Page 31 of Nave
“No.” I sniffed, reaching up to wipe the useless tears off my cheek.
“Alright. What’s going on?”
“My car is gone!” I waved down the street, and the guy came closer, tossing his cigarette. Or, rather, joint, before he got too close.
“Yeah? Fuckers. Where was it?”
“It was right down there, two cars down from the corner.”
“The one Nave drove off in this morning?”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, Nave drove off in it then came back in that.” He gestured toward the little white crossover SUV.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, he—”
“Lolly,” Nave called, making my heartbeat hammer for a reason that didn’t feel like anxiety.
I turned, seeing him walking toward me, offering me a soft smile.
“You alright?” he asked, glancing between me and the vampire guy.
“My car—”
“Shit, sorry, babe. I meant to catch you before you went looking for it. You came out when I was in the garage. I traded the car out this morning.”
“Oh. Okay. Wait… for the crossover?” I was no car expert, but I did know that my lemon was nowhere near worth what that newer-model little SUV was.
“Yep. Got it on a song.”
That didn’t come off as a lie to me. But it couldn’t have been the whole truth either.
“I brought Edith’s food inside too. And some clothes,” he added, his gaze slipping down to my mostly bare legs. “Figured you might need those things.”
“Oh, okay. Great. Thank you.”
I could worry about the car later.
I needed to feed Edith.
And put some panties on.
“Thanks for your help,” I told the other guy.
“This is Spike,” Nave explained. “Spike, Lolly. And Edith.”
“Nice to meet you,” the guy said, reaching in his pocket for his keys. “I’ll be seeing you, I think,” he said to Nave. “Thanks for the party.”
With that, he sauntered off toward a motorcycle, and Nave led me inside.
“How about I feed her?” he suggested, handing me one of my bags from the car.
I’d left the glass house with only the clothes on my back, plus a few of Edith’s things that I’d squirreled away and grabbed right before we ran, and a couple of items of Ben’s that I’d hocked as soon as I found a shop. I’d needed to buy everything else on the way. Dollar stores and secondhand stores had been my best friends to make sure I had a few things to wear and clean myself with.
“Okay. Thanks. She likes the kibble soaked in a little warm water,” I told him, handing him the leash and taking the bag.
