Page 71 of Freshman

“Sneaking around, keeping your relationship secret.”

“I’d get into so much trouble—”

Tia waved her hand dismissively. “Only if you get caught. Stop being so sensible, live a little. You’re young and expected to make mistakes.”

“I don’t know…”

“What if Michael left tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, would you think good, I’m glad he’s left, that means I can continue to be a good boy and not do anything wrong, ever, or would you think damn, I could’ve had that, and I denied myself because of rule 4, clause B of my contract?”

“I don’t know.”

Tia peered at him. She smiled. “Yeah, you do. Having sex in a prison cell sounds…damn good to me.”

“What?”

“You know, as long it’s not with a psycho.” She shuddered.

Alfie groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He wished he could take back their conversation and keep his interest in Nate buried.

Tia sucked noisily on her straw. “You’d better keep me updated. I want all the details.”

17

“We've got a new prisoner coming in on G-wing. Gary Austin, twenty-five, assault,” Henry mumbled. “Ben and Dan are bringing him in. They didn’t have time to process him during the day. Ryan wants him in a cell by morning. He’s a mouthy little shit.”

“Can’t wait.” Alfie sighed.

“He’s still at the stage where he’s playing the big man, hasn’t accepted he’s been locked up…”

Just as Henry’s voice trailed off, a stream of bad language flowed from the corridor.

Marie and Glen widened their eyes, then looked at each other before shaking their heads. “That’s a colourful range of curse words and curse word combos,” Glen said.

Ben and Dan had a tough time dragging the man into the lobby. He looked older than his twenty-five years. His teeth were yellow and crooked, and his hair was threadbare and see-through. He leaned back and spat toward one of the twins, narrowly missing his face. Even with his hands cuffed at his back, he lashed out. Henry stood to help, but Alfie rushed in front of him. He couldn’t sit in the office and watch Henry get knocked to the ground.

Alfie grabbed on to Gary’s forearm and tried to get the bucking man under control. Dan tripped, Ben lost his grip, and the next thing Alfie knew, his ears were ringing and there was warmth flowing from his nose. He tasted metal, and when the buzzing in his ears faded, the pain to his face grew. His eyes watered, and he blinked rapidly to ease the sting.

Alfie kept a firm grip on Gary, and Ben recovered and gripped his other arm. Dan opened the gate, and they dragged Larkwood’s latest prisoner, spitting and swearing, into his cell.

They kept the cuffs on and promised to remove them once he had calmed down. Gary growled and kicked at his cell door in reply.

Dan grimaced when he saw the bloodied mess of Alfie’s nose. “We’ve all had one of them here. You’re in the club now, Alfie.”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, I’ve had at least three bloodied noses from this lot.”

Alfie wiped his sleeve under his nose, then glared at the expanding blotch of red.

“Shit.”

Marie hurried forward with a tissue and a face of sympathy. “I don’t think it’s broken.”

“Just a knock,” Alfie said, taking the tissue with a smile.

Henry struggled out of the office. “No longer a fish, but a real prison officer with your first battle scar.”

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