Page 8 of Nave (Henchmen MC: Next Generation #14)

Nave

“Yooooo,” a voice followed me out the front door, the sounds of the party muffling as the door clicked closed behind him. “I’ll say it again,” Dezi said. “What the fuck?”

Yeah, that about covered it.

I remembered offering Lolly help—any kind she might need—years before. But after so long, I didn’t really think that would ever happen.

To be honest, a morbid part of me kind of figured that she wasn’t alive anymore.

Either because Ben’s psychotic ass had killed her in some not-messy way: suffocation, strangulation.

Or that she would have hit her own breaking point and ended her own life.

Because no one, I was convinced, could live the way she did for any length of time.

And she’d been so small, so fragile when I’d known her. Like he’d already broken her.

“Yeah,” I agreed, sucking in a deep breath. “That about covers it.”

“Did he let her go?”

“No.”

“Did she off his creepy ass?”

“No.”

“She just… got away?”

“Seems like it.”

“How?”

“We didn’t get that far yet.”

“Shit, man. Well, good for her. But… how the fuck is he not gonna find her? You know how good he is.”

“Yeah. Well, that’s where I come in. I offered her help back then. She’s cashing in on that.”

“No offense, but how are you gonna keep her hidden?”

“Well, that’s where my cousins come to mind.”

“Cousins,” Dezi repeated. Then, as it dawned on him. “Oh. You know… that just might work.”

“It has to,” I said, reaching for my phone. “I gotta make a call.”

“Yeah, man. Do what you gotta do. Does she need anything?”

“Can you just keep an eye in case she comes out while I’m out here?”

“Yep,” he agreed, heading back inside.

Alone, I scrolled my contacts until I found her number.

“Is everything okay?” came the half-awake voice in my ear.

“Yeah.”

A pause. Then, “Then why the hell are you calling me this late?” Kit grumbled.

“It’s only eleven.”

“And I get up at the crack of dawn these days,” she reminded me.

“Well, actually, yeah, about that.”

“About what?”

“I need some help. Well, actually, a friend of mine needs help. Your help.”

“My help?”

“Well, yours and Ria’s. You still have that camper you traveled in for years, right?”

“Yeah, of course. Too many memories to get rid of that. I mean, it isn’t really a camper. More of a small motorhome. Why? Do you need to borrow it?”

“I want to… rent it.”

“Rent it?”

“Alright, long story short. I knew a girl in my travels. She was being kept, well, captive by her boyfriend for years. I told her if she ever needed help to come find me.”

“And she found you.”

“She found me. But the thing is, this isn’t a normal situation.”

“When it’s one of you guys and women, when is it ever a normal situation?” There was a shuffling and the groaning of a bed as Kit, I imagined, sat up. “Alright. I’m up. What’s going on?”

I gave her a quick summary, leaving off any too personal details, but making it clear that Lolly was in danger and needed to lie low somewhere without cameras.

“And so you thought of our homestead.”

“I mean, I know you guys vlog for a living, but you can easily avoid catching Lolly on camera.”

“Oh, totally. Ariah and I are constantly trying to avoid filming each other when we are working on content. Alright, well I have to talk to Ria. But I’m sure she would be game to have a guest. The motorhome is just sitting there, not being used.

And it has everything she could need: solar, a compost toilet, and it will having running water as soon as I hook it up to the water catchment system. Which won’t take long.”

“Would it be possible to talk to Ria before tomorrow? I would really like to have answers for Lolly when she gets up in the morning. She’s, understandably, stressed the fuck out.”

“Yeah. I’ll go wake her up and talk about it. Keep your phone on you in case she has any follow-up questions.”

She didn’t.

And it was the two of them on the line, going on and on about how it was an ideal situation for Lolly, and how they would be happy to have another girl around.

“Thanks, guys. Really. I really appreciate this. And I’ll bring the cash for the first six months when we come by tomorrow.”

They’d tried to wave off the cash. And, objectively, they probably didn’t need it.

Their travel vlog channels had become homesteading channels.

Judging by the views, they were still killing it.

But if there was one thing I knew from hearing the princesses talk, it was that homesteading was expensive.

Because of something called “chicken tax” and the concept of “gateway animals.” I was sure the rent money could be put to good use.

“That’s still not necessary, but I’ve known it’s useless to try to out-stubborn you since we were kids and you spent an entire weekend trying to knock or pull your loose tooth out. No matter how much I begged you to stop,” Kit said.

All the cousins were close growing up, but we obviously all had our little groups of deeper connections. For me, I’d been a little closer with the cousins who were closer to my age. Seth and Kit—my Uncle Repo and Aunt Maze’s kids—were probably who I’d been closest with, thanks to proximity.

But then I’d grown up and hit the road. And Kit had teamed up with Ariah, who was also interested in traveling and vlogging their adventures, and we’d drifted apart over the years.

A big part of my time since coming back had been devoted to rebuilding relationships with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends whom I’d mostly lost touch with over the years.

Because we’d all become different people.

Kit and Ria almost more than anyone else, since they’d had a complete professional and personal rebrand since returning to Navesink Bank.

They’d gone from packing light and never putting down any roots to actually rooting deep as they built gardens and orchards, to becoming completely tied down to the whims of all their animals.

It was high time I dragged my ass up there to check things out.

The only time I’d been on their homestead was when they’d conned all the male cousins into coming and assisting in cutting down a bunch of trees so the two of them could plot out the spots that would become their homes, coops, sheds, and everything else.

“So, what time can we head up? I don’t want to wake you guys up,” I said, getting a chorus of laughter. “What’s funny?”

“That you think you’d possibly be up before us,” Kit said.

“Yeah, we’re up with the rooster. Who thinks four a.m. should be sunrise, despite what the sun itself thinks.” Ria explained. “So literally anytime before seven, when we morph into eighty-year-old ladies in our housecoats and knitting.”

“You knit?”

“Well, I sew. Kit knits.”

Huh.

Apparently, there was still a lot to learn about them.

“So, yeah, bring Lolly up whenever she’s ready.”

“Oh, shit. I forgot to mention. She has a dog.”

“Well, hopefully, it is dog-friendly, because we have a whole pack here these days.”

“She’s a tiny little toy poodle.”

“So, basically, she will be bossing the entire crew of guardian dogs around within a week,” Kit said. “We don’t mind more dogs. And we have some extra fencing for her if she doesn’t end up appreciating the company of other dogs. Or cats. Or chickens, ducks, mini goats…”

“Alright, great. Thanks again, guys. I think you’re really going to like Lolly. She’s sweet. A little fragile right now, but I think she just needs to feel safe. What?” I asked, hearing whispering from their end.

“What? Nothing,” Kit said. Not at all convincingly.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, shaking my head even though they couldn’t see me. “Alright. Tomorrow. Sometime after four in the morning. We’ll be there. Do you need anything?”

“Oh, worms!” Kit said.

“Excuse me?”

“Worms. We need worms for the birds.”

“Guys, I love you and everything, but I’m not fucking digging for worms for your chickens.”

That was, apparently, funny.

“No, idiot,” Kit said affectionately. “No, they sell these dried mealworms at the farm supply store. We could use more. The store doesn’t deliver.”

“Alright. Mealworms. Got it.”

“We wouldn’t turn down coffee,” Ria added.

“She’s Bean Around or Deja Brew. We’re not picky.”

“Actually, can I be picky?” Ria asked.

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Can it be Deja Brew? Shale has this limited-edition cheese danish that I literally was lying awake thinking about tonight.”

After a little back-and-forth to figure out what everyone wanted to order, we hung up, and I made my way back inside.

“Seen her?” I asked Dezi.

“Nah. After the life she’s been living, can’t imagine she’d want to come out in this crowd. You figure it out with your cousins?”

“Yeah. We’re heading there tomorrow.”

“You figure out what you’re gonna tell the boss man?” he asked, glancing over toward where Fallon looked like he was ready to go home to his woman and his bed.

“Gonna have to be the truth.”

“The whole truth?”

When I’d shown up at the club to find Dezi already prospecting, well, we’d both stayed silent about our brief history working together. And after some time, it felt impossible to break that news. Especially to Fallon, who didn’t love it when you kept any big secrets from him.

But everything had changed with Lolly’s appearance.

“Don’t worry. If anyone is going to get their ass handed to them, it’s me.”

“One perk to you legacy guys,” Dezi agreed. “Alright. Well, good luck with the girl.” He moved past me, heading over to snag a slice of pizza out of a box, despite having already put away no fewer than six donuts.

I stopped in the kitchen, grabbed an assortment of drinks, bowls for the dog, and some snacks before heading back to my room.

“It’s me, babe,” I called when she didn’t immediately answer.

The door creaked open.

Then there she was.

Wearing one of my hoodies that swam on her.

Smelling like my body wash.

I chose to ignore the gut-punch of desire.

“Hey,” she said, moving back to let me in. “What’s all that?”