Reaching into the back seat, Nolan grabbed a duffel bag before climbing from the car entirely. I eyed the bag as he walked through the brisk fall weather, the jeans and jacket I wore doing nothing to stop the wind from sinking into my skin.
“What’s that?”
“Clothes,” he answered, his voice distracted as we walked the length of the chain link fence. A group of prisoners glanced our direction, particularly at me.
“Soren said he’s bulked up since they arrested him two years ago and he won’t fit in the crap he was wearing when they led him away from court. He gave me his size and I grabbed a few things to get him by until he can go to a store.”
My stomach twisted and I told myself it was because of the men staring at me and not because Soren’s body would be more beautiful with heavy muscle.
Two years wasn’t a long time, but I’d heard prison could change a person. What kind of a man would Soren be now that time and hard work had shaped the person he’d become?
“If those assholes don’t stop staring at you, I’ll be hopping the fence and beating the fuck out of them.”
My hand gripped his arm, our eyes meeting as I tilted my head in question.
“You’ll break into prison to start a fight all because someone looked at me? That’s dumb.”
Before he could answer, we walked up to a large rolling gate. The guard on the other side held a clipboard. His dark hair was brushed back and his uniform was pressed. But where I’d expected a stern stare and thin rigid lips, he smiled at us with glimmering grey eyes instead, inclining his head before asking his question.
“You here to pick someone up? Visiting hours aren’t until the weekend.”
“Soren Callahan,” Nolan answered. “He’s supposed to be released today.”
The guard chuckled to himself while checking the clipboard.
“That son of a bitch doesn’t deserve to walk out of this place.” He flicked a finger at the clipboard, a loud sound echoing across the gate. “But I guess that’s what a rich mommy and daddy can buy for you.”
Reaching for a handheld radio attached to his waist, he pressed a button, static sounding before quieting down, the guard’s voice clipped when he asked, “Is Soren Callahan ready to go? D.O.C. number 213786.”
Static again before a deep voice answered, “Almost finished processing him. Is he leaving here without clothes or what?”
Nolan held up the duffel bag to the guard. “I brought clothes for him.”
“I’ll bring them,” the guard spoke into his radio.
A loud buzzer sounded before the gate rolled open enough for Nolan to hand the bag through. After checking the contents of the bag, he told us to hold tight before walking off to deliver the clothes. Another guard walked out to take his place, staring at us while we waited awkwardly for Soren to emerge.
I shivered from the cold.
Not the wind this time, but the chill that was flowing out from inside me.
It seemed like hours before another buzzer sounded and a gate in the distance opened.
Tall, with shoulders much larger than I remembered and the same ink black hair, Soren was walking with a causal stroll toward us. I wondered how any person could be so nonchalant while leaving a prison. If it had been me, I would have been running.
Not Soren.
In his stride, he owned this place as much as he’d owned Winter Ridge Prep. Standing a head above the guard who escorted him, his eyes scanned to Nolan first and then me, a grin stretching his lips that caused me to look away.
Butterflies were flying, the wings beating the same staccato rhythm as my heart. How stupid was I to feel this way when Teagan’s smile still blazed in my mind?
I didn’t know whether Soren had anything to do with Teagan’s death. If you asked Tristan, he did. If you asked anyone else, they’d adamantly deny it.
Just as I feared, Tristan’s warning about Soren filtered through my thoughts, but the words weren’t strong enough to stop the nervous anticipation I was feeling. They weren’t loud enough to drown out the rush of blood in my head that sounded like an angry river, its water carving a path through the rocks.
Another buzzer and I felt Soren before turning to look at him again, my eyes cutting a path down his body and back up while he slapped Nolan’s hand, his lips tilting with the broad smile of a man who had once again found his freedom.
“Get me the fuck out of here. I have never been more ready to see Winter Ridge than I am right now.”
Without thinking, I stepped away, my cheeks filling with heat as I stared off into the distance. I couldn’t look at him, not without my breath catching in my lungs while every nerve inside me tingled with memory.
Soren was drunk the night we slept together, while I was sober. It wasn’t that I’d taken advantage, more that I’d jumped at an offer, which had been whispered as a joke.
The minute my lips brushed his when he’d teased me in private there was no stopping the movement of desperate hands, mine clumsy and rushed while his had been skilled and controlled with aggravating patience.
I could feel him the second he glanced my direction. Refusing to turn and meet his stare, I stilled to hear his voice speak my name, my eyes closing at his teasing comment.
“Olive Reid. Look at you all grown up. It looks good on you.”
I didn’t have to glance over to know Nolan was glaring in my direction. While he wouldn’t dare stand up to Soren for what he’d said, he would definitely hold it against me later when we were alone.
That was the thing with my brother: he didn’t have the balls to go against the in crowd, but he had no problem making whatever they did my fault.
My shoulders rounded forward as if I could hide my body by slouching. Meekly, I turned my head. “Hey.”
It was all I could mutter before Nolan interrupted.
“Let’s get to the car. It’s a two hour drive back home.”
I didn’t miss the hostility in Nolan’s voice, and I didn’t think Soren missed it either. He simply didn’t care.
Smiling at Nolan’s tone of voice, Soren held out his hand in front of him to motion for me to walk ahead. “Ladies first.”
“How polite,” I muttered, thankful that I wouldn’t have to look at him while practically running to the car.
His laughter was like velvet.
“Manners have nothing to do with it. I’m just looking forward to watching your ass. It’s been a while since I’ve seen tail.”
As I passed them, I saw Nolan elbow Soren out of the corner of my eye. The velvet laugh rolled across me again just before a booming voice called out to follow us down the path.
“Try to stay out of trouble, Callahan. We’d hate to see you come back.”
Curiosity got the best of me and I turned to see Soren flick off the guard, his pace casual as he walked beside my brother.
We reached the car and I was happy to climb in the back. Nolan took the driver’s seat as Soren climbed into the passenger side.
I’d forgotten how big he was. He had to shift the seat all the way back to make room for his long legs. I wasn’t happy to be forced to sit behind my brother, giving Soren the ability to peek over his shoulder and catch me in his dark stare.
Thankfully, Nolan started talking as soon as the car was in gear, my eyes watching the landscape as it passed while they discussed what it would be like now that Soren was back.