julie a couple weeks ago, we agreed that it might be best for Ruby to see me in my element: the cage.

  And it wasn’t just to see me, mind you; it also had to do with lifting her out of her funk and getting her out into the world. Julie promised me she would get Ruby to my next big fight—the only t
hing I had to do to uphold my end of the bargain was win it for her.

  Easy as pie!

  I could barely contain myself for the past couple of weeks. But contain myself I did, and then some. School and practice went effortlessly, I even had a couple sessions with the psychologist to help me deal with the excitement. In fact, I’ve stopped labeling the psychologist as a crutch, and instead have been considering him an essential coach for my head; so yeah, Ricky is the coach of my body, and Dr. Emerson is the coach for my head.

  Unfortunately, I haven’t had a ton of time to prep for the fight as I’ve been prioritizing school (not that I’ve told Ricky that). Nevertheless, I’m going to whip this guy’s ass so bad he’s going to wish he never started fighting.

  Yeah, he’s a cocky fucker—I can tell by the way he’s eyeing me that he thinks he’s got me…boy is he wrong. He’s a big dude for sure, my height, maybe a little heavier, but not as ripped, disciplined and ruthlessly trained as I am.

  I look out into the crowd in search of Ruby’s pretty face.

  Not surprisingly, I don’t see her. Fuck, this place must be filled to fucking capacity.

  “All right boys,” the referee gestures us into the center of the ring. “I want a clean fight. Protect yourselves at all times, and above all, obey my commands! You know the drill. Now touch gloves and break.”

  We do as the referee says and then back away from each other.

  I look around for Ruby one last time.

  “Jake!” Julie’s voice yells from a couple rows back.

  I look for her, and see her standing with Ruby. She looks out of place, but sexy as hell! I smile and wave back.

  The bell goes off.

  This is going to be fun!

  Ruby

  “I’ve got to hand it to you, Jules, when you said you were taking me someplace different you weren’t kidding. This was the last place I expected you to bring me.” Even though Julie was seated right next to me, I had to yell at her over the raucous crowd. The noise level in here was crazy. I had never been to a professional fight before.

  “I was afraid you would figure it out when I said Jake was going to be here,” she admitted. “I really wanted to surprise you, but I had my doubts you would come.”

  “Well thank you very much for practically forcing me to go. I appreciate you doing this for me. Not that I’m in to this kind of thing, it’s nevertheless kind of interesting, and I’m glad I came. Of course, Jake’s the only reason I’m here.”

  It all made sense why Julie had been so distant and uncommunicative over the past couple of weeks. She was trying to keep this all a secret. I was pissed when I missed meeting Jake at The 69er, and even more pissed when Julie wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I questioned her about him. I began to think maybe Jake asked her out and she was uncomfortable, or maybe Jake asked her about something else entirely.

  “DING! DING!” the bell sounded.

  “Ooh, it’s starting,” Julie excitedly tugged my arm.

  Jake, in all his tattooed glory, was standing up there in front of everybody. At that moment I began to feel nervous for him. I didn’t want him to get hurt, and moreover, didn’t want him to fail in front of so many people. I mean, I know that’s part of the sport, but it’s scary to see someone you know get up in front of thousands of people and then literally fall flat on their face.

  It didn’t take long, however, to see that Jake was in full control of the fight.

  Even though his opponent was bigger, Jake was quicker and more powerful with each hit and kick. Even with my rudimentary knowledge of mixed martial arts, I could tell Jake was kicking the guy’s ass severely.

  “Woohoo! Get ‘im, Jake! Get ‘im!” Julie cheered enthusiastically as Jake landed a wicked twirling sort of kick to the guy’s head.

  “God, it’s kind of gross, don’t you think?” I asked.

  “Nah, it’s all in good fun, at least for us spectators,” Julie joked.

  Just then Jake’s opponent landed a pretty good uppercut to Jake’s chin.

  “Oh, shit!” we both gasped in unison, holding our hands over our mouths.

  Jake staggered back a little and shook out his head.

  His opponent threw a roundhouse kick.

  Jake ducked, and then the bell rang, sounding the end of the round.

  “Whew,” Julie breathed, wiping her brow. “Well I think it’s safe to say Jake won the first round.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “I thought for sure he was going to finish him off, but the other guy rallied a little.”

  “Oh, I think they’re about to start the next round,” she observed.

  The bell went off.

  Jake came out with guns blazing, and within no time had his opponent up against the wire cage that surrounded the ring.

  The referee hollered ‘break’ at one point. The other guy wasn’t doing too well, and when the ref asked the guy question, and the guy nodded, the ref indicated the fight to proceed.

  The opponent made a mistake, though, because Jake landed him a spinning kick to his head so hard that Julie and I sitting a couple rows back could hear the guy’s face crunch.

  He collapsed onto the floor in a heap. The referee called the fight as finished.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped, standing to my feet. “Is he okay? Is he dead?” The nurse in me wanted to run up there and check his vitals.

  “Ah, I’m sure he’s fine,” Julie assured me. “They’re used to that. Besides, there’s always a ringside physician who can attend to the fighters in case of an emergency.”

  I held my breath for a moment longer.

  But sure enough, the brute wobbled to his feat with the aid of his trainer.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” the announcer boomed over the loudspeakers, “Let’s give it up for our winner, Jake ‘The Surgeon’ Bishop!”

  The crowd went absolutely, out of control crazy, it was an amazing thing to witness.

  All eyes were on him, and all cheers were for him.

  But his eyes were on mine.

  And only mine. For a second it seemed like we were the only two people in the entire arena.

  It was our moment.

  Chapter 17

  Jake

  After all this time, I finally had Ruby Cain right where I wanted her.

  I felt ten feet tall walking into The 69er with her on my arm. I hate to brag, but every clubber in the establishment looked at us as if we were a stunning red carpet Hollywood couple.

  “Jake! Congratulations!” Vinny was the first to greet us upon entering. “Another big win (not that I didn’t expect it, of course),” he grinned.

  “Thanks. Vinny, I’d like you to meet Ruby. Ruby, this is my cousin, Vinny. He owns The 69er.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Ruby” Vinny gushed. “It’s been a looong time since my cousin has had a woman at his side.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, too, Vinny,” Ruby smiled elegantly. “But I find that hard to believe. You aren’t pulling my leg, are you?” she joked.

  Vinny stood up bolt straight and raised his right hand, “No, ma’am. I swear. Jake has been an aloof, solitary wolf for the last few months. I’d been starting to think he was turning gay on me.”

  “Oh shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes mirthfully. “What is it with everyone saying I’m gay lately?”

  “Ah, so I’m not the only one, huh?” Vinny said jocularly, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you don’t have to justify your behavior with me—everyone is welcome at The 69er, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. Anyway, as usual, I’ve saved you the best seat in the house. Follow me.”

  We accompanied him to a raised corner booth where, perched up high, we could observe the entire nightclub.

  “It’s really nice of your cousin to save a seat for you,” Ruby said as we got settled in. It was late, and the joint was packed.

  “Yeah, he always treats me like royalty. And he never charges me for drinks. What are you having?”

  We ordered and made
small talk. We touched upon her breakup with Dan, where our lives went after high school, how I stumbled into med school, and various other subjects, all the while giving each other glances and touches that let the other know we had other more pressing extra curricular activities on our minds.

  About an hour into it we started getting really friendly.

  Then, during one story she began peering really deeply into my eyes, giving me the hint she was ready to move on; she lightly ran a fingertip along my forearm and subconsciously licked her lips. She was ready.

  And so was I.

  “You want to go,” I asked, looking for any more overt signs of interest.

  “Yeah. About an hour ago.”

  I smiled widely.

  My cock had been raging all night for her, but I knew I couldn’t move too quickly. She seemed cool and composed, but I couldn’t take any chances. I couldn’t lose her now. Not for anything. Not for a billion dollars or seventy virgins. Julie said she needed time to heal, and even though she appeared to be doing o.k., I couldn’t be totally certain of her state of mind.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  ****

  “Make yourself at home,” I said, dropping my keys on the kitchen counter. “You want a drink?”

  “No thanks. I think I’ve had enough.”

  She looked around my two-story loft with hands folded in front of her; I could tell she was pleased with it. As she was busy checking it out, I admired how her tight little body filled out the short, black cocktail dress she was wearing: her graceful neck, proud shoulders, perfectly-shaped C-cups, and an ass that would stop traffic.

  I couldn’t control myself. I had to. But I couldn’t.

  Fuck I wanted to pound her ruthlessly!

  Something about her looked so pure and innocent, so untouched.

  I could sense she was nervously waiting for me to make the first move.

  I walked over to her.

  She remained frozen to the spot, with hands still folded. She looked at me and gulped.

  I silently placed my hands around her slender shoulders and drew her face up to kiss her.