Page 19 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Levi

I plant my toes on the edge of the swimming pool and look at the water beneath, the calmness of it in such stark fucking contrast to the violence drowning my soul.

I pull down my swimmer goggles and brace myself, when a sudden tap on my shoulder pulls me out of my jump.

What in the fu—

A knife slithers right underneath my chin.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move.”

I frown as I turn around to look at Aspen Caruso, completely taken aback by her sudden invasion of my life when I’ve long banned her from mine.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t do this,” she hisses.

There are none.

I snort. “Kill me then. I have no objections.”

Her face contorts. “You motherfu—Do you even fucking care?”

My face is emotionless as I say, “No.” I lean into the knife. “So kill me and get it over with. Quickly. Before anyone sees you holding that goddamn knife.”

Her hand begins to quake.

“You can’t do it, can you?” I whisper, narrowing my eyes. “Aw … poor Aspen.”

She growls out loud, like she’s mad at herself, and it’s almost cute, if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s trying to kill me.

“If you’re not going to kill me, then at least get out of my way,” I deadpan.

“We need to talk. In private,” she says, like that’s going to do her any good.

“I’m busy,” I growl. “Trying to forget you exist.”

Her eyes briefly widen, and I swallow away the pang in my stomach.

“We’re gonna talk. Now. Or I’m going to shove this knife into your neck.”

An unintentional laugh escapes my throat. “Good luck with that.” I grab her arms with both hands, pushing her away from the edge of the pool. “I told you not to fucking talk to me. Ever again.”

“I know, asshole, but it’s important,” she retorts, getting so close up in my face I can almost taste the hatred seeping out of her pores.

And for some reason, I still can’t seem to stop focusing on the wet droplets of sweat forming on her freckled forehead.

Another freckle appeared after the last time I saw her.

Another one added to the list of freckles I will never look at again.

If only she would stop trying to talk to me.

“Your cousin is stalking me,” she hisses through her teeth.

My whole body tightens.

“What?”

“Apollo,” she whispers.

“I know who my fucking cousin is,” I grumble, and I grab her arm and drag her back with me toward the dressing room.

“Wait, where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere quiet,” I say, as I push her in and slam the door shut behind me. “Somewhere the whole swimming team won’t see you threatening me with a knife while accusing my family of stalking.”

“I wouldn’t bring it up if it wasn’t true.” She folds her arms.

I shove her against the door. “That’s a pretty serious accusation. Care to back it up?”

She sucks in a breath. “I found these after someone threw them at my window.” She pulls some pebbles from her pocket and shows them to me.

I snort. “Some pebbles? That’s it?” I roll my eyes.

“They’re from the cemetery where Mavis is buried.”

“Oddly fucking specific, Firefly.”

She narrows her eyes in a way that makes all the freckles on her nose move, and I would almost say it’s kind of endearing if I weren’t supposed to make her hate me. “ Firefly ? You haven’t called me that since—”

I clear my throat. “Whatever. Get to the point.”

“Someone broke into my house and planted a letter. Then stalked me at the bonfire.”

“And?”

She leans in and hisses, “You heard what he said when I walked into you in the hallway. Apollo mentioned the bonfire, asked if I’d seen anyone.”

My nostrils flare. She cannot be fucking serious right now. “That’s it? That’s your proof?”

“Did you hear me?” she reiterates. “I’m being stalked. Don’t you care even a little bit?”

I snort. “When did you think I stopped caring, Aspen? Was it before or after your family accused me of killing your sister?”

She grimaces. “You admitted it.”

“I did what I had to do.”

“Really? Killing my sister?” Her voice fluctuates in tone as her emotions become more and more unhinged. “That’s what you had to do? Just like you just had to stick your fingers where they didn’t belong?”

I lean in even closer until I can feel her inching back from the mere idea of touching me. “And you liked every second of that, admit it.”

SMACK!

Her hand lands on my cheek, and it only registers after my skin begins to burn.

“Fuck you, Levi.”

I grip her throat and shove her against the door, leaning in to whisper into her ear, “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Me, fucking you up, showing you how bad you could be for me. You think you know what it’s like to hate? You know nothing.”

I squeeze hard enough to cut off the blood to her brain until she begins to scratch at my fingers.

“I have never, ever, hated anything more with violent passion than laying eyes on you. You think I played with you because I want you? No, I want you to despise me, Aspen. I want you to quake with fear when you hear my fucking voice.” My tongue dips out to lick the rim of her ear.

“But I can show you every inch of this villain’s greed, little Firefly.

” I swipe my index finger along her slit, reminding it who it truly belongs to.

“I could easily squash you like a bug. All you have to do is keep getting in my fucking way.”

She punches me in the stomach, but I feel nothing.

Nothing hurts anymore .

When a strangled whimper leaves her mouth, I release her from my grip, and she coughs as I step away.

“You … fucking… monster,” she says between breaths.

Good. Just like that, Aspen. Hate me. You can do it. Hate me with everything you have so it won’t kill you too.

“Be careful, Firefly.” I put my goggles back on. “Don’t taunt the monster. Regrets always come too late.” Then I jump into the pool so that I don’t have to hear her fucking scream.

Aspen

I storm through Spine Ridge University’s aged wooden hallways, whisking by the giant paintings with haste, the tapping of my own shoes on the floor turning me more insane with every passing second.

If Levi fucking Torres won’t even listen to me, then I’ll take matters into my own hands.

I march out the huge doors and onto the pavement, briefly waving back at friends having a chat near the fountain, before I head straight to the Phantom Society house.

The ghastly look of this place spikes my adrenaline. It’s like an old-school Victorian castle, but I still knock on the door a few times and wait until someone finally opens up.

“Yes?” Talon says, casually running his fingers over his short, curly black hair.

“I need to speak to Apollo.” I push past him before he can stop me.

“What the—wait a sec!” he yells as I run up one of the many old wooden stairs, briefly peeking into the big hall with the huge glass dome in the ceiling, where people are setting up tables and chairs. Strange.

I storm through the dark hallways lined with paintings, passing by all the statues and rooms until I find the one that belongs to Apollo. It’s obvious because his name is plastered in gold from left to right like he owns the goddamn door too.

I rattle the doorknob, but of course it’s locked.

I slam my fist onto the door. “Open up, Apollo! I know you’re in there!”

It takes too long for the door to finally open, and I’m nearly prepared to punch the face showing up, when I realize it’s actually a woman.

What the—

“It’s a girl,” the woman says, giggling. “Did you want to make it a foursome?”

“A what now?” I mutter, my brow raised in confusion.

“Come in, darling,” the woman says, throwing her long pink hair over her shoulder. “I’m fine with sharing as long as you are.”

Sharing … what ?

I step inside, and the weight of my own mortification comes down on me so hard it feels as though I’m sinking through the hardwood flooring. Because Apollo Torres is sitting in a deep marble floor-bath, bare-ass naked.

Oh my God.

A ripple of embarrassment overcomes me as he spreads his thick, muscular arms wide on the edge, tattoos shimmering in the light reflecting from the water, and my God, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect specimen of a man.

If it wasn’t for the fact that another woman is right across from him.

His penetrating gray eyes bore into mine. “Freckles, what a nice surprise. We were just about to start …”

My eyes widen. “What the f—”

My words are interrupted as the pink-haired woman leads me farther and shuts the door.

She pulls off my bag and throws it aside, then peels off my jacket and places her hands on my shoulders, slipping them underneath my spaghetti bands.

“Apollo!” I scream.

“Game’s over,” he says, and the woman abruptly pauses in trying to undress me.

I swat her hands away.

“Aw …” The girl in the tub rolls her eyes and sighs out loud before she crawls out and grabs a towel. “I was so looking forward to this.”

“Same, girl,” the woman behind me says as she grabs her clothes.

“Sorry, ladies, but the main course has arrived, and I’m not losing this chance to savor my meal.”

Oh my God, the audacity!

The two women dash out of the room and shut the door, giggling on their way out like they enjoyed this little thing they had going on, and I just interrupted.

“Is this normal?” I ask.

A deadly smirk forms on his face. “For me, it is.”

I roll my eyes.

“Come here,” he says.

“You cannot be serious right now,” I say, and I turn around to make a beeline toward the exit.

I’ll come back later when he isn’t naked.

Suddenly, a flat hand lands on the door, right in front of me, blocking my only way out. Apollo’s shadow towers over the wood, water dripping down onto the floor, and I don’t even dare to turn around.

“Don’t leave me just yet, Freckles. You’ve only just arrived.”

“You’re obviously busy,” I say.

“They invited themselves into my room,” he says. “I haven’t touched them if that’s what you want to know.”

Incensed, I turn around with arms folded. Big mistake.

The towel around his waist isn’t big enough to cover his dick.

The tip is showing.

And it’s pierced.

Fuck.