CLAIMING ME: A Diamond In The Rough Novella Read online

  CLAIMING ME

  A Diamond In The Rough Novella

  Rebel Hart

  Copyright © 2019 by Rebel Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  About the Author

  Also by Rebel Hart

  1

  Chapter One

  CLINTON

  “Did’ja miss me?”

  Rae hissed “Shit!”

  I snickered as the librarian lifted her head. Rae’s voice filled the space around us and she promptly slapped my chest. I grinned as I sat down next to her, my eyes darting between her and the books. It felt weird, not being with Roy during this free period. Usually, I sat with them on the porch of the cafeteria, despite our teachers’ wishes. But today, after walking hand in hand into the school with Rae for the very first time, I sat with her in the library.

  A place I’d never been my entire high school career.

  Rae shook her head. “You’re such an ass sometimes. You’re going to get me in trouble with Mrs. Niche.”

  I blinked. “With who?”

  “The librarian? The woman who’s glaring at us right now?”

  I grinned. “Didn’t realize she had a name.”

  She paused. “Have you ever been in this library? Like, at all?”

  “Do I look like the kind of person that’s been in a library?”

  “Are you ser—how are you passing your classes right now?”

  “By the grace of Me.”

  She blinked. “You would attribute yourself to a god.”

  I grinned. “And you have no issues with that, do you?”

  I reached over and tickled her, causing her to giggle. And before I knew it, a loud ‘sh!’ came from the front of the library. I looked over and saw Mrs. What’s-Her-Face staring us down. With her finger to her lips and a frown on the edges of her face.

  Rae pushed my hands away. “You’re going to get me kicked out.”

  I shrugged. “That means we can go invade the stairwell.”

  She shot me a look. “I’m not going to that nasty place with you.”

  “We’d have privacy there if you did.”

  “There’s no need for privacy at school.”

  “Does that mean we’ll get some privacy after school?”

  I grinned at her and she blushed. I loved it when she blushed. It tugged at a part of me before she stuck her nose back in those books. I sat there with my knee pressed against hers. I reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She snickered and shook her head, gripping my hand as it slid down her face.

  “Clint.”

  “Rae.”

  “I’m studying.”

  I grinned. “And you look very sexy doing it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “This part of the day isn’t for you, dickweed.”

  “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

  She scoffed, but a giggle still fell from her lips. The librarian shushed us again. I shot her a look. One that told her to shut the fuck up. Because if this was the only time I’d get with Rae today, I wanted to cherish it. I wanted to make it last. I wanted to create memories.

  I wanted to do all of that with her.

  “Come on. Let’s get out of here, beautiful.”

  She sighed. “I have tests coming up. I have to study.”

  I tugged at her books. “You can study some other time.”

  She slapped her hand down onto them. “You need to study, too. We’re in the same history class.”

  I paused. “There’s a history test coming up?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  And when I blinked, she sighed.

  “Okay. You’re studying with me.”

  “I’m what now?”

  She giggled. “You’re studying with me. Come on, Clint. Grades are important. And I’m sure yours are lacking.”

  The only important thing right now is you. “I’ll study. Somehow, I always manage to scrape by on those things.”

  “And something tells me it’s not because you know the material.”

  “Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh!”

  I slowly panned my eyes over to the librarian whose name I didn’t care to remember and glared at her. She glared right back, then put her finger to her lips and pointed to the door. And while I wasn’t sure what the fuck she was trying to signal, Rae raised her hand. Waved at the woman. Like she understood, or some shit.

  “What are you doing?”

  Rae put her hand down. “If you don’t shut up, we’re out of here. And you're not going to be the reason I get kicked out of the library for the first time since being in this school.”

  I shrugged. “You’re the reason I’m here for the first time. Why not repay the favor?”

  She pushed me playfully and I smiled at her. A full-blown, cheesy-ass smile. This girl was growing in importance to me, and it kept taking me by surprise. I grabbed her hand and settled it against my knee. I scooted closer to her, peeking over her shoulder at her class notes. At the shit she had highlighted in her book. Rae, who had seen through all my bullshit and figured out who I really was, wanted to push me to start being better.

  And I found I wanted to let her.

  “Start reading here, then read right here in my notes.”

  I nodded. “Gotcha.”

  My eyes scanned the textbook, and already I wanted to fall asleep. I moved closer to Rae, my arm eventually slipping around her. If this was how I’d get closer to her, then so fucking be it. If I had to read some boring-ass shit about things that didn’t have anything to do with me, I’d do it to be close to her. To feel her against me. To smell the scent of her conditioner and draw in her heat.

  I sighed. “All right. Where in the notes?”

  Rae pointed. “Right here.”

  “Uh, all those notes?”

  “It’s only half a page.”

  I sighed. “Fuck. Okay.”

  She giggled, then pressed a kiss to my cheek. And every time I finished a portion of my reading, she kissed me. Again, and again. Pressing me on with rewards that made my stomach come to life. I grinned every time her lips touched my skin. At times, I turned my face and captured her lips with mine. A quick peck, nothing serious. But it was enough to make my cock throb against my jeans.

  Rae giggled. “Focus, Clint.”

  I nuzzled my nose against hers. “I am, Rae.”

  “Aww, how cute.”

  “And they’re studying together. So sweet.”

  “Was wondering where the fuck you got off to.”

  “Sh!”

  Roy’s and Marina’s voices were punctuated by the librarian’s. And as they came closer to us, I stiffened. I felt Rae press into me a bit, though she faced them head-on like the strong girl she was. I knew I’d made a mistake, not going to be with them outside. I knew I’d made a mistake in coming into this library instead of making my way for them. I mean, they were still technically my friends. And I’d technically bailed on them.

  But I knew by the look on Roy’s face this wouldn’t be good.

  “The hell are you two studying?”

  Marina giggled. “Looks like something boring.”

  Rae sighed. “It’s history, guys. We’re studying for our history exam.”

  Roy quirked an eyebrow. “So this i
s where you want to be? Studying some bullshit with some dumbass girl?”

  I bristled. “You spend time with your dumbass girl all the time.”

  Marina grinned. “So she’s your girl now.”

  Rae shook her head. “It’s not like that. I’m just—”

  I cut her off. “And if she is?”

  Rae whipped her head around to look at me, and I saw the shock on her face. I mean, I got what she was trying to do. I knew what she was trying to do, actually. Write it off as some fucking tutoring session. But she didn’t have to do that. We’d already walked into school hand in hand with each other. I’d already walked in with her and Michael and Allison.

  No use in denying shit.

  Roy sucked air through his teeth. “So this is how it’s gonna be from now on?”

  I sighed. “Do you need something? Or…?”

  Marina scoffed. “I always told Roy you were an asshole that didn’t give a shit about his friendship.”

  Rae paused. “What does Clint studying have to do with any sort of friendship? We have a test coming up.”

  Roy glared at her. “Looks like he’s trying to shove his hand down your pants in the middle of the library.”

  Marina giggled. “Slut.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re one to talk.”

  Roy bucked up. “What was that?”

  I shot out of my chair. “Want me to say it a little louder?”

  And as Rae stood up, sliding her hands up and down my arm, the four of us faced off in the library.

  With the lazy-ass librarian shushing us from her fucking desk.

  2

  Chapter Two

  Roy grinned at me before he took Marina’s hand. He tugged his girlfriend around us, and I watched them as they came around the table. They stood on the other side, behind the two empty chairs of the table. But they didn’t sit down.

  Rae sighed. “Get it over with so we can get back to studying.”

  Roy reached down toward the table. I saw him go for the book, but I reached out. I gripped his wrist before he could touch any of Rae’s things. I eyed him hotly as he chuckled, ripping his hand away from mine. And like lightning, Marina moved for Rae’s shit, flipping it off the table and onto the floor.

  Roy smiled. “Good one, hot stuff.”

  Rae murmured, “Nice to know she’s good at something other than sucking dick.”

  Marina whipped her head over. “What was that?”

  I shrugged. “The truth.”

  Roy snarled. “You’re walking on thin ice, dude.”

  I shrugged. “You’ve always been my thin ice.”

  He shook his head. “Where the fuck did your mojo go?”

  Marina backed him up. “Yeah. What the hell happened to you?”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Are you about to throw a tantrum because I’m studying?”

  Roy snickered. “You’re doing more than that, and you know it. You think you can stand a chance at passing any classes with all the skipping you’ve already done this year? Talk about a fucking pipe dream.”

  Rae butted in. “His teachers will work with him. I’m sure of it.”

  Marina giggled. “Awww, how sweet. The little tramp standing up for her slice of meat.”

  Roy ran his eyes down me. “Not much of a slice of meat, if you ask me.”

  I grinned. “Says the boy who’s self-conscious about his dick size.”

  Roy glowered. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  Marina stepped forward. “I can vouch for the fact that—”

  Rae held up her hand. “Ew. Please, don’t.”

  Roy placed his hands on the table. “You’re a snarky little shit, and that’s all you’ll ever be. No amount of studying with some chick you wanna screw’s gonna get you past your senior year. Nothing. Might as well accept that and come back to where you belong. Because if you keep hanging around this freakshow? Your reputation is done around here.”

  Marina whined. “The girls miss you. Please, come with us.”

  I grinned. “That’s cute, you begging. I see why Roy talks about it all the time.”

  Rae chimed in, “And outside of all this posturing, Clint has a perfectly reasonable chance of redeeming his grades.”

  Roy and Marina looked at one another, smiles crossing their faces. Then their laughter filled the space around us. Laughter so loud that other students started staring. Laughter so boisterous that the librarian actually got out of her chair. I peeked down at Rae and watched her blush. But, despite her embarrassment, she stood her ground.

  Not once did she cave to them.

  And I admired that about her.

  The librarian cleared her throat. “If the four of you don’t pipe down, you’re banned from coming in here for the rest of the week.”

  Roy’s laughter died down. “Promise?”

  Marina smiled. “Good one, hot stuff.”

  Then Roy turned his attention to Rae.

  “You leave him alone. It’s not enough that you get to ride his cock like most girls in this school wanna do. You don’t get to take my best friend away from me. You back the fuck off, got it, freakshow?”

  Marina snickered. “Yeah. Go back to your own corner of the school. Clint’ll call you when he needs his dick topped off.”

  I growled. “Fuck off, you two.”

  Roy smiled wildly. “Are you really gonna defend your fucking midnight booty call in the middle of the fucking library? The hell’s happening to you?”

  Marina shrugged. “She’s probably got a tight one and he doesn’t wanna lose it.”

  Roy turned his eyes to Rae. “Is it tight, sweetheart? Because I might wanna give that a try sometime.”

  Marina slapped his chest. “The hell are you talking about, asshole?”

  Roy shrugged. “Hey. A man can play the field.”

  I rushed around the desk and grabbed Roy by his shirt.

  “What the—?”

  I snarled. “Let’s get one thing straight, Roy. You're no man. You’re a pathetic seventeen-year old boy who wants so badly to be cool. To be popular. To be part of the ‘in’ crowd. I’m not messing around when I said leave it alone. When I told you to leave her alone. Now, you can either do it, or you can suffer the wrath of what happens if you don’t.”

  I released his shirt, shoving him so hard he stumbled back. Marina caught him, cooing softly in his ear like the momma’s boy he really was. I looked at the librarian and saw her on the phone, murmuring to someone. Great. They’d ruined our fucking studying session. Rae and I would have to find somewhere else to go.

  “Come on, hot stuff. Let’s get out of here.”

  Roy pointed at me. “You’re a fucking dead man. Got it?”

  I stared them both down as they walked out of the library. Then I started packing up my things. I mean, I didn't have a lot of things to begin with. But the few things I had, I picked up. Rae hurried around me, stuffing her backpack full as the librarian sat down.

  Because neither of us wanted to stick around for whoever she’d just called to intervene.

  “Just ignore them, Clint.”

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  She tossed her backpack over her shoulders. “They’re nothing but insecure assholes who are afraid that you’re going to leave them behind.”

  “Doesn’t give them the right to talk to you like that.”

  “No, it doesn’t. But I don’t want them to get under your skin. Those aren’t friends, Clint. And I hope you know that.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

  I made my way out of the library with Rae hot on my heels. I tried slowing my strides down since her legs weren’t nearly as long as mine. But I needed to get this energy out of my system. I needed to jog around. Or take a nice, fast bike ride through the city. I needed to get my adrenaline pumping. I needed to get my body active.

  I needed to burn off this fucking high I felt coursing through my veins.

  “Clint, seriously. They’re just threatened you’re going t
o—”

  I snickered. “Well, you’re right. I am going to leave them behind.”

  She gripped my arm, stopping me in my tracks. “What?”

  I sighed. “I am leaving them behind. I mean, at least I want to. I want to leave all this shit behind. Everything attached to this bullshit place. And I can’t do that if I don’t graduate.”

  Rae’s face contorted. “Including me?”

  The hurt that draped itself over her face made my stomach turn. I took her in my arms, holding her close as we stood in the middle of the hallway. I pulled her off to the side, into a little alcove that held a broken water fountain that hadn’t been fixed in years. I leaned against the wall, feeling her sigh into my chest.

  Then I pressed a kiss into the top of her head.

  “You’re the only thing making all this worth it, Rae. You should know that.”

  She nuzzled against me. “You just seemed so serious.”

  “Because I am. I want to get out of here. I want to get away from my father, and away from this school, and away from them.”

  She nodded. “But not me?”

  I kissed her head again. “Never you, Rae.”

  And as if the world really, truly hated me, the bell for our last period sounded. Students flooded into the hallways as they scrambled for their last class of the day.

  Rae pulled back. “I have to go.”

  “Come with me.”

  She paused. “What?”

  I took her hands within mine. “Skip last period with me.”

  She furrowed her brow. “You want to graduate and get out of here, but then you want to skip class?”

  “Just this once. After this, you have my word I won’t skip.”

  She quirked an eyebrow. “Your word?”

  I rolled my eyes. “All right, all right. You have my promise that I’ll try my hardest not to skip.”

  “That sounds more like you.”

  I grinned. “So, are you in?”

  She resisted. “I shouldn't.”