Page 27 of Intertwined Souls

“No,” she sighs and runs a hand through her hair just as Ryker approaches us. “I don’t care about that. I really don’t. I can’t judge you for things you’ve done before. But that doesn’t mean I like her or the way she looks at you or how she treated Lex. Or how obsessive she was over you and Ryker when I was here last time.” She scoffs. “That, and trying to ice out Grayson. I have fucking issues, but it isn’t with you. It’s with—”

“Cayden,” a voice purrs from behind me. A hand lands on my arm as Steph steps up in between Ryker and me.

I tense up as Ryker chuckles quietly while trying to cover it up.

“I see your friend is back.” Steph’s lips curl up in disgust as she looks Harley up and down. Her head tilts the side slightly. “Did you have to go back to kindergarten to learn how to talk?” she asks mockingly.

Harley, who seemed to be attempting to keep herself calm, was leaning back against the lockers with her fists clenched by her sides. But as she watches Steph place her hand on me and open her big fucking mouth, Harley can’t seem to hold back any longer.

Faster than any of us can intervene, Harley grips Steph’s wrist and wrenches her hand away from my arm before spinning her around and shoving her up against the lockers. When Steph’s head bounces off the locker behind her, she lets out a cry that is quickly cut off by Harley’s fingers wrapping around her throat.

“Harley—” Grayson starts hesitantly but Ryker lets out another chuckle and shakes his head. Whispering quietly, Grayson says, “Ry, we can’t let her do anything here or really at all.”

“It’s fine, Gray. Let her do her thing or the rage will just keep growing,” Ryker responds with a casual shrug.

We glance back at Harley in time to see her leaning close to Steph’s ear and whispering quietly. Steph tenses, and her face pales while silent tears drip down her cheeks. The second Harley pulls back and releases her throat, Steph steps away from her and shoots us all a worried look before dashing away.

Ryker steps up to Harley, tossing his arm around her shoulders. “Do tell, little flame, what did you say to make her give us that little terrified look?” he asks while grinning down at Harley, his eyes shining with pride.

Harley relaxes against him. “I just let her know very nicely what would happen the next time she messes with anyone I care about.”

I bite back the grin that attempts to take over my face as pride bubbles inside of me. My girl is fucking amazing.

Ryker wants to ask more, but before he can, the bell rings making us late for class, so we quickly gather our things and head off.

(Section Break)

We all meet in the cafeteria for lunch and find a quiet table in the corner to sit at. Harley sits on my right with Ryker and Grayson across from us.

After a moment, she waves to someone and gestures for them to come towards us. Lex approaches cautiously.

“Sit with us.” Harley grins at her.

“Okay,” she says and plops down next to Harley.

Lex and Harley continue talking, and the more they do, the more Lex seems to get comfortable—even seeming okay when Ryker jumps into their conversation about classes.

The entire time we have been sitting at our table for lunch, Steph has been watching us, more specifically me, from across the room. She tries to be subtle, but she is failing. But after that warning from Harley earlier…

Making an irritated sound in the back of her throat, Harley shoots to her feet and grabs my hand, pulling softly to get me to stand up too.

“Harley, what are you doing?” Grayson asks hesitantly.

“She obviously didn’t take my warning to heart, so now it’s time to try a different approach,” she growls

“And what might that approach be?” Ryker drawls with a gleam in his eyes as he watches Harley start to pull me away from the table.

She smirks over her shoulder as we pass Ry. “Staking my claim.”

The cafeteria has a long buffet-style setup along the wall by the entrance and then tables spread out in rows throughout the room. On the back wall is the kitchen entrance, cleaning station, and a short hallway that leads to the bathrooms, which happens to be where the table Steph and her minions are sitting.

Harley pulls me down the short hall and opens the girls’ bathroom door, popping her head in first and then yanking me inside and locking the door behind me.

Smirking, I lean against the bathroom counter and cross my arms over my chest while watching her. “What’s the plan, baby girl?”

Her cheeks stain red as she slowly approaches me. “Like I told Ryker, I’m staking my claim.”

Uncrossing my arms, I lean forward, bringing us nose to nose. “And how do you plan on doing that?” I say huskily.

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