Off the Field: Bad Boy Sports Romance by Heidi Hunter, Bad Boy Team Page B

had donated already. A row of lonely zeros were displayed at the top of the page. I sighed, closed the lap top lid, and went to the couch to sleep. It wasn’t as comfortable as his bed, but I didn’t deserve to be comfortable.
     

 
     
     
    Cory
     
     
    I sat back in my chair and stared at the dumb ass attorney who’d been assigned to me. He looked back at me as if I was the idiot in the room.
    “All you have to do is say you shot him because of your stepsister. She might do a little time for the drug dealing that was going on in that house, but she’ll most likely do no more than six to twelve months. On the other hand, you’re looking at thirty years to life.”
    “That’s bullshit. I didn’t do it. How many times do I need to tell you that?”
    “Hey, there’s no need to yell at me. I’m trying to help you.”
    “No, you’re not. If you were any good at being a lawyer, you’d have clients of your own instead of representing people like me for free.”
    “Just say it was her. The judge might be lenient.”
    “Might?” I shook my head from side to side, anger rising.
    “That’s your only options. If I were you, I’d take the one that made more sense logically.”
    “Well, you’re not me. So fuck off.”
    “Are you relieving me of my services?”
    “No. Do you think I’d be using you if I could afford another attorney? I’m a college student.”
    He gathered his papers and put them into a manila folder. “Think about it. Call me if you’re ready to plead guilty.”
    “Sure. Thanks.”
    When he was gone, a guard led me back to my cell. Time passed. I fell into a routine, one forced on me. The only law was that time had to pass. Eventually, I would have my day in court. Until that point, I had to acclimate to jail life. After taking out the punk in the cafeteria with one punch to the jaw, I didn’t have too many problems with people stepping up to me.
    The public defender continued to try to get me to plead guilty even though I told him I didn’t shoot Mack. With the prosecution’s star witness, the lady I didn’t know, I didn’t have much hope. Unfortunately, hope is one of the most important commodities behind bars. While it couldn’t be passed from person to person, hope made it easier to survive day to day.
     
    ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
     
    Ten days after I got arrested, Heidi came to see me again. She looked different this time as I sat down across the glass from her. I picked up the phone, wanting so bad to hear her voice. Being locked up had helped me realize what was important in life. I would have rather learned the lesson another way, but I tried to look at the bright side as often as possible.
    “Cory, I have good news.”
    “What? Did she recant her story finally?”
    “No, I have a plan to get you out of here.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Don’t try to break me out, okay? We don’t need you in here.”
    “I’m being serious. I need a list of your friends’ email addresses from college. Can you get that to me?”
    “It’s on my laptop.”
    “Can you give me your email password so I can get it?”
    “Why?”
    “I can’t say yet, but it’s good. Trust me.”
    “It’s zero-nine-dash-one-two-eight-five-dee-eee-eee…”
    “That’s my birthday and nickname,” she said.
    I nodded. “I wasn’t lying when I said I thought about you a lot.”
    “I’m going to go. Stay strong, okay? I’m going to get you out of here.”
    “You stay strong too,” I said.
    She hung up the phone then waved. When she was gone from the room, I stood up and let a guard take me back to my cellblock. Everyone was in the common area because it was in middle of the afternoon. I still headed straight to my cell. To make it through, I stayed out of everything as much as possible. I kept thinking that the woman would recant and tell the truth. Or that I’d wake up to find it was all a bad dream. Unfortunately, neither happened.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Heidi
     
     
    Once I contacted a few of