“I didn’t do anything,” he replied lightly, giving me a wink. “But, you’re welcome.”
“I want you to have some of it,” I said quickly, and he assessed me for a moment before shaking his head.
“I didn’t do it to get a payout, Hendricks. I could hack into anything in the world and pull money if I wanted to. You deserve nice stuff, and I only have rich friends so I had to cheat a little and make you rich too. We’re officially besties now, you know?” he joked, ruffling my hair.
“You’re weird,” I huffed as I swatted his hand away, making him laugh.
“You fuckers wouldn’t like me if I wasn’t.” He gave me another wink before walking towards the others, bumping fists with Riley on his way towards Beckett. I watched them all interacting, and couldn’t help but remember when our circle was a lot smaller.
Beckett didn’t speak to anyone outside of her family, Riley would either be hanging out with me and Landon or off getting laid, Maddox was either glued to Beckett or some girl, and none of these other people would’ve dared hang out in our spot.
My heart ached that Ryder wasn’t with us, but I knew the moment I could visit him, I would. He might’ve scared me the last time we hung out, but he was trying to do the right thing now. I respected him for that.
Riley dropped her arms around my shoulders, pressing her front to mine as she placed a quick kiss on my lips. “Hey, you want to be my passenger?”
“You’re racing?”
“Blake’s almost here. Ander’s racing Logan, so I’ll race Blake,” she explained, frowning when I shook my head. “Why not?”
I smirked, my arms snaking around her so I could grab her butt. “I want to race.”
“You haven’t raced in ages.”
“That’s because I usually just come with you,” I pointed out. “But I’ve got a flashy new car that my hot girlfriend gave me, so I want to take it for a spin.”
She chuckled, burying her face in my neck. “You race Blake and I’ll be your passenger then. I know how she races, so I can give you pointers. Are you sure you can even drive that fast without freaking out? After the way you flipped out at me last time, I’d say you can’t handle it anymore.”
“That was different and you know it. A track with good lighting, rules, and safety measures in place is nothing like that death race shit you pulled. You were speeding along pitch-black roads and narrowly missing parked cars and the other racers. That wasn’t fun at all.” I scowled. “And I already know that Blake will beat me, there’s no avoiding it.” I didn’t care, I wasn’t as competitive as the others, I just enjoyed the race itself.
“I’ll teach you all my tricks,” she offered, pulling back but keeping her arms around me. “Hey, Turbo. Your girl’s going to race Luna instead.”
Ander looked at us with surprise, his eyes landing on mine. “You race?”
My face heated at the attention, but I nodded. “I do it for fun sometimes on the track, unlike you psychopaths. I want to see what my new car can do.”
“If I knew you raced, I would’ve challenged you instead,” he teased, knowing Logan was walking towards us.
“Hey! No one’s taking this race from me! Where’s my car then, asshole? You and me, right now. You’re not getting out of it,” Logan exclaimed loudly, and Ander smirked as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “Here.”
Logan frowned. “Is it a gift or a loan?”
“I’ll decide after the race. Maybe if you win, you can keep it,” Ander said slyly as he started walking towards a burnt orange Roadrunner that was parked close by. “It’s not as fancy as some of the cars here, but I have a feeling you appreciate having wheels, no matter the price tag.”
“No takesies backsies!” Logan hollered as he ran towards the car, climbing behind the wheel and shutting himself inside as if Ander would try to stop him. It had two thick, black stripes down the hood, and it had a hardtop, unlike the few convertible ones I’d seen over the years.
“You got him a ‘69 model?” Riley asked dryly. “Just wait for all the pickup lines he uses to get girls in that.”
“It might have been on purpose,” Ander admitted with a grin as Logan started the engine, letting it roar to life. “It could do with a little bit of work with the interior, but it’s in really good condition and the motor runs perfectly.”
“You’re a softie.” I chuckled, his eyes narrowing on me.
“Don’t ruin my street rep or I’ll make sure Blake kicks your ass out there.”
As if on cue, Blake arrived, parking beside us and climbing out with a cigarette hanging from her lips. “Sorry I’m late, I was with Kate.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ander said dismissively, surprising me as he tugged her against his chest and kissed the hell out of her. I knew they had something going on, but seeing it was weird.
“Stop distracting her,” Riley grumbled. “Blake, you’re racing my girl tonight.”