Page 61 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Grey

My girl is on the sand, naked with her hands tied above her head, with Levi Torres’s dick still entrenched deep inside her.

I shouldn’t have let her go without me.

I shouldn’t have let her follow him.

I shouldn’t have…

“Oh God,” she mutters, and she crawls away from underneath him, his half-hard dick flopping out, still wet from both her cum and his.

He tucks it all away, as if that’ll hide the evidence, but he was just inside her after she vowed to kill him. And the rage that suddenly envelops my heart is rare.

He hurt her.

He fucking hurt my girlfriend.

Fuck!

“You motherfucker,” I grit as I pull out the gun I brought with me and aim it right at his face.

Levi’s eyes widen. “What the—”

BANG!

I aimed for his head but hit the sand instead, and he scrambles to his feet.

BANG!

I shoot again, but he zigzags through the sand, and it makes it hard to aim.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

“You can’t fucking kill me!” he growls, bolting right at me. “You don’t have the fucking privilege or the guts.”

“You fucking hurt her!” I scream. “Your life ends here!”

“Wait!” Aspen shrieks.

I aim again, right at his face.

BANG!

As the gun goes off, my arm is shoved up toward the sky, and the bullet narrowly evades his skull.

“Hold your fucking horses,” Apollo says, gripping my arm tightly.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” I growl back, stepping away from him.

Right then, Levi jumps me and pummels me to the ground, knocking the gun from my hand.

“Fuck!” Punch . “You!” Punch . “For.” Punch . “Ruining.” Punch . “Everything!”

“Stop!” Aspen shrieks from the sidelines.

But I’m far too busy rolling around on the sand with Levi to try to avoid his punches. The fucker’s hits are aimless, but when they hit they hurt, so I kick him in the nuts to take him down a notch.

“You should’ve fucking killed yourself when you had the chance!” I scream at him, punching him in the gut after.

“You two are done for.” Apollo grabs me by the collar and tears me off him with just a single grip.

“Let me fucking go!”

I wriggle free and focus on finding the gun.

Levi scrambles off the ground and immediately tackles me down again right before I reach it.

“Didn’t you two fucking hear her?” Apollo growls.

Aspen frees herself from the shirt tightly wrapped around her wrists and rushes to us, still naked. “Stop it!”

But I’m far too busy dealing with these fuckers. Apollo grabs me mid-swing, so I punch him instead, angered he’d try to stop me.

“You motherfuckers,” I growl.

Levi attempts to punch me, but accidentally hits Apollo instead, and Apollo loses his shit.

“Fuck that.”

PUNCH!

A fist is thrown right at his nose, blood spraying everywhere.

Apollo snorts. “You asked for it.”

“Come at me, then!”

I jerk loose by kicking Apollo in the nuts and throw myself at Levi. Apollo’s right on top of me, punching away at my back until I yield, and he drags me away from Levi.

“Fuck it, you want me to make it hurt? You got it,” Levi growls, throwing punches at us both, and then he pulls out a knife.

“Whoa.” Apollo barely manages to avoid a slice to the abdomen.

Levi tries to knife me, but Apollo grabs him and wraps his arms around his neck, putting him in a chokehold.

“F-fuck!” Levi grits as he struggles to breathe.

I snatch the knife out of Levi’s hand and slice open his chest, his groans like music to my ears. But when I aim for a thrust straight to the heart, the knife is suddenly knocked from my hand by a stray bullet.

Aspen has stolen my gun and has pointed it right at us.

“Stop. Stop it. All of you!”

She keeps alternating her aim between the three of us, and I can’t even tell anymore who she’s mad at … or who she wants to kill.

Apollo releases the chokehold, and Levi sucks in air as he takes a few steps back. His chest is bleeding, but I only managed to add another scar instead of a kill.

Goddammit .

“I need to kill him,” I say, making a fist. “He defiled you. You have to let me kill him, Aspen. He hurt you. No one fucking hurts you and stays alive.”

“No,” she says, droplets of rain running down her gorgeous body … tainted by him.

Tainted by us.

“You think he’s the only one?” she yells.

I swallow away the lump in my throat and look at the others.

“You’re all fighting because of me!”

We stare at each other, neither of us moving a muscle as she stands before us. A pang of guilt floods my veins.

“And I’m done being destroyed by it,” she mutters, slowly lowering the gun. “Please stop fighting. For one day. Just one day … if we could just have one day without hate.”

She shivers as tears fill her eyes.

Goddammit. I failed. I failed her so fucking hard.

I immediately run off to where Levi fucked her because he left his hoodie, and I pick it up and bring it back to her.

“Here. Put this on.”

“What?” she mutters, confused, but then she looks down at her nipples and blushes heavily. “Oh.”

I tuck it over her head so she’ll no longer be naked. “You’re cold.”

“Thanks,” she says, smiling briefly.

I look up at Levi, but something metallic and warm makes me wipe my nose. Blood. Guess he’s not the only one who got hurt.

Apollo spits out some blood on the sand. “Bleeding gums. That’s a first. You trained well.” He grins at Levi.

Blood for blood. “You hurt her. We hurt you,” I say.

“I didn’t hurt her,” Levi rasps.

“You hunted her!” I yell.

“Because I had no other fucking choice!” he yells back.

“Who forced you? Hmm?” I retort. “Was it me, swooping in to steal her right under your nose?”

Levi’s fist balls. “I swear to God, I’ll fuck you u—”

“Enough!” Aspen holds up her hands, immediately quelling the fight before it starts all over. “God, I hate you all so much right now.”

“Told you,” Apollo says, laughing.

“It’s not fucking funny,” I say.

He shrugs. “She’ll get over it.”

She punches Apollo in the shoulder so hard he actually flinches. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him flinch. “You’re no better than the two of them, egging them on.”

“I wasn’t the one who stalked you or hung cameras in your room,” he says.

“No, you blackmailed me.” She shakes her head. “You’re all so, so, so … GAHHH!”

She stomps away through the sand, and we’re left staring at each other with disdain in our eyes. None of us is willing to give in. Not to each other.

But she … she is the one thing that binds us all together, whether we want to or not.

She’s beguiled us all.

I sigh and turn my eyes away from Levi even though I want nothing more than for him to pay for all the pain he’s caused her.

“Aspen! Wait!” I yell, following suit, with the two others trailing.

Aspen

“You all want to kill each other, then go right ahead,” I yell back.

What the fuck am I even doing?

I grab my bag off the ground and waltz off through the woods, ignoring the yelling behind me.

I’m done trying to keep them from killing each other.

I’m done trying to fight off the inevitable clash that’s coming.

And I’m done with men who can’t fucking share and want to rip me to pieces so they can all own a part of me.

Rain still cascades down on top of me, but I no longer feel the cold.

I shove aside some leaves in my way as I stomp out of the woods and jump into my car.

Levi’s motorcycle is right in front of my car, and I pause and blink a couple of times as the filthy memories of what we just did flash through the forefront of my mind.

My chest tightens, the smell of him still lingering on the hoodie I’m wearing. His hoodie.

Still, I put the car in reverse.

Right then, my door is ripped open by an arrogant smile, the first thing I see of Apollo Torres.

“Get out,” he says.

“Let go.” I try to jerk the door, but he’s much stronger than I am.

“No.”

“I’m going home. End of story.”

“Not like this,” he says.

I frown. “You don’t get to dec—”

“Fine.” Suddenly, he leans in and wraps his arms around my waist and thighs, lifting me out of the car with ease.

I slap him on the arm. “Let go of me! I’m not going back!”

He ignores me and carries me around the car, then opens the passenger door and sets me down there.

“No one said anything about going back there.” He leans over, muscles bulging, even in that hoodie of his, and when I look up, I finally notice he took out the red contacts he used to pretend he was my stalker.

“But I’m not going to let you drive like this, Freckles. ”

Not going to let me?! Who does he think he is?

As my lips part to shout, he shuts the car door, leaving me fuming.

But when I look through the mirror, there’s Levi and Grey, walking on opposite sides of the road, as far away from each other as they possibly can, neither of them attempting to go back to their own vehicles.

And then they both circle my car and open their respective back-seat door.

What the…

I narrow my eyes while glaring at them through the rearview mirror as they sit down in my car, each in their own corner, shoved against the window.

The moment I open my mouth, Apollo steps in behind the wheel, nearly hitting his head on the roof. “Whoa, this barely fits a man.”

“Because it’s my car.”

“I can tell,” he muses, flicking all the handles like they’re tiny compared to his giant hands. “Precious. Like you.” He winks.

“What are you doing?” I say.

“What does it look like? I’m taking you home,” he replies. “Safely.”

I fold my arms. “I know how to drive.”

“Freckles … just because you know how doesn’t mean you’re safe.”

My nostrils flare. “I am safe!”

He grabs my face and squeezes my cheeks. “Cute. But I want you to get home in one piece without running over someone.”

I sigh out loud. “I didn’t ask.”

“You don’t have to ask, it’s a free favor for my favorite girl.” He winks. “But I’m not opposed to begging if you feel like it.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Let’s just go.”

“You two good back there?” Apollo asks.

“Drive,” Levi growls.

“You got it, Loverboy,” Apollo replies, kissing the air through the rearview mirror.

And judging from Levi’s annoyed glances, he surely noticed.

“What about the motorcycle and the other cars?” I mutter as he begins to drive.

“We’ll pick them up later,” Apollo says. “I’ll ask my dad to drop us off. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you think that’s a good idea,” I say, peering out the window at the rain clattering down on the trees.

“Out of all our dads, mine’s the safest.”

Levi snorts. “Doubt that.”

“At least he doesn’t want to blow anyone’s brains out right now,” Apollo says. “Unlike Dylan or Kai.”

My lungs constrict at the thought of seeing Levi’s dad pick them all up, or worse … having to ask mine. I shiver in place.

Dad would surely kill Levi on the spot if he knew where we were.

I sigh out loud. Despite the fact that they were fighting to the death mere minutes ago, the drive home is eerily quiet. Too quiet. And every once in a while, I have to throw glances at them through the rearview mirror to make sure they haven’t secretly stabbed each other.

Neither of them glances at each other. They’re like two cats staring at a wall, pretending they don’t exist.

Ridiculous .

Just like them trying to kill each other over me.

When we’re back on campus, I hold my breath as Apollo drives past my frat house.

“Wait. That’s where I live.”

“I know.” There’s a provocative smirk on his face.

“Then why aren’t we going there?”

“Because our home is your home now.”

“What?” My jaw drops. “This is unbelievable. First, you basically attack each other on the beach, and now you’re trying to keep me out of my own sorority?”

“Can’t protect you there,” he says.

“From what?”

He glances in the rearview mirror at those two still ignoring each other in the back seat of my car.

And I roll my eyes. “Jesus Christ. Really?”

“Really,” he replies. “Sorry, Freckles, but I made you a promise I intend to keep. Besides, I take good care of my playthings.” He places his giant hand on my thigh and squeezes.

“Take your hand off her, or I swear to God…” Levi growls.

“You’ll what?” Apollo retorts. “Try to kill me? Been there, done that. Now what?”

Levi grinds his teeth and kicks the back of Apollo’s seat.

“Hey! I’m the only one who’s allowed to kick ass in this car,” Apollo growls.

“Fuck you,” Levi retorts.

I rub my temples. “Lord, help me with these guys.”

The minute the car comes to a stop, I jerk the handle, but of course it won’t open.

Apollo jumps out and immediately strolls over to my side, opening the door for me as he sticks out his hand. “After you.”

I ignore it and blow right past him, while the other car doors all open and slam shut behind me. I don’t care what they’re gonna do, as long as I’m not involved in their drama.

“Where are you going?” Apollo asks.

“Away from you three!” I yell back.

I waltz into the hallway, but the beautiful glass ceiling still makes me stop and stare. It’s like a gateway to heaven from hell. A glimpse at what could’ve been … if only we’d made different choices.

I sigh. I find myself back here again in the same place I once saw my stalker. Now in the living flesh, without a mask, without secrets.

I turn as all three boys stroll inside and close the front door.

Levi’s face darkens with every step he takes, as if being here in my presence unlocks the shared memory we have.

But Grey’s eyes flutter between me and him like he’s deciphering the same memory from a different perspective, all while Apollo keeps his haughty gaze fixated on me.

A lump forms in my throat.

The silence is like lightning flickering between us all, and it’s bound to detonate. The only question is when.