Page 66 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Aspen

I wake up to a scent I don’t recognize drifting into my nostrils, and I turn to smell more of the pillow encasing me. God, this musk is intoxicating enough to make me smile.

Until I open my eyes and realize I’m not in my own bed.

Fuck.

I throw the blankets off and look around the room.

There’s a bunch of clothes on a stack in the corner, a ton of seemingly unread dusty school books on a desk, and a rack full of metal and alternative rock CDs next to it.

Old school. Black curtains in front of the window block out the sun, and the longer I look around, the more I realize this looks like a hole someone would hide in when they want to disappear.

Levi’s room.

Gloom settles deep within my heart from the state of his room.

He was in so deep, and no one ever noticed because he didn’t want anyone to see.

He was ready to throw it all away because of the accident … because everyone assumed he’d killed Mavis.

God. I wish I had known the truth sooner. I wish I had seen him sooner for the broken man he really was. And I wish I hadn’t believed all the lies he told me.

But I guess he was just that good.

I suck in a deep breath and get up from the bed, only to realize I’m still naked. The last thing I remember was that cage and getting fucked into oblivion, and the mere memory makes me blush for a second round.

A knock on the door makes me panic, and I swiftly grab a pair of his sweatpants and a black shirt, which are way too oversized for me, and put them on right as someone walks in.

“Wait, wait, I’m not dress—”

My words are interrupted by the giant bouquet shoved in front of my face.

“I love you.”

The voice behind it nearly drowns in the sea of roses.

Grey goes to his knees in front of me, eyes down at the floor. “Please forgive me, Aspen.”

“Wha—”

“You said I needed to work hard to earn your forgiveness. I’ll beg for the rest of my life if I have to, but I will not give up on you. Whether I have to wait days, weeks, months, or years to earn your love again, I’ll wait forever if I must. Because your love is worth it.”

I don’t even know how to respond.

My hands move to the flowers instinctively, my heart thrumming when I smell their rosy scent. “I …”

I put the flowers down on the floor and wrap my arms around him.

He raises his head, sucking in a breath. “Wha—Why are you hugging me?”

I snort. “Can’t I hug my boyfriend?”

“I …” His hand finds its way to my back as he lays his head on my shoulder, breathing out a sigh of relief. “God, I don’t deserve you.”

“After the stunt you pulled with all those cameras? No.”

“I’m sorry, I’m a goddamn lunatic, and I know I wasn’t raised properly.

I didn’t have any parents, and my guardian was pretty much absent.

All they cared about were my grades, and that’s it.

And then I saw you here on campus. You were so cheerful, as bright as the sun, and I was immediately consumed by your fire, obsessed to the po—”

I pull back and plant a finger on his lips. “I understand.” I smile briefly before saying, “I love you.”

His whole face lights up. “You do?”

“Yeah … even though you have very … peculiar kinks,” I reply, making him laugh.

He scratches the back of his head. “You noticed, huh?”

A knock on the door makes me look up. “I don’t mean to butt into this obviously very mushy apology, but it’s nine o’clock,” Apollo says.

“And?” Grey mutters, frowning.

“Oh shit!” I yell, immediately crawling up from the floor.

“She has a test today,” Apollo says.

“Wait, how do you know?” Grey asks.

Apollo leans sideways against the doorframe, wriggling his brows. “You’re not the only one who’s obsessed.”

I rummage through Levi’s closet, but I can’t find anything that’ll fit me. “Shit, shit, shit! I can’t go out like this. What do I do?”

Apollo casually pulls a set of my leggings and a purple shirt from behind his back like it’s a surprise. “Got them from your room.”

“How did you get those?” I try to snatch them from his hand, but he won’t let me reach and lifts his hand high.

“I know my way into a woman’s frat …” He winks. “First, we say thank you.”

“Thank you,” I say through gritted teeth before he finally allows me to steal them.

“You’re welcome. And no, there was no touching involved to get inside,” he adds. “Compliments make women fold easily.”

“You’re so arrogant. God, one of these days I swear it’s going to bite you in the ass,” Grey says.

“As long as it’s one of you two doing the biting, I’m all for it.” He winks.

“It’s time. I have to run. I’ll just go without my books,” I say, planting a kiss on Grey’s lips, before I walk out, but Apollo blocks my way.

“Don’t I get a kiss, Freckles?”

I roll my eyes, but he still makes me smile as I lean in to peck him on the lips. His arm snakes its way around my waist, and he swoops in for a much deeper, longer kiss, burying his tongue in my mouth before he pulls away again. Just a smidge of dirtiness and I’m already hooked.

“Good luck with the test,” he says with a devious smirk.

“You’re both such a distraction,” I say as I walk off.

“If you ace it, I’ll reward you with a good lick and fuck!” Apollo yells as I waltz off through the hallways.

Along the way, I come across a few Phantoms who look at me like they don’t know what they’re seeing, and it makes me blush heavily as I run down the stairs.

Luckily, no one saw me exit Levi’s room.

But just the fact that I was here will get many people on campus talking out of their asses.

I can’t let gossip ruin my life even though I’m pretty sure people are gonna yap all about Apollo, Grey, and me.

The moment my feet touch the ground again, my eyes shoot up to the guy walking up the stairs. His hoodie and that tattoo peeking out underneath make me swallow back the lump in my throat, and he pauses briefly to look right back into my eyes with so much desire it nearly takes my breath away.

But it’s broad daylight, and Phantoms are watching from the hallway and the top of the stairs. Everyone knows our families hate each other. Everyone knows Levi Torres “killed” my half sister. If they knew what was between us, they’d tell the world.

No one can know how deeply I crave him and how badly he wrecked me.

Not even when my fingers desperately want to reach out to his.

Our secret will have to remain just that.

A forbidden secret.

After all, we’re not ever allowed to even talk. Our families hate each other.

And if my parents ever found out that I fell in love with my sister’s killer … they’d kill him.

So I turn my gaze away and bolt through the front door under his yearning gaze because I must. Because it’s my turn to protect him, even if it makes him hate me.