Page 7 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation (Fallen Lords MC & Devil’s Knights MC Crossover)
Goody Goody Gum Drop was like a sugar-drenched fever dream.
The second we stepped inside, the smell hit me, a heady mix of chocolate, sour gummies, bubblegum, and straight-up nostalgia. Walls were lined with candy bins and shelves stuffed to the brim with everything from old-school jawbreakers to obscure imported treats I couldn’t even pronounce. There were stuffed animals dangling from the ceiling and statues everywhere, not just any statues, though, but elaborate, hand-painted Disney figures that looked like they’d been plucked straight off a collector’s shelf.
Meg grabbed my arm and pointed.
“Look! It’s Piglet in a watering can!”
Sure enough, he was adorable and pink, peeking out of a ceramic can with flowers around the base.
“And Tink!”
Cyn gasped. Tinker Bell stood delicately on a spool of thread, wings sparkling, wand raised mid-flick.
I wandered further in and took it all in. The Cheshire Cat from in Wonderland lounged on a mushroom, his striped tail curling up behind him. Jaq and Gus from Cinderella were tangled in a string of beads.
“These are gorgeous,”
Reva said and ran her finger along the edge of a Belle figurine.
Then Meg and I locked eyes across the aisle.
“Winnie the Pooh,”
we said at the same time.
We both made a beeline for the shelf, and there it was.
The Pooh Bear Musical Snow Globe.
The base was a hollow tree trunk with honey dripping down the side. Inside the globe, Pooh sat on a log with his honey pot, looking like the happiest little bear in the world. A bee buzzed above him, and when you turned the key, it played a tinkly version of Winnie the Pooh.
“Oh, Meg,” I sighed.
She was already holding one.
“We need matching ones.”
“Absolutely.”
Greta squealed from a few shelves away.
“You guys, look!”
She held up a massive figurine of Maleficent with her staff in one hand and a black bird perched on the other.
“That is terrifying,”
Adley muttered.
“Exactly why I’m buying it,”
Greta grinned.
Raven walked past us, cradling a Grinch and Max statue like it was her child.
“Don’t judge me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.
Adley picked up a Rapunzel statue with glowing hair.
“Okay, this one’s mine.”
“YO!”
Clash called from the back.
We turned to find him holding five giant bags of gummy worms, two bags of licorice, and what appeared to be a full tub of cotton candy.
“I blacked out. This is what happened.”
King patted him on the shoulder.
“I am not at all surprised by this.”
Then Reva let out a full-body gasp.
“Oh my god. Rock candy!”
We followed her over to a giant spinning display of rock candy on sticks. Dozens of them in every color imaginable. Ruby red, ocean blue, lemon yellow, sparkly pink.
“My dad used to buy these for me every time we came to Falls City,”
she whispered, picking up a deep purple one.
“Every single time.”
She blinked fast and held the candy like it was made of glass.
“We’re all getting some,”
she declared.
“Everyone. Pick your color.”
Hero smiled and kissed her temple.
“Happy wife, happy life.”
Reva grinned through watery eyes.
“I’m pretty simple if all you need to do is buy me rock candy.”
“Alright,”
I said and picked out a pale purple one, “let’s go check out before we spend all of our money at the candy store.”
We headed toward the registers. Everyone had arms full of trinkets, bags, and candy. Wrecker and I ended up last in line.
I set everything on the counter and winced.
“You might want to close your eyes for the total.”
Wrecker rolled his eyes.
“I bought you two Highlands for Christmas, babe. I’m pretty sure this is not going to be that bad.”
I raised a brow.
“Well, in that case, let me go grab that Cinderella figurine I saw.”
I turned, but his arm shot out and gently held me in place.
“How about we don’t?”
he grumbled.
“You got enough here. We’ve still got more than half the strip to walk yet.”
“Ugh. Fine.”
We paid, wrangled our bags, and met the rest of the crew outside on the sidewalk.
“Where to next?”
Adley asked.
“Oh my God!”
Meg gasped.
“It’s Tigs!”
Cyn looked up and laughed.
“Well, if that doesn’t bring back drunken memories.”
“We were trying to erase asshat from my memories,”
Meg muttered.
“Asshat?”
Adley asked.
Cyn cringed. Rigid stepped in.
“That would be her piece-of-shit ex that beat her.”
He cracked his knuckles.
“So I beat him ten times as hard.”
He paused.
“And more.”
King cleared his throat. Wrecker bumped his knuckles with Rigid.
“Right on, brother.”
“Anyway,”
Meg called quickly.
“The memories I have there are Lo tracking me down and, um, well...”
Cyn rolled her eyes.
“Girl, you belonged to that man before Tigs. You just didn’t know it yet.”
Meg shrugged.
“Accurate. How about we go get a drink?”
The sun was climbing, and the heat was turning sticky.
“I’m game,” I said.
We made our way across the street to Tig’s. The place seemed like it had been around forever. A dark dive bar with red vinyl booths, sticky floors, and a sign out front that boasted amazing burgers. Inside, the air-conditioning was working overtime, and a couple of locals sat at the bar nursing noon beers.
We snagged two tables near the jukebox, and the guys went to the bar to order drinks.
“Thank God I Didn’t Marry That Asshat Celebration!”
Cyn blurted, pointing dramatically at Meg.
Meg laughed.
“It had a better ring to it all those years ago.”
The guys came back with drinks. The girls got Amaretto Stone Sours, and the guys stuck with beers.
The jukebox kicked on.
Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Greta leapt up.
“This is my JAM!”
She grabbed Raven, and the two of them started dancing by the jukebox, with arms flailing, singing loudly and wildly off-key.
When Don’t Stop Believin’ started, all of us stood.
Meg dragged Cyn and Reva with her, and I pulled Adley along.
We belted every word.
“Just a small-town girl!”
“Livin’ in a LONELY WORLD!”
We danced, laughed, and sang like no one was watching, even though every single person in Tig’s definitely was.
It didn’t matter.
It was one of those perfect moments.
The kind you remember forever.
And it was only day two of vacation.