Page 5 of The Nerd & the Ex-Con

The closet door opened, and Griff stumbled out, a scowl on his face.

“Why are you letting him leave? I need to talk to him.”

“But he’s not ready to talk to you yet.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I know him better than anyone else in this world. We’ve been together for a long time, okay? Trust me, he’s not ready to face you yet.”

He waved a hand up and down. “You’ve lied to me. How do I know anything you’ve said over the last ten years is true?”

“I-I’m sorry.” I shuffled my feet. “I didn’t think you’d get out of prison.”

I swallowed hard. An ex-convict was standing in my hall. An ex-convict who had taken someone’s life. To not cloud my judgment about him, I hadn’t looked up who he’d killed and what had led to him committing such a crime, but now my stomach churned. Writing to him in prison had been safe. We had walls, streets, towns separating us, but here he was, standing before me, a man who had snuffed out a life.

He could snuff me out right there if he wanted to.

I took a step back, confused, afraid, and somehow excited all in one.

What’s wrong with me? This man’s dangerous.

What if he’d escaped from prison?

“Did you escape from prison?” As soon as the words were out, I regretted them. He wouldn’t have admitted it if he had, and now he knew that I didn’t trust him.

“I told you I got out the right way.” He caught my chin, his fingertips burning my skin. Warmth spread throughout my chest and lower. “You don’t have to be afraid of me. I owe you one for keeping me up to date about Jay, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve lied to me.”

A car horn blasted in the driveway, and I jumped. “I can explain everything, but not now. I have to go before Jay gets suspicious.”

“Then meet me tonight so we can talk.” He dug a burner phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Here, put your number in, and I’ll text you the time and where to meet me later.”

“But it’s a weekday.”

“And?”

My cheeks flamed. I took the phone from him. Of course the Scottie he knew was daring and got up to all sorts of shenanigans, while the real me had a bedtime that didn’t extend beyond ten during the week. I needed a full eight-hour sleep to function the next day.

“Here.” I gave him back his phone and grasped the doorknob. “Wait until we’re gone, and then you can leave. Twist the lock on your way out.”

I turned the doorknob, but his hand landed on my shoulder. “Scottie.”

I swallowed and forced a deep breath into my lungs, then glanced at him over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“Despite everything, it’s nice to finally meet you. I don’t know why you lied, but I can tell you’re a good person.”

2

GRIFF

Scottie had lied to me. He was nothing at all like the photograph he’d sent me, and I couldn’t make up my mind if that was good or bad.

From where I sat, I watched him enter the pub. He’d gone home to change and was now wearing a pair of black jeans that made him look even skinnier than this morning and a red vest over a long-sleeved green shirt. He loosened the thick navy wool scarf from around his slender neck, tugging at the material almost nervously as he scanned the interior of the dimly lit pub.

He looked younger than his age. Or maybe his age had been a lie too. How much of what he’d told me about himself could I believe, and what if he’d lied to me about my son? For years I’d taken comfort in the information he wrote to me about Jay.

Scottie spotted me, and his hands stilled on the scarf. He dropped them, then raised the right and fiddled with his glasses. They looked cute on him. He approached the bar, not at all like the image I’d had of him all these years.

Was he even old enough to drink?

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