Free Blood and Sympathy by Lori L. Clark Page B

on with you?"
    I rubbed my hair with a towel and narrowed my eyes
at her. "Nothing."
    She followed me to my room, and as much as I
wanted to slam the door in her prying face, I resisted. "I saw you get in
Jeb Sayer's truck after church today."
    "Well, of course you did. You don't miss a
thing, do you?" I said bitterly, draping the dampened towel over the back
of my desk chair. "Not that it's any of your business, but I rode with Jeb
to see Braden."
    She splayed her fingers across her chest and
stared at me, eyes widened. "Does Daddy know?"
    "Not yet, but I imagine it won't be long
before he finds out." I glanced at my watch. "How long will it take
you to rush downstairs into his study and snitch on me? Again?"
    She frowned and sat on the corner of my bed.
"I'm not telling him. Truthfully? I think it's badass."
    My jaw dropped. "Easy there. It wasn't all
that amazing. We both spent a lot of time gawking at each other, with me
blushing like a freaking horny girl seeing her very first penis."
    Olivia burst out laughing and collapsed against
the mattress. After a few minutes, she composed herself and sat up. "So,
is he cute?"
    My face heated. What the fuck was wrong with me ?
"You have no idea." I slowly shook my head and bit my wounded lip,
wincing from the pain. I wiped away the blood with an index finger.
    "Now that we're in a sharing mood…" she
started.
    I held up my hand. "No. Our five minutes of
bonding is over for today. I'm beat."
    Her forehead wrinkled and she stood to leave.
"Alistair?"
    I inhaled and blew out a noisy breath.
"Yes."
    "He needs his ass kicked," she said
before leaving the room.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    Braden
Sayer
     
    Uncle Jeb would make a final visit in May, and I
would be out the first of June. I had no idea what Claire's impression of me
had been, but I decided to write and thank her for visiting. I probably wasn't
everything she expected. If I had the balls, I'd tell her she was what I
thought she'd be and so much more, but I didn't want to sound pathetic.
    In all my years at WTJDC, I wanted nothing more
than my freedom--a chance to live life like a normal man. Now that my release
date was approaching I was a nervous fucking mess.
    My problem was that I didn't know how to live an
ordinary, mostly unregulated life. There would be no one telling me when to get
up, or barking orders of lights out, and I'd eat when I wanted. My
rule-breaking thoughts were no more daring than telling myself I'd make my bed
when, and if, I felt like it and not because it was demanded of me.
    The thing I feared most was also something I'd
desired all these years: How to behave like a free man. Sadly, there were no
rulebooks or manuals written--that I knew of--showing me how to do that.
    Claire had asked if I was crossing the days off
the calendar. I hadn't been. Until after I met her, then I thought it didn't seem
like such a bad idea.
    Before I started to write, I closed my eyes and
pictured her sweet face and imagined I could smell the scent of cherries.
    Dear Claire,
    I wanted to be sure
and let you know that it was really nice to meet you. I have to apologize for
not being talkative. I didn't think I was a shy person, but meeting you, having
you across the table, well, it stole the words right out of my mouth.
    I'd be honored if you'd
ride along with Jeb when he comes to bring me back to Hensteeth. If you don't
want to, I'll understand. Getting so close to graduation and all, I bet you
have a lot more important things on your schedule than spending time with me.
    I hope you didn't get
into trouble when you got home. The last thing I want is for you to get into
hot water because of me.
    It's okay to stick to
your guns if you believe you're right, but it's also best to admit you're wrong
when you are.
    You could never bore
me. I probably shouldn't admit this, but just sharing the same space with you
is nice.  
    I've started to mark
the days off until I get out, like you suggested. I'm anxious, but in so many
ways, I'm as