Silently, Nick added to himself that her concern meant more than she could possibly know.Aside from Axel, no one had truly cared about him for a long time.The realization that he might actually matter to Jenna gave him a sense of comfort he hadn’t felt in ages.
Jenna gave him a quiet, affirming nod, acknowledging his words.
Lightning flashed at the windows.
There was a brief pause before she spoke again, and she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
“Axel missed lunch.I can hear his stomach growling.He gets an extra helping of supper because he didn’t complain once about missing a meal.So, let’s get supper warmed up before the power goes out.I’m surprised it hasn’t already.I can’t wait to get another taste of Axel’s delicious meatloaf and Nick’s yummy smelling cake!”
She sent a playful wink in Axel’s direction, trying to lighten the mood, though Axel’s tense posture suggested he was still uneasy about the cop coming over tomorrow.Nick hoped that Axel wouldn’t bring up the topic of the intruder, at least for tonight, so they could all have a peaceful supper.
Reflecting on the day’s events, Nick couldn’t help but think that it had been one hell of an eventful first day on the job.
Chapter Ten
“I don't feel comfortable leaving Jenna alone in the house,” Nick said.
Axel’s chest tightened at Nick’s worry.It echoed his own, but hearing it aloud made something warm flicker low inside him.
He didn’t say anything as he watched Nick carefully arrange the light blue sheets and midnight blue blankets over the hay bed that he and Axel would be sharing.There was a quiet competence in Nick’s movements, a steadiness Axel had come to rely on more than he liked to admit.
The muscles in Nick’s forearms flexed with motion and his prison tattoos shifted like living things under his skin.The ink wasn’t just decoration.It was a map of everything he’d survived over the years, etched into skin that had once been too thin from hunger and fear.Some of his tattoos had been done quite nicely by another prison inmate who actually used to be a tattoo artist on the outside and had had a guard smuggle in the proper tattoo tools.
Axel’s gaze lingered on the way Nick’s t-shirt clung to his back.The military green cotton fabric was stretched tight over the wide expanse of his shoulders and clung nicely to the taper of his waist.He’d seen Nick’s naked body in their shared cell and in the showers more times than he could count, and he never got tired of looking at him.
But there was something different tonight.They were out of prison and not sharing a room with a prison guard at the hotel.Here, the two of them were alone, ankle monitors keeping an eye on them and in a barn with the fresh taste of freedom sharp in the air.It kind of felt like it would be their first time all over again.
Jenna had provided them with pillows and blankets for their makeshift bed, stuffing them into plastic bags to prevent anything from getting wet on their way over to the barn.When they’d removed the sheets, the softness of the material felt almost unreal after years of coarse prison blankets.It was a reminder that this life, this night, was something they weren’t supposed to have.
But thanks to Cowboys Online, they had a chance to explore this new relationship on the outside.But would it last?
In prison they’d been solid, but now being back with Jenna, the dynamics were changing fast.
Jenna had also asserted that she would be fine alone in the house with the poodle.
The dog, she insisted, was just as good a watchdog as any police officer and she reminded them, she also had her gun and a rifle in the house.And she’d also reminded the men that they weren’t allowed to be around firearms, so she’d told them she’d locked up the guns.
It worried him too that he and Nick had touched her handgun today.That was a violation of parole.His stomach knotted.One mistake, one wrong word, and everything would vanish.
When they spoke with their parole officer they would have to lie when asked about being around weapons or they’d be sent back to prison.He didn’t like lying but he would have to protect Nick and himself.Besides, they’d only touched the gun for a short period of time.It wasn’t as if they’d gone looking for one.
Despite his lingering worries, Axel found a small measure of reassurance in knowing that if the assailant who had attacked Nick, came back he’d be greeted by a barking dog.Had the criminal been watching the place again since Nick’s assault, he was now aware that Jenna was not alone.She had two male guests and Daisy.
That knowledge, he reasoned, should be enough to deter any further attempts and keep the perpetrator away.
Inside the barn, their only source of light was a battery-operated lantern, placed atop an old wooden crate the two men had turned upside down to serve as a makeshift table.The lantern’s faint glow cast long shadows and barely illuminated their surroundings making the loft feel like a quiet cocoon.And anything shining out the lone loft window could easily be mistaken for a standard night security light.
Fortunately, the storm had subsided shortly after they had taken refuge in the barn making the air drifting through the slightly open window, fresh and cool.
“Well, if you hadn’t noticed, I did try every possible way to convince her to let us stay in the house.Every time I thought I was making headway, her excuse of being alone in the house came to that dog you brought home.Why, may I ask, did you bring that damn dog home?”Axel asked.
Nick paused from arranging the blankets and twisted his head to look up at Axel.With a lighthearted laugh, he replied, “To make you jealous, of course.”
Then he returned to finishing up their makeshift bed.
The familiar teasing tugged a reluctant smile from Axel.Some habits of humor survived even the darkest places.
“Funny guy, aren’t you?”Axel grumbled to his back.
