Page 107 of The Devils They Are

Everyone freezes. I quickly find Arch, annoyed to see him blocked from us by two giant footballers who must have followed us out of the auditorium. They don't appear to have touched him though, so they can live… for now.

"But Rylan!" Liv whines. "They started it."

At the mention of his name, I snap my head in his direction. Rylan towers over Liv, still clutching her wrist tightly. He locks eyes with me, lips twitching slightly.

"Bullshit," Soph interjects. "You tried to attack me."

Rylan cocks an eyebrow at Liv, who immediately starts stuttering pathetically. "It's not like that."

"You tried to lay a hand on Tai's sister?" he asks darkly.

I guess that explains why Soph and Rylan were always immune to each other. Friendships go a long way—never mess with someone's twin.

"No…"

"Yep!" I cut her off, folding my arms. "She sure did."

Liv glares at me. If looks could kill, I'd be dead three times over. She scowls at the smirk on my face, and to be fair, I should have seen it coming.

"No wonder your father left you and your mother died. I wouldn't want you either."

"Olivia!" Rylan snaps loudly, but I barely hear him.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" I ask quietly, stepping toward her.

She rips her wrist out of Rylan's grip, wiggling her fingers like she's about to claw my eyes out. "You heard me. We all heard what happened to your mother."

Sophia quickly steps in front of me, staring daggers at the head cheerleader. "Back the fuck off. Now."

"Why are you even wasting your time with this loser, Sophia?" Liv scoffs. "You're supposed to be better than that. Tai—"

"Keep my brother's name out of your dick sucking mouth!"

I find Rylan's gaze again, his baby blues watching me closely, silently trying to calm me down.

This is the mother of all self-controls. I want nothing more than to pound her face into the floor. No one speaks ill of my family. It's been less than a week since I buried Mom, and I'm not about to let someone who's destined to peak in school talk about her like that.

But despite my body shaking with rage, I know the moment I lay a hand on her again, she's going to go running to Dean Lannister. I'm surprised he hasn't appeared from the auditorium with all the commotion. It will be an immediate expulsion. Her bruises will fade but my future and graduation will be ruined forever. She'll have won.

Soph's words come back to me, an idea flashing to mind.

If Liv is going to hurt me where it hurts… then I'm going to do it right back to her.

Pushing Soph gently out of the way, I watch as Liv stiffens, prepared for me to come at her. But at the last second, I step to the side, brushing my chest against Rylan's. Snaking my hand to the nape of his neck, I tug him forward, pressing my lips to his.

The fallout is instant.

All the gasps are still no match for the banshee scream that comes from Liv, the sound ricocheting around the hall.

Behind me, I hear Soph's stunned gasp before saying, "Well, fuck. I didn't see that coming."

To my relief, Rylan kisses me back while casually placing a hand on my waist. It's short-lived though, as Liv shoves us apart, rounding on Rylan.

"What thehellare you doing?!" she demands, voice cracking. Tears well up in her eyes, like she can emotionally blackmail him into providing the perfect answer.

He glances down at her, unfazed. "Kissing?"

For once, Liv is rendered speechless. Her eyes shoot over to me, shock, anger and embarrassment registering all over her face. A single tear manages to spill before she hastily turns around and takes off down the hall before everyone can see her crying. Sierra quickly follows, calling out her name.

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