I gave him a bright smile, not letting him know I was onto him. “If you’re sure, I’d love to go to the track.”
“Sounds good.” He smiled back, placing his hand on my knee for the rest of the drive.
I checked my phone to see if Riley had messaged me, but she hadn’t. I hadn’t seen or heard from her since she’d left me sitting in the lecture hall.
I pushed thoughts of her aside as we got home, and I quickly had a shower and applied some mascara to make my eyes pop before pulling on a bright yellow sundress and leaving my dark brown hair to fall around my shoulders.
I hesitated when I realized I didn’t have a car, so I decided to call Ryder, knowing he’d be at the track. He answered after the second ring, his teasing voice relaxing me.
“Hey, Luney. Please tell me this is a booty call.”
“No, but I was wondering if you were going to the track? Stan’s having friends over so I thought I’d come hang out and watch you guys race or something,” I replied lightly, my stomach sinking at his answer.
“I don’t think any of us are going there tonight.”
“Oh. That’s okay then, I guess.”
“If you want to hang out though, there’s a party happening. Angel’s hosting it, so you can crash the night,” he offered. “Riley’s coming.”
“Sounds like fun. Can you come and get me by any chance?”
“Of course. I’ll be ready in about an hour, if that’s cool? Where are you?”
I didn’t want him pulling up here, or Stanley would get annoyed. He wasn’t a fan of Ryder any more than he was Riley.
“I’ll meet you at the gas station on the main road when you’re ready?”
“Sure thing. I’ll text you when I’m leaving,” he confirmed before we said goodbye and hung up.
I wasn’t sure if Riley would even want me there since she hadn’t gotten a hold of me, but I could hang out with Ryder if that was the case. Beckett would probably let me hang out with her too if she was there and I was alone.
Stanley didn’t question me when I left five minutes later, and I hid around the side of the house to watch as people arrived. Sure enough, almost an hour later, I peeked through the window to see him and one of his friends railing some girl on the couch, my heart sinking.
I never understood why people stayed in a relationship when they were abused or cheated on, but part of me didn’t want to walk away. I was weak, and I’d loved Stanley since the moment we’d met. Walking away from him would hurt me, even though I was hurting anyway.
Seeing it with my own eyes made resentment form in the pit of my stomach. I always made excuses for him like he was drunk, but this proved he didn’t love me.
I didn’t want to face it, so I turned away from the window and shoved it aside to deal with later.
Ryder messaged me to say he was on the way, and I scrambled to make sure I was at the gas station in time, my hair a tangled mess from the breeze as I ran. My sandals made it hard to run in, but I managed to get there with two minutes to spare, Ryder’s red Challenger pulling in shortly after.
I climbed into the passenger seat, surprised to find Jett sitting in the back. “Uh, hey.”
“Hey,” Jett grumbled, making Ryder smirk.
“Don’t mind him. He’s mad I made him sit in the back so you could have the front. Gotta look after my favorite girl, right?”
My face heated, and I glanced out the window to avoid his gaze. “I’m not your anything, Ry.”
“I’m only playing with you.” He chuckled, putting his foot down to propel the car forward, my fingers digging into the leather seat to balance myself. “Put your seat belt on.”
“Thank you. For picking me up,” I murmured, his striking, green eyes glancing at me as I secured my seat belt.
“I’ve been hearing some shit about your boyfriend. Is he hurting you?”
“What? Of course he’s not. Who’s saying things about him?” I demanded, making him sigh.
“It’s probably just kids at school causing trouble. You know how they love to gossip.”