Page 21 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Aspen

“Are you okay?”

I look up and stare right at Grey, who’s got his hand on my shoulder. “Huh, what?” I mutter.

“You’ve been staring out the window for the past ten minutes. Did you even hear one thing the teacher said?”

I glance back and forth between him and the teacher a few times, trying to catch my bearings. Then I clear my throat. “Um, no. Sorry.”

I’ve been obsessed with figuring out who Ghost is, and I'm also trying to find a way to get rid of Levi without losing my sanity in the process.

Could my Ghost be Apollo? Or was he just playing with me?

Grey rips a piece of paper from his notebook. “It’s okay. I took notes for you.” He smiles as he tucks them underneath my hand. “I know you’ve been having a hard time.”

I smile back. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

He’s so sweet. Sweeter than I could ever imagine, and I don’t know what I did to deserve a guy like him. The fact that we found each other during our darkest times is a blessing in disguise.

“Don’t mention it.”

Everyone around us is already getting up. Seems class is over, and I missed nearly half of it.

“Hey, wanna go grab a bite somewhere?” I ask.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Grey replies, packing up his stuff. “Actually, I know this amazing place, Fi’s Cups and Cakes, they’re the best in town when it comes to sweets. And I could use a pick-me-up.”

I lean on the palm of my hand. “You read my mind.”

He winks. “Maybe I can.”

Apollo

I step into the bakery and am immediately nauseated by the amount of sweet sugar entering my nose. Disgusting.

I’d normally never come here, but my sis’s birthday is coming up, and Cecelia adores the cupcakes here, so I figured why the hell not. Beats having to pick from a gazillion perfumes and makeup brands. What the hell is the difference between mahogany and wood anyway?

“Thank you for waiting, what can I get you?” the cashier says as I stare at the menu.

“Uhh … what’s the sweetest stuff you’ve got?” I ask. “Gimme what you think is best for a birthday. Six of ’em. It’s a surprise.”

I don’t really care. However, a conversation in the back of the shop catches my ear, and I can’t help but turn around to listen in because I’m fucking nosy. And who doesn’t like a bit of gossip?

Whoever says they don’t is lying.

And my, oh my, the gossip does not disappoint.

Because none other than Aspen Caruso and Grey Whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is are sitting on a love-booth seat in the back of the shop, eating some red heart-shaped cake together like they’re having …

“A date?” I murmur to myself as a wretched smile appears on my face. “Interesting.”

“That’ll be fifteen dollars,” the cashier says. “Here you go.”

I take my order from the cashier and pay with my black credit card, then sit down quietly behind the couple just to listen in for a bit.

“So … are you finally going to tell me what’s been bothering you?” Grey asks her, oblivious to the fact that I’m staring at them.

What’s this about?

“What?” Aspen mutters, obviously taken aback by his question.

“This morning in class, you were so distracted, and you’ve been acting strange ever since the bonfire,” he says. “I just figured something happened.”

“Oh.” Aspen laughs awkwardly. “No, nothing. Nothing happened.”

Nothing?

A smirk forms on my lips. I beg to differ.

A little freckled birdy told me she has a masked stalker.

She just doesn’t want to tell him. But why?

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m just … frazzled from a nightmare.”

Lies.

She pokes at her cake with her fork. “I had this dream the other night where I saw my sister’s casket again, and when I looked up, someone was watching us from the forest.”

Grey pauses while eating a piece of his cake, staring at her for a second. “Hmm. Sounds like you’re still worried her death might not have been an accident.”

“I’m just …” She sighs. “It was just a dream. It’s not important.”

He grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. Intently. “It is important. You matter. You know you can always talk to me.”

The way she looks at him, good God, it’s almost like she’s smitten.

My nostrils flare as I lift my head above the menu and glare at them together.

Every time she smiles, those freckles of hers nearly light up, and I love it. But then I remember she’s still staring at that white-haired fucker like he’s some kind of perfect fucking boyfriend.

That fucker should be me.

Suddenly, Grey leans in to kiss her. And she’s frozen to her seat, staring at him.

That motherfucker.

She doesn’t move closer to his lips. Instead, her eyes briefly connect with mine in absolute terror.

Yes. I’m watching you, Freckles.

And I know you’re thinking of my lips when he tries to kiss you.

He leans away without even having had the kiss he was so desperate for while she keeps blinking like a deer looking straight into the headlights.

Good.

She immediately jumps up and drops her cake on the floor. “Oh God.”

She panics and tries to pick it up, but half of the cake drops on his arm as they both try to clean up the mess.

“No, no, no, I can do it. It’s fine,” she insists.

“Are you okay?” Grey asks her.

She shakes her head and plops everything on the table, then moves away. “I’m sorry.”

And she runs out of the shop without even taking another look, leaving him and those perked-up lips all to himself.

Oh my fucking God.

I burst out into laughter.

Like full-on laughter.

Everyone’s looking at me, even Grey, but I don’t care.

She just rejected him in such a stone-cold manner that it made even my black heart throb. And that means a lot.

“What the—What are you laughing at?” Grey growls at me.

“Good luck with those fucking blue balls,” I say, laughing all the way out of the store.

What a fiery little thing.

Grey

I nearly break the happy and gentle facade, piercing the cake with such rage the plate splits into four pieces. Lucky for me, Aspen is long gone, along with my chance to kiss her.

Goddammit. How the hell did I manage to mess that up?

And why the fuck was that airhead Apollo here to witness it all go down?

I scoot my chair back, grab my jacket, and waltz off, leaving the half-eaten cake on the table.

Sugary treats won’t satiate the kind of hunger I’m experiencing right now, so I get back into my car, slam the door shut, and start the engine.

I can only go to one place on this earth to get this out of my system, one place that won’t even blink twice at monsters like me.

And even though it’s broad daylight, I still skid the wheels as I race off, knowing something is waiting for me up ahead that I can sink my teeth into.

Levi

“Tell me how school’s been,” my dad asks as he brings a few coffee cups to the table and then lights a cigarette.

I shrug. “The same.”

“Doubt that.” He takes a drag first, then a gulp of his coffee to wash it all down. After a while, he holds the cigarette out to me. “Take it. You look like you need a fix.”

“Didn’t Mom tell you to quit smoking?” I reply, but I still take the cigarette from him and inhale a much-needed drag.

“Your mom tells us both a lot of things. Doesn’t mean we listen.” He smirks. “Especially not now.”

“You’re in hot water,” I say.

“I’m used to it. She won’t hurt me.” The smirk deepens. “She can try.”

“She’ll use me as leverage,” I say as I hand him back the cig.

He nods a few times and then takes another drag. “I know.”

I suppose I should be happy she’s at work, busy running all the RIVERA clubs that fall under her control. At least there’s no one to chew me up and spit me out. I know Mom says she loves me, but … after what happened at the top of that cliff, it’s felt like she’s let me go.

“Wow, didn’t know you were summoned home too,” Sunny says as she casually grabs a cup of coffee from the kitchen and invites herself to the table. “A happy family ‘tea time.’” She makes quotation marks with her fingers. “What’s the occasion?”

“Your mom asked me to remind you both to stick to your studies.”

Both Sunny and I grumble.

“I know, I know,” Dad says.

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Sunny replies, taking a sip of her coffee. “Having actual fun? Laughable.”

“I meant, lying low, don’t engage with the Carusos … or Felix,” Dad says.

I sigh out loud. “This about me again?”

“No, this is about all of us. Our family is a unit, remember?” He throws me a stern look.

“Then why aren’t Max and Elliot here?” Sunny squawks.

Dad puts down his cup. “ They aren’t out there plotting to kill anyone or get killed.”

“We can’t help they’re boring,” Sunny retorts.

“Who am I going to kill?” I say, sarcasm lacing my voice. “Please, enlighten me of my own plans, because I don’t have the slightest fucking clue.”

Dad looks at me now, and I can see why people say I have that same penetrating gaze because damn. Even if he’s blind in one eye, the other green one is menacing as hell. “Don’t pretend you haven’t been in fights at school. Specifically with a goddamn Rivera.”

“That wasn’t recent, and—”

“And we will talk about it since you’ve been trying to avoid it.”

“Did Mom put you up to this?” I retort.

“Doesn’t matter. Felix called and told me to get you off his son’s back or there would be repercussions.”

“What?” I slam down my cup. “Silas jumped me ! Not the other way around!”

“I get that, but you have to be the big guy and walk away. Even when he hits you. I know it’s hard, but be the bigger person.”

“He was trying to kill me!” I yell.

“I …” Dad sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

“Know that, but you know Felix has all the power on that school board, and I swore to him you would not get into a single ounce of trouble so you could keep your place in that school. I know it’s unfair, but you have to keep your head down to survive this until they finally let go of their hatred.

Stay out of trouble. Stay out of sight.”

“Dad, the whole school pretty much hates him right now,” Sunny mutters.

“It’s gonna get better.”

“When?” I rasp.

Everyone’s quiet.

Sunny sighs. “Doesn’t really help that there’s now a Ghost stalking girls on campus.”

“What?” Dad mutters.

“It’s the talk of the town. People spotted a masked guy haunting a sorority in the middle of the night and during the bonfire. No one knows who he’s after, except …” Sunny narrows her eyes at me. “Aspen.”

Fuck me. Why would she bring this up in front of Dad?

I’ve had enough of this.

I scoot my chair back, hands flat on the table, and my dad immediately homes in on me.

“Levi, do you know anything about this?”

I throw my sister a damning look while she just sits back in her chair and smiles gleefully. That witch … Is she trying to pin this on me?

“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, you do. Some guys I’m friends with heard you and Aspen talk during swimming practice. She said she had a stalker, and you didn’t care.”

Dad scoots back his chair too and stands. “You talked to Aspen? Dammit, Levi, you know you’re not supposed to engage!”

I dart out the front door before I have to hear another admonishment from my own damn family.

I can’t listen to them continuously tell me to stay away from Aspen.

To let her go when I simply … cannot.

I only stop running when I’m at my motorcycle, and I kick the metal until it makes me bleed.

“FUCK!” I scream.

I don’t care who hears because the louder I yell, the less choked I feel.

It’s as if invisible hands are slowly snaking their way around my neck, suffocating the light out of me until all that’s left is the monster coiled deep inside my heart, sucking in the darkness until it clouds my every waking thought.

If only she knew. If only she knew how far I was willing to go.

How much I have killed.

I suck in a breath and pet my bike. “I’m sorry, love.”

Then I hop on and start the engine.

“You know there’s no way out of this, right?” Sunny’s voice makes me look over my shoulder. She throws me my helmet. “You forgot this.”

“Thanks.” I put it on and secure it.

“Don’t leave loose ends,” she says, winking.

“If I do, you owe me a kill, sis.”

She licks her bottom lip. “Just say when and where, and I’ll be there.”

I nod and race off right as Dad walks out the door too, but I’m long gone by the time he’s opened his mouth again. I’m not interested in listening to what I’ve heard over and over again.

Stay low, don’t talk to anyone you consider a friend.

If this is all that’s left of my life, I don’t fucking want it. Return to fucking sender.

I drive through the city with music blasting in my ear to distract me while I watch the sun set and the moon rise full of vengeance.

Through the seedy part of town Mom told me not to cross. I know what lurks in these fucking corners—murderers, drug dealers, traffickers, the worst of their kind—but right now the touch of darkness is what I need to stay sane, to remind myself I’m not the rot of this planet.

This is the part of town no one goes to if they can help it, because it’s run by the Bonesmen Brotherhood, a notorious group of criminals dead set on making a name for themselves as the most destructive men on earth.

Their only interest is money, no matter how they acquire it.

They don’t break rules. Rules don’t exist for the likes of them.

And ever since my parents and Aspen’s parents took down two of their locations, they’ve regrouped and grown even stronger.

Which is why I’m careful whenever I drive through this neighborhood, speeding whenever someone looks at me wrong.

But the sight of one white-haired guy makes me hit the brakes, and I push my helmet up to see if I’m dreaming, but I’m not. I’m definitely not.

Aspen’s boyfriend, Grey, just walked out of a seedy-looking underground club that’s definitely on Bonesmen Brotherhood territory.

Fuck.