“She’s smarter than all of you fuckers.” I break free of Xaden’s hold at the sound of her voice. The moment I lock eyes with her, a sob tears out of me and I take off running. She opens her arms a second before I crash into her and hug her so tightly she grunts.
“Harper!” I cry.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
XADEN
The moment she took off running to the girl, the disagreement was put on the backburner as we all watched Toren lead the girl from the beach. Cas and I have been standing in the shadows of the parking lot watching her. Before Kellan intercepted her I had planned to because there was no way I was letting her drink from that punch bowl. The bowl might not be spiked but the cups they hand out all have GHB sprinkled inside them.
Somerset paints us in a bad light but the truth is, they are worse. At least when we come for you, we don’t hide behind money like they do. If you have enough of it, you can make any charges disappear.
“What are you doing here?” she asks her friend. The girl is clearly not from around here, she wears jeans that have holes through them and a band shirt that has been cut to expose her flat stomach. Her brown hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun thing. Her green eyes are filled with remorse as she looks at Toren. I narrow my eyes, why the fuck is she looking at her like that?
“I missed you.” Toren snorts out a laugh.
“Yeah, right. We should go before my brother comes and tries to strong arm me into going with him.”
“Baby girl, no one watches you harder than the man that lost you.”
Toren scrunches her face. “What?”
“I saw how the guy beside your brother was looking at you.”
“Kellan?” Hearing his name from her mouth has a growl tumbling from my lips. Cas shakes with quiet laughter beside me and it takes restraint on my part not to punch the fucker.
“Yep. I remember you telling me about him and, girl, the way he was watching you make out with that fucking fine piece of ass was like watching a toddler lose its favorite toy.”
Toren laughs and it’s the first time I have ever heard her laugh like that, no restraint just… joy. “Xaden would murder you for calling him a fine piece of ass.”
The friend just shrugs. “So, who is this Xaden and why didn’t you ever tell me about him?”
Toren nibbles on her bottom lip debating how to answer that question. “Honestly, Xaden is… He was someone I heard of and seen at my brother’s games but our paths never crossed until I came back and my dad dumped me at SU.”
“Wait, I thought that’s where you wanted to go?”
“I did, I wanted to go to Somerset with Mase, Kellan, Cas and… and…” She clamps her mouth closed and turns away from her friend. Having had enough of lurking in the shadows, I nudge Cas, indicating for him to follow as I head toward the girls. Toren is the first to spot me and when her eyes lock onto mine I can see apprehension and uncertainty. I know why she kissed me, she wanted to sayfuck youto her brother without uttering the words.
“Xaden,” she breathes my name out as I come to a stop in front of her. She cranes her neck back to hold my gaze.
“Oh, shit,” her friend mutters, drawing my attention to her but her gaze is laser focused on Caspian who is scowling at thegirl. “I get why you love this place so much,” she adds, causing Toren to chuckle.
“Harper, meet Caspian and Xaden.” Her friend beams and steps forward until she’s plastered against my friend, causing him to turn stiff.
“The pleasure is all mine,” she purrs suggestively. My brows skyrocket at her brazen move. I’ve known a lot of chicks in my life but this one, she is clearly a loose unit and has no boundaries.
How the fuck is she friends with Toren?
“Unless you want me to snap you in half, back the fuck up,” Cas snarls.
“This is going to be fun,” Harper mutters as she shoots him a wink, then takes half a step back, drawing a growl from Cas.
“Uh, so, we’re gonna walk back,” Toren mutters.
“You’re not walking anywhere.” She opens her mouth to protest so I push on. “Get in the car, Tink. We need to talk.” I add the last part as an afterthought.
“I can’t leave Harper,” she argues.
I grip her arm and drag her toward my car. “Cas will bring her home.” Toren calls out that she’ll see her friend soon. I say nothing as I click the key fob to unlock my car. Just as she reaches for the handle and I round the car, her brother calls out to her, forcing us both to freeze. The second he moves toward us, I snap my gaze to her, surprised to find her already looking at me. “You had a point to prove earlier, don’t back down.”
