Page 133 of Prince of Pain

I slid a hand onto her thigh under the table, feeling her relax.

Small steps.

Loving someone like Tempest came with its challenges, but it just made me want to fight harder. Having her on this journey with me was the best motivation because I wanted to see her thrive too.

If I couldn’t fight for myself, I’d fight for her, which kept us both on the right path.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, Marla promising to call more as she left, and then Tempest and I spent hours curled up on the couch with Netflix on.

This was better than any drug, I just had to keep reminding myself of that.

Fifty-two days to go, and then I was out of here.

Hopefully, only fifty-six days to go until my girl joined me too.

Tempest

I wasn’t going to last. Two months without it was slowly killing me.

I’d managed to sneak a little in when no one was looking, but it was hard with so many eyes on me.

Resorting to begging was pitiful, but since when did I give a shit about that?

Ryder had decided to work out a little in the afternoon once visitors had all left, getting bored with our Netflix session after a few hours, so I snuck into the kitchen, finding Cathy.

She was the chef, so she could get goods in easily with deliveries.

“Cathy—”

“You’re going to get me fired,” she grumbled, knowing exactly why I was here. “You had some last week, I told you this wasn’t going to be a regular thing.”

“Please?” I begged, shutting the door to give us privacy. “I’m going to die.”

A scoff left her, and amusement filled her eyes as she started walking towards the other side of the kitchen. “Last one for the month, okay?”

I nodded, knowing I could twist her arm again next week anyway, and my mouth watered as I waited. Hopefully, our conversation was drowned out by all the fans in here. She was cooking a lot of soup, which also got me excited.

I was obsessed with her minestrone.

Cathy returned with the goods, offering it to me with a huff. “I mean it, Hendricks. I can’t keep doing this.”

I wrapped my hands around the steaming hot mug of coffee, inhaling the scent with a groan. It wasn’t the best coffee, but I wasn’t going to be fussy. All they had was fucking decaf garbage in the communal room.

It was like dirt that didn’t wake you up, it was useless.

“I think I love you,” I said between sips, trying not to chug it down too quickly, wanting to savor it.

“That’s the coffee talking,” she deadpanned, her eyes going wide a second later before she spun around to look busy.

Arms slid around my waist, Ryder’s voice in my ear. “Busted.”

I turned, giving him a guilty look. “Baby, it’s not what you think?—”

“If you can give up meth, you can give up caffeine.”

“Absolutely fucking not,” I scoffed, amusement filling his eyes.

“I can’t believe you’ve been sneaking around behind my back like this.”

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