Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
RORY
Two weeks passed in a blur of laundry, school work, phone calls, and visitation. Time moved a lot faster now that I’d settled in a little, and I was surprised thirty six days had passed since I’d first stepped foot in the prison.
My wounds were definitely healing better now, and I’d actually built really good friendships with the girls in my pod. I was pretty sure my social life was better in here than it ever was on the outside.
“Hey, Bitch Tits,” Lexi grinned as she found me studying in the library in the late afternoon.
“Hey, Hottie McThottie,” I snorted, giving her a dirty look as she sat on the table and scooted in front of me, dropping her legs on either side of me as she knocked half my shit onto the floor. “I was using those.”
“C’mon, work on me instead,” she winked, swinging her legs a little.
Our friendship had definitely grown the most. We regularly curled up together to read or watch TV, just enjoying the company.
It honestly did help having someone around.
I’d become so used to having someone around all the time on the outside that I was really missing it in here now, but Lexi was keeping me sane.
“I prefer a challenge,” I joked, faking that I was going to punch her in the pussy, and she laughed.
“If you want to use your fist, you’d better sneak in some lube, girl.”
“Get off the table. I’m almost finished,” I groaned, thankful when she chuckled and did as she was told, bending down to pick up my things off the floor. She gave them back, and I ran my eyes over what I’d been working on, yawning a second later. “Maybe I finish it tomorrow after all.”
“Sounds good. Let’s have dinner, shower, then have a snack party. I’ve got those chips you like,” she said in a tempting voice, and I huffed.
“No fair. Everyone’s learned that bribery is possible with food.”
She snickered as I packed up my things, and I handed in the work I’d finished before heading to the cafeteria together.
“Ugh, lumpy ass mashed potatoes,” Lexi grumbled as we sat down to eat, poking her fork into the sloppy mess.
“I’ve had worse,” I answered, taking a mouthful. At least they had butter in them.
“Doesn’t make these taste any better,” she huffed, picking at the soggy vegetables next. “I should ask to take over the kitchen.”
“Don’t expect me to help. I’m a hazard in the kitchen.”
“I’m a good cook,” Kat offered, and Lexi grinned.
“Barbecuing a few bodies doesn’t count.”
Kat laughed and tossed a piece of carrot at her, and I didn’t dare ask questions.
I’d heard gossip that Kat was a serial killer, but if she wanted me to know, she’d tell me.
I knew Tilly and Jamie’s stories, but Kat hadn’t told me hers.
All I knew for a fact was she was a lifer and was never getting out.
It wasn’t like I could judge her, I was in here for murder too, and it wasn’t like it was my first murder either, just the one I’d been caught for.
They discussed cooking tips and recipes while we ate, half of them heading back to their rooms to lay around while Lexi, Tilly, and I grabbed our shower caddies and went to the shower block.
There was a small line, so we waited for our turn before showering, the familiar discomfort filling me when I stepped out with the towel around me to get dry by the far wall. The girls hated it when you got dry in your stall if it was busy.
It didn’t faze me so much if I had to change in front of the girls in my cell block, but there were a lot of people in here.
Lexi and Tilly seemed so used to it as they dropped their towels to dry themselves, and Lexi glanced at me when I didn’t move.
“You good?”
I nodded, releasing the towel to quickly rub it over my damp skin, and I relaxed a little when I noticed Lexi was drying herself behind me, her body and towel shielding me.
With my temporary cover, I finished drying myself and got dressed, sending her an appreciative smile when I was done.
“I’m watching a movie with Jamie tonight, if you want to join,” Tilly offered as we made our way back to our block.
“We’re having a snack party. Maybe a naked pillow fight,” Lexi hummed, earning the side-eye from me.
“Maybe not.”
Tilly rolled her eyes, used to Lexi’s flirting. “You know, you’re like the creepy old man at the bar. Hitting on everyone and can’t take a hint.”
“Except I’m hot, hygienic, and I last longer than thirty seconds,” she smirked, hooking an arm around my shoulders to smack a kiss on my cheek. “Right, Donovan? You like it when I hit on you.”
“Feel free to keep embarrassing yourself,” I replied with a scowl, wiping the wet kiss off my cheek.
She chuckled, leading me along the hallway. Tilly headed straight over to Jamie’s room to see what she was doing, while we headed into Lexi’s room once I put my caddy in mine and grabbed some snacks.
“We should play truth or dare,” she announced, and I raised an eyebrow as I opened a bag of chips.
“Are you a sixteen-year-old boy? The only way you can make a girl kiss you is by daring her to?”
“You can always turn it down,” she teased, closing the door and sitting beside me as she opened a candy bar.
“Tell me about stripping. What’s that like as a job? I’ve heard a lot of bad shit,” I stated, making her shrug.
“We deal with a lot of creeps, but Arch doesn’t allow harm to come to any of his girls. Those who want to work on stage do, those who want to do extra activities can choose to do so, and he pays really well. The whorehouse is popular, and the girls that work it are there because they want to be.”
“Do you work the whorehouse?”
“I’ve done some work in the past, I make good money, but Archer gets jealous and bans me a lot.”
“How old were you when you started?” I asked carefully, knowing she was similar in age to me.
“Stripping? Around fourteen. The whorehouse? Sixteen.”
My nose scrunched but she didn’t seem bothered by the fact grown men paid her to strip at fourteen.
“What about you? You lived in the Heights, right? How did you get by?” she asked, breaking a piece off her candy bar to share with me.
“Stole a lot or went without. Max, my sperm donor, kind of vanished when he lost his fortune, so I had to figure it out myself from the age of eight.”
“You really had no one? I mean, my parents died and I lived on the streets, but at least I had Archer to make sure I was fed,” she said with a frown, stealing one of my chips.
“I had Luke, who I grew up with since he was my neighbor in Ashburn before I moved to the Heights, but we had a falling out when I was thirteen. Didn’t see him again until I moved back to Ashburn and discovered he was friends with my sperm donor’s new girlfriend’s son.
It was a little jarring, actually. No one really warns you how hard it is to get used to being around company.
I’m getting fat living at the Holloways’ too because their chef feeds me extra all the time,” I huffed, motioning to the snacks.
“I never could’ve done this before. If I stole snacks, I saved them for when I really needed to eat. ”
“You’re hardly fat. I can see your damn hip bones.”
“I’ve put on seventeen pounds.”
“Sounds like you needed it. You look really good, Donovan. You should let me tattoo you some time. You’d look super hot with sleeves,” she grinned, taking my wrist to hold my arm out. “Roses and thorns would look good. I could do both the same so they match, or we could change it up.”
“No offense, but no thank you. Prison tats are a stupid idea and not at all hygienic,” I said with a shudder, pulling my arm away.
“Usually, yes, but I bribed a guard to bring in the right gear, and I’m really good at what I do. Ask Kat to show you hers, I did it. I do a lot of the Reapers’ tats too.”
“Why didn’t you pursue tattooing? Wouldn’t you like your own studio?”
Her face fell slightly, a wry smile tugging at her lips.
“I make a lot more stripping, and I don’t have the startup costs for a studio.
Especially since I want to move into my own place when I get out.
I live at Archer’s, and I just think having my own place is a good idea. Maybe one day I can have a studio.”
“You will. I’d bet money on it,” I encouraged, a huff of amusement leaving her.
“You don’t have any money.”
“Don’t rub salt into the wound,” I said dryly, taking a piece of candy and unwrapping it.
“Were you dating Faith?” Her face tightened, and I saw a flicker of guilt.
Whatever had been going on between them was obviously something Lexi didn’t want to discuss.
“Hey, don’t tell me. I was just asking because I’m nosy. You don’t actually have to—”
“She was one of the Demons’ girls,” she said like that was a solid answer, her eyes hardening. “She worked with them to traffic women and kids.”
“So what were you doing hooking up with her?” I asked slowly as she picked at the chips in front of me.
“Archer told me to.”
I frowned, not really understanding why he’d want his girl to fuck other inmates from rival crews, especially if they were pieces of shit, but then it hit me.
“You lured her in and set up her murder?”
She blew out a breath, raking her fingers through her hair.
“I was supposed to handle it myself, which was why I seduced her in the first place, but one of the lifers had a sister that was trafficked, so I manipulated the situation by dropping little bits of information. The girl lost her mind, I pretended to give a shit, and she promised none of my girls would get caught up in it if I let her handle it. So, she gave me a heads-up to keep my girls inside.”
She didn’t look at me as I let that sink in, and I reached out to give her knee a gentle squeeze.
“You caught feelings, didn’t you?”
“Does that make me a bad person? She was a monster,” she whispered, her broken blue eyes lifting to mine.
“Hey, I’m into murderous psychopaths, so I can’t exactly judge you,” I murmured, pushing the snacks out of the way and crawling closer to give her a hug.