Gold Rush

Chapter Thirteen

“Why is he riding with us?” Rian muttered, glancing at Colton out of the corner of his eye.

            I glanced at Colton as well, seeing him trying to throw Chloe over his shoulder. She hit him a few times, trying to fend him off. A small smile crossed my face when I noticed Luke frowning at the two from a few feet away. “Because Luke wants to ride with Brendon, so we’re switching,” I finally answered Rian.

            “Why can’t Colton just ride with Brendon and Luke?”

            “Because Colton wants to ride with us, Rian. And Chloe is going with Luke and Brendon anyway. It will about even out the cars.”

            Rian still didn’t look happy. “But—”

            “Are you jealous of him or something, Rian?” I teased.

            “No!” he denied immediately, glaring at me. “I’m not jealous! You overuse that word!”

            Shrugging, I turned back to the car, opening the driver’s side. “Well if you didn’t act like it, I wouldn’t assume.”

            “I’m not!”

            I turned to Rian, smiling pleasantly at him. “Don’t worry. Colton hits on every girl.”

            He gave me a frustrated look. “I’m not worried—”

            “You can sit in front if you want.”

            Rian quickly shut his mouth, cutting off his retort. A surprise expression flitted across his face and he stared at me blankly. Clearing my throat, I looked away from him. I couldn’t face him if he had that cute expression on. Wait. Cute? Shaking my head, I quickly slid into the car. I really needed to stop thinking.

            Rian stumbled around to the other side of the car, slipping into the passenger’s seat. I honked the horn as a warning for the others to get in. Noah was the first one in, sitting behind me. “How come Rian gets to sit in front again?” he complained, sitting as far up in his seat as possible.

            Rian turned to him, a smug smile on his face. “Because Iris likes me the most.”

            “No I don’t!” I protested, a little too vehemently. Both Rian and Noah gave me curious looks. “I was… I was just trying to make him feel better because he was jealous of Colton.”

            Noah grinned. “Is that so?”

            “I’m not jealous, Iris!”

            “That’s harsh, dude,” Noah commented, giving Rian a disapproving look. “Even I’m jealous because it’s Iris.”

            Rian looked uncomfortable. “It’s not that…”

            “Hey!” Colton greeted, climbing into the seat behind Rian. “Which mall are we going to again?”

            “The big one,” I responded distractedly. Rian still had that strange expression on his face.

            “Oh, the one with that pretzel store? Awesome.”

            Noah kicked the back of my seat. “Stop staring at Rian and let’s go.”

            I twisted my head around to scowl at Noah before shifting the car into drive. Brendon drove up behind me, honking his horn. Making a face, I pulled out onto the street. Were all men this impatient?