Page 45 of Part & Parcel

“Why, who you been talking to?”

“Don’t incriminate me with details.”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to then!”

“You’re right, I’m sorry!”

Nick could hear Digger laughing.

“Are you still confined to the States?” Nick asked.

“No, I’m clear to roam. Why?”

“Want to go on an adventure?”

“Oh yeah, baby, where we going?” Digger cried. Nick could tell that he’d hopped to his feet.

“Washington, DC. Go buy your tickets for next week. One way.”

“I’ll be there with motherfucking bells on, baby. What’s our target?”

Nick laughed again, harder this time. “No target. Just a little favor we’re doing for a friend.”

“No target?” Digger asked, and Nick imagined his shoulders slumping.

“No target,” Nick insisted. “No guns. No tactical gear. No nothing but your fine ass in a plane.”

“What friend is this?” Digger asked warily. “You boys the only friends I got I’ll still do favors for.”

“You know him. Haven’t seen him in a while,” Nick answered, his voice taking on a more solemn note. “Trust me, you won’t regret the trip.”

“I trust you,” Digger assured him. “That’s where the bullet hole in my ass cheek came from.”

“Yeah, but you still get people to kiss it, so you’re welcome.”

“True that!”

Nick grinned. “See you in a week. We’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“See you, brother!”

Kelly sat down beside Nick as he ended the call, and handed him a beer. Nick gave him a grateful smile and rested his arm on the back of the couch for Kelly to lean against.

“You did that easier than I thought you would,” Kelly told him.

Nick nodded. “I figured Johns would be the harder sell, but he barely questioned it.”

Owen had been the hardest to convince when Nick and Kelly had started a relationship. And when Ty had come out to the group years before, Owen had stormed off in a fit of rage. It had taken him months to forgive Ty for lying to them. Nick suspected there was also a little homophobia going on there, or at least some confusion over it. So when Nick and Kelly had started up, they’d kept it from the others until they were sure there was something permanent between them. When Owen had found out, he’d tried his best to be accepting and supportive, but Owen didn’t do accepting and supportive very well on a good day.

He was doing the best he could, though, Nick had to give him that. It was more than a lot of people tried. Still, it was hard for anyone to keep in constant touch with Owen. It wasn’t a malicious or angry absence. It was just a man who was busy and forgot to keep up.

Digger was a little different. All you had to do was promise him the chance to maim something or set it on fire, and he was yours for the weekend.

“We all thought we lost you, Nick,” Kelly said quietly, drawing Nick out of his reverie. “I think they’d do anything you asked them right now.”

Nick swallowed hard, torn over whether to answer or just . . . carry on and ignore the pain in his chest. “I couldn’t tell D what we were doing,” he said, deciding to ignore Kelly’s words. “I’ll tell him at the airport.”

“I figured Ty would give you more trouble,” Kelly told him as he got comfortable against Nick. “Secrets and lies and all that shit.”

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