Page 4 of Alice & Meg

Pipe held up his hands and shook his head. “I’m too damn old for this shit.” He grabbed the handle of the cooler and headed to the front entrance.

I squinted at Nikki. “You didn’t bring the air fryer?” I whispered.

Nikki shook her head. “Arlo wouldn’t let me.”

I pushed my sunglasses on top of my head and smiled. “Don’t worry, I put mine in my suitcase.”

“What?” Wrecker demanded. “Is that why this thing is so heavy?”

I wrinkled my nose and shrugged. “You’re strong. You can handle it.”

“Woman, what the hell were you going to do if we decided to fly here?” Wrecker demanded.

I scoffed and pulled my sunglasses over my eyes. “As if you would get on an airplane. Let’s get checked in.” Wrecker getting on an airplane was hilarious. The man drove everywhere, even if it was twenty hours away. Our trek to Texas a few months back had been long. That was one trip I was not looking forward to making again.

“Yeah,” Nikki called. “The welcome dinner is in an hour, and I need to unpack.”

Wrecker shook his head and looked down at my suitcase. “I should have known you were going to pull some crazy shit.”

I grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the entrance. “Again, I don’t believe you should be surprised by anything I do, Wrecker. We’ve been together longer than I care to count.”

“Years,” he grunted. “Lots of years.”

Nikki fell into step beside me. “We tried to follow you guys on the highway, but I swear to god, the older Pipe gets, the slower he drives.”

“I think the opposite goes for Wrecker,” I laughed. “I swear it took minutes to get here instead of a couple of hours.”

“That’s because you slept most of the way,” Wrecker grunted.

I rolled my eyes. “I think you’re going to be attending all of these car meetings by yourself this weekend, and Nikki and I are going to camp out at the pool area.”

The doors whooshed open, and we stepped into the sprawling lobby. There were more large statues of African animals around the lobby and a pretty long line to check-in. Thankfully, Pipe had gotten in before us and was halfway up the line.

“Are all of these people here for the body shop convention?” I asked.

“Probably not, babe. This place is freaking huge, and I’m sure there are families on vacation that are mixed in with the convention.” Wrecker got in the back of the line.

“Uh, why don’t we go up by Pipe?” Nikki suggested.

Wrecker shook his head. “Because I’m not looking to start any fights, doll.”

Nikki shrugged. “Well, suit yourself. I’ll ask them to put you guys by us when we check in.” She squeezed up the line until she was next to Pipe.

“You see all of those dirty looks she got?” Wrecker laughed. “It’s a damn good thing Pipe didn’t see them.”

“I don’t know about that. I think he’s still irked about the two-hundred-pound cooler,” I laughed.

Wrecker shook his head. “Hardly. You and I both know Pipe would kill for Nikki.”

I reached up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Wrecker’s cheek. “Just like you would for me, even when I bring home more chickens, goats, or kittens.”

Wrecker grunted but wrapped his arm around my waist. “Yeah, even after all of the animals that seem just to follow you home, you’re mine.”

“I love you, Wrecker.” And man, did I love him. I never would have thought that, when I drunkenly curtsied to Wrecker, I would end up over twenty years later happily married with a farm full of animals and three kids with the love of my life.

“Love you, too, babe.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Do you love me enough to butt your way to the front of this line so we can get into our room?” I whispered.

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