Damn. She looks amazing.
“We want to help you guys,” Monika says.
Jet tries to adjust the knit cap. “Monika? Ashtyn?” he asks, trying to see out of the one eye hole.
“You can’t help,” I tell the girls. “Go home.”
“Yeah, go home,” Derek says, pulling Ash aside. “If you get in trouble, your dad’ll shit bricks.”
“I don’t care,” Ash says stubbornly.
Monika puts her hands on her hips and sticks her jaw out. The gestures make her look sexy instead of intimidating. “We’re helping you guys whether you like it or not. Now you can argue with us and waste time, or you can include us and we can do this fast. Which is it?”
Derek rolls his eyes. “You two are killin’ me.”
Monika peers around me. “Where’s Trey?”
“He ditched us,” I say.
She blinks her beautiful sea green eyes. “Oh.”
“Come on,” Derek says, helping Ash scale the fence after putting his knit cap over her face.
“I’ll be with you guys in a minute,” I say, taking Monika’s arm and urging her aside.
“What?” Monika says, looking at me with such determination and passion it makes me want to kiss her. “I want to do this. You’re not going to stop me.”
I gather my wits and pretend that I’m not mesmerized by her sparkling eyes or her pouty lips. “Go home, Monika,” I tell her. “You’re not cut out for this.”
What I want to say is that I don’t want her here for her own safety. I’d never forgive myself if she got in trouble. Or hurt.
“Not cut out for this? That’s so rude,” she spits out. Pushing me aside, she starts climbing the fence. Her feet are small and she’s too delicate to do what she’s attempting.
“Monika, get down,” I whisper as loud as I can. Damn, if someone hears us they’ll for sure call the cops. That’s the last thing I need.
“No. If Ash can do this, so can I,” she says.
Oh, man. “Then let me help you.”
“No.”
“Don’t be stubborn.”
“I can be stubborn all I want, Vic. It’s my life. If I want to scale a damn fence, then I’ll scale a damn fence.”
I quickly follow her up the fence, hoping at some point she’ll realize this was a bad idea. She’s almost at the top.
“Don’t fall,” I tell her.
“I won’t.”
But on her way down, her foot slips. She falls the last five feet and lands with a thump. My heart stops.
“You okay?” I call out frantically as I jump off the fence and kneel by her side.
She sits up slowly. “Leave me alone,” she says weakly. “I think I’m fine, so just go away.”
“You think you’re fine?” I ask.
She brushes dust off her knees. “I’m not leaving, if that’s what you think. So I fell. It’s no big deal, Vic. Stop looking at me as if I just became disabled. I don’t want or need that.”
I shake my head, then hold my hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Do whatever you want, Monika.”
Jet rushes over to us, stumbling from side to side and almost tripping on a misplaced bench because he’s still looking out of one eye hole. “Her shirt glows like a fuckin’ yellow highlighter, Vic. If she won’t leave, give her your shirt and cover that shit up.”
“Here,” I say, lifting my black shirt over my head and shoving it into her hand. “Put this on and wait here. I’ll be right back.”
I run to my truck and snatch the fourth knit cap that Trey was supposed to wear, then hurry back to the football field and pull the cap over Monika’s face.
“I can’t see anything,” she complains as she braces herself on the metal fence and slowly stands. She rips the mask off and tosses it to me.
“That’s the least of your problems. You hurt yourself,” I tell her as she hobbles just a bit before righting herself.
“I’m fine.” She snatches a spray can from my hand and walks away. She might think she’s hiding the slight limp, but I totally notice it.
When we get to the middle of the field, Derek and Ashtyn are having a loud conversation not fit for a covert operation.
“You spelled it wrong,” Ash is telling Derek. “Rebels are numer 1? Baby, you forgot the “b” in number.”
Jet laughs. “If I could see out of this fucking itchy hat, I’d have made sure he spelled it right. Derek, when you search “dumb jock” online does a picture of you come up?”
I go up to the word and spray paint an “o” after the “r,” so it reads numero.
“Good cover-up, amigo,” Jet says, patting my shoulder.
“Shit!” Derek calls out. “It’s the cops!”
I turn around to see a squad car turning into the school parking lot with a big spotlight on the field.
“Let’s bounce!” Jet yells as he runs toward the fence with Derek and Ashtyn following close behind.
I look at a panicked Monika. There’s no way she can run to the car without being seen.
I rush up to her and grab her hand. “Come on,” I say, urging her toward the bleachers. “Lay down under one of the benches.”
Without another word, we’re lying nose-to-nose as we squeeze our way under one of the benches. Adrenaline is rushing through my veins. Being caught with Monika Fox in the bleachers with spray paint cans in our hands is not a good scenario. I want to protect her, but what if we’re caught?