Page 55 of Hostile Saint

Celebrating me cussing, “Give it here, my man,” said Vice, as he held up a palm for me to smack.

Wincing, Dagger leaned back. “You sure you want to touch that hand that’s been so busy?”

Trying so hard to muffle laughter, and not spill his strawberry shake because Elle ‘tastes’ like that fruit, Lynx fell to the side, right into Vice, who was now retracting his hand and saying, “Uh, ya got a point, VP.”

I angrily whispered, “I spilled a drink!”

Lynx now had himself braced against a tree, holding his stomach and gasping for air. “And we thought we only had to worry about how much he eats!”

Headed for his straw again, Dagger griped, “Not an abundance of laundry soap for all his ‘sheet’ washin’.”

Trying, again, not to fall over, Lynx’s body rolled around to the other side of the tree trunk. His laughter was not successfully muffled.

Staring at my goal, I sneered, “If I get arrested, you guys are going to feel sorry for—”

“The prison’s laundryman?”

“Ass. Holes.” I marched forward toward Serenity, too embarrassed and pissed to be nervous. Wait a minute.

Suddenly realizing what those incredible men had been up to, I stopped and turned around…

Three men stood there, watching me, all beaming with pride.

I had been so anxious when we were going over the many scenarios—all the things that could go wrong. I had never broken laws before. Not that visiting the love of your life was against the law, but trespassing was. When I mentioned I had already trespassed, the first time I saw Lace, Vice shrugged. “Meh, technically, there’re no signs declaring Private Property.”

They explained how I wouldn’t be attempting to dislodge the bars tonight because we were going to take this slow. See how Lacey handled my visit. For all we knew, she could have already forgotten the conversation I had with her the day prior.

If I were to get caught, Dagger had told me the best thing to do would be to start drooling like you got no sense. “Kid, they will think you belong there. Maybe even invite you to stay.” When Lynx and Vice stared at him in dismay, he had shrugged. “What? Him being on the inside will surely help his nightly visits, no?”

Rolling his eyes, Lynx had put a burner cell in my front pocket. “If it vibrates, get to the ground and run your ass off. Capeesh?”

Even after all my nervousness of this night, I was still here, doing it.

As I turned back around to go and see Lacey, I realized how many kids may not know how lucky they are to have support. It sure makes all life’s challenges a little easier to bear.

Then I took off running… to the left of the electric fence, where her window was. Fortunately, only the courtyard was protected. Testing the lattice with one hand, I put the handle of the plastic bag in my mouth. Once my other hand was free, I grabbed onto the downspout. Here goes, Tate! As I started climbing, I felt some tender pulls under my skin, but all-in-all, I managed better than expected after all the injuries my body had experienced.

By the time I was on the second floor, I was winded and suddenly doubting myself. What if she had truly forgotten I was going to visit her and screamed? How would I ever convince her to talk to me? Or fall in love with me?

Every breath I exhaled, as I climbed higher, became more labored. The mere thought of her never allowing me to hold her again had me almost gasping in anguish—

A hand touched my face.

Scared I was imagining the touch, I slowly peered up.

Lacey, gripping a bar with one hand, was nervously reaching out—stretching her arm as far as she could—through the slits in the metal. She whispered, “You’re real.” Her expression of stress mixed with elation had me suddenly realizing how lonely she had been. Lacey may not have remembered me, but her heart did. And mine bled for her.

Balancing with one foot on the lattice and the other on a cornice of the ornate castle, my left hand gripped tight while my other took the bag from my mouth so my face could nuzzle in her hand. “I am. I’m real.”

Tears burst from her as her fingers fought to grip under my chin and lift. “I was so scared I imagined you and I was truly alone.”

Gutted. Her pain gutted me.

With much haste, I stuck the handle of the bag back in my mouth and raced up to her. She didn’t stop touching me. Her eyes stayed locked on me.

Once next to her window, I hung there from the side of the wall, leaning toward her, grabbing onto a bar.

Even with tears clinging to her precious face, she was stunning. A boy’s true dream come true. So, I smiled. I guess, since I had a bag hanging from my mouth, I looked ridiculous doing so.