Page 13 of Intertwined Souls

I can feel how hard he is under me, and it takes everything in me not to rub against him. Grayson groans softly against my lips as his hands inch their way under my shirt, caressing me softly. God, I needed this. Maybe we both did.

The door flings open right as his hand reaches the bottom of my breast. “Okay, I’ve been patient enough—holy shit, that is not what I was expecting to see.” A door slams, and I turn my head to look at Ryker, who now leans against the closed bathroom door. “Don’t stop on my account. Give me a show.”

Grayson groans and drops his forehead against my chest, wrapping his arms around my back under my shirt. “Ryker. Stop,” he pleads.

Ryker innocently raises his hands. “Okay, okay. We can continue later.” He shoots me a wink. “There is an audience outside the door, though, so you guys should probably not keep going in here.” He smirks.

Grayson lifts his head, and I glance back at him. “Are you ready to go out there?” I ask softly, running my fingers through his shaggy hair.

Ryker comes over and squats next to us. “Lincoln said that if you’d like him to leave for now, he will. No one is going to force you to face this. We understand that this is new and brings up a lot of shit from the past.” His face softens as he watches Grayson intently, looking for any signs of hesitation.

Grayson stares back at him before glancing at me. “You’ll stay with me?” His eyes swing back to Ryker. “Both of you?” he presses.

“Always,” I respond with a fierce nod.

Ryker pinches Grayson’s chin between his thumb and pointer finger, “You don’t even have to ask.”

Grayson’s cheeks turn a light shade of red, and I can’t help but wonder what feelings lie there. Whatever there may be between them, they both have it shoved so far down. But I’m honestly curious about what could happen if those feelings were drawn to the surface.

Or what fun we could get up to… Shaking that insane thought away, I stand up from Grayson’s lap, moving back to give them space.

Ryker rises and sticks out a hand for Gray to take. He grips it, and Ry pulls him to his feet.

“Ready?” he asks both Gray and I. We nod and leave the bathroom.

Chapter Four

Grayson

Is it weird to grow so attached to someone you haven’t actually known that long? I mean, Ryker is, well, Ryker. It’s kind of his normal to become attached super fast.

But it’s not my normal. Being more on the shy end, it makes it harder to get close to people.

Then there’s Harley… She’s perfect in every way. Every day she is unknowingly working her way into my heart.

And now, we sit in the main room, with Ryker and Harley on either side of me on one couch, while Brielle, Lincoln, and Rage are on the couch directly across from us.

The only thing in between us is a coffee table. Well, that and Noah. He hovers on the side of the coffee table, not being able to sit still. His arms are crossed, and he looks concerned. His hand is twitching like he wants to twirl his knife but is holding back with visitors here.

All I really want to do right now though is take Harley’s hand and go upstairs and hide away with her. Even Ryker and Cade. Just the four of us.

My people. I just want to be with them when my mind is a mess and things aren’t as clear right now.

Lincoln sits directly across from me, his elbows resting on his knees as he runs a hand through his shaggy brown hair, keeping his eyes downcast.

It’s the same way my brother would sit when he had a lot on his mind or was stressed. Which was often since he was always dealing with my dad and whatever he did for work. I know I need to say something, but I don’t really know what to say.

After we came out of the bathroom, Rage had us all come in here and sit down. No one has said anything yet. Well, until now.

“Alright, I know you’re here because of Harley, and you’ve been in her life for months now, but what is it you want with Grayson? You know he is here now; did you ever look for him? Earlier, you claimed you knew about him, but yet after his brother died, you didn’t show up. At all. We didn’t even know you existed,” Noah rants while pacing on the side of the couches.

As soon as he finishes talking, he stops and locks eyes with Lincoln, who is now watching Noah. Crossing his arms, he raises a brow.

“You may be his cousin, but I have cared for him for years now, and that doesn’t stop now just because you show up,” Noah snapped.

The only other person who has cared this deeply for me was my brother. Noah is like another brother to me. When I first came here, I struggled with feeling like Noah was replacing him, but Noah made it clear he could never do that. That he was just a bonus sibling for me now.

“After Liam died, I got in contact with your mom, Helen. The biggest issue was my dad and your dad Grayson,”—he looks over at me—“didn’t get along. There is a long history of issues between them. So Liam and I got close when we were really little and our moms were friendly with each other. But then our dads had a huge falling out and we moved away to Virginia.

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