“Stick close to the crew.”
“Man, I can handle myself. Now get the fuck out of here. Go get laid. Find that nurse who you had to play fucking hero for.”
He snorted even though something twisted inside his gut at the idea of seeing Briar Davis again. On the outside. “Right.”
North arched a dark eyebrow. “Don’t act like you don’t care. You risked your ass for her. She got her hooks in you. Maybe you should get yours in her.”
Reid chose that moment to enter the cell. Several others of their crew accompanied him, hanging back outside the bars. Knox and North fell silent at his arrival. It already felt tight with the two of them crammed inside the cement box, but now it felt claustrophobic with the six--foot--four guy in their midst.
“It’s true, then,” Reid said. “You’re out.”
Knox nodded. “Didn’t plan on it. I expected to be in here -couple more years.” He stopped, a lump clogging his throat he fought to suppress. Emotion was weakness. “North was supposed to get out of here first.”
“Yeah, well, life never goes the way it’s supposed to. Does it?”
Knox nodded, thinking fast. He’d learned that lesson at twenty. When he’d buried his seventeen--year--old cousin. When he kissed his freedom good--bye.
He stepped forward and held out his hand. Reid stared at it for a moment before taking it. Clasping it hard, he hauled Knox in for a quick guy hug, clapping him once on the back. “Don’t ever fucking come back here, you understand?” he said roughly close to his ear.
A shudder racked Knox at the unexpected display of affection. Reid wasn’t a hugger. Not hardly. The guy was a few years older than him, and he’d been in here since he was nineteen. He was all hard edges and pale eyes without mercy. And he was never getting out. Reid was a lifer.
“I’ll never come back,” Knox promised. “At least not as an inmate. I’ll visit North—-”
“No,” his brother bit out, coming up off the bars he had been leaning against as Knox and Reid talked. His brown eyes flashed darkly. “You won’t. Save yourself the trip. Don’t visit me.”
“Bullshit,” Knox snapped out. “I’m not going to just forget about you in—-”
“We stopped Uncle Mac from visiting—-”
“That was different. Seeing us in here was killing him.” Knox wasn’t going to let himself think about how hard it would be to sit across from his brother still locked up. It didn’t matter what hurt him. He was the reason North was in this place. He would suffer in silence on those visits to his brother, but he would come.
“Yeah, well. I’ll be out soon enough. You don’t need to come back ever. Understand? You got something to tell me, you call me. We can talk on the phone.”
He stared hard at his brother, mute frustration warring inside him. He had seen his brother every day for the last eight years—-excepting the times either one of them spent in the hole. How could he just walk out of here and not see him again for months? Maybe even longer? There was no way he could forget about North stuck in here. Living, fighting, surviving without Knox.
“Hey, man,” Reid inserted as though reading his thoughts. He clapped Knox on the shoulder. “We got his back. Like always.”
“See.” North grinned again, all cockiness and swagger. He jabbed a thumb in Reid’s direction. “I got a fucking babysitter.”
He nodded, mostly because he didn’t want to spend his last moments with North arguing. The fact of the matter was that nothing would keep him from visiting North. “Fine.”
“Good. Now let’s get the sappy shit over with. They got a new shipment in the commissary.” His brother stepped in for a hug that was longer and harder than the one he’d just shared with Reid.
North’s fingers dug deep into his shoulder blades. “I’ll be out soon. Don’t worry. And don’t forget . . . look up that little nurse while you’re out.”
He stiffened and stepped back. “Yeah, not a stalker.”
“Whatever. You saved her life. She just might want to thank you properly for that.”
He rolled his eyes and reached for his bag. “I’ll settle for one of the regulars at Roscoe’s. Maybe look up an old flame that isn’t married with a few kids yet.”
“Man, you’re making me jealous. Go eat some chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes at Millie’s, too.”
Reid snorted and waved his hand. “I’m outta here. What a lifer doesn’t want to hear about is all the chicken fried steak and ass you’re about to score.” Before he departed, he leaned in close to add, his light--colored eyes, a color caught between green and amber, scanning Knox’s face meaningfully, “You need help when you’re outside, I’ve got -people. Just say the word.”