Page 68 of Fractured Souls

I feel things I have never felt before when it comes to Harley. But I can’t act on them. If somehow or some way she does come back here, or Ryker finds a way to find her and get her in his life, I have to find a way to lose the feelings I have. I don’t really believe we will ever see her again. I think she is long gone. But that doesn’t stop her perfect face from popping up in my mind. All the goddamn time.

I slam my fist into the punching bag harder and harder. I hate myself for today. But I can’t get her out of my head. I needed a distraction. Steph is always up our asses wanting to be around us. It's easy to just let her be my distraction…

There is just one big problem. The whole time I was in the classroom with her letting her go down on me, a certain redhead was on my mind. Fuck!

I push myself to my limits after I finish on the bag. I work out hard, to the point where my muscles will feel the burn for days after. I still feel disgusting for letting her even touch me today. But I can’t keep letting Harley in my mind because either I’ll end up like Ryker, obsessed and this need to hunt her down, or she'll come back, and I'll become a jealous, possessive asshole and destroy my relationship with my brothers when I know Ryker is in love with her.

I can’t do that to my brothers. I won't. So I have to just keep doing anything and everything until I feel nothing for a tiny redhead that slammed her way into my mind without even knowing it.

I run back upstairs from the gym in the basement and whistle for Bear, my dog. He comes running out of the kitchen, of course. The dog never stops eating. We head outside and take off for a long run that will hopefully help clear my head more.

I just wish I knew my willpower was going to be put to the test much sooner than I thought.

* * *

Ryker

We find Noah in the office he usually uses, and he waves us in. “Gray, go ahead and head to Nerds’s tech room. He thinks he got a lead on something and could use the help.”

He looks at me, a question in his eyes, and I nod. “Go, I will fill him in.” He nods in return and takes off.

“What's going on?” Noah asks.

I tell him what Lex said this morning. “Alright, let's go find Rage and then see if Nerds still has that mic I planted working. It should pick up on anything from the front door area.”

“Alright, but before we go, I need to ask something.”

Noah stops walking and turns toward me. “What's up?” he asks hesitantly, almost appearing shocked that I am talking more, but I guess after barely talking even to Noah for those weeks after being in the cell, that makes sense.

“Have you noticed anything different with Cade lately?”

Noah nods. “Yeah, but I just thought his weird behavior was because you weren't talking, and you know he gets worried about his brothers.” He shrugs.

“Yeah, but he talked to me this morning. Like a lot. He helped me clear my head and said more than I think he ever has. And then when we got to school, you know that bitch Steph we’ve told you about?” He nods. “Well, Cade went off with her and let her get him off.”

Noah looks taken back but then just shakes his head. “Maybe he’s just ready to get out there more. The club sluts are off limits to you guys, so maybe he’s trying at school. I wouldn’t think too much about it. Let’s go figure out this Wilson shit.”

I nod and follow him. Noah knows us all well, but at the same time, he doesn't. So I don’t know if he truly just thinks it's no big deal or if he's worried and trying to play it off so I don’t freak out.

We find Rage and Sugar at the bar in the common room, and they follow us to Nerds’s tech room. Nerds and Gray are already sucked into what they are doing. Nerds just nods and mumbles, “Ask Gray.” The dude looks like a hot mess; he must have some lead to get this out of it.

Gray finds the audio files and starts going through them. Eventually he finds it and we listen to it. We’ve had someone always going through the audio to see what is going on, but it hasn’t given us anything since we put it up besides normal conversations. They didn’t even talk about Harley leaving which we found odd.

The doorbell rings. “I'll get it!” Richard says. “Can I help you?”

“Umm… yeah, I am a friend of Harley’s. She has been gone for a while, and I just wanted to check in on her. Some boys from school knew her but won't tell me anything.”

“And who are these boys?” a new voice says: Tammy.

“Um, some boys who belong to the gang on the other side of town,” Lex replies.

“The MC?” Tammy asks.

“I think so, ma’am.”

“Hmmm, well then, those boys are the reason she isn't here. She had to leave because of things they did. They are bad company.”

“Oh yes, I know they are bad company. I even tried to warn Harley about that. But can I check on her? Or go see her?”

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