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

He pushes me back and pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t go dying on me like Mavis did.”

I nod a few times, still in complete shock he’d come up and just hug me like that.

Apollo never, ever hugs. Not anyone.

He turns around, walking toward the back door while pointing at me and winking. “Catch you later, Freckles.”

Freckles?

A quiver runs along my spine.

Shuffling to my right makes me turn my head, and I gasp as Kai Torres, Lana Rivera, and their son Levi Torres, along with all the others from their family—Sunny Reed, Elliot and Max Fletcher, Nathan Reed, and Milo Fletcher—all walk through the front door of my parents’ house.

Uninvited.

Oh no.

Like a godforsaken ice storm freezing the house over, everyone pauses and shivers from the chill.

My gaze briefly connects with Levi’s, and the moment feels like it lasts an eternity as the darkness within them has taken hold. When they walk past, I reach out for his hand, our fingers electric upon a single touch, but he immediately pulls away.

“What are you doing here?” my mom grits through her teeth as she steps out of the kitchen.

“Paying our respects,” Levi’s mom answers, lowering her head. “We’re deeply sorry for your loss.”

“My condolences,” Levi’s dad says, and the rest follow.

“I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am,” Max and Elliot Fletcher say in unison.

Levi briefly steps away from his parents to speak with mine. “I’m … sorry.”

It feels like the entire room has turned ten degrees colder. Or maybe that’s just their mutual stares.

“Hi, Sunny.” Orion waves at her from the corner of the room.

I forgot he was even here. He’s just like Melody, easily disappearing into a crowd when it suits him.

“Remind me to stomp on your heart after I’ve ripped it out of your chest,” Sunny replies with a fake smile.

Orion’s eyes widen, and he retreats into the crowd of mourners like they’re a protective blanket against the friendly fire.

“I miss Mavis. She was the only tolerable one from your family,” Sunny mutters.

“Wow.” Silas, my half brother, saunters down the stairs. “Do you want to die so badly?”

“Silas,” his dad, Felix, warns him with a stern look.

“What?” Silas shrugs. “She started it.”

“She didn’t deserve to die. That’s all I’m saying,” Sunny says.

“Yeah, and the perp is standing right there,” Silas says, targeting Levi, who’s in the back of the group.

Everyone is looking at him now, and the attention doesn’t go unnoticed. He immediately straightens his back, altering his pose.

Something about him has changed.

Darkened.

“He’s a murderer,” Silas growls from a distance.

Horrific gasps emanate from the crowd of people surrounding us, whispers of a murder going around. A nightmare unraveling in reality.

“Say that to my face, asshole,” Levi barks back.

“Please, can we not do this now?” Alistair pleads with my family. “This is supposed to be a funeral. A time of grieving.”

“Exactly,” my dad says as he comes to stand behind me. He places his hand on my shoulder while he stares at Kai and the rest. “So leave.”

“We’re here because we want to show we care,” Kai replies. “Please let us offer our condolences and grieve with you.”

“I thought I made myself clear the first time,” my mom interjects. “Leave. Now.”

“Please, Pen,” Lana begs. “Please let us be there for you.”

“So you can kill another one of my kids?” Mom stands beside my dad and clutches my other shoulder, forming a ghastly wall between us and the others.

“ Kill ?” Kai, Levi’s dad, balls his fist, his face darkening with every passing second. “My son didn’t kill anyone. You’re making assumptions, and we came here out of kindness.”

“Kindness?!” Mom squawks. “My daughter is dead, and you call that kindness?!”

Felix holds her back and steps forward. “Your son was there on that cliff when Mavis fell.”

“That’s right,” Levi’s dad responds with a clenched jaw. “When she fell .”

My dad suddenly steps out in front of Felix and pushes Kai. “Like that? Is that how she fell?”

Kai’s face contorts. “Touch me again, and I swear—”

“You’ll do what? You’ve already destroyed my family,” Dad retorts. “Say it. Say it to my face that you’ll kill me, and I swear to God, I will gut you open right here on my goddamn carpet.”

They’re face-to-face now, and the living room feels too small for the crowd.

Too small to even breathe.

My dad looks Kai up and down, homing in on the nasty scar on his face. “I should’ve taken your other eye too.”

Levi’s dad reaches for his pocket, but Levi grabs his wrist. “Dad, don’t. Please.”

“Fuck it, let’s take it outside. You and me, dude,” my dad says, rolling his sleeves up.

“Dad, stop!” I yell as he attempts to throw a fist right into Kai’s face, who dodges it right before it lands.

Suddenly, Apollo’s dad, Ares, steps in and blocks the two from interacting.

“Enough. This is an insult to Mavis’s memory.

” He glances at both Dylan and Kai. “You two should know better than to start a fight at her funeral. Her funeral, out of all days.” He glares at Kai.

“I suggest you leave. You’ve made your point. ”

“We were only trying to offer our condolences,” Max squeaks.

“I know,” his dad, Milo, says, and he throws an arm over Max’s shoulders. “C’mon, guys, let’s go.”

He ushers everyone out the door slowly, pulling Lana and Nathan and all the kids with them until finally only Kai and Levi are left. Levi hasn’t stopped staring at the photo of Mavis on the table, while I desperately try to make eye contact. But no matter how hard I try, he won’t …

Look at me.

For a brief second, our eyes finally connect, and it feels like my world has shifted on its axis.

“Don’t ever think of setting foot in my house,” Mom growls. “And don’t ever talk to my family again.”

Kai glares at them for a moment even though Ares blocks his access. And he grabs Levi’s arm and drags him out of the house, slamming the door shut behind them so harshly it reverberates in my entire body and mind.

I’m stunned. Shaken to my core.

Because the one guy I once considered my best friend just got excommunicated by my family.

Just like that.

Erased from my life.