Page 70 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Grey

“Wh-what?” Aspen mutters.

“The whole fucking school heard, Aspen,” Silas says.

Oh, fuck me sideways, this is not happening right now.

“Wait a minute, are you telling me Apollo Torres and Aspen are having an affair?” Dylan asks.

“Not an affair,” Silas says. “Apollo happily announced it over the speakers in the cafeteria that he was railing both of them.”

“Oh my God,” Melody says, giggling into her hand. “A trio? Really?”

Aspen’s phone buzzes again, but instead of checking who it is, she turns off her phone.

She scoots her chair back. “I’m done here.”

“Aspen, is that true?” her mom asks, incensed.

“What I do with my body is my choice!” she yells.

I scoot my chair back too in defiance.

“Holy shit …” Her dad runs his fingers through his white hair. “I can’t believe it. My kid is in a threesome.”

“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Alistair chuckles.

“Silas, shame on you,” Aspen growls.

“They needed to know,” he says.

“No, I didn’t,” Felix mutters. “But it’s out there now.”

“You knew?” Her mom looks at him with furrowed brows.

“He announced it over the speakers. Of course, I knew. The entire school knows by now,” Felix replies.

“He’s a Torres!” her mom says.

“Not the same family,” I say.

Now everyone’s looking at me like I dropped a bomb even though they already know this.

“He’s right, though. Ares, Crystal, and their kids have nothing to do with this feud,” Alistair says.

“Atlas didn’t do anything wrong,” Melody says.

“Because he wasn’t there that night,” Silas says. “But Apollo was. You don’t know whose side he’s on.”

Aspen folds her arms. “ Sides ? We’re taking sides now?”

“Yes. It’s them against us. They killed a part of our family,” Silas replies. “It’s only fair if we kill a part of theirs. Quid pro quo.”

“Fuck this, I’m not listening to this,” Aspen growls, marching off down the hallway.

“Wait.” My phone buzzes, but I swiftly turn it off as I chase her.

“Nice finally meeting you, Grey!” Silas yells, but I’m not listening to him anymore.

She storms out the door and into their lavish yard and sits down on a bench underneath a gazebo. Bringing her legs up to her chest, she hugs them tightly.

I suck in a deep breath as I approach and sit down next to her.

With furrowed brows, she looks up at me, and she reminds me of her mother. She has the same kind of fire in her whenever she gets mad. Beautiful, but scary. “Why? Why would Apollo do this?”

“He didn’t want us to be a secret anymore.”

“God, this is such a mess.”

I gently caress her back. “So is your brother always like this?”

“I don’t remember him any other way,” she responds.

“He’s probably just very protective of you,” I say.

She snorts. “Good one.”

“You don’t think so?”

“He’s just an obsessive asshole who hates the Torres family.”

“But did he hate them before Mavis died?”

She looks up at me. “I … don’t know. I saw him feud with Apollo once, mostly over their muscle differences.” She chuckles. “Apollo always won whenever they fought over something stupid, like who stole the most kisses from girls on campus.”

“So they’re both big macho heads.”

She laughs. “You can say that again.”

“So maybe he doesn’t truly hate them … maybe he’s just lashing out because he’s devastated over the death of his sister, and finding someone to blame takes the edge off.”

She takes in a deep breath and sighs. “Maybe.”

I put my arm over her and pull her in for a hug. “C’mere.”

“How do you always have such a way with words?”

I chuckle. “Comes with overanalyzing people.”

She smiles. “Thanks.”

I give her another big hug and plant a sweet kiss on her forehead. “Should we go back inside?”

“Do we have to?” she asks.

“Well, if you want the dinner to go well and make sure your parents like me, I have to be there,” I reply.

She chuckles. “You made a really lasting impression, didn’t you?”

I snort. “Tell me about it.”

She leans into me, and we hug for some more before finally getting up.

“Your mom’s probably wondering where we are,” I say.

“Please don’t say anything about her cooking. It’s … sensitive,” she says.

I snort. “I noticed. But I don’t get why. The chili was good.”

She looks at me like I’ve gone insane. “You liked it?”

“It was okay. The right amount of spice. Just a little zesty.”

“ Zesty ?” She laughs out loud.

I don’t know why it’s funny, but I’m glad I was able to make her laugh.

We head back inside, and Melody immediately comes up to hug her. “I thought you were gone.”

“I was just at the gazebo,” Aspen replies, but she still hugs her back.

“Are you okay? You looked like you were about to cry,” Melody says.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aspen replies. “Just needed some time to decompress.”

“Mom looked pissed,” Melody whispers. “But I calmed her down by eating the chili.” She winks. “A sacrifice I was willing to make to get her to smile again.”

“Thanks,” Aspen replies as we all head back into the dining area.

“You’re back,” Alistair says.

“You sound surprised,” her dad says.

“Of course. I know our family.” Alistair shrugs. “He must have a thick skin to endure this.”

Penelope’s jaw drops, but her dad laughs, and it feels like the room is much less covered in a dark blanket than it was before.

“Okay, okay, enough with the quips. Let’s just focus on dinner and make sure your mom’s hard work doesn’t go to waste,” Felix says, pointing at my seat. “Sit.”

“Yes, sir,” I reply, sitting down with Aspen.

I look around the room, but one of the seats is still empty. “Where’s Silas?”

“He ran off. Said he wasn’t hungry and that he had things to do,” Xavier replies.

“Rude, if you ask me,” Melody says.

“Is he gone? Like gone gone?” Aspen asks.

“Yup,” Xavier says. “Heard his bike race off.”

“He’ll come around,” Penelope says, with a sigh. “He just needs time to … accept the new situation.” She looks us up and down. “I think we all do.”

“True that,” her brother says. “It’s kinda weird knowing your sister is in a trio with a Torres.”

“Don’t start this again, please,” Aspen groans. “What I do is my own business. Not yours.”

“You bet, but I am still going to grill him just like we grilled Grey. We should invite him over to dinner sometime.”

“Ha!” Aspen laughs. “Good luck with that, he’ll smash your face in if you try to scold him.”

“You think I’m scared of Apollo?” Xavier snorts.

“You should be,” I say.

“I just need this fork, that’s it.” Xavier holds up the utensil like it’s a mighty weapon from the gods above, and after a moment of silence, everyone at the table bursts out into laughter.

“What?!” Xavier says. “It’s true. Goddammit, why won’t anyone believe me?”

“I believe you, honey,” her mom says, taking a bite of her chili. “Now eat your food before it gets cold.”

Aspen

While Grey is still stuffing his mouth, I lean back in my seat and rummage in my bag to fish out my phone. I completely forgot I turned it off, but I remember getting a lot of notifications. I wonder who it could be.

I turn it back on again and watch the messages pour in.

All from Apollo.

“What’s wrong?” Grey asks me, as if he can see the frown forming on my face.

“One sec,” I say, as I scoot back my chair and walk off into the hallway so I can have some privacy away from my family.

Skin pricks ripple over my back.. There are missed calls and messages—dozens, maybe more—all from Apollo.

Apollo: Pick up your goddamn phone!!!!!!!!!

“Fuck,” I mutter as I immediately dial his number.

When he finally picks up, he yells into the phone. “Goddammit, finally one of you picks up!”

“What’s going on?”

“Silas kidnapped Levi!”

“What?” I shriek.

“Aspen? Is everything okay in there?” my mom asks.

“Yeah, everything’s fine!” I call back, trying to avoid any more attention.

But Grey pops into the hallway to listen in to my conversation.

“That’s not possible. He was right here with me at our family dinner,” I tell Apollo, while sweat drops roll down my neck. “I saw him. He only left like fifteen minutes ago.”

“I don’t care what you saw. Heath told me about his plans, and I trust him,” he barks. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! He’s not calling me back. I should’ve just gone to grab Silas at your parents' house instead of looking for Levi. FUCK!”

“Apollo!” I shout. “Where is Levi?”

“Gone. I searched everywhere; the Phantoms, the gym, the pool, the entire fucking campus. Hell, I even searched the fucking rose garden. I can’t fucking find him anywhere!”

My eyes meet Grey's while my heart begins to pound.

“Oh God …” Panic slowly seeps into my bones. “Silas is going to kill him.”

Levi

Ten minutes ago

I stare at the grave of the girl who died because of my decision.

Even if Aspen forgives me, in the eyes of everyone around her, I am still a killer.

Nothing will ever change that.

I sigh out loud and wipe away some of the leaves that have fallen on her stone, but I pause at the sound of a familiar click.

“Don’t. Move.”

A smile warps my face. “You’ve finally gathered the balls to come at me alone.”

“Fuck you. Get away from my sister’s grave.”

The gun clicks again, and I know he took off the safety, so he means business all right. I raise my hands and slowly turn around, walking away from Mavis’s grave.

“How did you find me?” I ask.

His jaw clenches, but the smug grin still appears. “It’s not hard to put trackers on bikes.”

Well fuck. In my euphoria over finally getting the girl, I got careless. And now it’s come back to bite me in the ass.

“Is this where you’re going to kill me?”

He makes a tsk sound. “And ruin my sister’s grave with your disgusting blood? I don’t think so. She deserves better.”

“That’s true,” I mutter.

“Shut the fuck up,” he growls, pointing the gun right at my forehead. “Turn around.”

I do what he asks, breathing out a sigh.

Whether I listen or not, my time is going to end sooner or later.

I just never thought it’d happen this quickly.

And that I wouldn’t even be able to tell her goodbye.

“Hands on your back.” He wraps a bunch of ropes around my wrists and knots them together tightly, then throws a bag over my head.

He pushes the gun into my back. “Now move.”

“What do you think you’re gonna do? Throw me over your bike?”

“You think I came unprepared?” he hisses, shoving me. “Keep walking.”

“Where?”

“Parking lot.”

“So you can put a bullet in me?”

He snorts. “You think I’m going to let you off the hook that easily?” A car beeps, and a door is thrown open. He must’ve stolen this. “Get in.”

“You can still stop this,” I say.

He merely laughs and knocks me on the back of the head, and I fall from the dizziness and instant nausea.

“You killed my sister,” he says through gritted teeth. “And I’m going to make it fucking hurt so much, you’ll be begging me to kill you.”