Page 60 of Ten

“Thanks.” Ten found the spot, locked up, and walked away from the lot. It was miserably hot, and he wished he was back at the cabin, naked and rolling around in bed with Nisha. If he had to be hot and sweaty, he’d rather it be from something he enjoyed.

The building was blissfully cold. For once, he wasn’t going to complain about the waste of tax dollars. He made his way to the correct floor and noticed a familiar face as he waited to check in at the desk.

“Ruby,” he greeted after finishing with the receptionist. Ivan’s sister-in-law had her head bent toward her phone and one AirPod in place.

Surprised, she glanced up from the video she was watching on her phone. “Ten! I heard you were out of town.”

“I was.” His face lingered on the fresh shiner she sported. “That better be from training.”

“Boychenko.” She huffed. “When we were grappling, I figure out he was ticklish under his armpits. I should have left it alone, but he embarrassed me with a stupid crack about my period. I saw him stretching and grabbed him under the arms. He flipped out laughing, threw back his elbow, and cracked me right in the face.”

Ten made a face. “You know how Ivan feels about horseplay and fucking around in his gym.”

She huffed again. “My arms and legs are still wobbly like Jell-O after all the bear crawls and running lines.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t make you throw tires out back.”

“Bro.” She gestured to her body. “Do I look like I can flip tires?”

“Yes.”

She sat up a bit straighter. “Well—thanks.”

Ten glanced at his watch. This was taking forever.

“I’m sorry about what’s happening with your girlfriend.”

Word really got around fast. He and Nisha hadn’t even had a legitimate date, and people were already calling her his girlfriend. “So am I.”

“She cut my hair once.” Ruby touched the ends of her ponytail. “Right after I got out of jail. She was really nice to me, and she didn’t have to be.”

“She doesn’t judge people for their mistakes.”

“Obviously,” Ruby said, glancing pointedly in his direction.

“Ten.” Pete appeared in the doorway and beckoned him back.

“Good luck.” Ruby smiled encouragingly.

“Yeah. You, too.” Ten nodded at Pete when he reached the doorway. “I came.”

“I see.” Pete turned and led him down the hallway to his cramped office. “Take a seat.”

Ten did as instructed. The uncomfortable chair squeaked in protest at his weight, and he wondered how many more asses it would bear before it cracked. Pete tapped away on his faded keyboard glancing over the tops of his smudged bifocals to read his computer screen.

Ten shoved down the rising ire threatening to erupt. He wanted to shout at Pete to hurry the fuck up so he could get back to Nisha, but the months of mandated anger management courses helped him keep his worse impulses under control.

“I know you have somewhere better to be,” Pete said, still squinting at his screen. “I’ll try to make this quick.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Ten stretched out his legs and flexed his fingers atop the denim covering his thighs.

Pete worked methodically through the questionnaire required for each visit. Even though he had been here less than a week ago and none of his answers had changed, he had to calmly respond to each one. Address. Place of employment. Meetings. Alcohol? Drugs? On and on and on.

“Well, you know the drill, Mr. Vasiliev.” Pete opened a drawer and retrieved a piss cup. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled, not looking forward to the invasion of his privacy.

When they reached the bathroom, Pete handed him the cup with a rainbow band of tests fixed on the inside. “I gotta see it go in the cup.”

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