Fighting to Be Free Read online

  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.

  CHAPTER 11

  WHEN ELLIE WAS finally ready, we hopped in my truck and she directed me out of the city and farther upstate. During the thirty-or-so-minute drive it was hard for me to keep my eyes on the road. She’d changed into a short denim skirt that showed off her long legs, a pale blue shirt that hugged her breasts, and a killer pair of black stiletto ankle boots. The smell of her perfume filled the car and made me so distracted I was surprised when we arrived at our
destination fully intact. The whole time I’d been driving, my pervert brain had been half focused on her legs and wondering whether she was wearing the spankies under her skirt.

  When we got there, I pulled in through towering wrought iron gates and headed up a long driveway. An enormous, grand building came into view. It looked more like a hotel than a house. “So, whose house is this?” I asked, swinging into a free space and cutting the engine.

  “The guy’s name is Sebastian. His parents have a lot of money, but they’re hardly ever here so he hosts the postgame party almost every week.” She led us to the front door. Inside, the music was banging already. “Um, Jamie, as head cheerleader I’m expected to take part in the games. Well, actually, I’m expected to lead most of the games.”

  “What sort of games?”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Drinking games mostly,” she replied, turning her nose up. Drinking games? This party was getting better and better by the minute, and we weren’t even inside yet.

  She didn’t knock on the door, just twisted the handle and let us in. Almost as soon as the door opened, a guy grabbed her hand, holding it in the air in a celebratory pose. “Yay, Ellie’s here!” he sang.

  She laughed and shook her head, pulling her arm from his grasp and pushing him away from her playfully. “Yep. The party can officially begin.” She turned to me and smiled. “Come on, stud, let’s get a drink.” She nodded toward another room and her hand slipped into mine as she led us through the throng of bodies grinding on each other.

  As I followed her into a huge kitchen, people immediately stopped talking, their expressions turning to looks of shock and intrigue.

  “Hey, guys, this is Jamie. Jamie, my friends from school,” Ellie said, waving her hand around the room.

  Her blonde friend came over, smiling at me wickedly. “Boy, have I heard a lot about you.”

  I laughed awkwardly. “Let me guess, you’re Stacey?”

  “I am,” she confirmed. “And ignore these douchebags staring at you; people are just looking at you like that because Ellie used to date the school’s quarterback. They’re not used to seeing her with someone else.”

  Ellie snagged a bottle of Smirnoff Ice from a bucket of ice that sat on the kitchen counter and looked at me expectantly. “What do you want, Jamie?” she asked, nodding at the array of drinks on offer.

  “Just a Coke, thanks.”

  She smiled, pulling a can from the bucket before turning to the crowd of high schoolers milling around. “Where’s the fun tonight? You’re all standing there looking bored!”

  Some of the guys smiled their game smiles at her. She was definitely popular with the males—not that I blamed them for looking. The funny thing was, her personality was probably even better than her looks, if that was possible. Maybe none of these guys had really taken the time to get to know the real her. They were missing out for sure.

  “I thought you were the fun, Ellie,” a guy answered immediately.

  Smiling in response, she picked up a stack of plastic cups from the counter. “Someone get a Ping-Pong ball,” she ordered.

  I laughed and watched her setting up a game of beer pong. I noticed that Ellie started the game and had the first go, but then, smartly, she stood back to let everyone else get trashed. After beer pong, she started a game of “Where’s the Water?” in the living room, hiding a shot of water among ten shots of vodka. Then, in the yard, she started a game she called Russian Beer Roulette, shaking up random cans of beer and hiding them among normal ones so people would get drenched opening them.

  When everyone seemed busy, she pulled me over so we could dance for a bit. We had to stop every couple of minutes, though, because someone wanted her attention.

  After a little while I excused myself to the bathroom and left her with a group of her friends. Once I’d done my business, I walked out of the bathroom and was immediately grabbed from behind and slammed into the wall, face-first. Instinctively, I went into self-preservation mode. Using the wall as leverage, I shoved myself backward, ramming whoever was holding me against the opposite wall. They let out a pain-filled groan but didn’t loosen their arms, which were wrapped around my chest. My body throbbed with white-hot pain because of the pressure on my broken ribs. Raising my arms, I knocked the hands off me. I didn’t even need to think about what I was doing; this kind of thing came naturally to me. Spinning around, I had my hand around the attacker’s throat before I even saw who it was.

  Miles. Ellie’s ex.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I growled, putting my face inches from his, tightening my hand warningly but not enough to actually hurt him.

  He struggled, thrashing, trying to squirm out of my choke hold. “Get the hell off me!” he shouted. I loosened my grip before shoving him away from me, watching as he stumbled and just managed to catch himself before he fell on his ass. “You little prick! You need to stay away from Ellie!” he demanded, raising himself to his full height, attempting to appear threatening as he glared at me.

  “When she tells me to stay away, I will. Until then, you touch either me or her again, and you’ll regret it.” My words were full of acid and promise. From the barely concealed fear on his face I could tell he understood. He obviously knew I could kick his ass, so he wouldn’t try to take me on his own. If he was going to do anything it would be with a couple of friends—and even then they’d lose. I had the edge in any fight, mainly because I just didn’t care. It didn’t matter if I died; it’d probably be better in the long run anyway. Not caring made me a better fighter; I didn’t have any inhibitions or worries. When I was fighting I was like a machine; I didn’t even feel pain at the time.

  Miles snorted and turned, storming off. I glared after him, shaking out my hands, wincing at the burning pain in my fingers and ribs.

  After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm myself, I headed back down to Ellie, seeing her still chatting with her friends exactly where I’d left her. Weaving through the crowd, I stopped at her side. She smiled up at me and slipped one arm around my waist.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Wrapping my own arm around her, I pulled her against my side, proud that I was getting affection from the prettiest and most popular girl in the room.

  * * *

  We spent another hour laughing and talking with Ellie’s friends. They seemed like a nice group of people. Miles glared at her the whole time; she either didn’t see him or ignored him, which made me smirk over in his direction. After a little while he came up to her. I stiffened, ready for more trouble.

  “So this is it? I can fuck who I want. It’s over?” he slurred, still looking at her hopefully, as if she was going to suddenly fall into his arms again.

  “You can do whatever you want, Miles, or whoever you want. Go have some fun,” she replied, shrugging.

  “Fine, I will!” he snapped, walking off and grabbing a drunk-looking blonde girl and kissing her without even saying anything to her. She kissed him back immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  Ellie shook her head, crinkling her nose in distaste. “Ew … I hope he uses protection because Ruby is a real tramp.” She giggled and turned to me, smiling. “Want to dance some more?”

  I nodded and led her back to the living room, pulling her close, loving the fact that she didn’t seem to see any other guy in the room.

  Her friend Stacey was happily making out against the wall with a brown-haired guy. “Is that Stacey’s boyfriend that you said she’d make up with?” I asked, pointing at them.

  Ellie’s mouth curved into a smile as she nodded. “Yep. Change of plan then. Upstairs, stud! You have some making up to do yourself,” she flirted, biting her lip, looking so sexy that I couldn’t help but groan.

  Her fingers interlaced with mine as she wove through the throng of people, guiding me up the stairs. Once we were in a room at the back of the house, she locked the door and leaned against it, her eyes shining with excitement. My lust spiked immediately so I dipped my head
and kissed her, running my hands down her body slowly, relishing the feel of her. My lips traveled down her neck as she gasped and tipped her head back.

  “Jamie, be careful. I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” she murmured.

  There she goes, being all thoughtful again!

  “I won’t hurt myself; stop worrying about me. I don’t think I’ll be up for sex, but I can definitely make you scream in other ways,” I answered, taking her hand and tugging her toward the bed.

  She giggled excitedly as I pushed her down onto the bed and hovered above her, ignoring the burning in my ribs due to the effort. I traced one hand up her leg, making her squirm under me.

  “I have an idea,” I said, my voice thick with lust.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that then?” She lifted my shirt slowly, trailing her fingers across my skin, leaving goose bumps in their wake.

  “I never got to see the end of that dance last week. How about you finish it for me now?” Last week when she did it, I was so eager for her body that I couldn’t take the teasing, but since I wasn’t up for much tonight I would love for her to tease the life out of me.

  “You want me to give you another lap dance?” She chuckled.