“No, I’m waiting.”
“For Greene?” Brandon’s eyebrows scrunched before they flew high on his forehead and he smiled again. “He’s a really good guy.”
“Yeah?”
Brandon nodded and lightly tapped a pile of papers to my shoulder in a friendly way that had me frowning. “Okay, I have some things to do. See you tomorrow. Right?”
“Uh, yes.”
“It’ll be more fun than today, I promise.” He headed out of the classroom at a fast clip after that final assurance, and I had to wonder what else he did all day long.
Also, why did he tell me that about Greene? My face burned with embarrassment, and the buzz of pleasure that skittered around in my stomach was worrisome. The last time I’d felt happy about a man paying attention to me, Trev had been leading me into hell. I closed my eyes as that memory hit me harder than a speeding train.
Maybe this was the same thing. Why would a nice guy take an interest in me? Pain and garbage seemed to be the way my life worked out. Maybe Greene would be another nightmare waiting to begin. I sighed. If that was the case, and eventually he would hurt me, I wanted to keep the tiny flicker of goodness alive for another few minutes. I loved the way my stomach fluttered when I closed my eyes and thought about Greene. This was probably the best thing I’d get before Tatum found me and smashed my skull in.
There was a knock on the door behind me, and I turned the chair around, putting the desk at my back so I could face my death.
Greene peeked his head around the classroom door and grinned. Tension leaked out of my body. The same thing that had happened earlier crashed in on me. My mouth practically watered. He filled out that brown guard uniform and made it look good. “Hey, there,” he said softly.
I nodded, unable to speak.
Stepping around the door, he leaned his head against it. “Want me to take you to dinner?”
We both froze at his words, and his face flushed as he chuckled awkwardly. “I mean, are you ready for me to—”
“Yeah.”
He strolled over, and I was unnaturally aware of the spice of his cologne as he came around behind me. The scent he carried with him was fresh and the slightest bit citrusy. I took deep breaths of him and was embarrassed because I must smell terrible. I hadn’t showered in a couple of days and was dreading making the attempt here, for more than one reason. I still hadn’t checked my commissary. It was easy to put things off without soap in my cell. When I’d arrived, they’d said I wouldn’t have any money in my account for at least a week.
“Oh, your collar is screwed up,” Greene said, and I sat still as he messed around with it for me, his fingers brushing my neck. I shivered and glanced back and up at him. There was a long moment that felt like it weighed a million pounds and stretched between us—a sparking live wire. Both of us were waiting for the other to get electrocuted. Then he laughed and grasped the handles of the chair. The moment lightened but didn’t die. The trip out of the classroom to the cafeteria took less time than I wanted, and I put a hand out when it seemed like he was going to push me right through the red double doors and inside.
“Stop, you can’t take me any farther.”
“I’m feeling hurt here,” he said, but when I glanced back, he was grinning.
My stomach grumbled, and it hit me that I was starving right to death. In the classroom I hadn’t been able to think about anything except Tatum slaughtering me, but with Greene here, it was almost like that was a worry for some other man. I doubted he’d let me get hurt when he was around. He let me go with a small salute and a flash of a wink I was half sure I’d imagined. I pushed myself on into the cafeteria and toward the line that wrapped around the wall and curved along the glass-and-stainless-steel serving area at the front. No one talked to me. Men joked with one another around me.
It was like I was invisible.
One twitchy guy two spots in front of me in the food line kept turning and staring for a second, then shifting back ahead. The next time he did it, I asked, “What?”
“I’m Dev.” He ran a hand over his short muddy-brown hair and flashed me a smile that showcased a chipped front tooth. He wasn’t too tall, which made it easier for him to talk to me than it would have been for someone else. “What are you in for?” He bounced on the balls of his feet, and sounded like guys I used to know who collected baseball cards.What stats do they have?
“Assaulting a police officer.”
His mouth fell open.
I leaned back in my chair and chuckled. “I threw a beer can and it hit one of them. The fuckin’ thing was empty. They took it too fucking personally.”
He bobbed his head so much I worried it might fall off. “I’m here for cooking books. Then I got into some trouble and my sentence was extended.” He shook his head. “They always get you for something.”
“Leave him alone. No one thinks you’re tough, Dev, not even the man in the chair,” someone in front of him said and gave him a shove.
Dev turned back, and a few sharp words from him turned into a scuffle until one of the guards nearby yelled, “Hands off! Back of the line for your shit!” Both men groaned and trudged behind the few men who’d come in after me.
When I got to the serving station with the food behind glass, I hated it. I couldn’t see over the ledge, so I had to rely on a man, who I also could barely make eye contact with, to mumble what they were serving. He made my tray for me when I barked, “Just fill it up, I’m dying here.”
He slid the tray down the line, but when I got to the end where I was supposed to take it, the reach upward was awkward and the counter was too high. I grasped the edge of the tray and thought about trying to stand up, but my back twinged when I attempted to put my feet down, and there was already an impatient huff behind me. I snagged the tray corner and pulled, thinking I could just grab it when it got to the edge, but I put too much energy behind the tug. The tray tipped over the edge. I gasped as something that was supposed to be macaroni and cheese, maybe, splattered on the floor beside me. Thankfully the goop missed me and only got the wheels of the chair. The tray hit the floor with a loud clatter, and there was an uproar of applause and laughter.
