“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 and 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.
“Okay, 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.”
“Okay, 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.”
“Okay. 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 wh
en 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 her later. “I gotta go. I need ice cream and Marley is demanding pizza.”
“Okay. 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.”
“You do know the reason why guys are like that is because they think it shows how well the woman is with her tongue, right?” Gwen laughed, picking up a cherry and popped it in her mouth.
“Well, I may not be able to tie this little fucker into a knot, but Troy can attest that I’m good with my tongue.” Marley twisted the cap back on the cherries and stuck them back in the fridge. “I might also have a gut ache from the ten plus cherries I just ate.”
“Pizza is here,” Gwen called when there was a loud knock on the door. Marley darted out from behind the bar and grabbed her purse on the way to the door. That woman had a serious obsession with pizza.
“Oh,” she gasped as she opened the door. We all turned on our stools and saw Troy standing at the door holding the pizzas.
“I should have known you would have ordered pizza. Especially after King told me how tanked Meg was.” Marley stepped back as Troy, and all the guys walked through the door.
Gambler grabbed a box off the top of the pile as he walked past Troy and opened the box, grabbing a slice. “Hey! We’re going to Paige’s for dinner,” Gwen scolded.
He walked over, holding the piece up to her mouth and she took a huge bite. “One slice isn’t going to fill me up, doll.” She slapped him on the chest, and he pulled her into his arms. “You ready?” He set the box on the bar and shoved the rest of the slice into his mouth.
“Yup.” Gwen grabbed her purse off the bar, hitching it over her shoulder and grabbed Gambler’s hand. “Later,” she called as Gambler pulled her out the door.
I spun the box around to me, opening it and grabbed a huge, cheesy slice out. “Oh, sweet Jesus,” I moaned after I took a huge bite and watched Lo saunter over to me.
“Scale of one to ten, how drunk are you, babe?” He asked as he grabbed a slice from the box.
“Seven, possibly eight,” I mumbled with my mouth full. I had been trying to keep it around a five, but one wine cooler led to another and here I was, shoveling my face full of pizza and trying not to fall off of my bar stool.
“Bring it down to a six in the next hour. I’ve got something I need to show you in my room.”
I leaned forward, resting my hand on his shoulder to keep me from falling over. “I’ve seen everything you’ve got, handsome, and I am more than ready to go to our room now. Drunkenness be damned.”
“Eat up and start drinking water,” Lo laughed, signaling to Turtle, who was now behind the bar serving up drinks.
“Aye aye, captain,” I mumbled, taking another huge bite.
Lo grabbed the stool next to me and sat down as he grabbed the water and glass of whiskey Turtle set on the bar. He turned to hand me my water and grimaced as he twisted. “What’s wrong?”
Lo reached out, grabbing my hair and ran it through his fingers. “New hair?”
“Yeah. Gwen and Marley did it.”
“I like it.”
“Well, that’s good. Now, answer my question. What’s wrong?”
“I’ll show you when we get to our room, babe.” He tossed the shot of whiskey back and lined it up on the bar for another one. “Eat.”
Well, now I didn’t feel like eating because I wanted to know what the hell was wrong with Lo. “Not until you tell me why–”
“Eat,” he ordered. I grabbed another slice of pizza, shoving half of it in my mouth and chew while I glared at him. “Even pissed off you’re hot as hell.”
I grabbed my glass of water, washing down the pizza and slammed it down on the counter. “You’re killing my buzz.”
“You’ll get over it.” Lo grabbed another slice from the box, folded it in half and ate it in two bites. “As soon as we get to the room I’ll show you, promise.”
“Hmm, you also promised to tell me the other secret you’re keeping from me, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Because you don’t need to know what that one is. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.” He grabbed the refilled shot Turtle set down and tossed it back.
I grabbed the box with half a pizza still in it and my glass of water. “I’ll eat in our room. Let’s go.” I marched down the hallway, looking behind me to make sure Lo was following. He stopped to talk to Hammer and Demon, who were starting a game of pool. He had a beer in one hand and his eyes on me as he talked. “Five minutes, Logan,” I warned, turning around and kept walking to Lo’s room. I knew it drove him crazy when I called him Logan, so hopefully he hurried his ass up.
I balanced the pizza box on top of my glass of water, which, by the way, was not easy with me being in the eight range, and opened the bedroom door, stumbling in. After I tossed the pizza box on the bed and set my glass on the bedside table, I stripped off my pants and shirt, throwing them in the direction of the hamper and grabbed one of Lo’s shirts out of the dresser. I pulled it over my head and flopped down on the bed. I grabbed Lo’s pillow, shoving it under my head and curled up on my side and watched the door, waiting for Lo.
He had a lot of explaining to do. I could tell that he was hurt when he grimaced, and I noticed Lo held his side when he stood up. Something happened when he was out with the guys today, and I wanted to know what. I just hoped that it had nothing to do with the Assassins. In my head, I had been secretly wishing that they would just up and disappear. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore.
I heard footsteps coming down the hall, hoping it was Lo and not someone else. I had left the door open and was laid out in only a shirt and panties. “Babe,” Lo growled, leaning against the door frame. “Please tell me you’ve got shorts on under that shirt.” I swallowed hard and decided silence was my best bet. He walked into the room, shutting the door behind him and pulled his shirt up over his head, and I gasped when I saw
the huge bandage that was covering his side.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, sitting up on my knees. Lo turned away from me, peeling off the tape and tossed the bandage in the garbage. “Lo, I swear, if you’re going to show me a knife wound or something, I might puke.”
Lo laughed, shaking his head and turned to me.
“Holy fuck,” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. “That’s… that’s…”
“That’s the tattoo I’ve wanted to get for a couple of months. You were my caged bird who was afraid to fly when I met you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and all I could do was stare at it. The bird was so intricately drawn but yet so simple. The wings were spread high, flying with free abandon and my name was scrawled underneath. “That’s my name.”
Lo nodded his head and looked down at the tattoo. “Yeah. He had your name on the wing before, but it felt like I was trying to hide your name. I don’t hide you in my life, babe, I’m not going to hide your name.”
“You’re crazy,” I cried. “You put my name on your body and everyone can see it. Well, when your shirt is off they can.” I scooted further to the end of the bed, trying to get a better look at the tattoo. He stepped forward, and I put my hands on him, framing the new tattoo. “This was the important thing you had to do with the guys today?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Yeah. Rigid has been bitching he needed to get some ink done, so I went with. Gambler also got some ink, too.”
“I love it.” His hand reached up, cupping my face and he leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips.
“I’m glad. Now take that shirt off and get under the covers.”
“So bossy,” I whispered, reaching for the hem of my shirt.
“And you like it.” He stepped back, popping open the button on his jeans and slid the zipper down. He definitely had a point, I thought, as I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor. “How much did you miss me today, babe?” He pulled his jeans down his legs, stepping out of them and stood at the edge of the bed.
Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 2 Page 25