Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Riven

“How’s work going?” Tom asked when I finished pissing in a cup for him. It hadn’t technically been a week since I’d seen him, but Tom had arranged the dates so I could meet with him every Friday after work.

I twisted the lid on tightly and handed it over. It was pretty fucking demeaning to have someone grill me about my life while I was taking a leak.

“Fine,” I replied, zipping up, then washed my hands.

“Just fine?”

We walked out together.

“It’s work. I don’t know what you expect. I like doing shit with my hands, and that’s good. Harold seems like a solid guy. I don’t have a whole book to tell you about it.”

Tom cocked a brow. “Fair enough. You get along with everyone?”

My gaze snapped to his. Had Parrish said something to him? Told Harold, who reported it to Tom? I wouldn’t be surprised. The Hunts seemed to take everything away from me. The shitty part was, I couldn’t just blame them. I’d allowed it.

Deciding to play it safe in case he didn’t know anything, I shrugged. “It’s fine. This guy Wayne keeps trying to get me to go out with him.”

“Like a date?” Tom asked, which almost made me swallow my tongue. I hadn’t expected that. Before I’d gotten locked up, I hadn’t been openly bisexual. Anytime I’d hooked up with a guy, it had been in Bedford and on the down-low. I didn’t give a shit now. If someone didn’t like it or me, they could suck my dick, but it also wasn’t something I’d told anyone because who would I have told?

“No. Just for a drink as a friend.”

“It’s okay if it was a date.”

“I know. Jesus, I don’t need you to approve of my sexuality.”

“I don’t even know your sexuality. I just try not to let myself make assumptions that straight is the default. Sometimes I slip up, but I do my best.” That was cool of him, though I didn’t have it in me to tell him. “But continuing on that thought, while I agree that your sexuality isn’t anyone’s business and you shouldn’t care what others think, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention you do have a bit of a chip on your shoulder. You act like you don’t need anyone, and that’s tough out here. You don’t want to get close to the wrong people, of course, but we all need people, Riven. It’s okay to lean on those you care about. It’s hard to make it through life if you don’t.”

I gritted my teeth, making my jaw lock. Five, four, three, two, one, I counted down to get myself under control. There was no reason what he’d just said should upset me so much, but it did. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was trusting anyone. “I don’t care about anyone other than my grandma, and no one other than her cares about me. That’s all I need.”

“You can’t survive like that forever.”

“Watch me.”

He shrugged, his eyes telling me we would have to agree to disagree.

We finished our check-in, and then I was on my way. The drive was about forty minutes, and I tried not to think about Parrish coming to my place the night before. We’d completely ignored it at work, neither of us saying a word to each other the whole day.

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, a nervous habit I didn’t think I’d had before being locked up. While there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic around here, there was more than before, and I hadn’t driven in over six years. I hadn’t done a whole lot of shit in over six years, and sometimes that felt like too much.

Why had Parrish brought me the paper? In some ways it felt like he was playing games with me. His dad and his brother had both been good at that. They could manipulate people to do anything they wanted, were good at either pretending to be your friend or intimidating you to get their way. Maybe Parrish was the same, trying to come off like he gave a shit about me being level with my PO, so he could try to control me the same way his family did.

Why was I still thinking about him?

I turned into my driveway and made it halfway down before my heart stopped. On the side of the gravel, a truck was partly blocking the way, and beside it stood Rex and Frank Hunt. My heart nearly beat its way out of my chest, and I skidded to a stop and jumped out. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

My hands fisted, nails digging into my palms. Blood rushed through my ears, making it hard to breathe, my head spinning.

“Christ, Riv. What’s with the anger, man? I missed you. It’s good to see you again.” Rex stepped closer, arms out like he was going to hug me.

“Don’t touch me,” I growled.

“Now, is that any way to talk to your best friend?” Frank had his arms crossed, a smarmy smile on his face. He’d lost some of his hair since I’d last seen him.

Rex looked older than he should, but he kept in better shape. Not as good as me, considering it was one of the only things I’d had to do when I was locked up, but he looked bigger than he had before.

“Get the hell off my property.” My eyes darted toward the house, and like he did with everything, Frank noticed.

“You don’t think we would hurt Ms. Betsy, do you? That’s not very nice.”

“Fuck off, Frank. I’m not a kid anymore.” While I hadn’t been a kid when they’d gotten me to admit to something I hadn’t done, in a lot of ways I’d felt like it. The last six years had made me grow up quickly. “I don’t have time to play your games. Leave us alone.” My heart felt like it had climbed up into my throat. I wasn’t scared of them. I wasn’t scared of dying, not really, but I did give a shit about my grandma.

“Is this about Bec? I’m sorry I took your girl. I tried to keep her off my cock, but she got addicted to the good dick.”

Jesus. I couldn’t believe he had ever been my friend, that I likely would have laughed if he’d said that to someone else when I’d been by his side, or hell, might have said shit like that myself. “I don’t care about Becca.”

“Clearly, you don’t give a fuck about your friends either,” Frank said pointedly.

My friend who had let his dad threaten me into taking the fall for a crime I didn’t commit? A friend who hadn’t come to see me or didn’t care that I’d been locked up for something he did? But I knew I couldn’t say that. They were here to make sure I was going to keep quiet, though what would be the point of unearthing it all anyway? I’d already done the time. I just wanted to forget it all and move on.

“What do you want?” I asked them.

“We wanted to make sure we’re still friends—the three of us. That you’re not back to cause any trouble for us. You were a real good boy while you were inside.”

My chest tightened, anger blurring my vision. “Fuck you, Frank.”

He pretended I hadn’t spoken and continued, “I’d hate to see you ruin it all now. Ms. Betsy just got you back. It’d be a real shame if something happened to you…don’t know how she would make it through that.”

Translation: Neither of us would make it through. They would make sure of it.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I forced past my lips, hating myself for each and every word. “I’m not here to worry about the past. It’s done. I just want to work and keep my nose clean. Didn’t Parrish tell you that? He’s up my ass every day.”

Frank stiffened, his brows creasing. Rex darted a glance at him, and fuck…they didn’t know. Parrish hadn’t told them I worked with him. Why would he keep it a secret?

Rex recovered first. “He would love to be up your ass all day, or to have you up his. I always figured my baby bro swung like that, but he stopped hiding it about five years back. I think he wanted your dick when we were growing up too. You gay now? Doesn’t that crap happen in prison?”

Well, shit. I hadn’t known Parrish was gay. Not that it mattered. Not that either of our sexualities should matter to them. “I liked dick before I got locked up. Just not yours.” I winked.

“Is that why you couldn’t satisfy Becca?” Rex laughed. “I can’t wait to tell her.”

I didn’t bother explaining that you could like men and women and that body parts didn’t make up people’s gender. They could think what they wanted.

“There’s nothing to tell,” I reiterated, wanting them gone. “I can’t talk about something that didn’t happen. We all know what I did.”

“Good boy.” Frank nodded, and then they got into their truck. I didn’t move, standing there while they turned around, pulling up until they were about two feet from me, but they didn’t hit me. They stared at me until I moved out of the way, got in my truck, and scooted it aside so they could drive away.

The second they were out of sight, I sped down the driveway, heart still in my throat, stomach twisting in worry. I jumped out and ran straight into Grandma’s house. She looked up from the table, where she was doing a puzzle. “Well, what’s gotten into you, running into the house like that?”

I let out a breath, trying to play it off. “Nothing… I just… Nothing.”

She gave me a smile, still loving me despite thinking I’d killed someone, despite all the bad things I’d done in my life. She loved me, and I wasn’t going to let a damn thing happen to her.

“Do you want to help?” Grandma asked.

Puzzles weren’t my thing, but still, I said, “Sure,” and took a seat at the table with her because if I didn’t stay with Grandma, I might do something I couldn’t take back and end up in trouble again.