Page 8 of Mad Love

CHAPTER 4

RYAN

“Twenty minutes, ladies!” the guard snapped at us as we were ushered into the shower room in a group of fifty. Guards took up positions in the corners, watching with impassive expressions.

I was going on almost day four without a shower, and I needed one. But I deserved a fucking Oscar for not showing my disgust as I stepped into the space, and not just because the fifty-ish guys in here looked about as sexy as a Mrs. Claus in a G-string. The showerheads were mounted around the rectangular room, and there was zero privacy as inmates started stripping. I was pretty sure that the color green in the grout wasn’t a design choice.

When I got out of here, I would never again take a clean shower stall for granted.

Most of the men didn’t hesitate to strip and turn on the showerheads, creating a cacophony of water pelting moldy tiles.

With a grimace, I yanked off my clothes and went to the closest shower, wishing I could’ve just stayed in my cell. Unfortunately, showers were mandated by the county to help with hygiene issues.

Then again, with the smells coming from the walls, floors, and even the water, I wasn’t sure how hygienic these showers could be.

Generic shampoo/body wash was located in plastic containers mounted beside the knobs, and I quickly lathered my hair as a guard shouted from the other side of the room. Turning my body slightly, I saw a small crowd gathering. Bare ass cheeks and hairy thighs parted enough for me to see the guy with the eyeliner on his knees, sucking off one man while using his hand on another. A third was kneeling behind him, impaling his ass as the guards shouted for them to knock it off. When that didn’t work, they left their posts and waded into what was rapidly devolving into an orgy.

Shaking my head, I turned away from the spectacle just in time to see something flash out of the corner of my eye.

I jumped sideways, my feet slipping on the grimy floor as a searing pain lanced up my side.

Fuck me.

Water dripped into my eyes as I looked at the man beside me, a wicked piece of glass wrapped in an old t-shirt clenched in his fist. His dick flopped around as he grinned at me.

“Gonna carve you up like a fucking turkey,” he gloated, looking way too happy at the prospect.

I moved away only to be blindsided by a kick that landed low on my back. A third man moved in from the right, and I had to choose if I was going to ward off the shiv or a sucker punch.

My arm shot out, and the sharp edge of the glass glanced off my forearm instead of embedding itself in my gut. The punch landed on my jaw, snapping my head to the side, and the fucker with the shiv retreated a few steps, looking for a new opening.

I glanced around, doing the mental math.

Three on one. Not the worst odds I’d ever faced, but they had me at several disadvantages. They knew this room, which became obvious as they herded me toward a corner, cutting me off from the guards’ line of sight.

Not that the guards were looking at anything but the free prison porn playing out in real time.

Either I had the shittiest luck known to man, or the gangbang on the other side of the showers was a distraction to keep the guards from seeing me being attacked.

If I fought back the way I wanted, I ran the risk of the outcome being pinned on me. A new charge, one that might actually stick.

Fuck.

All I’d had to do was keep my head down for the weekend, until Court and Linus were able to have the charges dropped. But these three assholes—all of whom were inked and huge, with only a few pounds separating them—could screw up my plans royally.

I eyed the one clutching the glass. He was in the middle, and his buddy to his left shaking out his fist was probably the one who’d sucker punched me. The third man was the smallest, but he was bouncing on the balls of his feet like he was on something. The unfocused glint in his eyes made me wonder if his issues were cognitive or chemically induced.

When he sniffled hard and rubbed under his nose, like he could still taste whatever shit he’d snorted before coming in here to attack me, I had my answer.

Blood oozed down my arm, slippery and hot, and dripped to the floor before melting into the water streaming off my back. Grimacing, I squared my shoulders and waited for them to make a move. Fighting with my dick dangling seemed like a fucking horrible idea, but I didn’t see these guys taking a time out so we could get dressed.

They’d caught me—literally—with my pants down.

It was annoying and a little flattering that they seemed to know they couldn’t take me head-on.

A roar of jeers rose up from that side of the room as the porn spectacle continued, but I didn’t move a damn muscle.

The tweaker let loose a high-pitched cackle that made my hair stand on end. “Your insides are gonna be pretty outsides, pretty.”

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