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Particularly the part where I liked her heated core against me and wanted to pull her shorts to the side to shove my fingers inside her.

We ate breakfast silently too, and Mom gave us a frown from across the table as she sipped her coffee. “What’s going on with you two? You’re acting weird.”

Luna tensed, making Mom’s suspicions worse, but I shrugged. “Nothing. I’m just tired as fuck.”

She hummed, telling me she didn’t believe me, but she wasn’t going to pry. “Remember to be home for dinner. Kate will be here and your friend would probably feel more comfortable coming to see her if you’re home too.”

“I planned on it,” I grumbled, getting to my feet. “Come on, Lou. Let’s get going before we’re late.”

“Thank you for letting me stay, Rory.” Luna smiled sweetly at Mom, making her roll her eyes.

“I don’t know how Hendricks ended up with such a polite kid. You know you’re welcome anytime. Whether Riley’s here or not.”

“I know,” she replied, thanking her again before following me outside to her car.

I went to get in the passenger seat, but she cringed. “I’m going to stop by Stan’s this morning.”

“Why? Need to erase the gay off you after sleeping next to me all night?” I asked hotly, her face falling. I wasn’t usually so sensitive about it, but lately, it was getting hard to keep my emotions to myself. I wanted to control the words coming from my mouth, but I couldn’t stop them.

“It’s not like that,” she said as her forehead creased and she bit her lip nervously.

“Whatever. I’ll see you later when you don’t feel so dirty.” Avoiding her gaze, I took off towards the garage, fishing my keys from my pocket. I climbed into my Corvette and put the window down so I could have a cigarette, leaving the engine off so I could have a moment of silence to calm down. I knew she wasn’t into me and that it freaked her out when we got too close, but the longer I kept my feelings to myself, the more frustrated I was getting.

She’d never return my feelings.

I rested my elbow on the open window, leaning my cheek against my fist as I smoked, trying to calm my mood. I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, but I knew she’d probably run for the fucking hills, and losing her would kill me.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I took a drag of my cigarette, not bothering to look up at the sound of Diesel’s voice.

“Not particularly.”

“I have a job to do in Stoneleigh. You want to skip your lectures today and come with me?” he offered, making me frown. I finally met his gaze, not hiding my confusion.

“What job? And Mom will kill me if I don’t go. I need to be home for dinner too.”

He grinned, his voice low. “She can’t kill you if she doesn’t know, and you’ll be home for dinner. I need to see Rage and Sniper about something. So, how about it? You want to spend the day with your old man?”

I couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at my lips. “You’re hardly old, Dad.”

“No? You’re older than your mother was when I met her. So you make me feelreallyold,” he teased, taking my keys from me. “And I’m going gray, so I can’t deny it anymore. Jump in the Escalade.”

“Why are we taking that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, but he gave me a serious look as he opened the door for me.

“Because it’s got bulletproof windows.”

“But it’s Rage’s territory. Why would anyone risk shooting at us there?”

He sighed, locking my car as I climbed out with my bat, and followed me across the massive garage to unlock the black Escalade. “A lot of people don’t like that Rage has both a crew and an MC for starters. Some of their rivals might target us. The MC Chapter in Stoneleigh have had some problems lately, which is why the Kings’ crew has joined forces with them. We also like to be careful just in case the Kings decide to turn on us. Can’t be too careful in this life, you know that.”

I knew to keep a gun within reaching distance when on the road as a precaution, and all of our cars had one stashed. Most of my parents had multiples in their cars in case war broke out. I’d had to take shots at people once or twice in my whole life, so I knew to always be prepared for the unexpected.

I thought the bulletproof glass was a bit much though, especially since I knew for a fact the Escalade had no less than three guns hidden inside it.

We pulled out of the garage, and I checked my phone as a text came through as we hit the road.

Mom: Tell D I’ll castrate him if you’re late for dinner. Love you both.