Free Clay's Hope by Melissa Haag Page A

Rachel
came back into the room just then, dressed in a skirt so short I
could see her underwear if I wanted to look.
    “Of course you will, won’t you, Gabby?”
    There was a silent exchange between the two
that had both wearing a pleading look.
    “Okay,” Gabby said slowly, giving in. “But I
need to be home early enough to let Clay out.”
    What? I was too stunned to react.
    “I’m sure he’ll be fine for that little
while.” Rachel waved her hand dismissively at me, and I made a
choked noise. What had just happened?
    “Go get dressed,” Rachel said, waving Gabby
toward her room.
    Gabby stood, ready to listen to Rachel, the
short skirt queen. Gabby’s willingness finally broke my control.
There was no way she was leaving with Rachel and love-boy to meet
up with some other guy.
    I stood and rushed to block Gabby from
entering her room. She eyed me and tried to step around me, but I
cut her off.
    Rachel laughed. “Come here, Clay. Come here
and let Gabby get ready.” She squatted down and patted her leg. She
was lucky I didn’t have fingers at the moment.
    Ignoring Rachel, I continued to block Gabby.
She had to understand. I wasn’t okay with this.
    “I’ve never seen him act like this,” Rachel
said.
    Because I’d never been this angry with her
and Gabby. I almost bared my teeth. Only Gabby’s considering gaze
kept me sane.
    “I’m surprised you have such a wild looking
dog,” the man said. “It seems too big compared to the house...and
the two of you.”
    Gabby shook her head ever so slightly and
dropped to her knees in front of me. She wrapped her arms around my
neck, hugging me. My pulse stuttered with her mouth so close to my
neck. I forgot to breathe, but lack of air wasn’t what made my
chest ache and my gut clench.
    Bite me, I pleaded silently. Show them I’m
yours and you’re mine.
    Instead, she spoke softly near my ear.
    “I’m not crazy about the idea either, but
you have to let me go and stop acting weird.”
    Have to? No. I didn’t have to.
    She pulled back.
    “Ready to be good, Clay?” She stood and
scratched me behind the ear...just as a pet owner would do.
    The pain in my chest grew worse, and I
turned, went to her room, and jumped up on the end of her bed. She
followed me in, closed the door, and folded her arms. An edge of
anxiety lingered in her scent, warring with her growing anger.
    “I am not changing in front of you.”
    Exactly. I grinned at her and lay on the
blanket. Her eyes narrowed on me for a moment, then she
shrugged.
    “Fine. I’ll change in the bathroom.”
    She turned and pretended to study the
clothes hanging in the closet. She was bluffing. She had to be. But
why? Did she want me to be jealous? I already was. The idea of the
hours she spent around men while on campus each day nearly drove me
insane. She didn’t need to add a date. What did she have to prove?
She already owned me. I was here, in the human world, trying to
figure out how to blend into her life, trying to make us work. What
more did she want from me?
    Gabby reached for a skirt just as short as
the one Rachel wore. Not in this lifetime. I growled.
    “Zip it.” She grabbed some kind of silky
top. It had more material than the skirt.
    She really meant to go. I sat up and started
to vent.
    If you’re trying to make me jealous, it
worked. Put it down. You’re not going anywhere, especially wearing
any of that.
    Of course, all she heard was barking. Still,
it felt good to actually say something to her.
    She spun toward me, her eyes wide with
shock.
    “What the hell, Clay? Cut it out.”
    Like hell. You know you belong to me. I’m
trying to be patient but this is asking too much. You can’t go to
dinner with another man while feeding me dog food and making me
drink out of a bowl.
    Rachel burst in without knocking, and the
man right behind her. I stood and yelled at both of them.
    Get out and take your man-boy with you.
    “What’s wrong?” Rachel asked, her gaze
bouncing between me and