Claimed Hard by My Best Friend Novel – Jennifer Marie. Okay, this is officially the reunion of the century. I’m standing here in this insane penthouse; pretty sure my moisturized cleavage is reflecting in the glass architecture. I told Tinka, my best friend that I wanted minimal makeup, but she ambushed me with this super red lip gloss. In her words, the sole purpose is to make the jerk who called me a “boring virgin” four years ago, rue the day those words ever left his mouth. And by jerk, I mean Baxter Prescott. Back in high school, he was jock captain, a total athletic star, and for the longest time, my biggest crush.
After gathering every ounce of my courage to confess my feelings on prom night, Baxter didn’t just say no. He made me feel foolish and ugly for ever believing I could be enough for someone like him. It wasn’t just a rejection. It was humiliation. “Is that… ‘boring Jenny’?” I’d know that voice anywhere. It’s Blair, who had been one of the “it” girls in our class. “Ugh, as if that’s actually Jenny.” Blair continues. “Please. The real Jenny had, like, pizza face and the body of a twelve-year-old boy. There is no way she grew…those boobs.” She’s whispering like a coward behind me so I don’t have to address…the thing.
Neither do I have to prove that I’m the girl who used to have terrible skin, giant metal for braces and the look of a little kid who lost her way to the middle school dance. Puberty found me after high school so I grew into this…figure. I’m not even trying to toot my own horn, but “greek goddess” is one of the whispers I definitely caught on my walk of fame across this marble floor. If any of my them had the guts to actually come up and ask, I’d tell them the truth: my life did a full 360 after I got rejected on prom night. “OMG, Jennie!?” I see Rachel, an old classmate rush toward me in a fluttery butterfly dress.
The moment she confirms it’s me, the other girls’ whispers stop dead. I genuinely chuckle and throw Rachel a hug. She was always a kind soul and a literal breath of fresh air in all that social ladder nonsense. “Everyone’s been whispering, trying to figure out if it was actually you!” she gushes. “I’ve been looking everywhere so I could talk to you!” “Rachel, oh my god—” “I am literally obsessed with your fashion blog! How… how did you do it? You never cared about clothes in school, and now you’re a total icon. It’s like it happened in a blink!” “Trust me, honest to heaven, it was not a blink.” I joke in excitement. And she’s not wrong. I went from graphic tees to someone who learnt the power of a good silhouette. I started a fashion blog in college just for fun, which somehow turned into an internship, which led to the actual, dream job I have now. “Baxter is going to literally die when he sees you!” Rachel adds and it instantly brings back the memory of him walking back into the ballroom after my confession and telling all his friends about it.
Yeah, that piece of information that found its way back to me thanks to Tinka. “Oh, shit.” I sigh. “You know he’s engaged now, right? To the daughter of Radisson Enterprises. We didn’t even think he’d come tonight since he’s been so busy winning ‘Best Entrepreneur’ last month and making headlines with his ridiculously rich family.” As we’re talking, I hear this…sort of…. familiar chuckle. I turn, and my wine glass almost slips right out of my hand— It’s Baxter Prescott. In a white tuxedo! I look away and blink, like my brain needs to reboot. But when I sneak another glance, he’s still there. I’d know that flash of movie-star teeth anywhere. It’s him.
And there’s a beautiful young woman holding his arm as they walk in. Green eyes, blonde hair. It is a possessive hold that confirms the rumours of his engagement. When I first heard about his engagement, it was just… news. But seeing them now, hand-in-hand. It just reminds me of how he looked at me that night…like I was nothing. Like I was less than the models he follows. It still stings. I’m just about to force myself to look away when his eyes suddenly lock with mine across the room. Baxter finds me in the crowd, through all the people trying to get his attention. And then he does something crazy. Baxter pushes the blonde girl aside, parts the seas of our classmates and just… starts walking toward me. I hold my breath, convinced he’s heading for someone behind me, until he’s right there, standing in front of me. “Jen… Jennifer from Northwood?” He puts his hand out like a perfect gentleman.
Because everyone is watching, I place my hand in his with a nervous smile. “Baxter, I didn’t think you were making an appearance tonight.” “Did every guy in this room get a memo that I didn’t? Because if I’d known you were going to look like this, I would’ve cleared my schedule a lot sooner.” I see his throat work as he brazenly fixates on my pale cleavage in the corset dress. And it’s all so wrong. For god’s sake, he’s engaged! Or isn’t he!? “You know, I was just thinking this party was getting boring. Then I see you and finally give me something worth looking at. We should go somewhere private to catch up.” He whispers to me, then, all of a sudden, pulls me with my hand. Away from Rachel, away the main crowd of our ex-classmates. “What are you—” My heels skid on the marble. I can’t put up much of a fight in this death-trap corset. I desperately scan the room for Tinka.
He doesn’t stop until we’re out of everyone’s sight, into some fancy wine cellar part of the ballroom I didn’t even know was here. The door shut behind us, and the party noise instantly muffles. As soon as we’re alone, he looks me over all over again, pushing a hand through his perfect, movie-star hair. “We didn’t have to go somewhere different to talk. What’s the meaning of this?” I let my irritation show and turn to go back out. This was a mistake. Baxter shoots his arm out to catch me. “You realize I’m that Baxter, right?” he says, like he’s stating some universal fact. “Four years ago… you confessed your feelings to me. Are you not even a little happy to see me? I mean, you didn’t scream or yell for help out there, so let’s not pretend you didn’t want to be in a close space with me.” Is he for real right now? “Hey, did you hit your head on a rock or something?” I snap. I hope it surprises him. I used to see no wrong in anything Baxter did, but today is not then. I’m not the same, naïve Jennifer. “Your fiancée is right out there!” “Oh, Nisha? That’s more of a friends-with-benefits situation.
Nothing crazy or committed between us.” He tucks his hands in his pockets and bites his lip, looking way too pleased with himself. I’m still processing how gross that is when he puts his hands on my waist, and leans in like he’s about to kiss me. My brain screams. I shove him back and squish my purse between us. Would you believe Baxter stares at me with genuine shock all over his face? Like he actually thought I’d just melt into his arms. It just proves how little he thinks of me. That I’d drop everything and kiss him just because I had a crush on him a lifetime ago, while his fiancée is literally in the next room. “You know I was going to kiss you, right? You were already looking at me from across the room? That was your invitation—” “Uh, no! You read that look wrong, boy.” He chuckles, but it’s strained, like he’s losing patience with a game he thought would be easy. “Listen, I know it’s cute to play hard to get, especially now that you’re… well, you are sexy.