Keeping Meg (Devil's Knights #6)

by Winter Travers

  “What time were the girls supposed to be done at the salon?” Rigid asked.

  “Not a fucking clue. I’m still confused why the hell they’re even there right now. Meg has been going on and on about how she needs to have Gwen and Marley do a run through of everyone’s hair to make sure they know what they are doing the night of the wedding. I told her she didn’t need her hair done up, I’d rather her look like she does every day, and all I got was a pillow to the face and told to shut up. I wasn’t about to ask her this morning what time they were going to be done.”

  “Yo, you fuckers done in here?” Troy was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” Rigid asked.

  I knew why he was here, and I knew none of these fuckers were going to be happy. “We’ve got an appointment in half an hour. We need to fucking go. Y'all fucking meetings take forever, talk more than fucking women,” Troy said.

  “What the hell do you mean, appointment? I can’t remember the last time I had a fucking appointment.” Rigid, Gambler, and Demon all looked confused as fuck. This was all my fault, but I would basically do anything to make Meg happy. But the thing of it was, she hadn’t even asked me to do this. I just knew this was something she wanted.

  “What the fuck is the appointment for?” Demon demanded.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t fucking tell them,” Troy laughed. “Oh, this is going to be good. I’ve at least had a week to get used to the idea. You tell them, I don’t feel like getting my ass kicked today.” Troy pulled out one of the empty chairs and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest.

  All three guys turned to me, and I knew I had to fucking tell them. Although, maybe I could just knock them all out and drag them to the tux place. Yes, I was going to wear a fucking tux for the wedding, and I was going to make all these fuckers wear one, too. Misery loves company. “Get your asses up, we’re going to the fucking tux shop.”

  “What the fuck! Gwen said Meg wasn’t making us wear fucking tuxes. We could wear our cuts. I call fucking bullshit.” Gambler stood up, slamming his chair back into the wall.

  “That is what Meg said. But I know what the hell Meg wants. She wants us all in tuxes, but she knew you assholes wouldn’t do it. So, I’m gonna surprise her, and I’m gonna make you fuckers do it.”

  “Hey! What about Slider? I’m not doing it unless he does.” Fucking Rigid thought he had found an out, but he was wrong.

  “Slider went yesterday and got fitted.”

  “Son of a bitch! You wait until Cyn and I get married, you’re wearing a fucking speedo down the goddamn aisle.” Rigid stormed from the room, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Don’t fucking let Meg know!” I knew he was texting Cyn about it, which was fine, as long as she didn’t tell Meg.

  “I can’t believe how fucking whipped you are,” Demon said, shaking his head as he flipped his phone over and over in his hand.

  “I’m not fucking whipped; I’m just giving Meg something I know she wants but won’t ask because she knows I’ll fucking hate it. I’m not happy about it either, but I know the look on her face when she sees me will be worth it.”

  I glanced over at Gambler, who had his nose buried in his phone, his fingers typing furiously. Both Rigid and Gambler ran to their women when they had a problem. I would say they were each a bit whipped also. “If you put me in anything that is pink or purple, I will break both of your arms and steal your woman and her dog.” Demon strode out of the room, shaking his head. “All of you are whipped assholes,” he mumbled.

  “Well, that was entertaining,” Troy laughed.

  “Get in the fucking truck, fuckers. Let’s get this shit done and then I have something else to do.” The second stop was also a surprise for Meg, but this stop I knew everyone else was going to like.

  ________

  Meg

  “Holy fuck, I look like Pipi Longstocking. What the hell did you do to me?”

  “Relax, I already know what I’m going to do with your hair.”

  “Then why the hell do I look like Pipi instead of a sexy, ravishing beauty.” The girls and I were gathered at the salon, going over wedding hair and plans. My ass was planted in Gwen’s chair, and at the moment, I was having a mini freak out over what she was doing to my hair. “I need to look like a princess.” I might also be slightly intoxicated. Slightly.

  “Would you stop it,” Gwen scolded, knocking my hand out of the way. “The wedding is less than two weeks away, and you’ve managed to go this long without being a bridezilla, don’t start now.” She unraveled the braids she had twisted my hair into, and my hair fanned out on my shoulders in big waves. “The day of ‘I do’ will be a better curling job, but this will do for today. My plan is to make you Meg on steroids.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cyn asked, sitting in the chair next to me. Marley was working on her hair, piling it up and making it cascade down the back. “Are you going to pump her up?” Cyn flexed her arms and talked like the Terminator.

  “Big hair gets you closer to Jesus,” Jackie called from the bathroom. Marley had just finished her hair, and she was admiring it in the mirror. “Although I think that’s a southern thing.”

  “It is. I have a cousin down south who has the biggest hair I have ever seen. I swear it’s full of all the lies and secrets she tells. Evil bitch.” Jackie stuck her head out of the bathroom, and we all looked at Gwen. “What? She tried stealing my boyfriend when she came to visit.”

  “The gay one?” Cyn asked.

  “Wait, a gay boyfriend? I feel like I’ve missed so much,” Jackie gasped.

  “No, not the gay one. Dylan was before the gay one. We were both seven and damn Alicia came up to visit and tried stealing him away. Thank god Dylan had some taste and didn’t fall for her. Plus, he realized she lived over five hundred miles away. Definite deal breaker.”

  “Shit, Guy, is here, I don’t have time to hear about the gay boyfriend.” Jackie dug her phone out of her pocket and put the phone to her ear. “I’ll be right out,” she mumbled into the phone. “You’re telling me all about the gay boyfriend at the wedding, I won’t forget,” she said, pointing her finger at Gwen.

  “Oh great, I’m getting married, and you’re looking forward to talking to Gwen about her gay boyfriend. I see where I rate.”

  “Oh, please. You finally got the fairytale ending, I couldn’t be happier for you.” A car honked its horn, and Jackie sighed, and bent over to pick up her purse. “And here I was all ready to jump his bones with my banging new hair, and all I want to do now is rip his nuts off for honking the damn horn at me. Later, girls.” Jackie waved and flitted out of the salon, yelling at Guy as soon as she opened the front door.

  “You don’t really think she’s going to rip his balls off, do you?” Marley asked. We all spun around and faced the window. Jackie was opening the passenger door, ranting and raving at Guy, who was just silently sitting there, waiting for Jackie to shut up. I had seen them like this so often, I knew what was going to happen next.

  Jackie’s arms were flailing and swinging around as she yelled, pointing from the shop and the truck. I could only imagine what she was saying. She finally stopped screaming and just sat there looking at Guy. He leaned over, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the living hell out of her. Jackie wrapped her arms around him, and you could see the fight drain out of her. Guy knew exactly how to handle Jackie. They had been together for so long, it was no wonder they didn’t finish each other’s sentences.

  “Aw, I’ve always loved the way Guy handles Jackie. He lets her go off and then he just loves her.”

  “That’s how King is with you, Meg,” Gwen said, spinning me back around to face the mirror.

  “Excuse me, I am not like Jackie. I don’t go all crazy, psycho, mad on Lo.”

  Gwen grabbed a curling iron and a brush and started curling my hair. “No, but you do go all crazy Meg on him, and he just stands back an
d lets you be you. It’s sweet.”

  “Perfect example,” Marley said, “that big ass bed you and Cyn broke. King just calmly came down to the furniture shop, paid for the overpriced bed and then I’m betting proceeded to have crazy, wild monkey sex in it with you.”

  “Or, when you punched Hunter in the balls at that college thingy with Remy. I still would have paid to see that,” Cyn mumbled.

  The girls kept going on about all the crazy stuff I had done, (there was a lot), but all I did was sit there and realize Lo did put up with me. Plus, he didn’t even seem to be annoyed by it. I remember when I was married to Hunter, whenever I tried to be funny or, well, just be me, he always rolled his eyes or told me to grow up. Lord knows I didn’t act my age but was there really anything wrong with that. Life is too short to be all stuck up and acting like a ninety-year-old.

  “Are we still dying your hair today?” Gwen asked.

  “If we have time.” I glanced at the clock and saw it was only one o’clock. “I think Lo said he had something to do today and wouldn’t be back until tonight, so I say yes to dying my hair, that is unless you have plans with Gambler.”

  “Nope, he texted me about an hour ago and said the same thing. Not to expect him until tonight.” She gathered all my hair and piled it on top of my head. “You want to stay with the same color or try something different?”

  “Can we do different, but not too different? I am getting married in thirteen days. I probably shouldn’t have bright purple hair, plus it might clash with my dress.”

  “I know exactly what I can do. I got some new colors in the other day, and I’ve been dying to try them.” Gwen disappeared into the backroom, mumbling under her breath.

  “I know what she has planned, and it’s going to look amazing. Although it might take some time.” Marley grabbed a couple of bobby pins and pushed them into Cyn’s hair, securing her work of art into place. She had managed to pile all of Cyn’s jet black hair on top of her head with loose pieces framing her face and stuck pretty purple flowers all over her hair. She looked amazing.

  “Holy shit, I look hot,” Cyn laughed. “I better send a picture to Rigid. I’m sure I’ll mess it up before I see him tonight.” Cyn grabbed her phone out of her purse and started having her own mini photoshoot before handing the phone to Marley and had her take pictures also.

  “OK, here we go.” Gwen came walking out of the back room, pushing a cart filled with all sorts of bottles and bowls.

  “Uh, is that all for me?” The last time I had my hair professionally dyed, the chick had only used two bowls and a couple of bottles, Gwen had at least six bowls and ten bottles.

  “Yup, all for you. This is going to look amazing on you.”

  “What exactly are you going for?” Gwen parked the cart in between Cyn and I and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.

  “Have you ever seen a picture of the galaxy?”

  Weird question, but who was I to question weird, I had a tendency to be weird all the time. “Um, yeah.”

  “You know how it’s black, but then it’s kind of like rainbow-ish?”

  “I’d say you’re going for more of an oil look. You know, when there is a puddle on the ground that had oil mixed in it, it’s all swirly and rainbow-ish? I’d say that.” Marley started getting everything set up, and my nerves hit me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten nervous about dying my hair. I think it was the fact that whatever they did with my hair, that was what I was going to look like when I got married. Galaxy, oil, rainbow-ish hair as I walked down the aisle and took pictures in. Oy.

  “Um, do you think this is a good idea? I mean, maybe we should just stick to my-” Gwen spun me away from the mirror and put a finger to my lips. “I lick, you’ve been warned.”

  She quickly pulled her finger away and gave me a dirty look. “Trust us. Marley and I had no plans to let you walk down the aisle looking like rainbow bright. Now, let the fun begin.” Gwen grabbed a cape and snapped it over me. “Cyn, grab her another wine cooler. I think she’s losing her buzz.”

  Cyn gingerly stood up, handing me her phone. “Pick which one I should send to Rigid.”

  “You took almost fifty pictures.” I scrolled through them, most of them the same except for small details. She grabbed a wine cooler from the fridge and handed it to me.

  “I know. I couldn’t help it; my hair looks good.” I handed her back her phone and twisted open the bottle. “Drink one for me. I swear now that I can’t drink, I crave wine coolers like they were water.”

  I chugged down half the bottle and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Don’t worry, in five months we’ll do a girl’s night after you push that baby out, and we’ll have a good time.”

  “OK, are you ready?” Marley and Gwen both had rubber gloves on, and both had a bowl with different colors in them. They each picked up a hair dye brush painter thing and looked at me, excitement on their faces.

  “I’m ready, but if you fuck this up, I get to dye both of your hair.” They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. But I had a little something up my sleeve. “With… box dye.” The color drained from both of their faces, and they knew I was serious. Gwen and Marley always lectured me about using boxed hair dye, but it was just so damn convenient.

  They both got to work, each painting different colors on my hair. It felt like it was random placement, but I knew they had a plan.

  I finished off my drink and closed my eyes, listening to the girls chit chat. My mind kept going back to what Lo was doing that was going to keep him out till after dinner. He still hadn’t told me the secret he was keeping from me, and it felt like he was just adding another secret to the pile.

  Well, he had another thing coming. As soon as he got home, I was going to find out what both of the secrets were. If he didn’t, I was really going to go crazy.

  _______

  Chapter 14

  Lo

  “All right, you know the drill. No submerging in water, no direct sun, yadda yadda yadda,” Buck, the tattoo artist, said as he finished wrapping up my side. I had finally gotten the bird Buck had drawn up months ago.

  Rigid was on the other side of me getting his neck tattooed with a colorful peacock feather and Cyn’s name underneath it. “You about done?” I asked, pulling my shirt on over my head. I grunted as I lifted my arms, the skin on my side pulling tight. I hadn’t realized how big the fucking bird was until Buck had started working on it.

  “Probably fifteen more minutes,” the girl said who was working on him.

  Troy and Gambler were both sitting in the waiting area, bullshitting with the other tattoo artist. Troy hadn’t gotten a tattoo, but Gambler started an outline of a pin-up girl on his right shoulder. By the time he would be done with it, it was going to look exactly like Gwen.

  “I’m gonna call Meg and let her know we’ll be home in half an hour,” I called, walking out the front door. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and swiped her name.

  “Handsome, I miss you,” she slurred into the phone. Apparently when Meg got her hair done, she also got drunk.

  “Hey, babe. You sound like you’re having fun,” I laughed.

  “Tons, Loads. But you’re not here. Do you know you’re not here?”

  “Yeah, I know I’m not there, although wish I was.”

  “Then get your ass home to me.”

  “I’m working on it. We’re just wrapping up here and then we should be home.”

  “OK. Oh, did you happen to notice I’m drunk? I blame Cyn. She’s making me drink her share of the wine coolers because she… is having… a baby. Did you know that?”

  I fucking loved when Meg got drunk. Her craziness escalated to a twenty and she cracked me the fuck up. Not to mention it made her horny as hell. “I did know she was pregnant, babe.”

  “Oh, well, she’s pregnant.” I threw my head back laughing. Meg was in rare form tonight. It should make it interesting for the plans I had for h
er later. “I gotta go. I need ice cream and Marley is demanding pizza.”

  “OK. I’ll see you in a bit. I love you.”

  “Hmm, I love you too, Logan,” she sighed. I hung the phone up and shoved it back in my pocket. Son of a bitch, Meg was one of a kind. And she was all mine.

  ________

  Meg

  “How many of those have you had?”

  “Eight. No, wait, nine. Possibly fifteen.” I honestly had no clue. I think I had five at the salon, but then I also had a couple of beers, so my count was off.

  “How do you go from eight to fifteen?” Marley laughed. She was standing behind the bar, trying to tie a cherry stem in a knot with just her tongue. I think she just wanted to eat a shit ton of cherries.

  “Easily. eight, nine, eleven, ten, thirteen…” Wait, where did twelve go? Shit, I was beyond wasted. How in the hell had this happened? “Fifteen.” Yup. Wasted.

  “What do you think King is going to do when he sees how wasted we got his fiancée?” I laid my head down on the bar and pushed my empty bottle away. I think I was done for the night. Maybe.

  “He thinks it’s funny when she gets drunk, and he probably thinks like Rigid, he’ll get laid. It’s a win-win for him.” Cyn grabbed my empty bottle and chucked it in the garbage. “How long until the pizza gets here? I’m starving.” She walked around the bar and sat down on the stool next to me.

  “Didn’t you just eat all the leftover chicken from dinner last night?” I mumbled.

  “It was only two pieces, it was nothing. Although I think the barbecue sauce that was on it is giving me heartburn.” She rubbed her belly and grimaced.

  “As soon as Gambler gets here, we are headed over to Paige’s to hang out. I think she was getting Chinese, so we’ll pass on the pizza,” Gwen said, sitting down on the other side of me.

  “Perfect, more pizza for me,” Marley grinned, a stem hanging out of her mouth. “I seriously don’t know how people do this.”