To Claim His Girl Read online

  “Was that Eli Waters I saw in my driveway?” Harvey Dean, her father, asked.

  “It was. He’s back.”

  “That must have cost a fortune. Wayne had to go through plastic surgery after what that boy did to him. You ever find out what happened?”

  “I don’t know, Dad. He’s not a bad guy, and he made sure I was back on time.”

  Her mother made her way out of the sitting room. “Eli’s back.”

  “Lisa, I don’t like him around our girl.”

  “Harvey, some things you can’t control,” Lisa said, glaring at her husband.

  Aria looked between her parents, and decided not to get involved in whatever argument they were having that day.

  “I’m going to bed.”

  Chapter Two

  “Your father doesn’t like me,” Eli said.

  Aria tossed her bag into the back and put her seatbelt on. “He doesn’t like anyone unless he’s getting something from it. I’m sure it’s what pisses him off about me.”

  “How does it piss him off?”

  “First, I’m not a boy. If I was a boy he’d have the heir he wanted to take over his company. I’m not interested. Also, he wishes he could marry me off. I think he’s hoping I’ll marry one of his friends.”

  Eli gripped the steering wheel tightly. He didn’t like the thought of his girl with anyone else. She was his, and he’d been waiting for her for the past year. That was what kept him going, his memories of her, and the pictures he had of her.

  “We’re going to get a lot of stares,” she said.

  “I don’t give a fuck. They can all look as far as I’m concerned.”

  “You’re a rebel.” She chuckled.

  After a few seconds she sighed.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Just tired. It is going to be a long ass year, and you know, I’ve got to be nice, and stay out of trouble.”

  “Your dad can’t make you do shit.”

  “He can.”

  “You could always emancipate yourself or something.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he’d just love that.”

  “Why not? It can be done.”

  “I’m going to wait to even think of doing something like that. Anyway, I think something’s going on with my mom and dad. They looked scary last night. I’ve never seen them like that before.”

  Her cell phone chimed, and out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she checked her phone.

  “Rachel’s text. They’re all at school.”

  “Great.”

  “She says Wayne has gotten buffed up. Do you think he knows you’re going to be there?”

  “Probably. Redgrave’s probably alerted him that I am. I don’t care. I’ll deal with him.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid that can get you kicked out. I’ve already been without you for a year. We all missed you.”

  Eli gritted his teeth. He didn’t care about the others. Still, at least she added herself in the whole “we” thing.

  Pulling up inside the school parking lot, he spotted their friends, and also Wayne. He noticed the bastard didn’t look so tough the moment he caught sight of his car.

  “Here we go. Last year of high school, and our future awaits,” Aria said.

  He wanted them to have a future together.

  Chris and Branson were round by his door by the time he got out.

  “Is Wayne talking shit?” he asked.

  “Don’t know. He’s doing all that preening, and bullshit stuff. Forget about him, and we’re all together, man,” Branson said.

  “Hey, Eli, we’ve missed you.”

  Eli turned to see Tiffany, one of the cheerleaders he’d fucked a year ago. She was fluffing up her hair, and when he looked toward Aria, he saw she wasn’t paying him any attention.

  He pushed Tiffany’s hands off his chest.

  “Don’t be like that.” She pouted.

  “Didn’t miss you.”

  When he continued to glare at her, she gave him a growl and stomped off.

  “You won’t be getting any pussy from her,” Chris said.

  “I thought you liked her because you didn’t have to work for it?” Branson asked.

  Glancing back toward Aria, he saw she still hadn’t looked in their direction, and it was pissing him off. Did he have to get fucking naked to get her attention?

  “What do our girls have to do about anything?” Chris asked.

  “You were only at the lake an hour last night, but you couldn’t take your eyes away from Aria. What is going on?” Branson asked.

  “She’s mine. Aria’s mine.”

  Silence fell between them.

  “Yours?” Chris spoke the word slowly.

  “Yeah, she’s mine, as in I couldn’t think of anyone else in the past year. The only reason I promised to behave is to be around her. No one is going near her. No one touches her. She’s mine, and I expect you guys to have my back on this.”

  Chris and Branson stared at the girls.

  “It’s about time,” Chris said. “Rachel has been bugging the shit out of me with this.”

  “Whatever, come on, let’s go.”

  “Hey,” Branson said, grabbing his arm. “Does she know?”

  “She doesn’t have a clue.”

  Moving around the car, he draped his hand around Aria’s shoulders. “You coming with me to the office? I’ve got to go and see Redgrave before I can start my day.”

  “He want to give you a rant about being a good boy?” Aria asked.

  “Yep. I’ll give him his five minutes, and I’ll do whatever I can to stick around.”

  “It’s going to be one hell of a final year.”

  “Yep, it is.”

  They walked across the parking lot, and he stared at Wayne, and anyone he recalled who’d talked shit about them. He always dealt the punishment out for the fuckers that thought they could get away with shit like that.

  Entering the front doors of Blythe Ridge High, he took Aria’s hand once again. He wanted her to get used to him touching him, and being close.

  “Can you believe this is going to be our last year here?” she asked.

  “Unless we have kids, and then we’ll be dropping them off every day.”

  She laughed. “You thinking of having kids already?”

  “You’re not.”

  “Hell no. I’m eighteen in a couple of weeks. You’ve got no chance of me thinking about kids. Unless…”

  “Unless what?” he asked.

  “You know we were talking last night. My dad can be overbearing. I’d consider getting knocked up to get to him, which is the totally wrong reason to have kids.”

  “Yeah, it is.” He’d help her though.

  Eli wanted her, and he’d take her any way he could get her.

  Standing outside of the principal’s office, he watched Miss Fox get some paperwork.

  “It’s nice to have you back, Mr. Waters, but I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

  “Where’s Redgrave? Keeping out of it?” Eli asked.

  “Actually, I’m right here. Dealing with a very angry parent.”

  “Let me guess, Wayne’s dad?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact.”

  He snorted, and turned to Aria. “Coward.”

  “Be nice, and I’ll be here waiting.”

  Eli didn’t want to leave her but he didn’t see much choice, and so releasing her hand, he walked into Redgrave’s office and took a seat.

  “I don’t like you being here, Eli. It goes against all code once you have been expelled.”

  “Then why didn’t Wayne get expelled?” he asked. “He fought back, didn’t he?”

  “You initiated the fight, and I’m not about to get into the details.”

  “The check my father wrote should be more than enough to make you feel better.”

  “Don’t take that tone with me.”

  “I wonder where the money went, your school, or your pocket.”

  Silence fell across the room. Eli had never liked the principal. He was never about helping anyone but himself.

  “Right, so I agreed to your father’s conditions. You’re allowed back providing you remain a high scoring student. I don’t want any fights at all.”

  “If someone else starts something, I’ll finish it.”

  Redgrave glared at him. “Be warned, Waters. If I think for a second that you’re causing trouble in my school, I will end you. You’ll be out of here so fast, you won’t even have time to say goodbye to your friends.”

  “It’s a good job I’m planning on being a good boy then, right?” He hated this fucker. Everything would be worth it if he got to be with Aria for their final year of school.

  “Go and get your stuff. I don’t want to hear from you.”

  Getting to his feet, Eli walked out of the office, and smiled the moment he saw Aria looking through his stuff.

  “Have I got something to look forward to?” he asked.

  “You’re with me for homeroom, and then we have the same classes for English, sex ed, and also gym, yay. But don’t worry, you’re spread between me and the guys, like we all are.”

  “Yeah, they can’t keep us all apart for long.”

  Leaving the principal’s office, they made their way down toward their lockers. Hers was three down from his, and he remembered all the times he would stare at her without her even realizing it. So, he’d had it bad for a long time, and he’d just put it down to them being friends. He’d had no idea how much he would miss her until they’d been forced apart a year.

  Eli didn’t want to be without her.

  He wasn’t a saint not by any means. In fact, he’d actually had sex for the first time when he was fourteen, and it had been with the cleaner. It wasn’t a proud moment. He lasted five minutes, and made a complete mess of himself, and her. For the rest of the year, she’d taught him how to love a woman. Now, for some fourteen was a little young, but it had helped him through a hard time in his life, and the anger he felt, had been changed. He’d been more focused on learning how to please a woman. After six months, she had moved on, and he’d never seen or heard from her again, which he didn’t mind. Even though she taught him everything, there was so much guilt inside her. He would never let anything happen to her as he was grateful.

  Everything he’d learned, and the practice he’d gotten, he hoped would be enough to help with his first time with Aria.

  ****

  “So, your boyfriend’s back,” Wayne said.

  Aria sighed, and placed her book back into her locker. She was about to head toward the dining hall. She was hungry, and right now she didn’t want to deal with this joke.

  “What? You’re not going to talk to me?”

  She finished putting her stuff into the locker, slammed it closed, and locked it before turning to face him. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want? I want to know what he’s doing here.”

  “Last time I checked, I’m just a student here, jackass. You want your answers, go to the principal’s office.”

  He slammed his hand against the locker near her head. She wasn’t worried. Wayne was all bark, not bite. “I won’t be spoken to like that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Look, I know you think it’s cute taking steroids, to make yourself look like that, but it’s really not cute.” She ducked under his arm. “You need to realize Eli’s back, and you start, he’ll kick your ass.”

  Wayne had been on her case for a while now. She didn’t know why, but he always picked moments when they were alone to corner her. There was no point in telling Chris or Branson, as she could handle herself.

  Entering the main hall, she spotted Eli straight away, and he came right to her.

  “Where you been? Rachel told me you had to drop some books off.”

  “Yeah, it’s no biggie. I’m here now, and I’m starving.”

  She walked toward the back of the line, feeling him standing behind her, so close.

  “How were your morning classes?”

  “They dragged on. I don’t know what is worse, me or them.”

  She chuckled. “You’ve got to be good. Keep up your grades, and stay out of trouble.”

  “I was thinking about that.”

  “Should I be worried that you were actually thinking?”

  “Ha ha, very funny. How about we become study partners? You, me, alone with the good books.”

  “Sure. I wouldn’t mind. Dad will probably throw a hissy fit. He likes throwing them.”

  “I’m a good catcher. Don’t worry, I’ll be good.”

  “You keep making those promises.”

  She picked a chicken salad, some fruit, and a smoothie.

  Eli took her tray and carried it toward the table for her.

  “Is it me, or has military school made you sweet?” she asked.

  “Nothing has changed me.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Chris asked. “Bringing her lunch. It’s not a usual thing.”

  “Maybe you should watch Eli more closely. I’d love for you to be the gentleman, fetching me things. You never know, it could get you laid more often,” Rachel said, biting Chris’s ear.

  “It’s a good thing I’m not greedy then.”

  Aria laughed.

  “We’ll see.”

  This was what she loved about her friends. When Rachel and Chris had gotten together, and then Mary and Branson, she’d been worried they would fall out, break up, and really screw up their dynamic as friends. If they did fall out, it lasted only a few hours, and they were making up by the end of the day. She loved her friends, all five of them, and couldn’t imagine her life at high school without them.

  She picked up her fork, and took a bite of the overly cooked chicken. School food was the worst.

  “How’s your morning?” she asked, trying to chew through the meat.

  “Boring,” Eli said, grabbing his burger and taking a large bite. He then looked a little green. “Cooking hasn’t improved.”

  “You thought it would?” Branson asked.

  “You never know. Maybe hell will freeze over, and we’ll get a better deal out of this.”

  “Hey, handsome.”

  Aria watched as Joanne, a cheerleader, and known for being easy, pushed between Eli and the table.

  “It has been one lonely year.”

  Aria was used to this. All the girls swarmed around the guys. Until Chris and Branson had declared their love for Rachel and Mary, they’d even had their own pick of women.

  “What the fuck are you doing on my lap?” Eli pushed her off his lap. Joanne gasped and fell at his feet.

  “What the fuck, Eli? You’re too good for us now?”

  “Pretty much. Tell all your skank friends I won’t be paying them any visits. They’re going to need some servicing from the football team, and we all know they’ve got little dicks.”

  Aria smirked.

  “What’s it to you, fatty?” Joanne snapped the word.

  She had heard worse.

  Eli got to his feet and stared down at Joanne. The threat was there in his stance, and it made even Aria a little nervous.

  “Eli, chill, it’s not the first time they’ve said shit like that.”

  “It’ll be the last time they say shit like that. You got me? I hear anything about her from either of you, I’ll fucking make sure you didn’t even look at her. Got me?”

  Joanne nodded, whimpered, and ran off.

  “Wow, you sure got deadly from wherever you were,” Rachel said. “I think she pissed herself.”

  “She needs to learn to stay the fuck out of my business.” Eli sat down, running his hand down her back. “You okay, baby?”

  “I’m fine, honey.” She shook her head, confused. “What is the matter with you?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “I’ve had a lot worse than that. It’s fine. I’m big boned, I’m fat, I don’t care.”

  “You’re not fat,” Chris said. She looked over to see Chris staring her up and down. “You’re fuller. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Hey, keep your eyes to yourself,” Eli said.

  “You have got the best pair of tits I’ve ever seen,” Rachel said. “I wish mine were bigger.”

  “I’m not going to complain,” Chris said, kissing her.

  “Now that you’ve made me blush, I’m going to try and eat my food, okay?” Aria asked. Her cheeks were on fire.

  “He’s only saying the truth. You’ve got a nice rack.”

  “I really don’t need to hear this. Really, I don’t.”

  The way Eli stared at her made her a little hot under the collar. It was intense, and dare she say, interested.

  “Oh, bad guy twelve o’clock,” Mary said.

  “I think that’s three o’clock,” Branson said.

  “Whatever. Wayne just walked in, and he looks a little pissed.”

  She placed a hand on Eli’s back. “Just ignore him, okay? We don’t want you screwing up our last year on your first day. We’re all together right. Just think about that.”

  “You’re right.” He took her hand, kissing her knuckles.

  Pulling away, she stabbed her fork into the wilted green leaves, and decided she couldn’t eat it.

  “Hey, how about we have dinner at the diner? It’ll be fun,” Mary said.

  “I’m in,” Aria said. “This is just lame. Straight after school?”

  “Yep. I’m in,” Chris said. “Dad wants me home to meet the other little wifey, and I’m not interested.”

  “He got married again?” Eli asked.

  “Yeah, to a woman a few years older than me. It sucks.”

  Chris’s dad never stayed single for long, and this would be wife number five. Aria had had the pleasure of meeting all of the other wives, and none of them could really handle Chris. He loved his mom, and he visited her as often as he could.

  “Do you want us all to go?” Aria asked. “We could go to your house. Give you the strength in numbers kind of thing.”

  “Maybe scare her so she doesn’t think she has a chance to get in your pants this time,” Rachel said.

  “Yeah, that’s just gross. Your stepmom wanting to bang your brains out,” Mary said with a shudder.

  Aria laughed. Chris had been mortified, even if the woman had been in her early twenties. He did love Rachel.

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