Page 36 of Freshman

“You hear about it all the time, prison officers being drawn in by prisoners until they smuggle in contraband. Queenie could be playing a game with you, getting you onside—”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Alfie.” She squeezed his hand. “You’ve got to be careful. Don’t let them play you. Don’t fall for their tricks.”

He nodded before taking a sip of coffee. Tia looked at him for a long time with her lips in a pout and pity on her face. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“Not long,” he said, rubbing his throat when his voice sounded drier than moments before.

Tia frowned. “Not long?”

“Until your birthday.”

“It’s a month away.” Tia laughed.

“Exactly, not long. Where are we going?”

And just like that, Alfie had steered the conversation away from Larkwood with ease.

“Well,” Tia began. “I want to start in Black Jacks, you know, that swanky-looking bar.”

“The expensive one?”

“Yeah, but we’ll go to Benny’s afterwards. It’s cheap there, and after that, I was thinking of a club, but I haven’t decided which. There’s eight of us going. We’ll meet at mine first and get ready.”

“Eight?”

Tia hummed. “Yep, you, me, Anna, Sarah, Faye, Adam, Lily, Max and Jaz, sadly no Chris.”

“Chris?”

“The cute customer from months back who was too short for me.”

“Oh.” Alfie nodded. “Now I remember.”

“I’ve not seen him since.” She shrugged. “Max is looking forward to hanging out with you again.”

“Tia…” Alfie growled.

“What? You know he’s keen on you, and he’s hoping to improve on ‘second base’.”

Max, as Alfie remembered it, had stuck to Alfie that night and, after a few too many beers, admitted he was still a virgin. They’d kissed, but Alfie hadn’t taken it any further, telling Max he needed his first time to be with someone special, not someone like him.

You are special.

Alfie blocked out Nate’s voice in his head.

“It’s not going to happen.”

Tia played with the straw in her drink. “You told me you thought he was hot.”

“A long time ago.”

“Five months ago.” She laughed. “Surely, your taste in men can’t have changed in five months. Max is hot, he works in the cinema so free tickets, he likes the same gangster films you do, and every time I’ve seen him since you hooked up, he’s asked about you.”

“Are you trying to…pair us up just because we’re the only gay guys you know?”

“No.” She flashed him innocent eyes. “He’s just… He’s all right, and you’ve not even dated a guy before so…”

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