Page 21 of Healing Souls

I add, “I think Harley showing up is throwing him off. Especially after the crap he pulled with Steph a few days ago. I hope that doesn’t continue.”

“I hope not too,” Gray says quietly. I glance over at him and then pause, grabbing his arm to stop him too.

“Hey, you know that just because he let Steph hang off him doesn’t mean anything against you, right? You’re Cade’s brother. He would put you above her. I know those bitches have been annoying over the years with trying to separate you from our group, but that won’t ever happen. You know that, right?”

Gray nods but doesn’t quite look like he believes me. I sigh and let go of his arm to head down the stairs to the basement. As soon as we reach the bottom, we’re met by the sound of someone’s fists hitting a speed bag repeatedly with ‘Demons’ by Luchaplaying through a speaker we have set up in the gym.

We walk into the room and find Cade going at it, shirtless with sweat dripping down him. He’s been down here for a while, and he’s ragged.

Without saying a word, I walk over to the wall we keep equipment on and grab some hand wraps, quickly putting them on. Then I head over to the center mat we have in here that we use to spar and let out a loud whistle.

Cade snaps his head in my direction, not even realizing that Gray and I had come in here.

Gray takes a seat on one of the benches and watches as Cade comes over with a glare on his face.Oh, caveman needs a fight.I bounce on my toes and shift into a fighting stance as the song changes to ‘Ready To Die’ by Lucha. Cade charges right for me, not even bothering with words.

This isn’t the first time we’ve gone at it, and it likely won’t be the last. I know he’s fighting some inner demons. He needs help to diminish them, and I’m always up for a good fight.

Grayson

Ryker grins when Cade goes to clock him right in the face, but he is quick on his feet and easily dodges it. Ry spins behind Cade, twisting his arm while kicking out his knees so he drops and falls forward almost face planting if it wasn’t for his other free arm.

“Getting slow, caveman,” Ryker taunts him with a sly grin.

Cade growls and flips them so Ryker is on his back, and Cade is on top of him. Then starts throwing blows at Ryker’s gut. He definitely isn’t using all of his strength, but I can imagine they still hurt. Well, to other people, like me, who don’t have as much muscle built up.

I can spar and hold my own, and Cade and Ry have both trained me in boxing. I work out with them occasionally, but I don’t have an obsession with it like they do. I am not a fan of fighting and would prefer to just not do it at all. But I know they both need this, so I sit back and watch, making sure things don’t get out of hand.

They have taken it too far before. Luckily, Noah and I were around to stop them before it got even worse, but both of them ended up with broken bones. They use fighting as a release for the things they’ve been through in their childhoods, so I get it.

I also know that something is going on with Cade that he isn’t fully telling us, so maybe this will help him open up to us.

But I am proven wrong when Ry taunts Cade one too many times and Cade gets him pinned down in a headlock and growls, “Why aren’t you with your girlfriend?”

Ry grunts and taps his arm, prompting Cade to release him. They both sit up on the mats. Ry glares at him.

“Why aren’t you visiting her?” he asks with an eyebrow raise.

Cade scoffs but says nothing, getting up and unwrapping his hands. If anything, Ry hates it when people go silent on him the most. It makes him overthink and lets his dad’s voice snake into his head. So sometimes it puts the two of them at odds because one is the silent, broody type and the other isn’t.

Ryker stands and starts walking out of the gym towards where an extra bathroom is down here. He grumbles, “I’m going to rinse off before we go back to Rage’s house.”

I wait until he’s in the bathroom and the water is running before standing and walking over to where Cade is chugging down water. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on with you anytime soon?”

Instead of responding, he just grabs another bottle and starts downing it.

I cross my arms. “Alright, well, then how about I tell you what I see? I see you distancing yourself from us. At first, when we met Harley, you were fine. You even talked more than you normally would. But then she left, and you had to watch Ryker slowly lose it. Which made you realize you weren’t the only one who had feelings for Harley. Am I on the right track?”

He raises a brow at me, and there’s a slight twitch to his lip, causing me to grin.

I retort, “What? Do you think you’re the only one allowed to observe people? Not that I need to do a lot of that with you. You’re my brother, Cade. I know you.”

I watch as he looks down at the water bottle in his hand, his face contemplative. I am a few inches shorter than him, so I can clearly see him begin to war with himself.

He shrugs. “It’s easier if I just stay away. Ryker needs her. He deserves someone in his life.”

I scoff, “And you don’t?”

His eyes narrow on me. “No. I don’t. And I wouldn’t ever fight Ryker and risk losing a brother over a girl.”

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