Page 2 of Freshman

The gate screeched open behind him, but he didn’t turn to see who it was. There were tapping feet, murmured voices, and then the startled croak of Henry. The officers who had strolled into the prison exchanged small talk with him, but they were too far away for Alfie to hear clearly.

“Freshman.”

The voice drawled the word, dragged it out longer than necessary. Alfie didn’t recognise the voice and didn’t care whom it belonged to. He knew who it wasn’t. It wasn’t the prison governor right at the top of the food chain or his superior officer, Ryan. They were tucked in bed, or soon to be in Ryan's case.

Alfie huffed and shuffled his shoulders against the bars.

“Freshman,” he muttered. “Well, it’s a new one, I’ll give you that, but I’m not a freshman.”

“You should be. You shouldn’t be in a place like this, surrounded by the scum of the earth. You should be at university, your first year. Think of all those experiences you’re missing, all those firsts if you haven’t already experienced them.”

There was amusement lacing the man’s words, and Alfie was reminded of the other nickname the staff favoured. He spun around fast, puffed his chest out and hardened his green eyes.

“I’m not a virgin.”

The air rushed from his chest at the sight of the man. He wasn’t sporting a white, long-sleeve shirt and black tie, but a tight grey T-shirt that barely veiled his muscular chest. His eyes were dark. By the dull light, Alfie could tell they were blue, the blue of the deepest ocean. A suffocating part of the ocean that squeezed the air from your chest until you could do nothing but sink.

“That’s a bit disappointing.”

The hypnotic eyes didn’t blink; they drew Alfie in and challenged him not to blink either. Bristles covered the man’s jaw, merging into his sideburns, and the hair on his head was light brown; in daylight it might’ve been blond. He smiled smugly, and Alfie knew he’d been caught admiring his looks and physique.

He shook his head, then stuttered. “Wh-what is?”

Alfie’s conversation skills had fled him, and he forgot what they had said to each other.

The prisoner cocked his head. “You being a virgin… I’m disappointed you’re not one.”

Alfie shook his head and cleared his throat. “Watch what you say.”

He flicked his chin out to the officers, Ian and Keith, chatting to Henry in the corner, oblivious to the prisoner leaving their side. The prisoner leaned back, watched the officers for a few tense seconds, then turned his attention back to Alfie.

His shoulders were angled forward, the usual look for a man who had his hands cuffed at his back. The solid metal gate stood between them, and the prisoner stood a few inches from it.

He couldn’t get to Alfie, but he grinned like he could.

His eyes said he could.

Alfie didn’t want to give an inch, bow or blink first. He had to show no fear, even though the giant in front of him was more than capable of crushing his head with a hand or decapitating him with a skilled kick.

The prisoner rubbed his lips together with a hum. “I don’t have to say anything, only have to look.”

Alfie frowned, tilting his head.

Then the prisoner flashed his eyes down, roaming from Alfie’s feet right up to the ruffled brown hair on his head.

Alfie resisted the urge to shuffle at the attention, but he couldn’t stop heat glowing in his cheeks. The prisoner’s eyes metaphorically tore the clothes from his body and left him cold, fighting the need to shiver.

A toothy smile spread the man’s lips, and his eyes crinkled. He looked older, but so did everyone compared to Alfie. Wrinkles lined the man’s eyes and cut through his brow. They matured him and made him look handsome.

“See, only a look, and it’s a fine look. I like what I see. I like it a lot,” he whispered.

“I said to watch your tongue.”

The prisoner closed his eyes and sucked his bottom lip as if savouring a taste. “Watch and tongue in the same sentence. That’s a dirty tease. All I’m going to imagine later is—”

“Last warning,” Alfie snapped.

The prisoner smiled, then nodded. “Okay, Freshman. I don’t want to end on bad terms. I might even treat you to breakfast in the morning. I usually come down about eight.”

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