Chapter Fifteen #2
“Well… Our schedules were a little muddled yesterday because of some training we had to do, but we’ll typically swap out at five in the evenings and eight in the mornings. Since JP sleeps for most of his shift, he actually has to work a lot longer than I do.”
“Jesus,” I scowl as I glance over at him. “That’s a long fucking shift.”
“Yeah, no kidding. I bet he’s glad that being a guard isn’t his permanent job placement. I know they spend most of the shift sleeping, but doing that every day? I’d hate it.” He shakes his head with a look of disgust on his face.
I couldn’t imagine having to work that long every day, especially while sitting around with a prisoner. What do they even do? I would be bored out of my mind. I am bored out of my mind.
I glance up at the clock and notice that there’s still two hours until shift change, which means that twiddling my thumbs is about the most entertaining thing I have to do.
This shit sucks.
“I think I’m gonna take a nap for a little while.” I announce as I roll over onto my stomach with my face toward the wall. I almost feel guilty for hoping that Lance is actually quiet long enough that I can fall asleep for a few hours, but I’m not.
My bedroom door squeaks open, and my heart immediately starts thundering in my chest. My eyes flutter open, but I quickly snap them closed again as I will my racing heart to slow down. I hear Lance shush JP as they shuffle around behind me.
“He’s gone,” JP says as I hear him gently sit down on his bed.
I quirk my eyebrow curiously as I turn back and look over my shoulder at him. “How did you know I wasn’t asleep?”
“BLT or chicken bacon ranch?” He holds up two paper sacks for me to choose. I point to the bag that has ‘BLT’ scribbled on it in marker and he tosses it to me as I roll over to sit up.
“I’ve actually spent time around you while you’ve been asleep, remember? Your breathing was different.” He says as he unwraps his sandwich and takes a bite.
I hum my acknowledgement as I take a few bites of my sandwich. JP grabs a bottle of water off the edge of my desk and leans forward to hand it to me. I put the remaining half of my sandwich down as I lean forward to grab it.
“I know what I want,” I announce as I unscrew the cap and take a drink.
JP tilts his head in confusion as he stares at me. “What you want?”
“The IOU,” I clarify.
He smirks at me before taking another bite. I watch patiently as I wait for him to swallow his food. I’m in no rush, because there’s no way that he can get me what I want tonight without having to leave me alone for too long, which we all know is against the rules.
“Well? What is it?” He asks before taking the last bite of his sandwich. I push the other half of mine in his direction and he gives me a funny look.
“I’m not really hungry. Go ahead.” I offer as I push it closer to him again. He squints his eyes at me, but concedes, taking it from the desk.
“A blank notepad, pencils, and a sharpener.”
“No can do. Sorry,” he says indifferently as he takes a bite of the sandwich I offered him.
I pinch my brows together, grinding my teeth together in frustration. “What good is an IOU if I can’t use it to get what I want?”
“Mmm. I didn’t say that I couldn’t get you what you want. I just can’t get you that. There aren’t a lot of things against the prison rules, but sharpeners have blades in them, and that’s one thing I can’t give you.”
Realization dawns on me, and I lean back against the wall.
“Right. Okay…” I think aloud as I run my hand through my hair.
It feels gross after working out earlier, and I can’t wait to go shower.
The thought of what happened the last time I showered replays in my mind, and it makes my dick far more excited than it should.
It has to be because I have precisely zero better things to think about right now, but that doesn’t make me any less irritated about it.
I pull my legs up and rest my head on my knees to conceal the traitor in my pants.
The last thing I need is JP thinking that I want to sleep with him, no matter how true it may be.
If our last encounter taught me anything, it’s that I need to keep as much distance between us as possible. Jett is a danger to my mental health.
“There are other options, but the real problem here is that no matter which way you look at it, you want at least two items, and you’ve only done one favor for me.
Which means that you’ll owe me something.
” He doesn’t even bother to look up at me, but he has a wicked smirk on his face that makes my stomach swirl uncomfortably.
“Oh, fuck you.” I retort bitterly, but I can’t stop the stupid smile that blooms on my face.
“How about this… since this is your first rodeo, I’ll give you a tip. Just this once. If you word it differently, then everything you want can be covered under one request.”
I squint my eyes in confusion, but it doesn’t take long for me to get the point. “I want supplies for drawing.”
“Hmm. Interesting,” he says thoughtfully as he shoves his trash into one of the paper sacks. The bag crinkles loudly, causing us to pause the conversation until he finishes collecting all the garbage.
“I thought for sure that you were trying to write a note to your friend.”
“I can write notes with blank paper too, but drawing on lined paper is much more annoying.”
“So, you are trying to write him?”
I consider his questioning and I’m not sure if he’s prying because he’s trying to see if he can get another trade out of me by offering to get a note to Axel, or if he’s just genuinely curious.
“It isn’t at the forefront of my brain. I doubt he’ll be trying to contact me anytime soon… if ever.”
“Forever is a long time to not talk to someone that you care about. I’m guessing that you two aren’t an item then, since you think that he won’t be bothering to communicate with you.”
I literally laugh out, because this is Axel we’re talking about.
My straight as an arrow, doesn’t give a shit about relationships, childhood best friend that everyone seems to think I have a ‘thing’ with.
The one that Jett isn’t aware that I will be able to talk to again in less than three months.
This isn’t a forever arrangement, but I can’t fault him for thinking that.
“First of all, if we were an item, I wouldn’t have done anything with you. That’s considered cheating in the real world, you know? Also, no. We’ve never been, nor will we ever be, a thing. He’s not my type.”
“Not your type, as in what? He’s a top? He’s feminine?” He asks as he scoots back on the bed and leans against the wall, mirroring me.
“What’s with all the questions, Jett?” I ask with a suspicious glare.
I don’t particularly mind getting to know him or him getting to know me, but his questions are getting really personal, and there’s a lot of things that I can’t say right now.
I’m getting more nervous with each passing second, because this isn’t a place where I can slip up.
All it takes is one innocent answer that’s a little bit strange, and it could set off alarm bells for him.
“Please,” he says as he waves his hand around the room. “If you have something better to entertain us, then be my guest.”
I roll my eyes, but crawl off the bed. “I worked out earlier, so why don’t we go grab a shower?”