“Nope.” Justin’s brother, right.
“Well, there’s plenty left. Want any?”
Izzy shrugged. “Sure.” He didn’t have a massive sweet tooth, but free cookies and all.
Yeah, so, turns out maybe he’d never had really awesome cookies before? He ate two of the chocolate chip ones, and the guys in the break room looked at him knowingly. It was teasing and nice, not annoying, so he let them mock him.
The thing about prison was that you learned how to eat fast. That meant Izzy still had about fifteen minutes of his break left when he was done eating, so he told Sam he’d be right back and decided to take a little walk just to get away from people for a bit.
He found a path leading away from the greenhouses and decided to walk along for a bit. At least he wouldn’t get lost if he stayed on the path, right?
Everything around him was just so green and lush and lovely. He’d never thought he’d be able to enjoy something like this on the daily, and suddenly the thought of living here made him excited. He really hoped that one guy could save money quickly so Izzy could ask Justin for his spot. Being Sam’s roommate or trailermate or whatever would be nice.
Just before he decided to turn back, he spotted someone a little ways away from the path. The guy was sitting down and when Izzy peered behind him, he saw a nice enough view. Go figure.
He walked closer quietly to scope out the situation and heard the telltale sounds of someone trying to breathe through something, like an anxiety attack or maybe just heavy crying?
The guy turned to look at him as soon as he made noise, and by instinct, Izzie smirked at him. It was his default in all situations where he didn’t feel comfortable.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked, moving closer to the guy.
He had dark hair and pretty eyes filled with tears, and he had to be Hispanic. Maybe another worker he hadn’t met yet?
When the guy flushed deep red, as if ashamed of being caught in the situation he was in, Izzy decided he had a few minutes to spare.
“I’m Izzy, I just started at the greenhouses.”
The guy closed his eyes and Izzy thought he had spectacularly long eyelashes. It took him a moment to understand that the guy was doing the counting thing.
“Shit, a panic attack?” he asked, and the blush that had been fading came back. “I get them too sometimes. I smoke weed. Helps a lot.”
The guy’s eyes suddenly opened and his gaze snapped to Izzy’s. There was something he couldn’t quite read in those big brown eyes, and Izzy felt oddly…if not judged, then at least…fuck, he didn’t even know.
The guy struggled to his feet and began to walk away as fast as he could. What the fuck had Izzy done? Who got that uptight about a comment about weed? Jesus.
“No need to get your panties in a twist, ‘s not like I smoke at work!” he called after the dude.
He maybe sounded more aggressive than he’d intended, but he needed to make that absolutely clear, because of Justin’s no drug policy. Last thing Izzy needed was some little snitch telling the boss that Izzy liked to get high. He didn’t want to get fired on his first day.
He returned to the path and backtracked to the greenhouses. The kid had vanished to another direction somewhere, so probably not a worker after all. Oh well, time to earn a buck or two.
