Table of Contents
Chapter 1 • Toby
Chapter 2 • Claudia
Chapter 3 • Toby
Chapter 4 • Claudia
Chapter 5 • Toby
Chapter 6 • Claudia
Chapter 7 • Claudia
Chapter 8 • Toby
Chapter 9 • Toby
Chapter 10 • Claudia
Chapter 11 • Toby
Chapter 12 • Claudia
Chapter 13 • Claudia
Chapter 14 • Toby
Chapter 15 • Claudia
Chapter 16 • Toby
Chapter 17 • Claudia
Chapter 18 • Toby
Chapter 19 • Claudia
Chapter 20 • Claudia
Chapter 21 • Toby
Chapter 22 • Claudia
Chapter 23 • Toby
Chapter 24 • Claudia
Chapter 25 • Claudia
Chapter 26 • Toby
Chapter 27 • Claudia
Chapter 28 • Toby
Chapter 29 • Claudia
Chapter 30 • Toby
Chapter 31 • Claudia
Chapter 32 • Claudia
Chapter 33 • Toby
Chapter 34 • Toby
Chapter 35 • Claudia
Chapter 36 • Toby
Chapter 37 • Claudia
Chapter 38 • Toby
Chapter 39 • Claudia
Chapter 40 • Toby
Chapter 41 • Claudia
Chapter 42 • Toby
Epilogue • 1 Toby
Epilogue • 2 Claudia
Epilogue • 3 Toby
Epilogue • 4 Claudia
Epilogue • 5 Toby
Keeping Claudia
A Novel By
SUZANNE MCKENNA LINK
Keeping Claudia
Copyright © 2017 by Suzanne McKenna Link
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Thank you for your support.
Cover by Stephanie White of Steph’s Cover Designs
Editing by Veronica Jorden of First Page Last Page
Proofreading by Michele Mathews of Beach Girl Publishing
Also By Suzanne McKenna Link
Saving Toby (Toby & Claudia Book 1)
Acknowledgements
I dedicate this book to all my sisters, those who are family as well as those of you who have become as close to me as sisters are.
Writing a book can be both a blessing and a curse. Most times it tips toward the blessing side, but there are times I feel cursed for having ever having dreamed I could travel this road. At times like those, I am grateful for the encouragement and support of the awesome women in my life.
Ladies, your persistence to better yourselves, to make lives better for others, and your courage to fight the toughest of battles, inspire me everyday. I am in awe of your strength to not only to preserve but also to grow in the face of adversity.
I love you all.
Special thanks to:
My best pals, Suzanne and Ann Marie, and my sister-in-law, Barbara. Thank you for the invaluable support and feedback during the writing of this book. Your enthusiasm for Toby and Claudia’s story fueled my low periods and kept me going.
My editor, Veronica Jorden of First Page Last Page. Your professional feedback and love for this story re-inspired me and was the impetus that pushed it to finish line.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56:3
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Toby
Chapter 2 – Claudia
Chapter 3 - Toby
Chapter 4 – Claudia
Chapter 5 – Toby
Chapter 6 – Claudia
Chapter 7 – Claudia
Chapter 8 – Toby
Chapter 9 – Toby
Chapter 10 – Claudia
Chapter 11 – Toby
Chapter 12 – Claudia
Chapter 13 – Claudia
Chapter 14 – Toby
Chapter 15 – Claudia
Chapter 16 – Toby
Chapter 17 – Claudia
Chapter 18 – Toby
Chapter 19 – Claudia
Chapter 20 – Claudia
Chapter 21 – Toby
Chapter 22 – Claudia
Chapter 23 – Toby
Chapter 24 – Claudia
Chapter 25 – Claudia
Chapter 26 – Toby
Chapter 27 – Claudia
Chapter 28 – Toby
Chapter 29 – Claudia
Chapter 30 – Toby
Chapter 31 – Claudia
Chapter 32 – Claudia
Chapter 33 – Toby
Chapter 34 – Toby
Chapter 35 – Claudia
Chapter 36 – Toby
Chapter 37 – Claudia
Chapter 38 – Toby
Chapter 39 – Claudia
Chapter 40 – Toby
Chapter 41 – Claudia
Chapter 42 – Toby
About the Author
Epilogue
Chapter 1 • Toby
Several days unshaven and dressed in T-shirt and jeans, I looked the part of the wannabe rocker, and blended in with the swarm of Friday night clubbers who ringed the stage. I adjusted my guitar strap and scanned the crowd. It only took a moment to spot her. Claudia Chiametti stood out from the rest—too beautiful, too perfect for her surroundings. I could smell her skin just by the sight of her, honey warmed by the sun. Her long dark hair cascaded softly over bare shoulders a shade of Mediterranean bronze. She wore a white sleeveless dress, and in the shadowy cave of the barroom, it was nearly fluorescent.
Like most Friday nights, the air inside the Mad Monkey was popping and hot. Electronic music whirled in from overhead speakers, and the pulsing, driving beat mingled with the vibration of alcohol-laden voices. Across the room, Claudia pushed her way through the crowd. The instant her sky blue eyes connected with mine, her brilliant smile flashed, and for a moment everything around us stilled. The electric current of our attraction ate up the distance between us. My heartbeat kicked up a notch. Now that she was home, it was an unspoken challenge to fold her into the life I'd created while she'd been away at school.
The band and I had just finished a sound check. I’d joined Young Cranky Old Guys about a year ago, replacing another guitarist. We were a patched-together tribe of five. Our drummer, Bones, was heavily tatted, leather-clad, and bigger than life; Keith and R.J. on keyboard and bass were mellow, mid-aged school music teachers; and Dan, our lead vocalist, headlined nightly at the local Applebee’s as a line cook. Dan and I were both twenty-three, the youngest of the group, but unlike myself, taking it as it came, Dan dreamed of bright lights, big city.
I enjoyed playing, but other than to impress girls in high school, I had never pursued music with any serious intent. I joined the group to show Claudia and everyone else that I had rejoined life—that I was no longer letting my mother’s death hold my future hostage.
“Dude,” someone close said, distracting me with a pinching hold on my pinkie finger. My gaze unwillingly left Claudia and settled on the girl at my side.
“Hey, Leah, what’s up?”
Leah’s right arm, an intricate weave of flowers and flourishes etched into snow-white skin, wrapped around my waist as she whispered in my ear.
“After th
e Monkey signs the band, you and I will celebrate.” She gave me a knowing look and dropped off the stage. When she turned, I saw the feathery outlines of the giant wings that spanned her back, shoulder-blade-to-shoulder-blade.
Every time I saw her, I was belted with lashes of guilt. Guilt that she held no ownership of. I’d met her after a show last year, and despite the difference in height and hairstyle, she’d instantly reminded me of a girl who’d wrecked me when I was younger. I’d given into the memory and self-medicated by spending the night with Leah, but she was a nothing more than a reminder of the phantom bullet forever lodged. I’d not given her any reason to believe there was anything between us other than that one time, but she kept coming around.
I focused on finishing setting up, Leah quickly forgotten. There was a rumor floating about that the Mad Monkey was in the market for a band to fill a slot in their annual lineup. It had piqued Dan’s interest and the rest of the guys, too, but I didn’t care much one way or the other. I suppose it was a big deal—the Monkey was a hot spot. It was just a local dive, really, but more than a handful of successful bands had made their start here so it held some weight in the music industry. And with women, too. It was an unwritten dividend: If you played the Monkey, chances were good you’d get laid.
But Claudia, several yards back at odds with the crowd that engulfed her, wasn’t tripping over my star power. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She was the kind of girl who was more at home speaking in front of crowd than pushing through one. She was the kind of girl you hoped you could get alone, away from the noise, so you could sit and listen to her because you knew whatever she said would benefit you. She was the kind of girl you wanted on your side because no matter what shit you got yourself into she would stick it out with you right till the end. After everything we’d been through, she was my rock. She was the reason I hadn’t completely self-destructed.
I watched some guy tap Claudia's shoulder, and my stomach clenched when she turned to talk to him. Even with our friends, April and Dario, at her side, I wasn't confident Claudia could handle guys full up on liquid courage and dogged in their persistence to score. I was psyched when Claudia said she wanted to come tonight, but I’d forgotten that while I was up on the stage she would be down with the masses. And I would have to stand witness to all the shitheads hitting on her.
I didn’t like that. Not one damn bit.
Annoyance rattled in my throat. After nearly two years apart and a long, uphill battle to get her back, I’d earned the right to be a bit territorial.
Dan whistled, circling two fingers over his head and rousing the group. “Let’s get this show started.”
It was go time. I slung my guitar strap over my shoulder and went back to tracking Claudia’s movement. It was all I could do not to jump down and drag her to stand in front of me.
As a last minute ditch effort, I leaned toward Dan. “Do me a favor. Call Claudia up here.”
He cupped his hands around the microphone and spoke in a drone voice. “Attention shoppers. Paging the stunning Miss Claudia. Please report to the left-hand side of the stage. You are needed immediately for debriefing.”
Claudia rolled her eyes but pushed her way through a sizeable crowd and came to stand at the edge of the raised band platform.
“Hey,” I said, squatting down to her level.
Our gazes met and held. A bubble of indefinable energy crackled between us.
“Hey,” she returned, a warm flush creeping up her face. “Nice shirt.”
The large white letters across my dark blue T-shirt bragged: Always in a Position to Score.
I laughed. “Got a reputation to uphold. Can’t let all these people know how long it’s actually been.”
“Sorry,” she feigned guilt, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
She needed to be certain we were both committed to the relationship, and until then she’d made me promise I wouldn’t pressure her to move ahead too fast. Which plainly meant: no sex. Patience was not something I’d ever been known for, and being patient for sex, well, that concept was alien to me. Every touch ripped giant holes in my restraint, but one month in, I was practically a poster boy for patience. Claudia Chiametti was the only girl who made me want more of the same. She had given me a second chance, and I promised myself I wouldn’t screw it up. I was keeping her no matter what it took.
Without looking away, I motioned towards the schlep she’d been talking with. “Who's the guy?”
“Don’t know. Wanted to buy me a drink,” she said with a shrug.
“Thought it might’ve been an old boyfriend.”
“I dated one guy in college very briefly.” She held up a finger. “The chances of finding him in this crowd are slim to none. Bet you can’t boast the same about your old girlfriends, Romeo.”
Girlfriends, probably not, but with Leah here, at least one bump and go. Could be more. Who could say? It was a big crowd. I had a long history. Of course, I’d never tell Claudia that. I could pretty much guess how that’d go over considering the only man in her life before me had been her father.
“You okay?” I asked, but before she could answer, April and Dario materialized at Claudia’s side.
“When are you guys starting?” April asked.
I glanced over my shoulder at the rest of the band. Dan raised his hands in question. I caught Claudia’s hand, and lifting it, kissed the back of her fingers. “We’re starting now. Stay put where I can see you.”
“Afraid I might wander off and get lost?” she asked, amused.
“Stop worrying.” April pushed at me. “My chica is no delicate wallflower. Didn’t you see her karate chop that guy back there? You probably can’t see him because he’s out cold on the floor.”
Grinning, I shook my head. “I’m afraid Claudia will make a run for the door to get the hell outta here.”
Claudia pulled at the front of my T-shirt and rose up on her toes. I tasted her berry-flavored lip balm when she kissed me. “I’m not going anywhere, at least, not until I see you play.”
“It’s all good, ese,” Dario said with a nod. “We won’t let her abandon you. Now go make your mama proud.”
I stood, assured Claudia was secure with our friends, readjusted the strap of my Fender, and gave Dan the thumbs up. Dan signaled the rest of the group. The crowd hooted its approval.
With Claudia in front of me, I bowed my head and began to play.
Chapter 2 • Claudia
The volume of the crowd had risen substantially since April, Dario, and I had arrived. With the first notes played, whoops and cheers rose from the audience, and in the ensuing excitement of the show, there was a further melee of elbowing and pushing for a prime view of the stage. An over-exuberant girl, probably drunk, stepped on my toes, knocking into me and jarring my expanding bladder.
I was quickly getting schooled on bar etiquette. Or lack thereof.
What a difference a month made. Four weeks ago, I was tucked in a shoebox-sized dorm room at the University of Southern California, cramming for finals with graduation a beckoning light at the end of the tunnel.
Unlike the majority of the other undergrads, when I wasn’t at the library, I was more likely to be found volunteering at campus blood drives or charity events than at places like the Mad Monkey. In the madness of the typical bar scene, I was the figurative square peg. It was difficult not to stare and cluck my tongue at girls whose clothing was so tight or minuscule they left nothing to the imagination.
If it’d been any other night, I might’ve abandoned the place in annoyance, but tonight I exhaled a patient sigh. Tonight it was worth my while. It was important, and it didn’t matter if I was a square peg or unfamiliar with the music. I would assimilate and be one of the crowd—well, with a little more clothing on and with less alcohol anyway. I was here for Toby. And really, that was all that mattered.
Despite the blasting air conditioner, the air was heavy and sticky. Bartenders worked at a dizzying pace, popping bottle tops
and pouring short and tall drinks, glasses clinking with ice cubes.
I held firmly onto my glass of wine as hot sweaty bodies swarmed around us. I lost my position at the front, but an opening between heads still allowed me to see Toby, the six-foot-one, lean-muscled guy with the high-gloss maroon electric guitar. By the looks he was amassing, I’d say there were more than a few women in the crowd who would enjoy exploring the dips and peaks obscured by his tight, dark T-shirt. I didn’t blame them. His body was indeed nice to touch. Too bad for them, he was spoken for.
The music was energetic and catchy, and emboldened by April, I danced, clapped, and hooted through several songs.
April nudged my arm. “Don’t look now, but at five o’clock, the girl with curly reddish hair and purple shirt—that’s Hannah Hendricks. Toby went out with her in eleventh grade. Messy breakup.”
My eyes flew to Hannah, curious to take in the kind of girl that had once held Toby’s attention. It wasn’t hard to see why. Hannah was extremely pretty with long, copper tresses. She was slender, but well proportioned, and in a pair of minuscule, tight shorts, she had legs that went on for days. Though she chatted with a girl next to her, her focus was on the stage.
“Why messy?” I asked, unable to take my eyes from her. Toby had a formidable list of ex-girlfriends, common knowledge about our small town, but when I thought of the girls in Toby’s past, it was easy to imagine them all as harmless, faceless figures. I’d never actually seen any of them up close. Until recently, we hadn’t really traveled in the same circles.
April cupped a hand around my ear. “She was super controlling, totally stalked Toby for like a year after their breakup. We used to call her Hannah ‘Ickricks’ because of it. But don’t worry. Toby was so over her.”
High school already seemed like forever ago. But still, I found myself troubled by the idea that Hannah probably knew Toby intimately. More intimately than I did.
A tall girl with a thick head of cropped black hair pushed her way in front of me to get closer to the stage. She was at least a head taller than me, dressed in a red tank top and a pair of denim cut-offs that gave me and everyone in her wake an eyeful of her round butt. Her skin was more colorful than her clothes. Numerous, extravagant tats and piercings mocked the otherwise soft lines of her feminine figure. I couldn’t help but stare. There was a certain beauty to it all, but I couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to do that kind of thing to their body. Suddenly she turned wide, catching me with dark and unblinking eyes.
Keeping Claudia (Toby & Claudia Book 2) Page 1
