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Her face flushed red at what I was hinting at, but Archer glared at me. “Watch it. I allow you two to hang out so much because you’re friends, but don’t think for a second I won’t change the rules if it becomes more than that. Ask Stanley how much fun my rules are.”

“I love your rules. I think you give that boy too much leeway,” I tsked, ignoring the dirty look from Luna as Archer laughed lightly.

“He’s not that bad.”

“He fucks your daughter, you know?” I stated as the corner of my mouth quirked up, and Luna let out a sound of horror.

“Riley!”

“What? I’m just reminding him.” I shrugged, knowing she’d be pissed at me for that. Archer knew what she got up to, but he hated the thought of his baby girl being touched by anyone. He’d grounded her for months when he found out she’d lost her virginity.

He took a deep breath, making sure not to shoot me right here in the driveway. “I appreciate your concern, Riley. Might I remind you that you’re not exactly the virgin Mary.”

“Me? Oh, I’m aware. I didn’t get these skills from YouTube tutorials.” I laughed, amusement flickering in his eyes despite the grumpy look on his face.

“Get to school. Both of you.”

I gave Luna a little wave, chuckling to myself as she flipped me off and stalked inside. She’d be fine by the time we got to school.

Luna

I was still in a mood by the time I arrived at school, and Riley rolled her eyes as I walked right past her. She didn’t chase me, she never did. She knew I’d always go crawling back to her once I’d stopped being angry, then we’d act as if nothing happened.

“Riley again?” Beckett asked as she fell into step beside me, Maddox and Jett nowhere in sight. I wasn’t that close with Beckett, but she always told me to give Riley shit for being a bitch. She was the reason I’d left the track a couple of weeks ago after fighting with Riley and jumped into bed with Stanley. She knew it would get under Riley’s skin, and I had to admit, I’d enjoyed it.

“She reminded my dad this morning about the fact I have sex. She basically yelled it across our front yard,” I replied dryly, gripping my textbooks tighter against my chest. “And she keeps giving me shit about Stan.”

“She’s protective of you. It can be a gift and a curse at the same time,” she replied with a hum. “Want me to tell her to back off?”

“It’s fine.” I sighed. “It’s my fault for letting her get away with it.”

“Hey, fuck that. It’s her fault,” Beckett growled, giving me a stern look. “She’s the one being a bitch. She can’t keep talking shit about your man and not expect you to get upset about it.”

“Either way, I’ll deal with it.” I didn’t bother saying I’d see her later as we parted ways. She lived at Jett’s house with him and Maddox, so we didn’t make a habit of stumbling into each other.

I got to my lecture class early, so I ran my eyes over some notes while waiting for the professor to arrive. Education was important to me, which was another thing Riley and I didn’t have in common.

We honestly shouldn’t have worked statistically as friends, because we were complete opposites. I was quiet, I rarely cursed, and I preferred a night at home instead of going out. Riley, on the other hand, was ridiculously social and despite preferring to observe a situation than dive into the chaos like Beckett, that didn’t mean she was quiet.

I’d witnessed her lose her shit plenty of times, but it took a lot to make her snap.

She was also extremely crude and very confident with her sex life and body.

Riley never showed up before our class was over, and I couldn’t find her at lunchtime either.

I headed out to the parking lot to look for her car, finding it gone. That wasn’t unusual, she bailed all the time on classes.

Everyone knew she’d pass regardless. No one wanted to fail one of Rory Donovan’s kids, and I was pretty sure Rory paid a lot of money every year to ensure it didn’t happen.

I wandered to the cafeteria, giving up on my search for her, and sat beside Landon. “Hey.”

He glanced up from his sandwich, giving me a warm smile. “Hey. Where’s Riley?”

“Beats me,” I replied with a one-armed shrug. “I won’t be at the track tonight. Dad’s making me stay home.”

“Are you and Riley fighting again?” he asked lightly, not falling for my change of subject. His blue eyes burned into me, and I grumbled as I told him about my morning. He was a really good friend of both mine and Riley’s, and he always helped us get over our petty arguments.

His eyes gleamed with humor once I’d finished explaining everything, and I lightly smacked the back of my hand against his arm with annoyance. “It’s not funny.”