Page 40 of Intertwined Souls

“Don’t be sorry, it’s okay. But let us help. Talk to us,” he says gently as his lips brush against my forehead.

I shake my head against his chest. “No. Not right now. I need—I need to work it out of my system. It feels like bees buzzing under my skin, like I need violence.”

The second the words are out of my mouth, I realize that I really just said that out loud. That I need violence. I pull back from Ryker, but when I try to step back, I collide with someone’s chest.

“We know the feeling, baby girl,” Cade rumbles in my ear. “After all the shit we’ve been through from such a young age, it isn’t abnormal for us to crave it.”

“It’s just how you use it that matters. We’ve both used it in negative ways before, but now we all have each other and can lean on each other. So, what do you want? Want to box? Spar? Run?” Ry asks, cocking his head.

“Box,” I sigh, already feeling lighter with just having them with me and reminding me I'm not alone. We start gloving up, and I realize Grayson isn’t down here with us like he usually is. “Where’s Gray?”

“Nerds asked him to help with tech shit, so he’s been in the tech room since early this morning,” Ry explains.

Nodding, I follow him to the mats in the center of the room, and we get into position. “Don’t go easy on me,” I demand.

Ryker smirks. “Alright, my little flame. Bring it.”

He is lean and bounces around on his toes, ready to move much faster than you would expect him too. He gets tired of waiting and comes at me with a jab, but as soon as his arm is outstretched, I jump to the side of him and hit him with a body shot right to the side.

He grunts and stumbles slightly. Spinning to face me again, he gets a gleam in his eyes and doesn’t hold anything back.

We trade blows, both giving and taking hard hits. By the time we break, we are both grinning and dripping in sweat. Placing my gloved hands on my hips, I focus on taking deep breaths to calm my heartrate down.

When I glance at Ryker, I notice him getting Cade’s attention, who had been running through his own routine while we were busy. Cade nods at him and walks over to the wall where all the equipment pieces are stored. He wraps his hands and then puts on gloves and walks to the mat where I am with Ryker.

Glancing between the two of them, I raise a brow. “What’s this?”

Ry shrugs. “You said not to take it easy on you. Let’s see how well you can hold up against the both of us.”

Fuck.

Ryker

"This really isn't fair,” Harley grumbles, but she gets into her fighting stance anyway.

Smirking, I don't bother responding. I just bend low and dive for her. Harley jerks and sends her gloved fist straight into my side, causing me to grunt.

Before she can make another move, Cade quickly kicks her legs out from under her. Harley lands flat on her back.

"Again, not fucking fair,” she groans, not even trying to get back up.

We've been going at her for almost an hour now. Based on the heaving of her chest as she lays unmoving on the mat, I think we've finally worn her out.

Cade pulls off his boxing gloves and picks her up from under her arms, helping her stand. "And if, when, shit goes down. it won't be fair then either, baby girl.”

“We just want to make sure you’re fully prepared for anything that can happen,” I tack on.

We all hope that nothing is going to happen to any of us, but with the shit we’re looking into? It’s a real possibility. Over the last several months, Nerds has been keeping track of everywhere people go. There hasn’t been a lot of overlap, but there are a few places that multiple people seem to frequent.

"We should probably get our school shit done before Bri and the guys visit so we can actually spend time with them," Harley sighs, wiping a sheen of sweat from her forehead.

Furrowing my brows, I follow her off the mats to where she puts her gloves away and unwraps her hands. “Are you not excited for them to visit?”

Harley turns around to face me, and I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her close. “No, I am. We haven’t seen Bri and the guys in a while because of her work schedule, but we have nothing new, Ry. I know Gabe is just trying to keep us all safe, but we’ve been taking things so fucking slowly that it makes me wonder if we will ever find a way to deal with Tammy or shut down the shit she’s running.”

Kissing her forehead, I pull her against me, and she rests her forehead against my chest. “I get it. I have never been one to be patient,” I murmur, and Cade snorts next to me. I lift a hand to flip him off. “But Rage has been making sure we are all prepared for anything to happen. This is drawing shit up from before he was president here, and I know none of us know much about how bad things were, but from what I can gather, this wasn’t a safe place to be.

“Rage’s dad was one of the worst and let awful things happen here. Those same people who used to come around here could be tied up in this with Tammy. Fuck, Harley, David took you way too fucking easily, and that sent Rage on a warpath. He didn’t just take out his revenge for your mom on David; part of that was for you, too.”

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