Page 11 of Jackson

He laughed and slapped me on the back on our way in through the doors of the main pavilion. “Not a chance. Last time I went with you, I could barely function the next day. You drink like a fucking ox and my liver can’t handle that right now.”

“Least I got you laid,” I quipped back and headed into the locker room. Mine was toward the back of the row with a beat up looking door and a lock that liked to jam on me sometimes. I found mine and quickly rotated the dial for my combo.

“Yeah, as well as a concussion from falling face first on the pavement the next morning from my hangover.”

“Hey, that wasafteryour hookup,” I pointed out. “So, I’m still taking credit for a job well done.”

My locker creaked as I opened it. Stripping out of my gear and hanging it up, my shoulders began to relax instantly. Rolling them back a few times felt nice, along with my neck cracking on each side as I rotated it.

Next to me, Ryan pulled open his own locker. The bright fluorescent lights above us bounced off his bald head, still slightly slick from sweat from being under his helmet all day in the hot California sun.

Even though up here in the more forested parts of Sacramento was a lot cooler than in the city, we still got those massive heat waves that were brutal under all of our gear. These past few days we could get away with the bare minimum coverage but starting next week, some of us were going to need to gear up completely when the real training began.

“Have fun on your escapade,” Ryan shot back. “Just make sure you’re still functionally drunk when you come back tomorrow. Wouldn’t want you to get burned like that inmate.”

His chuckle had my hand clenching around the side of my locker door tight enough to hurt.

A harmless joke, that’s all it was. There was no need for the sudden anger that flared through my chest. I probably still had some residual guilt left over from the incident brewing in me that was causing me to have such a knee-jerk reaction.

Gonzalez was fine.

Honestly, his hand looked almost healed aside from the still pinkened skin when I last saw it.

During training today, he hadn’t made a peep at all.

Not that I was really paying attention to him to notice.

Still, he was an adult. If he really needed medical attention, he knew how to get it.

I ignored the small voice in the back of my head that whispered doubt about that—given his shy and passive nature. I had to trust that if there was something going on with him, either someone else would notice or he’d actually pull on his big boy pants and deal with it.

Chewing at the inside of my cheek, I slammed my locker shut a little harder than necessary.

“You good there, Hall?” Ryan raised a brow at me again.

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I waved and headed back to my cabin to change into something more fresh and say goodbye to Roxy for the night.

I hadn’t felt this kind of protective instinct over a man like Gonzalez in a long ass time and it was really beginning to throw me for a loop.

He reminded me so much of my cute little submissives that I loved to take back home with me from the clubs I frequentedall throughout my twenties. Back then, I had a lot of misplaced emotions over what had been going on at home.

Being a young, gay college kid who’d been essentially disowned by his only parent had rocked my world more than I really ever realized until later in life.

I’d wanted to save the subs I took home. Do the one thing for them that I’d wished someone had done for me.

Learning the hard truth that not everyone wanted that had been a long and grueling lesson. In the end, I’d turned my passion toward firefighting, teaching new recruits, and rehabbing criminals through work placement programs.

It was better this way. It kept me busy and I got to see people strive to meet their goals and push them until they were across the finish line instead of trying to placate myself in another relationship with a doomed timeline.

Roxy growled happily at me as I entered my cabin, a toy stuffed in her mouth while her feet tapped against the hardwood floor. I swept my hand over her head a few times before shedding my sweaty clothes for something fresher.

Tonight was all about getting my head back on straight. No more of this obsessing over an inmate business.

CHAPTER 5

Jackson

The bar wasn’t as nearly packedas I wanted it to be, but I supposed that’s what I got for coming in on a Wednesday night.

---