Page 35 of Battered Moves

“We’ll get you something disgustingly unhealthy, like a burger swimming in grease,” I mutter to myself, but I hear a laugh from behind me.

I turn to see River and Ryder grinning at me, while Chris comes up and puts her arm around my shoulders.

“You’re my kind of girl,” she says with a laugh, and I smile, but the movement hurts my head.

“We know just the place, baby. River, do you want to drive with her or with me?” Ryder asks.

“Back off, Casanova. I haven’t seen my BFF in far too long. You guys can take your rusty car,” Chris interjects, taking my hand and starting to pull me towards my car, but I resist her. Instead, I turn to Ryder with a big smile, forgetting about my headache.

“Your car is fixed?” I ask. He steps closer to me and kisses my nose.

“Yes, I got it back yesterday morning, good as new,” he replies. River coughs, and Chris chuckles.

“If by new you mean ready for the scrap heap,” she says.

“At least it won’t break down again on the side of the road,” Ryder says with a huff.

“What a pity,” I tease, giving him a playful look, and his eyes fill with heat.

“Uh-uh, you guys are gross,” Chris interrupts, pulling me again, and this time, I let her.

Ryder drives in front of us, River riding with him, and I just follow them.

“I missed you, you know,” Chris starts.

“I missed you too, but we did workout last week together,” I say, smiling at her.

“Yeah, but that was like a week ago, and we couldn’t talk much because Ryder was there too,” she says. “Next time, don’t be such a drama queen when one of them fucks up, and I’m telling you, they will fuck up. You just come to me, and we’ll go drinking or do a girls’ weekend at a spa or some shit.” I laugh and reach for Chris’ hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go.

“You know, for someone studying psychology, you’re not very good with emotional stuff,” I tease, andshe nods in agreement.

“I know, right? Maybe I should drop out,” she says, and I chuckle.

“Stop it,” I say.

“I could be a great stripper, but I don’t want creepy men leering at me. Maybe I’ll ask Jaxon to open a women’s only strip club for me and call it Lady Lust Lounge,” she says.

“You might want to work on the name a bit, or else girls will come in, thinking it’s a male strip club, and find you,” I say, chuckling again.

“I could definitely convince them to stay, though,” she says, andI smile at her before taking the turn Ryder just did.

“You sure would. I think your stripper name should be Diamond Diva,” I say.

“Huh, I like that. Yours would be Temptation Tango,” she says, and I burst out laughing.

“God, that was just bad,” I say.

* * *

We enter a diner that looks like it’s straight out of the sixties. Ryder holds the door open for us and pinches my ass as I walk past him. I scowl at him, but he just grins. We sit in a booth, with me squeezed between River and Ryder, and both of them place a hand on my knee.The waitress comes to our table, bringing us each a laminated menu, and I look over the options.

“If you want greasy, you should take the cheeseburger. It’s so good,”River says in my ear. I smile up at him, and he looks at me affectionately before pecking my lips.

“Could you guys stop with the smooching? I don’t want to lose my appetite,” Chris says, her eyes on her own menu, and I chuckle.

“How are things going with your classmate?” I ask her. Ryder and River turn their heads to her in sync, seemingly surprised by this information, and I bite my lip.Fuck, I shouldn’t have mentioned anything in front of them.Except Chris just smiles at me.

“Good. I asked for her number and she gave it to me. We’re texting,” she says, and I let out a shriek of excitement.

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