Page 12 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Aspen

The next day

With my freshly packed bag, I make my way to class, but the students in the hallway are all bundling up together as if something is going on up ahead, and I want to know why.

Because if any shit is going down at Spine Ridge U, nine out of ten times it involves my family.

I wade through the crowd to the front of the line, and I gulp the second a stretcher passes by with a white cloth laid over an actual person, a bloodied finger still visible from underneath.

A ghastly cold washes over me.

Audible gasps erupt in the crowd as the body is carried out of the school.

“Oh my God, what happened?” someone asks.

“I don’t know,” someone else replies. “I heard someone found him tied up in the girls’ bathroom with his wrists slit.”

Holy shit.

“Make some room, please,” the dean barks at the students, and they all move out of the way. “Get back to your classes. Nothing to see.”

As the students attempt to disperse on his order, I move in the opposite direction until I finally reach the dean. I grab his arm to get his attention.

“What happened?”

“Not now,” Felix hisses under his breath.

“Was that guy who just got wheeled out murdered?”

He abruptly stops walking and stares at me with intent, and I swallow back the nerves.

“Come with me.”

I follow him up the stairs to his office on the third floor, and he shuts the door behind us.

“What did you hear?” he asks.

“A girl said his wrists were slit.” I suck in a breath. “Who was it?”

“Derrick Vanderbilt. His parents have already been notified.”

“Do you know who did it?” I ask.

“No, and I don’t want any rumors circulating about his death. Don’t say a word to anyone.”

Too late for that.

I rub my lips together. “Got it.”

He grabs a cigarette and lights it up while staring out the window. I rarely see him smoke, if ever. This must be bad. “This school already has enough problems with law enforcement as it is. I’m sure Foley will be very fucking pleased with this.”

“Foley?” I mutter.

Someone knocks on the door, and Felix grumbles, “Come in.”

“Hello, Rivera.” A guy with tousled dark brown hair and plenty of tattoos waltzes into his office. “Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise, Foley…” Felix groans as he sits down at his desk.

So this is Agent Foley?

“Another murder on these grounds …” The agent scoffs. “Too many if you ask me.”

“The investigation hasn’t even started yet. Don’t make assumptions,” Felix retorts.

“He was tied up and his wrists were slit,” Agent Foley says.

“Self-inflicted, maybe,” Felix answers.

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. No one ties themselves up in the girls’ bathroom.”

“You don’t know that.”

Agent Foley snorts but doesn’t reply.

“I promise you, we will do everything we can to take care of this mess,” Felix says. “And we will provide the parents with whatever they need.”

“I’m sure you will.” Agent Foley taps his foot. “I want a few extra eyes on this campus. Just in case.”

“Unnecessary.”

“It’s a priority with students dying,” he says. “And I don’t want anyone to rest until the killer is identified.”

“There is no killer,” Felix says sternly.

Who is this guy?

He glances at me, and I feel caught listening to a conversation I shouldn’t be present for.

“Shouldn’t you be in class? Why are you even here?”

“She’s family,” Felix answers as he leans back in his seat. “And we were talking before you came barging into my office.”

“Anything more important than the death of a student?” he says.

“None of your business.”

“Right …” Agent Foley’s eyes narrow. “You know, with the death of your daughter, I’d assumed you’d want to take more care in preventing any further deaths.”

Felix’s fingers dig into the leather chair so deeply that it leaves indents. “Do not bring my daughter into this. Her death was a tragic accident.” He swallows as if to contain the rage from coming out like a breath of fire. “And I do not appreciate you questioning my resolve.”

Agent Foley stares him down. “I want to interview every student who saw his body. Next week.”

“Fine.”

“And my agents will keep an eye on this campus.”

“From the gates, and not a step closer,” Felix says, narrowing his eyes.

Agent Foley’s nostrils flare. “Fine.”

The tension between them is palpable.

“There’s a killer on this campus, and I will bring them to justice. Mark my words, Rivera.”

A killer on this campus?

All the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

What if it’s my Ghost?

“Two deaths do not equal a murderer.” Felix stands. “Have a nice fucking day, Foley.”

Agent Foley places a bunch of papers on Felix’s desk and waltzes off without saying another word, slamming the door shut behind him.

Damn.

Spine Ridge U will likely be under tougher surveillance from now on.

“Who is that guy?” I mutter to myself.

“Atreus Foley.” Felix checks the papers that Agent Foley left on his desk. “Head of the police force in Crescent Vale City, and Jason Foley’s son.”

I shrug. “I have no idea who that is.”

“An asshole.” He throws the papers down. “And apparently, he’s infected his son with his hatred for the Riveras.” He glares at me with those sunken-in eyes of his. “Stay away from him at all costs. I don’t want to lose you too.”

Wow.

And here I was, thinking Felix Rivera could never, ever get scared.

Guess I was wrong.

Later that day

Every time I look out the window in the cafeteria, I swear there’s another mask.

But then it’s gone again the moment I blink.

I must be losing my mind.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but ever since Ghost entered my room at the Beta Pi Sorority, I haven’t felt safe.

Haven’t felt like myself.

Because all I can think of is the paper burning a hole in my bag, begging me to take his invitation.

I stare at my bag as I sit here with a half-eaten plate, wondering who gave it to me. Who was brazen enough to enter my room uninvited and leave that on my desk like some sort of gift. An invitation.

A wish to fulfill by a killer.

I swallow away the lump in my throat.

Who is this man, and what could he possibly gain by making Levi Torres … disappear?

THWACK!

The tray is slammed down so hard that it nearly cracks the table, making me jolt up and down.

“You looked lonely. Now you’re not.” Apollo winks.

“What the—” I frown. “I’m not lonely. I didn’t ask for you to sit down.”

“Oh, you don’t have to ask me anything, Freckles. I make this sacrifice out of my own free will.” His smug grin makes me want to throw my food at his face.

My brow twitches. “ Sacrifice ?”

The audacity.

And to think I couldn’t take my eyes off him and those pumped-up muscles just weeks ago.

He spins his spaghetti around his fork. “You don’t look exactly inviting, you know?”

“No shit, maybe it’s because I wanna be left alone.”

So I can plot a murder on his cousin.

“Same. Let’s be alone together.” He brings the fork to his mouth and actually eats the whole plate, the whole goddamn spaghetti mound, in one bite.

Jesus Christ.

I take a sip of my ice water to cleanse my eyes. I mean stomach. I mean body.

When he swallows, he asks, “Where’s your boyfriend?”

I nearly choke on a piece of ice. “ Boyfriend ?”

“I’ve seen you hanging around with that skinny white-haired dude … so who is he?”

“None of your business.” I fold my arms. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend?” he quips, that same smirk still on his face.

I lean back in my seat. “Oh, I’m sorry, I mean harem .”

He takes a sip of his bubble tea and points over his shoulder without even looking. I follow his finger only to find twelve or more girls gossiping in the corner of the cafeteria, while staring at me like they want to poke my eyes out for even daring to look at their man.

“Wow,” I mutter, unimpressed.

“What can I say? I’m a lady’s man. And ladies flock to muscle.” He shrugs and then winks again. “Comes with the territory of being as handsome as me.”

My eyes nearly roll into the back of my skull. “Oh my God.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in any of them, they’re just for practice,” he says, stealing the kiwi from my plate, only to slurp it out in front of me. “Practice for pleasing the woman I actually want.”

Holy shit, he did not just say that.

I grab my food tray.

“Don’t get up.” He eyes me, and I pause. “They’ll kill you if you walk away now.”

I frown. “Why?”

“Because you talked to me.”

“You sat down at my table!” I scoff.

“To escape them,” he says. “And this table doesn’t have your name on it. But I can definitely see us making this our table.” He licks his lips.

“You really are insufferable, you know that, right?” I reply.

“Only for you, Freckles,” he retorts, taking another lick of his kiwi in a suggestive manner. “Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?”

“With my friends,” I reply.

“I can be your friend,” he says, finishing his—my—kiwi by chucking it back onto my plate. “And you definitely want me to be your friend.” His eyes rise underneath those dark eyelashes, and the sudden shift in the air doesn’t go unnoticed. “Instead of your enemy.”

I swallow. That was definitely a threat.

“Anyway, just think about it.” He grabs the napkin and wipes his mouth. “You know where to find me.”

He gets up and waltzes off, each of his steps reverberating through the floor, right into my bones.

“And where’s that?” I retort.

He glances over his shoulder, sporting that same devilish smirk from before. “Wherever you are.”