I slept better than I’d slept for a long time. When I woke up, there was nothing but silence surrounding me. There was no screaming from cell to cell. No prison guards were flipping on the lights at 5:00 in the morning for count. There was nothing but silence.

At first, the silence made me freak out a little bit, primarily since I was still groggy when I woke up. If you’re in prison and you’re greeted with silence, something is very, very wrong. Silence meant something terrible was about to happen.

For a little bit, I couldn’t wrap my head around the silence. There should have been inmates banging on their bars and screaming at the officers. Finally, I snapped out of it and remembered that I was no longer part of the system. I was free and never had to worry about any of that again. Once my mind was clear, all of my thoughts turned to Alexa.

I could still hear the sound of her laugh echoing in my ears. I could still see her gorgeous eyes and perfect curves. I was astonished by the way she was able to seduce without even realizing what she was doing. One look was all it took.

My mind drifted to wondering what she was doing at that very moment, and I wondered when I might be able to see her again. I wanted her to be standing right in front of me, looking up at me with those eyes that could melt steel. Seeing her again wasn’t a want. No, it had turned into a need. It had to happen soon. I didn’t care how I did it, but I was going to make it happen. That would have to wait, at least momentarily. I was about to begin my first full day as a free man and my first day back to work.

Since I took my shower the night before, I rolled out of bed, got dressed, and made my way into the kitchen where Curtis was waiting for me with a full pot of coffee. I filled my giant thermos, packed a lunch with items I found in their fridge, and the two of us made our way to the construction site.

It felt like it had been an eternity since I’d been out on a job site and I was excited to get right back to the only thing I knew how to do: work as hard as I possibly could. I hadn’t been able to do any hard labor in prison since the jobs I was assigned to were things like mopping floors and washing dishes. It was great to be outside working with my hands and putting my muscles to work.

For a little while, I wondered if we were going to be able to work that morning since it was still snowing just a bit when I got into the truck. Fortunately for me, the work we were doing was on the inside of a retail space, and that job was going to last for at least a month.

Best of all, a straight month of work meant a full month of guaranteed paychecks and not the measly pennies per hour that the prison paid for their jobs. If I saved all my money, I’d be able to get my own vehicle and be well on my way to having a place to call my own.

Curtis told me that most of the jobs he secures are outdoors so I had high hopes that the weather was going to cooperate so we could move on to those. If that wasn’t possible, I at least hoped he would be able to line up more indoor jobs so the weather wouldn’t be a factor in whether or not I could work.

“It was nice meeting your fiancé last night,” I said to Curtis, just making casual conversation so I could get to the real point of what I wanted to talk about. “And that friend of hers, too, what was her name?”

“Her name is Alexa,” he replied. “Kim told me she was happy to meet you as well. She said you seemed nice. Best of all, she didn’t suspect a thing.”

“That’s a good thing. I promise you that I’ll be on my best behavior and won’t cause any problems for you. So what about this Alexa girl? Does she come by a lot? What do you know about her?”

Curtis rolled his eyes because he knew exactly where this was going.

“Alexa is basically Kim’s best friend. Does she come by a lot? Yeah, my house might as well be her second home. They are attached at the hip most of the time. Anyway, I believe she’s 26, and she’s an assistant manager at Conoco. She’s on some kind of program where she’s going to be running her own area of stores eventually.”

“That sounds interesting,” I replied, not sure exactly what I was supposed to be saying. “Does she live close to you guys? Sounds like the two girls have known each other for quite a while.”

“Damn Nick, you sure are asking a ton of questions about Alexa. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you might have a thing for her.”

Holy fuck, I was feeling embarrassed. I could actually feel my face beginning to blush. All I could do was look down at my shoes and hope the feeling would go away soon.

“You’re a damn dog, do you know that? A damn dog!” Curtis joked. “Kim and Alexa have known each other since they were kids. While she would love to live out in the country like we do, she doesn’t right now. She lives up closer to St. Paul because that’s where she works. She has her own place, doesn’t have any roommates, and doesn’t have any pets,” he listed as he started to smile.

I stood there waiting to see if he was going to say anything else but he just stared at me instead, grinning as big as his mouth would let him.

“What about a boyfriend, man? Does she have a boyfriend?”

“No, she’s single, but it’s not because she has to be. Look, man, I know she’s one good looking woman. Trust me, I sneak a look here and there when she’s over. I’d never do anything with her, but Jesus Christ, how could you not? The best thing about her, though, is the fact that she isn’t just looks. She’s extremely intelligent. Oh, and she’s so funny. She constantly has Kim and I cracking up all the time. She would seriously make a good girl for someone.”

“Someone? Meaning someone other than me?”

“Honestly, she would probably be the perfect girl for you. God knows she’d be exactly what you need to keep you out of trouble. The only thing is, she isn’t the type to have a one night stand or just a quick fuck here and there. As long as you’ve been locked away, I’m sure a relationship would be the last thing on your mind. I’m sure you’re just looking to get your dick wet as quickly as you possibly can.”

Little do you know that I basically fucked her in your shower last night. She just doesn’t know it.

“Basically what I’m saying is that she is not easy,” he continued. “She’s also a tough nut to crack. When it comes to people she doesn’t know very well, she tends to close herself off. She’s had plenty of pain and heartache over the years, but you’ll never hear her discussing it because she never wants to bring others down. She doesn’t let many people into her life, and that’s especially true when it comes to men. When she comes over, you’re more than welcome to join us and talk to her and even get to know her if you’d like. I just don’t want you thinking her panties are going to drop for you anytime soon because she doesn’t go for that.”

* * *

Sitting in my room after work, I started thinking about what Curtis has told me about Alexa. There was one thing he was right about. I had been locked up for a long time and may have been hornier than I’d ever been before in my life.

I didn’t let the fact that I wouldn’t be getting her into bed deter me from pursuing her. The fact that she didn’t hop from bed to bed made her seem like even more of a challenge. It made me want her even more than I already did. These days, it’s hard to find a woman who doesn’t open her legs to half the people in the neighborhood, so the fact that she wasn’t a slut was very sexy to me.

The thing was, I didn’t want to just sleep with her. I wanted to get to know her on a personal level. Even more, I wanted her to get to know me. I know I can be intimidating, so I wanted her to say that I wasn’t a bad guy at all. In the end, I hoped that I could have something real with her.

Even though I was all about Alexa, I was also a man who had gone years without feeling the touch of a woman. I needed to feel that touch. I needed more than that. I needed to get laid, and I needed it to happen soon.

It wasn’t like Alexa, and I were an item. This woman didn’t even have a clue that I was interested in her, so it wasn’t like me going out and having a little bit of fun was going to be a bad thing. Even if we were to get involved, it isn’t like she’d ever find out about a random fling I had before we ever got together.

“Curtis, where the hell would I go if I wanted to have to have a little bit of fun?” I asked after calling him into my room.

“That depends on what you mean by a good time. You know what? Don’t even answer that. I know what you’re talking about. You don’t know about these places?”

“No man, never needed to know about them.”

“And why would you think I would know? You think I’ve needed them? Actually, don’t answer that one either. There’s a little club right on the outskirts of St. Paul. It’s very out of the way, and you’d never find it unless you were looking for it. They’ve got some strippers in there who will pretty much do anything you want if you’ve got enough cash on you.”

“Enough cash? How much cash is enough cash in a place like that?”

Curtis just rolled his eyes and reached for his wallet. “Here, I’m going to give you a little gift. Go out and have yourself a night of fun, but don’t ever mention this to Kim. If she finds out about this, I might have to go there as well if I ever want to have sex again.”

He gave me a hundred bucks, and I quickly shoved it into my pocket before going out to the dining room to have dinner with Curtis and Kim. It was pretty strange thinking about going to a strip club to find someone to screw. I’d never had to pay for sex before. I didn’t really need to pay for sex then either because I could have found someone to fuck if I tried hard enough. I just wanted things to be effortless, so I could get off and get back to thinking about Alexa, not that I ever stopped thinking about her.

I made plenty of small talk during dinner, but I kept directing the conversation towards Kim’s friend, and it didn’t take her long to pick up on it. Through that conversation, I was able to pick up quite a bit of information about Alexa, specifically the name of the apartments she lived in.

Once dinner was over, I got cleaned up and made my way out the door. Curtis allowed me to borrow his truck for the evening, but not before letting me know that if I wrecked it, I’d be working for free for quite a long time.

On my way to the club, I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. The thing was, I wasn’t asking for directions to where I was going. Instead, I got directions to Alexa’s apartment complex. From there, I drove over to where she lived and pulled into the parking lot a little after 10:30pm.

I actually passed the place a couple of times because they didn’t look like the apartments that I was used to seeing. There weren’t any big buildings. Instead, they were small bungalows that were side by side, each having their own individual yard and a couple of parking spots right outside the front door. The back of the parking lot was reserved for visitors, which is where I planned to park once I figured out which apartment was hers. Even though it was dark, it was easy to spot her vehicle.

I parked the truck in one of the empty visitor spots underneath a light that was either broken or burned out. I shut the engine off, killed the lights, and sat there staring at the outside of her apartment. I wondered what she was doing at that very moment.

There was only a single light turned on in the house. At that time of night, I could just assume the lone light was from her bedroom. She could have been reading a book or performing whatever nightly rituals she did before going to bed for the night. Right as that thought crossed my mind, the light was extinguished. It must have been bedtime.

Maybe she had to get up in the morning for an early shift at work. Curtis has told me that she was a manager. I had a feeling she was a great boss to the people who worked under her. She was probably very well liked.

It sucked being right outside her apartment, yet seeming so far away. All I wanted to do was see her. I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. Immediately, I started imagining what the inside of her room may have looked like. I thought about how her bed must feel to lay in.

It was easy to picture her lying in bed, snuggled up under warm blankets. I could almost see her long, beautiful hair lying across big, fluffy pillows. Using a slow and deliberate motion, she would move one of her hands under the blankets, using it to reach down between her legs and rub herself over the top of her silky panties. She wouldn’t rub too hard. Just enough to give a slight sensation to her clit.

Her lips would part, but only a silent moan would be released. I could see it so clearly. It was almost as if I was watching the entire thing play out on a big screen television. She’d slide her hand into her panties, brushing over the small patch of hair that was trimmed as close as could be, before finally reaching her clit.

Instantly, her fingers would feel her wetness as she slid them just barely inside her tight, perfectly pink hole. She pushed them in just enough to make sure they were slick. Using both her index and middle fingers, she rubbed her clit in a deliberate up and down motion, her breathing getting heavier and her legs spreading apart even further.

She continued rubbing herself faster and faster as she brought herself closer to orgasm. As she got off, she yelled out Nick at the top of her lungs, imagining that it was me giving her all the pleasure she desired.

I opened my eyes and smiled at how vividly I was able to imagine that. It may have been a little too graphic because I found myself hard as a rock. I wanted it to be my hands inside her panties. I wanted to be the one responsible for making her come over and over. I wanted to feel her warmth and wetness. I needed to feel her.

As much as I needed her, I needed something even sooner. If I couldn’t have her right away, I was going to have someone. I knew I had to be patient if I wanted to be with Alexa. I really understood that fact. Until I was able to make that happen, I was going to see what the strip club had available for me.