Page 1 of Close Quarters

ELLIOT

Brzzzz! Brzzzz! Brzzzz!

The shrieking of the morning alarm yanked at my senses, drawing me to consciousness with a low groan of displeasure. The last thing I wanted was to drag myself out of bed and deal with the day. At night, my bed wasn’t even close to comfortable, and I tossed and turned until I found the perfect position to sleep in. In the wee hours of the morning, when I was rudely pulled from sleep, however, it was the most comfortable slab of rock I’d ever had the luck to curl up on.

Brzzzz! Brzzzz! Brzzzz!

It continued, but I shoved my head under my pillow, refusing to acknowledge the annoying shriek of the persistent monstrosity. I didn’t know who’d come up with the idea of using something clearly crafted in the depths of hell as an alarm. Ahh, it was like sleeping on a warm cloud that?—

“Hey!” a sharp voice interrupted, somehow more annoying than the braying alarm. I gave another protesting groan, tried to burrow into the bed further, and was given a shove this time. “E! Get your ass up, I’m not getting bitched out because of you again.”

“Go…away,” I managed, knowing full well the alarm only went off three times in the morning, and if it wasn’t going off now, I had missed the first shrieks, which made this the perfect opportunity to get some more sleep.

“Like hell, we’re in this shit together, remember?” came a grunt I recognized as Dom, one of the three guys I shared a cabin with. He must have pulled back the curtain to my bunk after I’d shoved my head under the pillow. Otherwise, I’d be dealing with him and the bright sunlight that inevitably filled the cabin to torment me in the morning. “If Mona finds out we let you sleep in again, we’re all in deep shit!”

The name drudged up the uncomfortable feeling of, well, fear. Mona was as liked as she was feared. As second in command of operations, she was effective, dedicated, and not above using whatever tools were at her disposal to get what she wanted. And what she wanted was to make sure everything ran smoothly.

I didn’t want her to find out I didn’t get out of bed like I was supposed to.

“Alright, fine,” Dom grunted, and for a moment, I almost believed he might be willing to leave me alone and let me sleep for another hour. That delusion was quickly corrected when I felt a hand wrap around my arm and give a hard yank.

“Fuck!” I yelped as the solid surface beneath me disappeared, gravity taking its brutal hold on me, sending me crashing to the hard floor of the cabin. My hip stung, and my shoulder was grumpy, but nothing compared to the indignity of being yanked out of my bed when I was so comfy. “Damn it, Dom!”

His thick brows shot up, and he grinned widely as he stood over me. “Oh good, you’re up. Maybe you should start getting ready, huh?”

“God,” I groaned, rolling over to sit up. “You are the biggest dick.”

“Damn, I knew you had a thing for me, E, but I didn’t think you were peeking when I was changing,” he said with a wicked chuckle.

“Keep dreaming, you absolute bitch,” I grunted, swinging the pillow I’d dragged with me at him.

Okay, maybe there was a small chance I had a slight thing for him, but just a slight one. Maybe my couple of years in prison had given me a little more appreciation for the ‘prison look.’ Most guys around here tended to drop it because they could, but Dom kept that buzzed hair and wasn’t self-conscious about the tattoos. He was, however, slightly annoying and incredibly straight, two factors that made him immediately unattractive to me beyond an appreciative glance or two.

Then again, most people at Isaiah Ranch were like him…and me. Which meant that a bit of on-the-side action between guys happened, just like the prisons they were pulled from. The ones running the ranch might have looked over our information and ‘performance’ in prison, deeming us ‘fit for rehabilitation,’ but that didn’t change some of the habits, considering the ranch was really still a prison with better treatment, food and…well I guess it was kind of different.

We were still tied to the ranch, though, and were not allowed to leave the grounds without permission and a diligent babysitter. Honestly, I didn’t mind. It was much better than being behind bars for the rest of my sentence. Instead, I got three fantastic meals a day, and I bunked with guys that, because of the ranch’s selection process, I could be reasonably sure wouldn’t be a problem. Lastly, most important to everyone in the program, we were treated well, not like prisoners, but like people with jobs.

I wouldn’t have dared to let anyone know I was gay behind bars. Guys locked up together might have a piece of action on the down-low, but that was where it stayed, tucked away and out of sight. Being out was…well, it was asking for a lot of trouble, and I’d seen what happened when someone was discovered enjoying themselves a little too much. I liked a bit of fun too, but that guy…those next weeks for him were anything but fun. Being a toy to pass around when you consent is one thing, but?—

I had to shove the thought away before it found root and grew stronger. I wasn’t in prison anymore, and so long as I proved to the powers that be at the ranch that I was capable of not breaking the law again, of being a good little citizen, then I didn’t have to worry. Plus, at least here, I felt comfortable enough not to have to shy away from being out.

I got dressed and went to the door, glancing back at Dom. “You give me so much shit for not waking up, and we still gotta wait on you. Make it make sense.”

“Because the only time you don’t move at Speedy Gonzalez speeds is when you have to drag your ass out of bed,” he grunted, yanking on his second boot. “And ain’t no one waiting.”

“I am,” I pointed out, rocking from heel to toe in my boots. “C’mon, we gotta check in!”

“You know, I love it when you get up on your own, and it takes you fucking two hours to wake up and be annoying,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

I grinned. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have rudely dragged me out of bed. You’re still a bitch for that.”

“And yet you’re still bitching.”

“I do it really well.”

It was true that I was more or less awake, which meant I had no patience for the glacial pace he was moving at to get ready. If he hadn’t wanted me to hurry him along, he should have waited until he was dressed and ready to go before waking me up. Still, I was supposed to be a fully grown man, so I should at least try to show some patience.

Which was easier said than done. I knew I had to report to Leon before starting my day. Leon was a Tier One and a mentor, which meant not only was he in charge of wee baby Tier Threes like me, who were basically on a loose form of probation as far as the system was concerned, but it meant he was basically done with his run in the program. Honestly, he was a pretty good guy with a nice smile that made you feel both comfortable and…a certain other kind of warmth.

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