Chapter 17

17

Mikayla

Both impromptu wedding cakes are horrid, and not a single one of us was prepared for just how bad they would be. Not even the guys who made them.

They’re both now in the lake, and we’re still at the dock while Logan stares me down, trying to communicate with his eyes alone.

Since it was supposed to be my wedding, the boys had already decided that I would be the judge of their little contest, which, the rest of us are just finding out now, has a grand prize of two dollars and fifteen cents.

“Logan wins,” I blurt out, just to get it over with.

“Victory!” Logan yells, arms in the air.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Cameron groans, looking over at Dylan, who is… fast asleep, sitting upright in a chair.

Cam busts out a guffaw, and Logan coos, “Aww, poor Grandpa Banks. It’s way past his bedtime.”

“He was awake, like, a minute ago,” Jake chimes in.

“Yeah, this is completely normal for him,” Riley says through a yawn. “I think it’s time to call it a night.”

Logan steps up to her, his hands up in a prayer position. “ Please let me push his ass into the lake.”

“No!” Riley laughs, passing him to get to her husband. She shakes him awake, saying, “Let’s get you home, Grandpa.”

Dylan grumbles, like a true old man, and comes to a stand.

“You owe me two dollars and fifteen cents,” Logan reminds him.

“Yeah?” Dylan grunts. “Take it out of the money your mom owes me.”

Logan pouts, exaggerates a sob. “I don’t have a mom, you asshole.”

For a second, Dylan almost looks sorry for his slip. But before he can apologize, Logan attempts to push him into the lake. Dylan is the biggest of all the boys, so Logan’s efforts are futile, but it sparks a comical rage in Dylan, and the next thing you know, Dylan’s chasing him down the dock, and the other boys follow, cursing each other while laughing hysterically.

The girls and I take our time, lagging behind them.

“You’ll let us know if you need any help with the wedding planning, right?” Amanda asks.

“Of course.”

“And don’t pay for anyone to move or carry anything,” Lucy says. “That’s what all my brothers are for.”

“I don’t want to exploit them,” I laugh out. “And thank you for letting me have it here.”

“Please, we’re honored to host it.”

I look past Amanda next to me and toward Heidi. “You’ll fly home for it, right?”

“Girl, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“How long are you in town for?” Riley asks her.

“I haven’t booked a flight home yet, so…” she trails off.

Lucy says, “You should all come over in a couple of days once we’re settled into the new house. And you can give your presents to Katie in person. She would love that.”

“ I would love that,” Heidi says. “I was sad I didn’t get to see her.”

“You know you’re welcome to come over whenever.”

“Yeah?” Heidi asks.

“Heidi!” Lucy snaps. “You’re always welcome. You never need an invitation.”

“Okay.” Heidi smiles over at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lucy says, “It’s decided. Two days from now. Our new house. We’ll order takeout. Everyone come.” Her next words are for Heidi. “And I’ll make sure to invite Rooooman.”

“Holy shit, that was some kiss,” Amanda cracks.

“You’re telling me,” Heidi mumbles.

“So, you felt it, huh?” I ask. “Something substantial? ”

“Maybe,” Heidi admits. “Or maybe it was just sparks… and you know what happens with sparks? They fade.”

Before any of us can retort, Dylan yelling has us all freezing momentarily.

“Oh, no,” Riley sighs. “What did they do?”

Beside me, Lucy giggles. “Let’s just say the King of Mayhem has met his match.”

We hasten our steps, giggling at the curses being thrown around and the boys’ guffaws that accompany it. By the time we make it to the front of the cabin, Dylan is… Dylan.

Silent.

Deadly.

We all wait for the next move.

The next sound.

It doesn’t come from him, though.

It comes from Riley.

She busts out a laugh so loud and free that it makes us all do the same. “Babe!” She’s laughing so hard; tears form in her eyes. “You thought you were safe!” Her hand goes to her stomach. “How did this even happen?”

“Six brothers,” Cam informs, pointing to Lucy.

I move closer to Dylan’s truck to get a better look.

Since he opened his shop, he’s had a white decal on the side with his phone number and the company logo—Mayhem Motors and an image of tire marks behind the text. That decal is gone now, replaced with a bright pink one, similar design, only now it says, “Mayhem Male Escorts” with an image of a dildo instead of the tire marks. The phone number is the same. But that’s not even the best part. They didn’t just replace the one that was originally there. They applied smaller versions of it, at least a hundred of them, all over the truck.

Let me reiterate. These aren’t like bumper stickers. They’re decals, which means each separate letter has to be removed one by one.

It’s pure mayhem genius, and I can’t stop laughing. Neither can Jake, who sidles up behind me and wraps his arms around me. “So good,” he says.

“ So good,” I agree.

“How the fuck did they have time to do it without me noticing?” Dylan asks.

“We gave them the key to your truck. They drove it away and did it,” Cam tells him.

Dylan pats his pocket. “I’ve had my keys on me the whole time.”

“Not the spare key,” Roman retorts, smirking. “That one you keep at the shop.”

Dylan presses his lips together, nodding slowly. “Well, you’re fired.”

Roman chuckles.

“No, you’re not,” Riley assures.

“Babe!” Dylan argues, smacking the bed. “Have you seen the back?”

Riley makes her way to the back of the truck, and whatever she sees only makes her laugh harder. Amanda, Heidi and I join her, cracking up at the sight. Another decal, huge letters: Free Butt Plugs For All.

“Let’s go,” Dylan tells Riley, opening the passenger side door. “We need to speed home so no one sees it.”

“Relax,” Riley tells him. “You’ve done much worse to them. Or do you forget the time you electrocuted Logan?”

“He still has nightmares about it,” Amanda chimes in.

“Or that time you accidentally, yet actually , poisoned Jake.”

Jake groans.

“That was years ago,” Dylan defends.

“Or that time you set fire to Cameron’s balls.”

Dylan chuckles. “That was a good one.”

“Yeah, that was good,” Logan agrees.

“Fuck you,” Cam snaps at Logan, then glares at Dylan. “Fuck you.” He focuses on Jake. “Fuck you because you were there.” And then he points to Roman. “And fuck you because you’re laughing about it.”

Riley tells Dylan, “The only one you haven’t messed with is?—”

“Roman,” Dylan cuts in, rubbing his hands together gleefully. “You better count your days, buddy.”

Roman laughs. “I’ll mark them off on my calendar, buddy. ”

Riley starts to get in the car, but stops halfway to ask Heidi, “Are you all right to drive? We can give you a ride home.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best,” Heidi answers.

“I’ll give you a ride,” Roman tells her, throwing his arm around her shoulders. “It’s the least I can do for my wife .”

“Speaking of wife,” Cam says, looking around. “Where the fuck is mine?”

We all look behind us, where Lucy stands, looking up at the cabin.

“Babe?” Cam asks, walking toward her. We all follow him. “What’s wrong?”

“You guys,” Lucy says over her shoulder. “This is the last time we’ll all be here together like this.”

Cam hugs her from behind, and slowly, we form into a line. Us girls in the front, and our men behind us.

“It seemed so much bigger when we were sixteen,” Jake muses, his arms around my waist.

For minutes, we all just stare at the cabin, taking it in for everything it is. Memories flash through my mind… not just of the first time I was here, but all the times after. All the book clubs when we talked passionately about fictional characters. The summer days spent out on the lake, followed by summer nights eating pizza and watching High School Musical for the umpteenth time. The hours we spent here, as a group, waiting for them to bring home their daughter for the first time.

We’ve laughed and cried here.

Liked and loathed.

Celebrated and commiserated.

And we’ve loved.

God, have we loved.

Emotion clogs my airways as I recall all the moments we shared here.

The moments when we grew together… and fell apart the same way.

If I feel like this, I can’t even imagine how Lucy feels.

“It’s so much more than a cabin,” Heidi murmurs, echoing my thoughts.

“So much more than a home,” Amanda adds.

“It’s where friendships were formed…” Riley says.

“And where first loves were found…” Lucy sighs.

I take Jake’s hands, wrap his arms around me tighter. “And where family is forever.”

The End

A More Than Mayhem Wedding (A novella), coming mid-2025.