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Stanley used to always hold her hand and say gag-worthy cute shit to her, but she was acting like she was starved of it. I’d give her so much attention that she’d forget his fucking name if that was what it took.

Besides, she deserved it. If he wasn’t giving her those things, he could choke on a dick.

“Did your dad say anything about the video?” I asked when she stayed quiet, her body tensing. I knew she wouldn’t happily climb into my lap in public and make out, especially if her family wasn’t okay with it.

Luna having a relationship with a woman wasn’t going to be a problem. Though Archer would hate his little girl getting on her back forme. He didn’t hate me, he simply didn’t want me to hurt her like he assumed I would.

She leaned back, moving from my hold to look at the floor. “He texted me and said he wanted to talk when I got home, but that’s it. I haven’t been home yet.”

I sighed, raking my fingers through my tangled, blonde hair. “You know your sexuality isn’t a problem for them, right? Are you avoiding facing him because you’re worried?”

“I’m straight,” she threw back sharply. “I’m not gay. I don’t know what this is, but…”

“Hey, we don’t have to label it. You like me and you like guys. That’s fine,” I replied patiently, knowing she was going to storm off before her eyes even narrowed on me.

“They don’t need to know about this. I’m still with Stanley.”

“Do you regret it?” I asked, not hiding the bite in my tone as I became defensive, but she shook her head and turned towards the door, speaking over her shoulder.

“I don’t, but I cheated on Stanley with you. I don’t want it being public knowledge. I need to figure myself out, okay? Let me do that. This is what I was worried about because there’s no way you won’t get hurt in all of this.”

I didn’t bother replying as she left the room and shut the door gently behind her. I slid my back down the wall, sat on the ground, and closed my eyes for a moment. I wasn’t going to allow myself to get upset, not when I knew this was going to be an uphill battle for a while.

I’d told her to just have fun with me and not to worry about my feelings, so I couldn’t be angry with her for running home to her boyfriend.

The only person responsible for me getting hurt right now was me.

The door opened, but I knew it wasn’t her. I always knew when she was watching me. The air changed when she was close, and I didn’t feel her eyes on me.

Mom slid down the wall beside me, nudging my leg with hers. “You want to talk about it?”

“It’s too early for this shit.” I chuckled weakly, rubbing my hands over my face before looking at her. I expected her to be frustrated with me since she’d been warning me away from Luna for years, but instead, she looked concerned. “I didn’t push her into anything.”

“It’s lunchtime. You missed Blake’s visit with Kate too.” She held out a tattooed arm, and I leaned into her to get comfortable. “And I didn’t say you pushed her. I wasn’t even sure if Ryder was telling the truth or joking until you just confirmed it. You care about her and that’s what worries me. Did she break up with Stan?” I snorted, making her groan. “Really, Riley? She’s in a relationship and you decided to mess around with her?”

“It wasn’t like that,” I mumbled, glancing up as someone walked into the room.

Caden looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, I don’t mean to interrupt, but…”

“Out, Rich Boy,” Mom said bluntly, his eyebrow rising with amusement. She’d called him that since they’d met in high school, even though she ended up being richer than him.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, out,” she repeated, and I couldn’t help but smirk. Mom loved all my dads, but I was the apple of her eye. She’d happily throw them out when we were having girl time. Probably because Beckett and Marla didn’t want one-on-one time with her like I did.

I loved spending time with her.

“Rage is in the office,” he said as she went to tell him to fuck off like I knew she would, and I did well not to tense. If he’d invited himself over, it wasn’t going to be good. He was probably there to tell everyone my car had been seen racing through Stoneleigh.

I was so fucked.

“Angry Man can go home, call me, then plan a time to meet if he has something to talk about.” She scowled, but I sat up and got to my feet, holding a hand out for her.

“It’s okay. I should make sure Luna got home okay.”

She frowned, giving me a weird look. “She’s in the kitchen with Jett and Cruz. I didn’t know Cruz knew her.”

“He doesn’t. They met one time,” I blurted out before pulling her to her feet and darting from the room. I wasn’t going to hang around if they were going to talk about me illegally street racing after they’d specifically told me not to.