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"Noooo! It's mine!"
Rhea's heavy rings made an ominous click against the energy drink can as she curled her fingers around it, turning so she blocked Liv. "Oops. Too late." She held the can up and grinned. "Besides, this one is orange. Shouldn't you be looking for one that changes your tongue some weird colour, like blue?"
Liv whirled on AJ Styles, who had been in Exasperated Uncle mode ever since they left the arena. "You know she's just taking it because she knows I want it!"
Pushing hair out of his face, AJ shrugged and headed for the coffee bar. "It's a free country, Liv. If she wants to drink the same flavour of toxic sludge...." He looked past her through the glass doors. "There's lots of other flavours. Just get a different one."
"But the orange is my favourite." Liv wasn't quite whining yet, but she was seriously considering it. The crowd at the house show had been flat and now they had a long drive ahead, and all she wanted was her favourite orange drink—the same one Rhea was tossing idly from hand to hand as she chatted with Damian Priest while he poured his slush.
"So either ask her for it or get the clerk to check if there's more in the back." AJ glanced back towards the counter, where the cashier was busy chatting with a friend. "You'd probably have better luck asking Rhea, from the looks of it."
Rhea must have heard her name, because she hurried over to the counter and paid for all her snacks, including Liv's coveted energy drink. "Mine now," Rhea declared, waggling her fingers in that infuriating little wave she did to dismiss people. Then the corner of her mouth twitched. "But I suppose I could share...."
AJ nudged Liv towards Rhea. "There you go! Problem solved!"
"But I'm riding with you!" Liv protested. Now that she was an honorary member of the Bullet Club, she was trying to learn as much from AJ and Finn as she could, and the long drives with them were invaluable. Finn wasn't with them that night because of a family matter, but AJ was still a fun road partner, if a bit curmudgeonly at times. "And all my bags are in your car."
AJ pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Priest, please. Help me out here. Would you trade spots with Liv so she's not complaining about her drink for the next two hours?"
Damian glanced over at Rhea and grinned. "I don't know. Rip, you think you can put up with her for two hours?"
Rhea gave a small shrug. "I'll manage. Not like I haven't done it before. If there's another gas station on the way, I can always stop there and we can switch back."
"Excellent. It's settled then." AJ grabbed his coffee cup, wincing a bit at the heat, and plucked a few random snacks from the front display before setting everything on the counter. He hated stopping when they were on the road, but so far no one had recognized them. "Priest, put your stuff down. My treat."
Damian raised his eyebrows and gave Rhea a fist bump. "Score." After setting his slush down, he grabbed a few extra items. "Gimme the keys and I'll go get our bags switched over. I know we could leave it until we get to the hotel, but just in case something happens and we get separated, there's no way I'm fitting into any of Liv's clothes."
"That's too bad," Rhea teased. "You look good in mesh."
Rolling his eyes, AJ shoved the keys at Damian. "Sure, sure. Let's just hurry it up, okay? I want to talk to my kids before they go to bed, and it looks like there's a storm rolling in, so we need to get on the road again."
"I'll go help," Rhea offered, swinging her bag back and forth. "Don't forget your candy, Liv."
Liv glared at Rhea's back before grabbing a few bags of Skittles. "I'm surprised she left any of these," she muttered as AJ paid for his haul.
"It's only a drink, Liv. She's just trying to get under your skin." Then AJ paused, stepping out of the way to give her room to set her candy down. "Are you going to be okay riding with her? I'm sure there's another gas station on the way—"
"Heading west?" the clerk asked. It was the first time she had deigned to speak to any of them. "Next station is over an hour away."
Sighing, Liv ran back to the refrigerators and grabbed another energy drink for good measure. "I'll be fine, AJ. Go ahead. I'll be right out." By the time she had paid and left the store, the others had already finished swapping her and Damian's bags, and Damian was comically adjusting AJ's passenger seat to accommodate his much longer legs. "Thank you, Damian."
The tall man gave her a hint of a smile. "It's all good. Won't hurt me to sit under the learning tree of the old man for a couple hours."
"Old man?" AJ set his coffee cup in the holder and set the bag of snacks on the passenger seat. "I'm only five years older than you, Priest!"
"You're from a whole different decade, man. Another generation." Damian grinned at the girls as he opened the passenger door. "Drive safe, ladies. Call if you need us."
"Old man!" AJ was still muttering as he got in the driver's seat and started the engine.
Rhea lounged in the driver's seat for a moment, waving at AJ as he pulled out of the gas station parking lot. Then she handed the energy drink over to Liv. "You're welcome," she grinned. "I had to stash the others behind the milk jugs so AJ wouldn't see them."
Liv quickly opened it and took a gulp before setting it in the cup holder. "You know, we could just tell people we're together. It's not like they'd care."
"I know. But I like messing with them. Besides, you know what Vince is like with kayfabe." When she was sure AJ and Damian were far enough down the road, she leaned across the console and kissed Liv, grimacing a bit as she pulled back. "At least it tastes better than the blue."
Liv giggled as she nestled back in her seat. "Does that mean I don't have to share?"
"Not that. Maybe the Skittles, though." Rhea glanced over at Liv's bag as they pulled out of the gas station. Damian knew about them and could keep AJ distracted to a certain degree, but if they fell too far behind, she knew AJ would call to check in. "What flavour did you get?"
"Your favourite, of course." Liv ripped open a bag and poured some out into her palm, holding it out for Rhea.
Traffic was light, so Rhea dipped her head quickly and ate up the candies, letting her tongue linger across Liv's palm. "A close second."