Chapter 18 #2
“Hey, baby,” she whispered, giving me a kiss before turning to hug Hunter next.
“You didn’t call last night,” I grumbled, earning a small smile.
“Sorry. A bunch of the girls wanted to hang out, and I was piled high with school work in the afternoon. We had trouble yesterday among some other girls too, so the whole day was a little crazy.”
I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew Hunter would be better at doing it carefully.
“What happened? You girls getting yourselves into trouble?” he asked casually as we all sat down, giving her a pointed look that I understood as he already knew and wanted her to explain further.
She must have gathered that too from the way she paused and watched him for a moment before blowing out a breath.
“Tina’s girls got into a fight with Kat.
One of them was left in gen pop without protection, and I guess someone had beef with her.
She was found beaten in the showers,” she explained, Hunter’s eyes dropping to her hands to see her damaged knuckles.
“Newbie got in a fight with me. She’s in the hole. ”
“You wouldn’t have started it, right?” I asked dryly, and she flashed me an innocent smile.
“Never. I’m a good role model in here.”
“Sure,” Hunter scoffed, his tone laced with sarcasm. “Anything else?”
“Don’t think so. Marco couldn’t make it?”
“He was dealing with something at home.”
“Like what? Is he okay?” she asked with a frown, both of us looking to Hunter for answers. He hadn’t given me a reason for Marco’s absence this morning, he’d just said he wasn’t coming.
“Your mutual ex-boyfriend showed up drunk last night at his house and Mark had to babysit him. No idea how he got there, the McLaren wasn’t around,” Hunter replied. The wording of ex-boyfriend made her flinch slightly, and I reached out to take her hand to reassure her.
“We’ll fix things with him once you come home. It’s just hard while you’re in here.”
“Don’t promise her things like that,” Hunter warned. “Skeet’s complicated, and he won’t welcome you home with open arms when you’re released. It’ll take some time.”
“What are you saying to him? Are you sure you’re not playing along with his delusion that we’re fucking? I know that’s your usual go-to to start a fight with him,” she said tensely, and he shook his head.
“I like riling him up, but continuing a joke like that and making it seem serious could get you killed. I can’t fuck you if you’re dead, babe.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I sighed. “All of that aside, I’ve been there when they talk, and no one’s saying you did anything wrong. Skeet’s just made up his mind out of fear of looking like an idiot again. Hopefully, you two can talk once you’re home and smooth it all over.”
“The good news is if I end up stuck in here, I have a crew now,” she grumbled, and the thought made me want to throw up. I couldn’t handle this for years, I’d barely lasted a little over a month with her on the inside.
“You’re getting out,” Hunter said firmly, leaning forward on the table. “Is Lex doing alright?”
“I don’t think anyone’s topping up her commissary regularly. I used some of mine for a favor recently because Lexi couldn’t. I know some of the girls top it up for her, but—”
“I’ll top up her account when I do yours. I’ll do it on my phone when I get out to the car,” Hunter said instantly, and I nodded.
“I’ll pay. What good is my money if I can’t give it to people?”
“You can give me some. You still owe me an oxygen tank, pyro,” he muttered, and I winced.
“On it.”
Rory looked relieved at knowing Lexi was being looked after, and it made me wonder what people did that had no one on the outside. We always made sure Rory’s account was loaded so she never had to worry.
“Are you struggling with Calculus? It’s killing me,” she huffed, and we spent the rest of our time complaining about the new subjects we had. We were all in the same classes again, so at least once she was out we could study together again.
She didn’t seem to struggle so badly when she went back to her block, and as much as I was glad she wasn’t so anxious now, I hated that she was getting used to it at the same time.
That meant she’d been here too long.
“You want lunch?” Hunter asked as we headed out to the car, and I shrugged.
“I could eat.”
“Rosevale has good food. We’ll head there.”
“I think that’s where Rory’s mom was before disappearing. The boyfriend she had at the time runs Burgers and Beats,” I said, and Hunter nodded slowly.
“Want to check it out?”
“Might as well. Skeet and Rory talked to him, and he said Marla went back to Ashburn to be with Max. We probably can’t find out any other information, but—”
“We can still be nosy. If Skeet’s not going to dig into it anymore for her, I’ll do it. I can hack better than Skeet anyway, so hopefully, I can find some answers,” he replied as we climbed into the car and headed to Rosevale.
It was only a town over, so the drive was fast, and since it was a little early for lunch, we easily found a table at Burgers and Beats. It definitely looked like a cool place to hang out, and I’d bet money on it being where the locals went.