Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Even with the cameras all around, there was no way he’d heard Nave in his whispered promise to help me if I ever needed it.
It was that first night, sitting on top of Nave’s bed in the clubhouse, when it really sank in.
I did it.
I got out.
I was free.
And I was never, ever going back.
He’d have to kill me first.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Nave
“What are you doing, you idiot?” Kit hissed at me as Ariah and Lolly watched Edith greet the homestead dogs like long-lost friends.
“What was that?” I asked, brows pinching.
“We gave you five days to convince her to stay.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The stupid panels have been fixed since the day after she left. We waited as long as we felt we could. But it felt wrong to lie to her yesterday.”
“Wait… why would you lie to her?”
“Because we were giving your ass a chance to make a move. Did you choke?”
“Never had you pegged for a matchmaker, Kit.”
“Oh, please. Anyone with eyes could see the two of you mooning over each other when the other wasn’t looking. I just gave you some extra time together.”
“What makes you think I choked?”
“She’s moving back in, you dolt.”
“Dolt?”
“It’s an under-appreciated insult.”
“For the record, I didn’t choke.”
“No? Then why is she back here?”
“Because she feels like she needs to come back because you told her it was ready. She thinks you’re expecting her.”
“Oh. Oops. Well, we’re not. I mean, she can come and go as she pleases.”
“She will. But maybe this isn’t a bad thing.”
“I swear on my new piglet’s boop-able nose, if you got involved with that woman and suddenly decided it’s too much for you and want to break it off, I am going to beat the shit out of you. And we both know I could do it.”
She could.
As skinny as she’d always been, when we’d been forced to spar as kids, she’d wiped the floor with me. Granted, I’d always been very aware of not hurting the girls. So she might not have the actual advantage she thought she did.
“That’s not it at all,” I assured her. “I actually have a real estate agent lined up. And I want to go look at some houses without Lolly knowing. I don’t want her to think I’m doing something big like this for her.”
“But you are.”
“Yeah. I mean, she needs a real home for the baby.”
“Definitely. I mean, I have very fond memories of that motorhome. But I was young and I spent most of the day when we weren’t driving out exploring the world. Those walls are going to close in on her sooner rather than later. Especially with baby stuff cluttering everything up.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“But speaking of baby stuff, Gracie wants to plan a baby shower for Lolly.”
“It’s early for that, isn’t it?”
“Well, we weren’t going to have it next week,” Kit said, rolling her eyes. “But we have to lock in a venue. So we wanted to ask if you think Lolly would be okay with that. It just seems like she could really use a village right now. And, you know, baby stuff.”
“I think she’d love that. She’s been so alone for so long. And she loves all of you guys already. My only caveat is she needs it to be a venue that has no cameras.”
“Oh, okay. I think I could probably talk Matteo Grassi into turning them off for the day.”
“I can handle Matteo,” I told her. I knew what he needed to know about closed circuits and shit like that.
“Good. It might also help to put feelers out about what kind of mom she’s going to be. A beige mom? Bright, primary colors mom? Pastels mom?”
“How might I go about figuring that out?”
“Get some baby magazines. Look at them when you’re hanging out. Pay attention to what item she seems most interested in.”
“It might be too early until she knows the gender.”
“True. You have, what, six or eight weeks?”
Hopefully by then, I would be close to closing on a house too. It would give us plenty of time to settle in, for Lolly to do some nesting.
“So, anyway, just make sure you keep clothes on when you come out of the motorhome when you’re sleeping over. Nobody wants to see… all that,” she said, waving at my body in general.
“I don’t know if sleeping here is possible. She’s sleeping on a twin-sized bed.”
“True. Well, make sure she knows you’re leaving. Don’t be a dick.”
“Your faith in me is truly humbling, Kit.” I pressed a hand to my heart.
“Just gotta keep it real. And you bikers can be dense sometimes.”
I said a quick goodbye to Lolly, promising to drop by with dinner later, then made my way across town to drop in on Junior.
I hadn’t heard from him.
And I was starting to worry that was a very bad thing.