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Eli held her hand as they made their way back through the halls and to their cells. His cell looked no different from hers. Same tiny bed and next to nothing else. She was sure his legs dangled off the edge uncomfortably. She was aware of Nik watching the two of them carefully as he locked Eli back in his cell.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ali.”
“Bye, Eli.”
She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that her cell was in the far corner. It meant that after each person got locked back in their cell, she got closer and closer to being alone with Nik.
“In you go, Ali.”
Her jaw dropped when he said her name. She hadn’t expected him to pick up on it when Eli said goodbye. And his voice…his voice was the cause of her accelerated heart rate. She still couldn’t figure out why that was happening.
“It’s Allison.” No one called her Ali except Eli. It was so unnerving to hear this stranger refer to her by that nickname.
“Hmm, and is Eli your boyfriend, Ali?”
There it was again. That unnerving feeling. Except it wasn’t as unpleasant as she expected it to be. It pulsed through her, making her feel alive. That numb feeling bled through her pores, and her body awakened.
Her eyes turned to slivers. She reiterated, “It’s Allison, and no. He’s a friend. Why do you ask?”
“Call it boredom.” He shrugged and gestured to the cell she was supposed to enter, but his eyes made it hard to lift her feet. Those eyes might be her undoing.
She walked into her cell and turned around to watch him lock up. He had large hands. What would it feel like to have those hands all over her? How much of her waist could he hold? He could probably cup her breasts entirely, and her ass cheeks. He could cradle her head, fingers laced in her hair.
She squeezed her thighs together as her thoughts turned to arousal.
He should not be having this effect on me.
He finished with the lock and jiggled the door for good measure. Then he stared directly at her with those stupidly gorgeous eyes, dropped his glance quickly and looked back up to her face. He seemed to be weighing his next words. With a smirk, he said, “These clothes look much better on you, Ali.”
She was left stunned and confused.
The rest of the day was torture. She was looking forward to working tomorrow just so she’d have something to do. For several hours, she lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her thoughts alternated between reliving her mom’s death and envisioning what her life would look like here. She was in a perpetual tornado where the past and the future swept her up and wouldn’t release her. She was going to go insane.
She spent another hour pacing back and forth and painted a vivid picture of Nik’s eyes in her mind. And then she tore it down in shame and flopped down on the bed again.
Dinner was the best reprieve from solitude. She picked out a spot to eat while Eli grabbed a couple bowls of pasta. They were small and entirely flavorless. She never thought she’d miss fish and rice, but she yearned for the comfort foods of home.
Will I ever even eat cake again?
She should’ve savored that last dessert—savored it all. She had taken her life for granted.
They’d been celebrating Jack’s birthday. Ali dropped her fork in the bowl with a clatter. He would never celebrate another birthday.
She laid her bowl on the bench beside her, no longer hungry.
“What are you thinking about?” Eli asked when he noticed her expression change.
“Everything.”
“Ali…” He rested his hand on her knee, and she looked up. “I’m not done fighting. I’ve been thinking about this all day. I don’t know how yet, but I will get us out of here.”
He sounded so sure of himself. She didn’t see how that would be possible, but she trusted him. And she had to admit, she preferred this version of Eli to the one who had been too depressed to speak. If this gave him a distraction, a sense of purpose, then she would support him. And on the rare chance that he might succeed, then they would both escape this place.
She covered his hand with her own and he slid his fingers between hers. Instinctively, she looked around the courtyard. It didn’t hit her right away what she was looking for, but then she felt a sense of disappointment when she didn’t see him.
It wasn’t what she was looking for but who.
Nik.
