Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
As I dry off, still naked and half-hard, Lory steps inside, closing the door behind her. In her plain shirt with sleep-mussed hair and puffy eyes, she’s the picture of everything I need in my life. I keep my back to the wall, so she doesn’t see the evidence of my past marked in stripes all over my back. She comes close, touching my face and urging me to kiss her. My cock pokes her in the stomach, and she laughs, wrapping her hand around it. “I’ll deal with him later,” she says, biting her lip. “But first, I need to get clean.”
If it was any other day, I’d back her into the stall and fuck her brains out. Shower sex with Lory is hot as fuck. But I need to get out there so important conversations don’t happen without me.
When Lory’s behind the curtain, I leave the bathroom in just a towel and find Kinkaid and Rock leaning over the table, speaking in a hushed tone. I slump down next to Rock and look at both men expectantly. “Fill me in on what you talked about so far.”
“We agree that if Grady wants Lory to leave, we won’t fight him.”
“What?” I run my hand through my wet hair, craving to grip it for the bite of pain that keeps my anger at bay but resisting.
“If he doesn’t think she’s safe from risk, we shouldn’t hold on to her. It isn’t fair.”
“What about us getting what we deserve? It’s up to Grady to do what it takes to make it happen.”
“Some things are out of his control.” So Rock’s supporting Kinkaid on this. How can I fight when it’s two against one?
“He’s the warden of this fucking place. Who else is in control?”
“Wilson might not be controllable.”
“So, let Grady bring him down here, and we’ll get him under control.”
“In front of Lory? You think she’ll want that? She won’t look at us the same after, so what would be the point?”
I close my eyes, breathing roughly through flared nostrils. I can’t lose her. Not like this.
“We haven’t had enough time,” I say.
“For what?” Rock asks his question slowly and deliberately.
I open my mouth to speak but then snap it shut because I get what he’s doing. He knows this isn’t just about sex anymore. This is about spending time in Lory’s company. Getting to know her. Developing feelings for her. He wants me to admit what I’m feeling, even though it was never part of the arrangement and pointless under the circumstances.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kinkaid says. His jaw tics as his troubled eyes move from me to a point in the corner. “I know you’re thinking about her as more than someone to use for a month.” He sighs, and it’s a helpless sound, so unlike the Kinkaid I’m so familiar with. “She has a way of getting close and making me want things I have no business wanting.”
“We’re going to get out of here one day,” I say, then I’m swamped with guilt. My release date is closer than Kinkaid’s. If our roles were reversed, I’d resent the fuck out of him for getting out before me, especially if there’s a chance to be with Lory.
“No time soon,” he says. His finger picks at a dent in the table. “And anyway, she’s going to get out of this place and go help her sister. She won’t wait around for our criminal asses to get out.”
“You don’t know that.” Am I an idiot for hoping for something Kinkaid dismisses so easily? “She doesn’t have a man out there. She’s got no one to look out for her. Maybe she’d want us if there was a chance.”
“She’s doing what she needs to do to stay safe with us.” Rock rubs his bearded jaw, his expression dark and defeated. “You’ve gotta realize that the Lory in here isn’t necessarily the Lory you’ll find on the outside.”
“Nah.” I slump against the chair and realize I haven’t worn a shirt. I don’t want the first thing Lory sees when she’s finished showering to be my mess of a back. “Nah, Lory’s straight down the line. I’ve never met a woman like her.” I push the chair back with my knees and loom over them.
Kinkaid and Rock remain silent, but I don’t care. I won’t hear another word on this subject. Lory is the best woman I’ve met in my life, and if there’s a chance she’d consider keeping this thing going between us while I serve out my time, then I’m going to try. I’m not letting her go without telling her how I feel. What the others do is up to them.
18
ROCK
TAKING CHANCES
This situation is getting to Hyde, and he’s talking crazy. It was always my worry that he’d get attached and start to feel things that weren’t real. I keep telling myself that the warmth I feel in my chest when I look at Lory is just about circumstances. I’m holding tight to the truth that she’s doing what she’s getting paid to do because that keeps us all where we’re supposed to be. I’m sure she’s a great woman in real life, a woman I could love, but if we were free and she met us all in a dark alley, she’d probably run for her life. She’d swipe left on any dating app if she read our sorry profiles. Collectively, we’ve all spent more time in correctional facilities than in education and have no business imagining she could want us back.