WEDNESDAY PASSED THE same as Tuesday. I didn’t really do much, just rested as much as possible so that if I was working on Thursday, I wouldn’t be suffering too badly. Taping my two broken fingers together seemed to stop them from throbbing as much, which I was grateful for.

On Thursday morning I made my way to the junkyard, praying that this would work out. When I walked into the office, Connor turned to me, smiling. His face fell almost immediately once he caught sight of me, his mouth dropping open in shock as his eyes widened. “Whoa, what the fuck happened to you?”

I’d already decided to lie and try to play up that this wasn’t my fault, in a bid to keep our agreement open. “I got mugged. I’m okay,” I lied, shrugging.

“Damn. Did they catch the guy?” he asked, pulling a chair over for me to sit in.

I waved it off with a flick of my hand. “I’ll stand, I’m all right. No, they didn’t catch him.”

“Well, that’s bad luck. They get anything?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Just my wallet,” I lied.

“There are some real assholes around here now. This used to be a nice area.” He sighed.

“So, how’d the auction go?” I asked eagerly, wanting to change the subject.

A smile crossed his face as he walked around the back of his desk and sat down. “It went great, actually. Car sold for almost eight hundred bucks. We only bought it for fifty, so …” He smiled, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a lockbox. He opened it and started to count out bills. “There’s three hundred and fifty for you.” He slid the pile of bills across the desk to me. “My dad loved the idea, he wanted to know when you can have another one done by.”

I resisted the urge to jump up and whoop with excitement. “I could have one ready by next Wednesday, definitely,” I told him, grinning ecstatically. Everything seemed to be working out perfectly.

“That’s great. How about we have a monthlong trial? If it works out I’ll put you on the books,” he offered.

“Yeah, whatever you want,” I agreed, still grinning wildly. If I worked hard, I should be able to get about two cars done a week. If I could get them to sell for the same price as this one, I would be earning decent money.

“Great. This was a really good idea, thanks for bringing it to us. Dad was thrilled with how it went.”

I stood and nodded, shoving the cash into my pocket. “Guess I’d better get to work then, huh? Thanks for this, Connor, and thank your dad for me, too.” My body finally seemed to relax. Maybe things would work out after all. “Hey, want to grab a drink tonight to celebrate?”

“I’m there,” Connor answered immediately.

As I headed out to choose the next car from the line to work on, I couldn’t keep the proud smile off my face.

* * *

On Friday night I pulled up in the parking lot of Ellie’s school, excited to see her again. We’d exchanged a few texts over the last two days, but I hadn’t spoken to her since Tuesday, when we’d arranged this date—well, technically it couldn’t be classified as a date, considering she didn’t actually want to date me.

Climbing out of my truck, I took a deep, calming breath. I looked a mess, I knew I did. Ellie would probably take one look at me, with my fading bruises, in my plain black T-shirt and jeans, and pretend she didn’t know me in front of her friends. Part of me actually hoped she would because the more time I spent with this girl, the more I liked her, and that wouldn’t end well because she wasn’t interested in a relationship. Even if she were interested, I wasn’t good enough for her anyway.

I sighed and followed the crowd around the back of her school to the large football field. The bleachers on both sides were filling up rapidly. It seemed like the whole school was here, with parents, too.

I headed to the fifty-yard line, trying to find a seat where I would have a clear view of Ellie shaking her perfect little behind.

After a few minutes the cheerleaders came jogging out, jumping around and shouting, exciting the crowd. My eyes found Ellie immediately in her little red skirt and red-and-white top, which clung to her breasts and showed off her flat stomach. Her hair was pulled up into a neat bun; in her hands were red and white pom-poms. My eyes widened. The uniform was hotter than I’d dared imagine it would be.

The cheerleaders huddled, talking for a moment before they broke apart and spread out, launching into their very well practiced dance routine. I watched in awe as she did all kinds of flips and leg kicks; they were dancing and throwing each other around.

I would like to say I watched her shake the pom-poms, but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have noticed if she put them down halfway through. Those weren’t what had my attention at all.

When the players finally graced the field, one of them slapped Ellie’s ass on the way past. She glared after him, frowning angrily. While the game was played, I watched her. She wasn’t interested in the football at all, she just kept an eye on the game so she knew when to cheer and shout. The cheerleaders did their little go team go bit whenever it was needed.

Just before halftime she turned and scanned the crowd. When her eyes settled on me, a smile slowly spread across her face. She was definitely pleased to see me.

“Hi,” I mouthed to her.

“Hi,” she mouthed back. Smiling seductively over her shoulder, she flicked the back of her skirt up, giving me a quick glance of the red cheerleading shorts she wore. I gulped and tried desperately not to think about them. I was getting so turned on I could barely sit still.

After the game, I watched the players all shaking hands and celebrating. Ellie’s team had definitely won, I could tell by the smiles on their faces, but I couldn’t tell you the score. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off the hot little redhead on the sideline long enough to actually watch the game.

Ellie made her way through the crowd and up to where I was in the bleachers. “Live up to your expectations?” she asked, doing a small twirl.

“Hell yeah it does. Damn, that’s seriously going to be featuring in my fantasies from now on,” I replied, trying to come off as joking even though I knew it undoubtedly would.

She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? And would I be in any of those fantasies, or just the uniform?”

I smiled at that. “Little girl, I have a feeling you’ll feature in my fantasies for a long time to come.”

She grinned triumphantly. “Yeah, the spankies do it for you, huh?”

“Just a little,” I replied, winking at her. “So, you want to go out and do something now, or …” I trailed off, looking at her hopefully.

“I can’t. I’ve agreed to go to a party with Stacey. She’s split up with her boyfriend again, and needs some support, apparently,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“You don’t look too impressed about it.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Stacey and Paul are always breaking up. They’ll get back together at the party, and I’ll just be a third wheel.” Suddenly her face lit up. “Hey, you want to come? When Stacey leaves me to go and get it back on with Paul, we can hang out. There’ll be plenty of empty bedrooms, in case you wanted to see my spankies up close,” she flirted, stepping closer to me.

Oh, fuck … “Yeah? You gonna leave them on?” My voice hardly sounded like mine because it was so husky and filled with lust.

Her eyes flashed with excitement. “If you want.”

“Well, I’d love to get a closer look.” I slid my hand down her side, across her hip, and onto her bare leg. She shivered, and I willed myself not to get too excited while standing in the bleachers, surrounded by people. Running my hand back up her leg, I traced one finger along the line of her spankies; she stiffened and stepped closer to me. I was so turned on I could barely even remember how to breathe.

Lost in her eyes, I didn’t notice that one of the football players had run up the stairs until he grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from me. It was the same guy who’d slapped her ass at the start of the game. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he spat angrily.

My body jerked toward her. If he hurt her, I was ripping his head off. This was Miles, the ex-boyfriend; I could tell by the possessive way he tried to turn her and put his body between me and her. He was your typical jock stereotype; he was still wearing his muddy jersey. The guy was a little smaller than me, maybe five foot ten, and was quite well built, but he had nothing on me. He wasn’t a threat at all. I took all of this in within a second. I was adept at reading people; I had to be, where I grew up.

Ellie jerked her arm from his grasp, glaring at him. “Go away, Miles!” she said firmly but quietly, as if she didn’t want people to hear.

He made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat. “Screw that! Who the hell is he?” he growled, jerking his head in my direction.

“That’s none of your business,” she retorted, pulling away from him. I didn’t want to get involved unless she asked me to. She already knew I’d gotten into a fight, but I didn’t want her to think I was just a thug or something.

His shoulders stiffened as he fumed down at her. “Go get changed, we’ll talk about it in the car,” he ordered, stepping between us again.

I clenched my jaw. The anger was building inside me, but I couldn’t blame the guy, really; he was clearly still in love with her and wanted her back. It must be hard for him to see her with someone else. I wouldn’t ever want to let her go if she were mine.

Her expression was a little taken aback as she stared at him. “The car? Are you kidding? Miles, we broke up, for goodness’ sake. I’m not going to the party with you!”

Confusion lined his forehead. “We always go to parties together.”

“Yeah, because we were always dating then, but we’re not now, so …” She trailed off, shrugging.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, their chests pressed together. “Baby, enough is enough now. You’ve made your point. I need you. Let’s just forget everything and start again, please? Give me another chance?” he asked, bending his knees to look into her eyes.

Jealousy simmered in my veins; I wanted to rip his arms off.

Thankfully, her face didn’t soften at all as she shook her head. “You’ve had enough chances.” She pulled his arms from around her waist and stormed off without another word.

The guy’s eyes narrowed in warning as he turned his attention to me. “You had better not be making any fucking moves on my girl!” he growled, stepping closer. He looked like he wanted to kill me.

“She’s not your girl anymore, asshole. Damn, you’re not too good at listening, are you?” I mocked, raising my eyebrows.

A muscle in his jaw throbbed. “You stay away from Ellie. She’s mine, and she’s too good for a little shit like you. You come near her again and we’re going to have a problem,” he stated, sneering as he looked me over.

“Whatever you say, Miles.” I smiled, trying not to laugh at his threat. He glared at me one final time before turning to walk off. Before he got more than two paces, I grabbed his arm, stopping him. Anger coiled in my stomach. “Hey, if I see you grab Ellie like that again, I’m going to break every fucking bone in your hand. You understand?” I growled menacingly.

“Screw you!” he retorted, jerking his arm out of my grip, causing my broken fingers to throb again.

While he strutted off, I took a deep breath, trying to rein in my anger as I sat back down on the bleachers, hoping Ellie would come out looking for me once she was changed. Less than a minute later my phone rang. I smiled and answered immediately, knowing it was her.

“Hey. Sorry I walked off like that, but he was driving me crazy,” she apologized.

“It’s fine, don’t worry.”

“So, do you want to go to the party with me?” she asked.

“Sure, if you want.”

“Awesome. I’ll just be ten or fifteen minutes then, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be sitting in the bleachers. See you in a bit,” I agreed, grinning excitedly because I would get to spend some time with her again.