“You’re only just figuring this out now?”
“She has her days,” I said dryly, telling him all about the audio system in it and how I’d been racing it at the track lately.
I couldn’t wait for him to come back home so he could see it for himself.
Riley
I watched Ryder and Luna as they talked on the patio, Ryder’s face lighting up as she showed him something on her phone. My guess was her car because she’d been dying to show him.
I understood why Blake wasn’t worried about Ander straying, because as I watched my brother laugh with my girl, I found no jealousy rising inside of me like I normally did. I knew she loved me, and I treated her like a queen.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
It had been weird at home lately. Ander had been getting uncomfortable with being called Turbo, probably because it reminded him of the street racing and everything bad that had happened, so he was just Ander now.
I fucked up all the time out of habit, but it was getting easier.
He spent a lot of time at my place with Blake and Kate, and as much as my parents still didn’t like him around, they’d stopped voicing their hate for him.
Little steps, I guess.
Mom had a house available, and with a lot of help from her, Blake was about to move in there with her sister. It was close to home, so once Mom had argued with the assholes at the foster agency for weeks, they’d finally allowed Blake to become her guardian.
It probably helped that Blake was studying college online now to try and get herself a good job, thanks to Mom paying for it. Blake refused at first, but she eventually broke down and thanked her repetitively, knowing it would change both her and Kate’s life.
Marla was also leaving this week thanks to graduating high school, leaving us all behind to chase her dream at Harvard. Luckily, Mom had spoken to Ryder’s counselor and they’d helped us tell him because there was no way in hell we could keep her moving away a secret.
I didn’t think he understood that it was unlikely we’d see her again.
I quickly replied to a text message from Angel who was driving me insane about some party she was going to later that night. I told her we’d go to shut her up, but now she just kept talking about it.
I was pretty sure she was missing Ryder because he put up with her shit way more than I did when she got like this. I didn’t care about partying much now. I preferred to stay home with Luna or hang out with Ander and the others.
I walked outside, sitting in a chair beside Luna with a grin. “You two out here talking shit about me?”
“Obviously,” Ryder winked. “She was just telling me you guys passed another year of college. How the fuck did you manage that?”
We’d been warned not to talk about school because it was a bit of a sore spot for him. With all the time he’d missed, he couldn’t pass, meaning he was going to have to repeat next year to finish. He’d hate that, considering Beckett, Maddox, and Jett were all finished now.
Next year was the first full year of being Bloody Psychos members for both Beckett and Maddox too, so they’d be out on jobs more often. At least Jett would probably have more time for Ryder with the other two being so busy.
“I definitely bribed my professors to pass me.” I shrugged, making him laugh.
“I’m not even surprised.”
“Mikey and Poppy are coming to see you next week,” I said cheerfully, swiftly changing the subject. “Mikey heard you’ve got a pool table here, so practice while you can.”
“Yeah, Angel was here three days ago and said they were stopping by soon. I swear I’ve seen more of you guys in the past two weeks than I do when I’m at home.” He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
“Well, don’t think about staying any longer than necessary, because I need you to come home so you can watch those god-awful movies with Luna. I’ve watched way too much TV lately and it’s killing me,” I complained, making her roll her eyes.
“She’s being dramatic. She’s hardly had to watch any because I just have movie nights with Cruz and Drake.”
“The Night Thieves?” he asked with surprise, and I pulled my phone out to show him photos of all three of them painting each other's nails, and one photo of Cruz braiding Luna’s hair.
“See what I have to put up with?” I scoffed, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Looks to me like you get to palm off the girly stuff, and just get the sex stuff. I officially hate you because no one could get a girlfriend and manage that.”