The circle went silent into deep thought.
“Bloody truth? I’ve fantasized about fucking Ollie,” Tyler blurted.
“And then she goes and does that,” Jude shook his head.
“What?” Tyler lifted her shoulders. “This is a safe place.”
“Bloody truth? I just learned your name like a month ago,” I rushed in to save the moment.
“I wonder what ever happened to Brianna,” Mia mumbled out loud once laughter died. Brianna had been banished from Dolor shortly after Madilyn and Zeke’s death, never to be seen or heard from since that day. There hadn’t been a single mention of Brianna’s name either, or why she would have agreed to switch identities with Madilyn.
Everyone offered a wordless shrug.
“Bloody truth?” Tyler spoke up. “What’s Officer Scott’s story with you? Brianna and Madilyn both said you two were together.”
The knot in my stomach increased to the size of an American football and my teeth clenched. Mia’s fingers circled my knee caps.
Three.
Two.
One.
Exhale.
“There is no story,” Mia said casually. “Ethan—
“Oh, he has a name,” Jake interrupted.
Mia dropped her head and narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Officer Scott is intense, but he was the only one who was there when everyone else bounced, so … ” she lifted her shoulder.
Tyler nudged her head. “Earmuffs, Ollie.” I flipped her the bird. Whatever she was about to say, she could say it. I already knew everything. “Suit yourself.” Her eyes darted to Mia. “You and Officer Scott had sex, didn’t you? Is he really a fucking monster under his uniform?”
“Ooh, does the carpet match the drapes?” Jake asked with an anticipated smile.
Mia shook with laughter in my arms, and I didn’t know if I was relieved I couldn’t see her face to catch her expression, or mad about it. “You guys are horrible.”
“Ah, keeping to your guns on this one, yeah?” Tyler shook her head. “That answers it.”
Mia turned in my arms, and I fell back to my elbows. She blinked slowly, the complete opposite of what my heart was doing. “I love you,” she whispered.
The three single words were rare coming from her lips.
She never had to remind me, but in times such as these, it was everything my body needed to relax. Mia pulled her hair over her head into a band, and stubborn strands danced in the wind. “Say it again,” I demanded, needing to hear it. It wasn’t a question.
Mia’s hands slid down my thighs, and the blood rushed to both heads.
“I love you, Ollie,” she smiled, and I pulled her on top of me to hide my hard-on growing in my joggers from the rest of the group. Her eyes bulged. My face heated, and I shrugged my shoulders. Yes, love. That is what you do to me.
“I’m telling everyone,” I whispered to her. She knew it had been hard for me to hold in the news that she would soon be my wife. “Can I tell them? Yeah, I’m telling them.”
Mia’s hand came over my mouth, and I darted my tongue out. Her jaw dropped and she quickly pulled her hand away. “Bloody fucking truth,” I called out, sitting back up and wrapping her legs around my torso. “I’m marrying this girl,” I pointed at Mia’s head who was now hiding in my chest. I pulled her head away and looked into those coffee-colored eyes, seeing the same girl I’d fallen in love with across the mess hall since day one. “And I can’t fucking wait, love. I can’t. I don’t want to.”
Gasps spread from the group around us, but my eyes stayed on her. Jake made a comment about calling maid of honor before I’d proposed and having rights. Tyler whined about not being able to go at all and how it wasn’t fair.
But my gaze and lips touched all over her.
We kissed until the topic changed.
We got lost inside our own little world.
We held each other until it was just us two left out here, soaking in the sun, the breeze, and each other.
“The second we’re released, I’m waiting outside those walls for you, and we’re taking a car to the closest train station. We’re going straight to Gibraltar. We don’t have to wait,” I kissed her soft lips and dropped my head to hers. “Come with me. All I’m asking is for two days before you go back to the states. This will work.”
Mia ran her tongue across her bottom lip. “Ollie,” she sighed and averted her eyes.
“No, don’t say my name like that,” I rolled my forehead against hers. I felt it—the uneasiness creeping from her and crawling under my skin. “I don’t like it. Don’t pull back on me. Say you want this, too. Say you’ll meet me outside those gates on release day, Mia.”
“We shouldn’t have this conversation right now.”
“love … ”
“I’m scared,” she admitted, unable to look at me directly.
I grabbed her face. “I have you.”
“What if I go to the states and they won’t let me come back.”
“Then I will come to you. Always. Wherever you are, I’ll fucking follow.”
“What if you can’t get a passport?”
“Mia, stop. This will work out. It has to. Let me worry about all that stuff. All I’m asking is to meet me right out there on release day. That’s it. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“I don’t know if I can marry you then go back to Pennsylvania alone.”
“Then you won’t go alone. We’ll go together. We’ll go to Spain, get married, and take the first flight out to Pennsylvania.”
“You live in a fairy tale,” she smiled, “Real life doesn’t work like that, Ollie. Something will come up. We have no money. We have no car. We’ll never be out of the woods.”
I had less than thirty days to get the documents in order. Too much time had been wasted already. I sent a quick nod to Jinx, pushed through the door, and picked up the receiver to dial Travis.
“Twenty-eight days,” he greeted me, only reminding me my time was ticking.
“I need you to do something for me.”
“Yeah, mate. Anything.”
mia.
Release day—nothing like graduation days in America that you would see on TV.
I’d never had a graduation. I was homeschooled during my Junior and Senior year. My graduation day had consisted of a diploma delivered by the United States Postal Service. Not even by hand. The mailman had stuffed it into the mailbox along with the electric bill and an ad for a lawn service.
Ollie had been busy the last couple of days. Each time I’d ask him what he was up to, the only response he could give was, “Getting our shit together.”
Good enough for me.
Though I had not expected to wake up on release day alone in our bed. The moon and the sun competed outside when I opened my eyes. I stretched out my arm beside me, feeling nothing but an empty cold side. Panic set in, and I sat up, allowing the blankets to bunch at my waist. At the same time, the door creaked open, and Ollie came through balancing two cups under his chin and a brown bag tucked under his arm.
“Where were you?” I asked as he kicked the door closed.
Ollie dropped the bag into my lap and shifted the cups into both hands. He leaned over and landed a kiss over my lips before sitting on the edge of the mattress. “Happy release day, love.”