Page 153 of Mad Love

I’d always liked history, so maybe it could be kind of fun to learn some of my own.

Suddenly, I groaned. “Shit. I guess at this point I should plan on repeating my senior year, huh?”

Ash grinned at me. “Nah. There was an earthquake, and while the school wasn’t damaged, people are already calling in with their excuses. The school board already said all finals will be done remotely over winter break.”

“And you were ahead in a lot of your classes,” Ryan chimed in, a note of praise in his voice. “You’ll be fine.”

“Or, if you fail, Ash can just give you whatever grade you want,” Linc finished with a smirk.

I flipped him off.

“What?” Linc looked confused around a mouthful of food, but Royal just shook his head before he looked at me with a bit more respect.

I straightened my shoulders and arched a brow, because fuck him if he thought I would be happy to coast by. I’d earned every single one of my good grades, and they meant something.

Ryan wrapped an arm around the back of my seat, almost unconsciously, as he kept eating with one hand.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked, looking around the group. It felt weird not to have something looming over my head.

Ryan shot me a look. “You’re resting.”

I wrinkled my nose and rolled my eyes. “I rested plenty.”

“Don’t argue with him,” Ash begged, shaking his head. “Just let him play Florence Nightingale and take care of you, okay? Otherwise he’ll be up our asses.”

“First, fuck off,” Ryan snapped, but there was little heat behind his words as he played with the ends of my hair. “And second, I’d make a fucking amazing nurse.”

I patted his leg. “You totally do, babe.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with me taking care of you last night.” His gaze heated. “Or this morning.”

Bishop choked on his juice as the other grinned. I felt my cheeks and ears heat as I ducked my chin.

Ash pushed away from the table. “Cool, so we’ll all just do our own thing and meet up when Court’s back, yeah?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he grabbed his coffee and took off. Within seconds, the others vanished as well.

I turned and arched a brow at Ryan. “You know how to clear a room.”

He smirked, angling his body to face mine. “Got you alone, didn’t I?” He leaned in and kissed me, tasting like coffee and bacon, and all I could do was give a happy little sigh because this? This was everything.

* * *

When Court showed up several hours later, he was all business, and if I hadn’t known he was on my side, I’d have probably headed for the barn. He definitely wasn’t a happy man, and I suspected it had everything to do with my best friend and the way she was icing him out of her life.

Spreading a few stacks of folders on the coffee table in the parlor, Court sat across from Ryan and I in a large armchair.

“The courts will be back up and running on Monday,” he started, jumping in headlong. “Linus and I set up a meeting first thing to have the restraining order vacated.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “L.A. just got hit by an earthquake, and they’re already reopening things?”

Court smirked a bit. “Yeah, it’s not our first quake, Maddie. Structurally, downtown is fine. The power grids and cell towers have all been restored, and we have a tiny window to get your shit handled before the courts close for the holidays.”

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. I definitely wanted this handled sooner rather than later. I’d like to go into the next year without worrying about Ryan being arrested for holding my hand in public.

“Any word on charges being filed?” Ryan asked the question casually, but my heart immediately slammed against my ribs.

“You’ll all need to go to the police station and make a formal statement, but when we compile it with the evidence of the shit he was having done to Maddie at Highwater and she makes her own statement, I can’t see the police pressing charges.” Court rolled his massive shoulders in a shrug that made it seem like this was just another day at the office.

“But Ryan shot Gary,” I murmured, shuddering at the memory.

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