Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Closing my eyes, I picture her face on the last day I saw her, her smile bright and her eyes full of fire as she challenged me in the way that made me fall in love with her all those years ago.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Damn it.
I wish it wasn’t getting so hard to remember what her voice sounds like.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
“Time to go, LeBlanc,” Shep, one of the guards calls, stopping in front of my cell and my muscles relax as I slowly release my breath and my eyes snap open.
Finally.
I stand up and survey the eight by ten room I’ve called home for the last six years before ripping the photo off the bed. There’s nothing else I want from my time here, nothing else that matters.
“Admit it, Shep,” I say, stepping up to the bars and slipping my hands through the gap. “You’re going to miss me.”
In my time here, I wouldn’t say that I’ve gotten close to anyone, especially any of the guards, because I knew my time here was short lived but Shep is different. He’s not like the other guards and I’m convinced talking to him is one of the only things that has kept me sane while I’ve been in here. He hooks the handcuffs around my wrists as he scoffs.
“Yeah, I’ve spent the last week agonizing over how I’m going to make it without you.”
I grin. “I knew it.”
Grabbing the radio at his shoulder, he calls to the command room as he rolls his eyes and my cell door slides open. “Got any big plans for your first night out?”
“Naw, probably not. Sleep in a real bed, I guess.”
“What?” he asks as he grabs my elbow and begins leading me down the hallway. “You’re not a fan of the accommodations here? I’m offended, LeBlanc.”
“Maybe you should hire someone. Give this place a little Fun Shui.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” he says with a chuckle before looking down at the photo in my hands. “You got any news on her yet?”
Glancing down, I suck in a breath. “No.”
We stop in front of a metal door and Shep knocks on it twice before a buzzing sound fills the air. As he opens it, he slaps my shoulder.
“Good luck, man. I know how much you’ve missed her.”
“Yeah, well,” I force out before tucking the photo in my pocket and clearing my throat. “I’ll be seeing her soon enough.”
“You are one determined son of a bitch, I’ll give you that. Just don’t end up back in here for doing stupid shit to win her back.”
My shoulders tighten and I grit my teeth. “She didn’t leave me.”
“Whatever you say, man. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard of a chick bailing the second her man is locked up.”
“Kady’s not like that.”
He nods in a half hearted agreement as we stop in an office near the front of the prison. A woman looks up from behind the desk and meets my eyes. She’s got this sexy librarian thing going on with her tweed pencil skirt and her brown hair pulled back into a tight bun. Most of the guys in here, hell just any guy in general, would probably lose their shit over her but not me. She doesn’t hold a candle to my Kady. Not even close.
“Can I help you?” she asks, her gaze shifting to Shep as her eyes soften. Jesus, she looks like she wants to do him right here on the desk in front of me. Well, well, well… seems good ole Shep has been holding out on me.
“Yeah, I’ve got LeBlanc for you. He’s processing out.”
She nods and points to a bag sitting on the chair in front of her desk. “I’m just finishing up his paperwork. There are clothes for him in the bag.”
Shep scoops up the bag before guiding me to an empty room across the hallway and unlocking the handcuffs. He hands me the bag. “Get dressed.”
I strip down and grab the jeans out of the bag before pulling them on. It’s weird as hell to be wearing normal clothes again but in the best possible way. With each new piece of clothing I pull onto my body, a shred of humanity that I lost over the past seven years falls back into place and by the time I’m done, I almost feel like my old self.
“Ready?” Shep asks as I pull on the jacket they provided and I nod.
“Hell, yeah.”
He guides me back over to the office and the woman glances up again. “He’s good to go.”
“Thanks, Syd,” Shep replies, flashing her a grin and she blushes as he leads me out of the office and I nudge him as he guides me through another set of locked doors.
“So…Syd, huh?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t start with me, LeBlanc. She and I are just friends.”
“Sure you are, Shep. Send me an invite to the wedding, yeah?”
We reach the final door, the one standing between me and my freedom and I suck in a breath as he slaps me on the shoulder.
Shit.
This is it.
“You ready?”
It’s weird. I mean, yeah, I’m more than ready to finally breathe free air again but there’s this part of me that is shaking like a leaf. I’ve gotten used to this life and I’m not entirely sure how to go back to normal. Maybe once I finally find my girl, all of this will feel right but right now, it feels like when my dad was teaching me to ice skate in fourth grade and I stepped out onto the ice for the first time.
“Absolutely,” I reply, shaking off my nerves and Shep chuckles before radioing to the control room. A buzzing sound fills the room and Shep shoves the large metal door open. I suck in a breath and step outside, my heart hammering in my chest as sunlight beats down on me. It’s unseasonably cold for January in Louisiana but I’ve never felt anything better.
“Good luck, LeBlanc,” Shep says, extending his hand as the door closes behind us and we walk along the sidewalk leading to the main gate. I shake it. “I really hope I don’t see you back here.”
“You won’t, I can guarantee you that. I’m gonna find Kady and finally start living our life together.”
My mind drifts back to all the plans she and I had before I got locked up and I’ve spent my time here dreaming about finally seeing her walk down the aisle to marry me and having my babies. Grinning, he shakes his head.
“Man, I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you finally do find her. From the way you’ve described her all these years, I’m sure it will be memorable.”
“Oh, ye of little faith. She’s going to be thrilled to see me.”
“Maybe you should step back inside and we’ll have the doc take a look at you. I think you might be a little delusional.”
I bark out a laugh, taking a step back. “Not a chance in hell.”
“All right,” he sighs as we stop at the front gate and he radios to the control room again. The gate slowly starts sliding open and my heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest.
“I am Hennessy!” someone yells from the parking lot and I laugh as I catch sight of Chance and Smith recreating the drunken dance I did on the night I earned my nickname with the club.
“Motherfuckers,” I chuckle, shaking my head.
“They with you?”
I nod with a grin. “Unfortunately.”