Page 16 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation (Fallen Lords MC & Devil’s Knights MC Crossover)

Friday night rolled in slow and sweet, like a second helping of Meg’s macaroni salad.

We’d just finished eating, and I was still marveling over how Meg managed to whip up sub sandwiches, chips, and sides like we were in a fully stocked kitchen instead of a retro pink motel room.

I don’t know how she did it, probably some magical shit, but everything tasted like summer.

Tangy coleslaw, creamy potato salad, and those massive subs loaded with meats and cheeses stacked so high even Wrecker had been impressed.

The woman was a damn sandwich sorceress.

April had been timid when she first got back to the motel earlier in the afternoon, but now, hours later, she was splashing around in the pool like she’d known us her whole life.

Meg had lent her one of her swimsuits, a bright coral one-piece with a ruffled neckline, and she and Adley were floating at the edge of the pool, drinks in hand and giggling like high schoolers.

When she had called her sister to come get her, she had been at work.

She still had three hours of her shift, and then she promised that she would be here to get April.

I had relocated the blender from our motel room to the now-closed swim-up bar.

With no other guests hanging around, the staff had packed up early, and I took it upon myself to become the bartender for the evening.

Wrecker had helped me plug in an extension cord, and I was whipping up margaritas, pi?a coladas, and a few frozen concoctions I made up on the spot.

“, what’s this one?”

Raven asked, eyeing the frosty, neon green drink I slid across the bar.

“No idea,”

I grinned.

“Let me know if it kills you.”

Greta cackled from her spot perched on the flamingo float next to the pool on dry land.

“I want one!”

“Coming right up,”

I said, and tossed a handful of ice into the blender.

Adley and April swam over to the bar and perched themselves on the bar stools.

“You guys are the same age, right?”

I asked, wiping my hands on a towel.

“Thirty-two,”

April nodded.

“Same,”

Adley smiled.

“Isn’t that wild?”

They chatted for a while, talking about their lives, and I listened as I worked. April was from Dodge, single, used to work in a bookstore, and had left her job six months ago to try something different. Sounded a lot like Adley. They bonded fast, promising to meet up again in a few weeks.

Around 8:30, April’s sister showed up with her windows down, blaring Lizzo. She stepped out of the car like a damn force of nature—tattoos, pink hair, and a grin that said she didn’t take any crap.

I instantly liked her, just like I liked April.

“You must be ,”

she said, shaking my hand firmly as I made my way over from the bar.

“I’m Callie. Thanks for watching over my sister.”

“She fits right in with us,” I smiled.

April hugged everyone, exchanged numbers with Adley, and then waved goodbye. As I went back to the blender, I reached in to clean it out and found a tiny plastic turtle sitting right in the bottom.

“What in the actual…?”

I held it up. It was lime green and smiling at me like it had a secret.

“No!”

Meg shrieked.

“Not the blender!”

“I swear I didn’t put it there,”

I laughed.

“I found one on the toilet tank earlier,”

Reva said as she came out of her room, wrapped in a towel.

“I screamed. Hero thought I saw a spider.”

“Who is doing this?”

Meg groaned.

“They’re everywhere!”

“I still think it’s Greta,”

I whispered to Wrecker.

He just grunted, already halfway through his second margarita.

Adley floated around in the pool, humming to herself while Reva and Hero went for a walk. That left Meg, King, Clash, Raven, Wrecker, and me sitting around the table by the pool, margaritas in hand.

I started talking about my cows.

“So Blanche and Dorothy are the calmest. Rose is a sweetheart but dumb as a brick. Sophia runs the damn pasture. And then Elvis and Priscilla keep trying to break into the garden.”

Clash nearly spit his drink.

“You named your cows after The Golden Girls and Elvis?”

“You act surprised,” Meg said.

“You’re telling me if I get a cow, I should name it Bea Arthur?”

Raven asked.

“Only if you’re lucky enough to get one as majestic,” I winked.

Meg leaned into King.

“Wouldn’t it be cute if we had a little farm? Maybe some goats? A couple of chickens?”

“Hell to the no,”

King barked.

Wrecker clapped him on the back.

“Keep saying that. Next thing you know, you’ll be in overalls wrangling ducks while your wife names the rooster Fabio.”

“Fabio!”

I laughed.

“That’s going on the list.”

Wrecker shook his head.

“I ended up on a big-ass farm with more animals than I can count. Luckily, I’ve got three kids to do the dirty work when we leave.”

Reva and Hero returned with giant snacks. Reva with a cloud of pink cotton candy and Hero with a bag of kettle corn.

“Where’d you get that?”

Meg asked, eyes wide.

“Around the corner,”

Hero said.

“It’s still open.”

Meg looked at me.

“You want one?”

“Duh. But I’m not getting up.”

Meg sat back smugly.

“Watch this.”

King and Wrecker groaned and stood.

“Where are you going?”

Adley called from the pool.

They didn’t even answer.

“They’ll be back in five minutes,”

Hero said.

“It’s right around the corner.”

Meg beamed.

“They’re getting us cotton candy.”

Adley sighed.

“I don’t think I’ll ever find someone like that. I’m surrounded by amazing men who are either related to me or already claimed.”

Raven pointed at her and winked.

“Find me on a day Clash forgets to take the trash out, and I’ll convince you that you don’t need a man.”

We all laughed.

“You’ll find someone,”

I told Adley.

“You’re young.”

She groaned.

“I’m thirty-two, unemployed, and living in my parents’ basement. A real catch.”

“But you’re hot!”

Cyn said.

“That counts for something. And once you start working at the pool hall, the guys’ll come running.”

Adley rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, not sure Mr. Right is hanging around the pool tables.”

Wrecker and King returned, handing out bags of cotton candy like heroes.

“Maybe you’ll date one of the guys from the TV show,”

I offered.

Adley groaned.

“Don’t even say that. If I’d known you guys were filming, I wouldn’t have come home.”

“You haven’t filmed yet?”

Meg asked.

Wrecker shook his head.

“Iron Fiends are doing the first season. It airs next month.”

I groaned.

“And they want us at the premiere. But no one will know who we are. Seems pointless to me.”

Meg waved that off.

“They’ll know after. You and Wrecker can’t go anywhere without people staring.”

Wrecker wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“They’re gonna focus on the kids. We’ll be on the farm, minding our business.”

I raised a brow.

“You’re the president. There’s no way they don’t follow you around.”

He didn’t respond.

Adley climbed out of the pool, wrapped herself in a towel, and yawned.

“I’m heading to bed. Night, y’all.”

We all said goodnight as she padded off.

The rest of us started cleaning up, gathering plates, wiping down tables, tossing empty chip bags. Wrecker took my hand as we walked toward our room.

Another perfect day in Falls City.

And I had a feeling tomorrow would be even better.