Page 13 of The Freshman

The shirt suddenly felt restrictive,and Alife tugged his collar before picking at his top button.“Nope, no top button.”

“Liar. Every time I’veseen you it’s been done up. You’ve been all tidy andordered.”

Alfie shook his head. “You’ve onlyseen me once.”

Nate made a sound like a game showbuzzer.

“Wrong, I’ve seen youbefore, through the bars of G-wing. Always so focused on your job,you don’t know what’s going on anywhere else. Each time I’ve seenyou, I just want to crumple your shirt, loosen your tie, maybe eventie your wrists with your shoe laces, and get a blush growing onyour cheeks.”

Alfie’s blush bloomed in full force,and he found he couldn’t speak, or walk away. He gawped at the celldoor.

“Do you like that idea?”Nate purred.

Alfie shook his head. Like was thewrong word. He was curious, a little aroused, and freaked out. Hedidn’t know why he was still standing there imagining when he hadthe option to walk away.

“No, sounds like aterrible idea,” he croaked, then walked away from thecell.

His walk was deliberately slow, to thepoint he lingered on each step.

Marie and Glen were waiting on theother side of the gate, and in the brighter lobby he could see thefrowns on their faces. They were wondering why he was taking solong.

The heat at his crotch was the reason,and he thought of Henry and his phlegm ridden cough just to scarehis curious arousal away. It worked, but Marie and Glen stillwatched him with frowns on their faces as he walked through thegate.

Alfie hated to admit, even to himself,he enjoyed Nate’s flirty side.

The other side of him was dark, theseducer that reminded Alfie of both a purring lion and a coilingsnake ready to strike. As soon as Nate mentioned opening the hatch,or the door, Alfie backed away quick. He closed his eyes in anextended blink and thanked god it was his last shift of the week.He needed to escape Nate and gather himself for another week ofsuggestive comments.

****

Sunday, Alfie dragged himself from bedand forced himself outside. He needed to see his best friend’schirpy face, the brightness to her eyes, and the kindness of hersmile. It was the only cure for the confusing week at work. Theyhad regular mate dates on her lunch break at the café she workedat. Alfie sunk down with his iced coffee, and she joinedhim.

Tia looked left then right beforeleaning over the table. “Any of the prisoners hot?”

She was trying to whisper, Alfie knewshe was, but she sucked at it. The customers on the neighboringtables stared at them.

Rather than ignore their newlyacquired audience, Tia stretched her red lips into a smile andfluttered her eyelashes. Her poor whisper didn’t matter when shefluttered her eyes and pouted, but it had got them in a few hairysituations. Good looks only got you out of trouble in the light,not the dark of a cinema.

Alfie sighed slowly, stirred his strawin his coffee, then leaned over the table and showed Tia how awhisper should be done. “No, they’re rapists, murders, and violentcriminals.”

Tia shrugged. “Doesn’t immediatelymean they’re ugly, just inside they are. Their faces might benice.”

“I work the night shift,so I don’t actually see them.”

Tia smacked her lips together andslumped in her chair. “Voices then, do any of them have voices thatmake you go all tingly.”

As soon as the word tingly left herlips, Alfie dropped his gaze to the table and fought to contain thered pigment in his face.

“Knew it,” Tia chirped,before sucking on her straw. “You wouldn’t turn beetroot red unlessone of them was hot.”

“Beetroot?” Alfie asked.“More purple than red, the kind of purple my face would go if oneof them got out and strangled me like they say theywill.”

Tia popped her lips from the straw andstraightened in her chair. “Sorry, I guess it must be kind ofscary.”

In the space of a second, her voicehad changed from joyous and energized to depressed. Alfie hatedhaving that effect, especially when he was lying. No one hadthreatened him since the first roll call.

He sighed and rubbed at his head.“None of them are hot, so if you’re hoping for some prison pen palthink again.”

Tia waved her hand. “No need, somereally cute guy came in earlier and gave me his name.”

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