Chapter Fifteen
Everest
Random hook-ups are always awkward afterward, right? Wrong.
Jett and I spent the rest of the evening just hanging out in my bedroom and chatting like we were old friends meeting for coffee or some shit.
It was easy. Too easy. He grabbed our dinner a little while after we returned.
Admittedly, it was far later than I would normally have dinner, but because I was in the meeting with Maven earlier, I had lunch really late.
JP didn’t seem to mind the time, though.
He just seems to go with whatever I wanted.
“What’s your favorite part about living here?” I ask from where I’m laid back on my bed. I’m lounging with my arm resting on my forehead, and Jett is mirroring me on his bed across from me.
“That’s a hard one…” He says before turning toward me.
He lets his arm fall to his side as he chews on the inside of his cheek.
“I really enjoy not having to worry about anything, you know? I can’t end up homeless, or forget to pay my bills, because Maven takes care of all of that.
I think that’s really nice.” He answers before he goes quiet.
I watch him as he continues to ruminate on what he’s just admitted.
“What’s wrong?” I ask curiously.
“Nothing. It’s just that I hadn’t realized how much living here was similar to my life in Germany.”
I stop to think about it for a few seconds. This is the first time he’s mentioned where he came from. I’m guessing that whatever he was saying to me earlier was in German since that’s where he lived.
“Were you in a prison there, too?”
“No,” he says with a chuckle. “Not really, but I worked for some powerful people, and they provided everything for me. I lived on a… compound. It was highly guarded, and most people rarely left it. If ever.”
“Did you grow up there?” I ask as I roll over to face him. Our conversation from before dinner seemed to pick right back up afterward, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s well after midnight by now. JP seems to be just as interested in learning about my life as I am about his.
“Yeah. They said I wasn’t born there. I was adopted when I was very young, but I don’t remember anything before living with them.”
Jett is actually a really nice guy, and that makes me feel even worse about the way I was treating him earlier, but it doesn’t seem to have bothered him at all.
We’ve connected so much since then that it feels like all of that happened a lifetime ago, despite the fact that it’s only been a couple hours.
“You were adopted? That’s really cool. Did you like your adoptive parents?”
“That’s a… I don’t really know how to answer that.” He replies as his eyebrows scrunch together in thought.
“I meant… were they good—“
“I know what you mean,” he interrupts. “It’s just that I don’t know.
“ He says as he rolls onto his back again and stares up at the ceiling. “I used to think that they were great parents. We never had to worry about anything, and we had lots of nice things. All of my siblings and I had our own house on the property, and we were happy. We had private teachers and tutors and did a lot of training that I enjoyed.” He grows quiet, but it’s clear that he’s still contemplating something.
“But?”
“But they’re the reason that I’m here now. The reason I’ll be here for the rest of my life.”
“Ouch…” I crinkle my nose at the betrayal.
How does someone that loves you send you to a place like Blightridge for the rest of your life?
That definitely isn’t love. I would give myself up a hundred times before ever compromising my sister’s life.
I may actually like it here, but I would never force someone I love into a prison when they didn’t deserve it.
“Yeah… I don’t think they actually cared about us.“ He explains as he starts to pick at the hem of his shirt. “At least here, it seems as if Maven cares. He makes time for all of us, you know?”
“I haven’t got to spend much time with him yet, but it does seem like he cares about this whole place a lot. In America, prison villages aren’t really a thing. The fact that he put in the effort to create a place for the people here is kind of admirable.” I reply with a shrug.
“Mhmm,“ he nods as he glances over at me. “Only couples who get married can move to the village though. From what I’ve heard, you actually have to be in love, too. One of the guards that was with me said two guys tried to fake it so that they could move to the village, but Maven figured it out somehow, and they were heavily punished.”
I mentally catalog that information for later since my curiosity about the village has been at the forefront of my mind since we got here.
I was wondering how or why certain people got to move there when others didn’t.
I suppose that it makes sense to give couples privacy from other inmates, and what better way than giving them their own homes?
The question is, how did Maven know that two people were faking it, and how were they punished?
“Did he say what happened to them?”
“Not really. He just said that he hadn’t seen them since. They could’ve been sent to separate blocks or something. Maven kind of rules with an iron fist though, so I don’t plan on finding out what kind of things he deems as punishments.”
I nod knowingly, because Maven did seem to be a pretty rigid guy.
He was straight to the point and didn’t even bat an eyelash when Axel tried to argue the placement that Wilder gave him.
He just gave the facts and sent us on our way.
Granted we don’t live here, we aren’t an actual part of this community, so he could be acting differently with us.
Jett doesn’t know that I won’t be permanently living here though, so I don’t want to counter what he’s saying and give him any reason to be suspicious.
“Most people that come here seem to be really upset when they first get here, but you… you almost seem happy.“ He accuses as he glances over at me. I know that it isn’t a question, and I don’t owe him any kind of explanation, but the truth falls from my mouth anyway.
“I wasn’t happy where I was, and being here gives me an odd sense of… freedom.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “I don’t think I understand. This place is the opposite of freedom for most people, E.”
“But it’s not,” I shake my head as I furrow my brows in thought.
“Since the moment I got here, I haven’t had to worry about anything.
Do I have groceries? What will I eat? Are my bills paid?
Did I forget to turn my kitchen light off?
What am I going to do at work? Going to work.
It was an endless cycle, and I hated it.
I don’t want to go back to feeling that way.
This is… it’s my chance to change everything. My entire life.”
I glance back over at Jett, and he’s rolled back over on his side watching me. His arm is tucked under his head, and he’s curled up under his blanket. I chuckle at how adorable this giant man looks balled up like a child, but his face remains impassive.
“That was very deep, Everest.” He whispers softly.
My cheeks start to flush from his attention, so I turn my face away to avoid embarrassing myself even more. “I just needed something different. That’s all.” I reply dismissively.
“Morning, sleepy heads!” Lance announces as he bursts through the door with paper sacks of food in hand.
As much as I think I prefer Jett’s relaxing aura, Lance has a lively personality that you just can’t help but enjoy.
The fact that whatever is inside those bags smells delicious only makes his presence that much more pleasurable.
“Morning, Lancelot.” Jett grumbles as he rolls over.
“You know what? I was super nice and brought you breakfast and everything, but after that… I think I’ll keep it for myself, you twat.
” Lance replies grumpily as he drags the chair over.
I would just leave it at the desk if it actually fit underneath it, but of course it’s too wide and takes up half the walking space.
“Liar,” JP retorts as he sits up and combs his fingers through his hair.
Lance rolls his eyes but tosses one of the bags at him anyway.
JP fumbles it with a smirk on his face that shouldn’t make my insides feel funny, but it fucking does.
The sleepy smirk, the wild bed hair, every inch of the man. He’s so fucking hot.
“Thanks,” he says as he scoots back on the bed and starts to pull everything out onto his lap.
Lance somehow manages to fill the silence as we all scarf down our food, and not long after we finish, Jett takes off for the day.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time wondering what he’s going to do.
Where do the guards go when they aren’t working?
Can they go up to the town and shop? Do they have apartments or live in a shared space?
I have to mentally scold myself in order to stop daydreaming about what he’s doing long enough that I can actually pay attention to everything that Lance keeps talking about. Which is… a lot.
Lance and I go to the gym, have lunch, and then end up back in the room lounging around.
He even brought some black nail-polish and touched up my fingernails for me, but it doesn’t take me long to notice that while I enjoy Lance’s company, he’s far less entertaining than Jett.
Don’t get me wrong, he has plenty to talk about, but his interests and mine don’t exactly line up.
I’ve found my thoughts wandering off to more sordid things multiple times throughout the day.
I’ve had a semi for the better part of the afternoon, but fortunately for me, I don’t think Lance has noticed.
“So, what time will you and Jett be swapping out shifts?”