Play With Me: A High School Bully Romance (Diamond In The Rough Book 1)(21)

“You’re so bad. But you better hurry. If there’s a promise of food, I can’t hold my stomach off for long.”

“A girl that eats. I love it.”

I backed out of her driveway and we tore off down the road. She squealed, clinging to me as I raced us into town. I adored the feeling of her wrapped around me. The way she fisted my jacket and buried her helmeted head against my back. I smiled brightly as we cruised through town. I took the long way to the diner, just so I had more time to savor the moment with her.

Eventually, though, we pulled into the parking lot. And I was all too eager to escort her inside with our hands tangled up together.

“You know, my mother would have a heart attack if she knew I got on the back of some guy’s bike.”

I slid into the booth. “Some guy?”

Rae nodded. “Well, you. But yes. To her? Some guy.”

I chuckled. “I’m not just some guy, Rae.”

“Oh, yeah? And what are you, then?”

I winked. “I’m the guy. You really should know this by now.”

“Idiot.”

The waitress brought us menus, but I was too busy staring at the flush in Rae’s cheeks. Oh, she was so easily flustered. And I loved it. Her nose wrinkled up as she put the menu in front of her face. I reached out and slowly slid it down. She was too cute to cover up, with her freckles and her tinted cheeks and her wild hair.

Since when the hell did girls become ‘cute’?

Rae cleared her throat. “Whatcha thinking about getting?”

I shrugged. “The usual.”

“Care to fill me in on what that is?”

“A double cheeseburger with everything, a chocolate shake with extra cherries, and extra crispy fries. Two orders of them.”

The waitress walked back up. “Well, now that I have his order, are you ready, hun?”

I grinned. “Yeah, hun. You ready?”

Rae shook her head. “His order actually sounds nice. Can you make two of those?”

My eyebrows rose. “That’s a lot of food.”

“And you apparently underestimate how much of it I can put away.”

The waitress scribbled on her pad. “All right. Two double cheeseburgers with everything, two chocolate shakes with extra cherries, and two double orders of extra crispy fries. Anything else?”

A hotel room to properly work this meal off with the cutest girl alive.

Rae shook her head. “I’m good.”

“Me, too. That’ll be it, thanks.”

The waitress gathered the menus. “I’ll be back with your shakes in a few minutes, guys.”

I sighed. “So is that guy I saw with your mother D.J.?”

Rae paused. “No, actually.”

I leaned back. “That happen often?”

She nodded. “Every time they get into a fight. She rebounds with some guy, they fight again, D.J. showers her with gifts so she’ll come back, then the cycle starts all over again.”

“I’m sorry, Rae.”

She shrugged. “Shit happens.”

“Do you remember anything about your dad?”

“Wow. You really just wanna dive in there, don’t you?”

“I mean, do you have anyone else to talk about it with?”

“Allison and Michael.”

“Have you ever talked with them about it?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I won’t.”

I quirked an eyebrow, listening to her sigh. “You know I’ll understand.”

“Why don’t we start with what happened to your mother?”

I nodded. “All right. What do you want to know?”

“What really happened, Clint?”

I sighed. “I wish I knew. One day she was okay. And the next, she wasn’t. Painkillers are a bitch, but when you put it together with postpartum depression, it becomes a big issue.”

“Your mother struggled after having you?”

“My mother struggled all the time. I think the reason why Dad put up with it, too, was because of her looks. He’s into the whole ‘trophy wife’ thing. And Mom didn’t mind pumping out kids so long as she could shop and keep up with her plastic surgery addiction.”

“I’m sorry, Clint.”

I shook my head. “I truly do believe Dad ruined her. I mean, there are pictures I’ve come across of her from time to time, and the smile on her face is just—”

I got lost in my memories for a second. And I didn’t get pulled from them until our milkshakes touched down. I nodded at the waitress and she left us be, then I felt something warm against my foot under the table.

And when I looked underneath, I found Rae wrapping her legs around mine. Trying to comfort me. Trying to cradle me. Trying to be there for me.

No one had ever done that for me before. I felt my heart leap to life.

“No, I don’t have any memories of my dad. According to Mom, he wasn’t even around much when they were together. I mean, they got engaged. Got married. Had me. But, for some reason, he jumped ship when I was three and that was that.”

I sighed. “Did your mother ever tell you what happened?”

Rae shook her head. “I can’t get her to talk about it. Like, ever. I don’t know that I’ll ever know what really happened. Why Dad really left us. Why he really didn’t want us.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that.”

“Are you, though? I mean, it’s possible. Mom’s not easy to deal with. My grandparents disowned us, practically, because of her erratic behavior. For all I know, Dad got fed up with it and was worried I’d turn out the same way. So he left to avoid all that.”

I reached out, taking her hand. “You don’t seem erratic to me.”

She snickered. “Oh, yeah? And sleeping with the high school bully on a whim after he got into a fight with my best friend isn’t erratic?”

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing. Was it really that bad of a thing?”

And as our plates of food settled in front of us, Rae shook her head.

“No. It really wasn’t.”





19





Raelynn





Clint grinned at me from across the table before he let go of my hand. We dove into the food, sinking our teeth into fabulous, greasy burgers that made me moan with delight. There was an extravagant amount of food. But I knew I’d eat it all. In some ways, I forgot Clint was sitting there. Watching me. Staring at me. Taking in the way ketchup slid across my cheeks and how the lettuce slid away from my burger, dropping onto the plate.

“If you cut it in half, the vegetables will stay better.”

I slowly looked over at him as I found myself mid-bite into my glorious burger.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked with my mouth full.

He chuckled. “Yep.”

He held up half of his burger and I put mine down. I wiped off my face as his eyes danced along me, watching my every move. I wasn't sure what the hell he was staring at, but I didn’t like it. I’d never been underneath someone’s gaze so intently, and it made me squirm in my seat. I picked up my knife, cutting the burger in half before I picked up the part of it I had already been chewing on.

And I found that the vegetables didn’t slip out as easily.

I smiled. “Genius.”

“I’ve eaten many burgers in my lifetime. I’ve perfected the art.”

I shook my head. “There’s no art to eating them. There’s only the art of cleaning yourself up after them.”

“That an art you’ve perfected?”

“You making fun of the way I eat, Clarke?”

He winked. “Maybe just a bit.”

I rolled my eyes. “A teaser, even on a date. How romantic.”

“I mean, we could share our milkshakes if you wanted. Get two straws. Nuzzle our noses together and feed each other cherries.”

“I’m not eating anything from your fingertips. I don’t know where those things have been.”

He grinned. “I could tell you where they will be later.”

“You sound pretty sure of yourself there. I wouldn’t get too cocky.”

“But maybe just a little cocky. Right?”

I felt myself blushing as I shook my head. We went back and forth like that over our food, but it wasn’t the kind of dickish banter I’d known him to have. It was playful. Flirtatious. Nice, even. He had a great sense of humor, and I found myself laughing and partially choking on my food every time he slid a joke in at the right time. Who would’ve thought Clint Clarke had a decent sense of humor?

Certainly not me.

Clint pointed to my shake. “You got enough room for that?”

I leaned back. “I have to admit, this was a lot more food than I realized.”

He grinned. “Maybe try not to keep up with me next time.”

“If you challenge me, I’ll make myself sick proving you wrong.”

“And that would be one of the many reasons why you’re not like your mother.”

The comment caught me off-guard, and it settled itself deep in the pit of my soul. It affected me in so many ways that it brought tears to my eyes. I looked down into my lap, playing with the loose fabric of my cardigan. I blinked rapidly, trying to keep myself together. Except the tears fell anyway.

And I felt my body being slid across the booth seat.

“Come here,” he murmured.

He wrapped his arm around me and I leaned against him. I felt his strength as he comforted me. As he slid his hand up and down my arm. I tucked my head underneath his chin, feeling him lean back with me. And as I rested against him, I allowed the full force of that complimented truth barrel over me.