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The auction might be his best chance.
Then he could keep his promise to Anita to find a real date, someone he could have an actual relationship with.
Emily
Waving back at Katrina’s hot dad, Emily sighed when he turned around so fast, she was pretty sure he hadn’t actually seen her wave. She’d had such a crush on him in high school, even though she knew he’d never look at her that way. More than once, she’d teased Katrina about how hot he was while her bestie overdramatically gagged and pretended to throw up.
He was the park DILF, and there was no way around that.
He’d been really great when she was growing up. She hadn’t noticed him that way until she’d started noticing boys in general. Even then, all of her admiration happened from afar. Especially since he’d been her dad’s best friend. Then, slowly, her dad had started saying more and more awful things about her mom, her, Katrina… He’d stopped watching the news and only watched the internet, claiming no one was telling the truth. Then he’d started blaming women and anyone who wasn’t white for bringing him down.
Eventually, after he said something really nasty about black people in front of Katrina, Mr. Elliott stopped letting Katrina go to Emily’s trailer. She’d had to go to Katrina’s, which she hadn’t minded. Katrina’s was nicer at that point, and Mr. Elliott always kept it clean… plus, her father’s temper had started to become more unpredictable, and her mom had started checking out.
After it all came to a head, Mr. Elliott kind of disappeared from her life. Katrina had already left for college, and there was no real reason for her to see him, but she missed having his presence in her life. It also didn’t help her crush since all she had left was fantasies, and they started taking a decidedly wicked turn.
Something he would have been horrified to know, especially since he’d pulled away. Clearly, the only reason he’d been a part of her life had been her dad and Katrina, and when his friendship with her dad ended and Katrina moved, that had been that.
He was still really freaking hot.
If someone like him bought her virginity, that wouldn’t be so bad at all.
Keeping her head down as her face heated with a hot blush, she trudged down the street to her trailer, waving to several of her neighbors as she passed. Unlike Mr. Elliott, they actually saw her.
“You’re home early,” called Mrs. Martine, who was out watering her flowers. The older woman often kept an eye out for Emily on her way home, for which she was grateful. Everyone knew everyone in the park, but that didn’t mean everyone was very neighborly. Mrs. Martine was, though, and she knew Emily’s work schedule like it was her own.
Emily hesitated but decided she wasn’t ready to talk about her job situation yet. Not until she either had a new one or didn’t need one anymore. But she could fudge it a little bit. Maybe ease her neighbor into the change.
“The owner’s niece needs a job, so she’s taking some shifts,” she replied, temporizing the truth rather than outright lying.
“Oh, well, a night off for you. Isn’t that nice?” Mrs. Martine smiled, and Emily pushed the edges of her lips to curve as well.
“Yes.” Now, that was an outright lie. She would much rather be at work earning money than at home fretting over her lack of a job and freaking out about the fact her application to auction off her virginity had been accepted not even ten minutes after she’d uploaded it.
Giving Mrs. Martine another wave, Emily went into her trailer. Her stomach grumbled since she hadn’t had anything to eat all day. Thank goodness for the food she’d been sent home with from the restaurant. She had to make it last, but it was something. Maybe tomorrow, she’d eat a roll or something for breakfast, so she wasn’t quite so hungry at the end of the day. She was already missing the staff meals at the diner.
With every bite, she chewed as slowly as she could, savoring the flavors. She even had a little bit of fruit left for dessert, so the day wasn’t so bad.
All she had to do was prep herself for the reality of popping her cherry in order to fix her life. It couldn’t be that hard, right? All she had to do was lie there. Her buyer wouldn’t expect her to know what she was doing. He wouldn’t want her to—that was the point.
Emily chewed on her spoon as she stared at the stain on the wall where her dad had thrown a pot of spaghetti sauce all those years ago.
What if the guy she got was violent? Or cruel? What if he was wildly unattractive?
He’s not going to be Prince Charming. Might as well get that through your head right away, dummy.
It wasn’t about the guy.
It just wasn’t.
It was about changing her life. It was about financial security. It was about keeping her power on, not getting kicked out of her parents’ trailer, and having enough food to eat. It was about never having to admit to her mom or Katrina how bad things had gotten.
If she got enough money, maybe she could even take some classes at the community college or travel to one of the trade schools. Maybe be able to afford the commute to one of the areas with nicer restaurants and start working at one of those.
Right now, she didn’t have to face reality, so she stared at the wall and dreamed.
6
Counting Down the Days
