Page 75 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Levi

Her mom’s eyes widen, and gasps follow from the rest of our families.

“You … love him?” her mom repeats, shock lacing her voice.

Fuck.

I never thought this day would come when I’d have to face all the lies I’ve told.

All the times I’ve denied myself the one thing I truly wanted.

Her.

I close my eyes and revel in the scent of her closeness, the touch of her fingers splayed against my back, as my head rests against her chest. If her heartbeat was the last thing I heard on this earth, I would die a happy man.

Even if I’m wounded on every inch of my body, too drained of blood to even defend myself, at least I got to touch her one last time.

She shudders against me. “You want to kill him? You’ll have to go through me,” she says through gritted teeth.

And I am so fucking proud of her.

My little Firefly. God, I love this woman.

“What?” Silas growls. “How? How the fuck could you love the man who killed our sister?”

“Because I’ve always loved him!” she yells, tears staining her pretty blue eyes. “He didn’t kill Mavis. She fell, and I’ve seen the proof.”

“Where?” her mom asks.

Grey runs up to us and holds out his phone. She snatches the phone out of his hand, throwing distrustful glances at him between watching the footage. We all know what she’s about to witness, and I can see the truth reflected in her very eyes.

How death lingers and haunts us all.

“That night, he made a pact with Mavis,” she says. “They’d jump together and forget about the people they were in love with.”

Heath swallows, and his face mars with confusion. “What?”

“She loved you,” Aspen says, looking at him. “Just like Levi loved me.”

Heath’s eyes gloss over as though he’s seen her ghost wink at him from the other side. “Oh God …”

Aspen looks down at me, and my fingers instinctively reach for those beautiful freckles crossing her face like the stars on the horizon.

I do.

I love her so much it hurts to see the tears form in her eyes.

Because I never wanted her to cry over me.

“But Levi couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let me go,” she says, talking to the others, while looking explicitly at me. “And it caused her to fall.”

The silence around us is like a calm wave to my bludgeoned soul.

“All this time, he’s been trying to make us hate him so he could die alone, just like her,” she says through gritted teeth, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“But he doesn’t deserve to die, and I won’t let you kill him.

” She swallows and strengthens her grip on me, as if she wants to tell the world she’d go down to hell with me if she had to.

“Levi, is that … true?” Mom asks, her gun quaking in her hand.

I nod. “I have always only ever wanted her. I love her so, so much that it nearly killed me. And I would have died for her if she wanted me to.” I look into her eyes, cupping her face with bloodied fingers, and she smiles against the palm of my hand.

“I would jump off that cliff and go to hell and back through a rain of bullets if it meant I could kiss these lips one last time.”

She leans in close enough that I can practically feel the universe radiating off her skin.

Fuck it.

I pull her close and press my lips to hers in front of everyone.

I don’t care anymore if they know.

If it’ll kill my family to see me with her.

If it’ll make hers want to kill me even more.

I’m done running away.

And I kiss her with all I have, so hard that I don’t even remember they exist at all.

“Whoooo!” Heath begins to clap, breaking the spell.

“I can’t believe this,” Cecelia mutters.

“I can. She’s been talking about them nonstop,” Ivy says with a smug smile.

“You knew?” Silas narrows his eyes at her.

“Well, I didn’t literally think she’d actually fuck with them,” Ivy replies.

“My sister with a Torres?” Silas growls. “Fuck all the way off.”

“You interfere, and I will rip you apart from mouth to asshole,” Apollo growls at him.

“Try me,” Silas spits back.

“Enough,” Felix growls, pulling his son back to him.

Her mom slowly lowers her gun, her lip quivering. “They’re … in love …” she mutters like she still can’t believe what she’s hearing.

“But I thought you were into Grey and Apollo?” Xavier asks, confused.

Aspen takes her lips off mine and looks at him. “I still am.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Max mutters, pointing around until the penny finally drops. “Unless you’re in a foursome.”

“Oh my God,” Sunny says, snorting. “Levi, you absolute filthy bastard.”

“Hey, I was the one who suggested it,” Apollo says with a smug grin on his face.

Grey looks at him in a funny, distasteful manner, and Apollo drags him into a half hug, rubbing his head until his white hair is all messed up.

“Hey! Watch it!” Grey growls.

But it only makes Apollo laugh. “That’s my good boy.”

“Wow, you are just like us,” Heath muses as he throws his arm around Max. “Would you look at that.”

“So you … you actually love her?” my mom asks, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not being forced?”

I chuckle, but it hurts so badly I groan right after. “Yes.”

“But he killed my sister,” Silas growls.

“It was an accident!” Aspen retorts, equally stubborn.

Silas grinds his teeth. “Then who the fuck do I get to punish for her death?”

“No one,” his dad says, clutching his shoulder.

“She’s dead,” Silas mutters. “Mave is dead …”

His dad pulls him in for a hug with bloodied hands, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen either of them express any emotion other than hatred and rage. His remaining knife drops to the ground, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.

Is it over?

“God, he looks horrible,” my dad murmurs as he gets closer, tears welling up in his eyes. “I knew this would happen. I fucking knew they’d try to kill you.”

“It’s not their fault,” I mutter.

“You, you did this!” Kai points his gun toward Silas, but Felix protects him with his body.

“Don’t you dare, Torres,” Dylan says, as he too aims his gun at Kai’s face.

“Stop!” Aspen shouts. “Please, stop. All of you. Enough is enough. No more fighting. Please…”

I wish they’d learn how to listen to her.

We all should’ve done so much, much sooner.

Dylan grinds his teeth but still lowers his gun. “Fine.”

“Dad,” Aspen mutters. “I love him. You have to understand.”

“I don’t know how you did it, Torres,” he says, shaking his head. “But you did it. You stole my daughter from me.”

“He didn’t steal anything,” my dad replies. “He has fought tooth and nail against your accusations. I was the one who told him never to talk to her again to save both of our families.”

They both look at each other with disdain in their eyes.

“Levi protected me, and now I’m protecting him from your hatred.” Aspen snatches the gun away from her dad and points it at my chest. “Stop fighting, or so help me God, I will kill us both to make it stop.”

“No!” Grey tries to intervene, but Apollo stops him.

I trust her with all my heart. Whether she's alive or dead, it doesn’t matter to me as long as she’s with me wherever I go.

“Aspen, don’t,” her mom says. “Don’t. Please.”

“Listen to your mother.” My mom holds out her hand. “Give me the gun.”

She glances at me first, and I nod, smiling. “It’s okay.”

In the end, she relinquishes the gun to my mother, who hands it back to her dad. And even though their trust will take a long time to restore, this is a peace offering that can’t be ignored.

“Thanks,” her dad says.

“Promise me that you’ll stop fighting, all of you,” Aspen says.

At first, there’s only silence.

“Promise me!” Her voice echoes through the woods, making the birds fly.

“I promise,” her mom says.

“Fine, I promise,” her dad says.

My mom’s nostrils flare. “Promise.”

Felix groans from the wounds on his body. “Fine. No more fighting.”

“Really? That quickly?” Silas growls.

“Yes. That quickly,” Alistair says. “It’s about damn time, actually.”

“I—” I can’t even finish my sentence without coughing up blood.

“Oh God, no, no, no,” Aspen murmurs, scrambling to take off my shirt. “We wasted so much time arguing while he’s bleeding. Everywhere. Help!”

My mom drops her gun and rushes to my side, supporting me, while her family pulls out their phones.

“Levi, stay with me,” Mom says.

“Please, please, Levi, don’t leave me,” Aspen begs.

And I wish I could.

I wish I could stay with her a little longer.

Just one second more.

“Please, Levi, I need you.”

My eyes are slowly closing despite my best efforts to stay awake.

My muscles are tired, and my body is shredded.

I can’t hold on much longer.

“Levi, c’mon, stay with me. Please, hold on. I need you with me,” Aspen cries.

Her voice fades away as I slowly disappear into a void.

My heart can finally rest in the peace it’s always craved.