Page 66 of Through the Storms

“Reed Timmer.” Oakley smirked as she sank into her seat and waited for Lana’s response.

CHAPTER 26

Tears streamed down Riley’sface, and she could barely catch her breath. Her stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Oakley, Asher, and Britt were in rare form as they celebrated the inaugural run of the Oakanator.

Luckily, the restaurant had put their party in a secluded room, or the other customers would be complaining about the raucous goings-on. The trio, Oakley, Asher, and Britt, sat at the end of the table, probably not the smartest seating arrangement since they had to talk loudly for the entire group to hear them. Riley and Chloe were fortunate to get seats in the middle, so they could follow all the conversations.

Riley could only imagine the adrenaline rush Oakley must have had after the historic run; being a witness was enough to keep Riley hyped for days. It had been exciting and terrifying watching the beefy car speeding into the storm. Thankfully, they’d not witnessed Oakley’s rollover since the storm hadobscured her, but Britt’s scream when they’d driven up on the crash would stay with Riley for months.

Chloe nudged Riley’s arm. Riley met Chloe’s watery gaze. If it were possible, Chloe had been laughing harder than Riley. Chloe pushed her half-eaten piece of cheesecake toward Riley. “I can’t eat another bite, or I might explode. Do you want anymore?”

“Hell, yeah. I’ll never turn down cheesecake. Besides, you owe me from the other night.” Riley grinned and pulled the dessert toward her. She grabbed the fork, loaded it with a large piece, and shoved it into her mouth.

Chloe reached out but then stopped and laughed. “I was going to take my fork off the plate and give you a clean one, but so much for that.”

“Do you have germs?” Riley said through her mouthful of cheesecake.

“I’m sure I have some kind of germs.”

Riley continued to happily chew. “I’m not afraid of your germs.”

“Obviously.” Chloe smiled. “You can take smaller bites. I’m not going to take it away.”

Riley swallowed and gave Chloe a smile. “One can never be too cautious when it comes to cheesecake. Especially since I didn’t say no takebacks.”

Chloe shook her head and laughed. “I’ll have to remember that. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we could invoke the no takeback rule?”

“Along with the do-over one?”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “Do-over?”

“Yeah, if something doesn’t work out the way you want it to, then you just call outdo-overand you get a second chance at it.”

“Doesn’t that only work until you’re five?”

“It works as long as you want it to.” Riley winked.

Another uproarious laugh coming from Oakley and Britt drew Riley’s attention. She’d missed what they’d said, but by the deep shade of red on Asher’s cheeks, she could only assume the joke was at his expense.

Asher waved at the waitress who was picking up the empty dessert plates. “When you get a minute,” he said to the waitress, “can I get another round for the table? On me.”

Britt and Oakley cheered, and the rest of the table joined them.

Riley leaned over to Chloe. “Blackmail or did he just lose another bet?”

“By the look on his face, I’d say blackmail.”

“I bet those three could tell some stories. The ones they’ve already shared have been priceless.”

Chloe smiled. “I can only imagine what it would be like doing this every day. Do you think it would get old? Boring?”

Riley took a moment to consider. “I’m not sure. They seem to still love it.”

Movement from the front of the room caught Riley’s attention. Her gaze landed on the beautiful brunette who’d walked into the room. She wore a pair of blue jeans with a tailored shirt that hugged her body.

Riley grabbed Chloe’s arm, leaned toward her, and whispered, “Look, it’s Lana Monroe.”

“What?”