Page 79 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Penelope’s tears move me enough to make my eyes tear up too, but suddenly she falls to the floor too and wraps her arms around me, crying into my shoulder, and I don’t know how to respond.

Neither does anyone else in this room.

I pat her on the back, and she slowly leans away again. “Thank you.”

And it means the world to me that her mother is finally allowing me to repent.

“So you’re just going to forgive him now?” Felix growls.

“What’s the point in keeping this rage locked in my heart? What purpose does it have except for ruining more lives?” she asks. “When is it enough?”

“It’s enough,” Alistair says, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve grieved enough.”

She pulls away to hug him tightly, and I get back up on my feet.

Aspen stands beside me and entangles her fingers through mine. “Forgive him. Please. And stop the fighting.” She swallows when she looks around at all the adults who seem more than happy to enter another brawl. “Mavis would never have wanted this.”

“She’s right,” Alistair says. “Mavis deserves better from all of us.”

“All right, I’ll start too, then,” Milo says. “Sorry I tried to kill y’all. I was just doing as I was ordered by my queen.” He grabs Lana’s hand and places a kiss on top.

“I’m sorry too,” Alistair says. “For the same.”

“I’m not sorry,” Dylan says. “I tried to protect my daughter because I didn’t want her to suffer the same fate as Felix’s daughter. If that makes me a villain, then so be it.”

“You don’t have to protect her against my son,” my dad growls. “He’s never had bad intentions.”

Dylan’s eyes twitch. “You call fucking with her ‘good intentions’?” He makes quotation marks with his fingers.

“Dad,” Aspen says. “I always had a crush on him.”

Everyone stares at her like it’s new information, and it makes her blush.

“Wait, what?” her mom mutters as she sits back down again. “How did I not notice?”

“Because we were friends,” Aspen says, squeezing my hand. “I hid it well.”

“Too well,” I add, winking at her.

“No,” Felix says, narrowing his eyes.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Aspen retorts, frowning. “You think I’m going to let any of you interfere?”

Her mom chuckles as Alistair nudges her. “Reminds me of someone who wouldn’t let anyone else decide who she loves,” he says.

Her mom wriggles around on the couch. “I guess we shouldn’t be too quick to judge. We’re all human.”

“I don’t know how you’ve done it, but you did it,” Felix says, glancing at Penelope before he gazes at me. “You convinced your mom.”

Aspen snorts. “But did I convince my dads?”

She looks them all in the eyes, and Dylan folds his arms and looks away.

“I can’t believe this. That fucker’s son …”

“What?” my dad says. “My son deserves happiness just like anyone else. Besides, you stole my eye, so it’s only fair my son steals your daughter.”

“You motherf—”

Her mom’s grip on Dylan’s leg keeps him from pulling out a knife when my dad begins to smirk.

“You played the long game,” Dylan grits.

“I didn’t play any game,” my dad retorts. “ They did. And they are grown adults who can decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives.”

“He has a point,” Aspen’s mom says.

“It’s not like you can stop me,” Aspen says.

So brazen. I like it.

“He already apologized. What more do you want?” Milo asks them.

Felix, Penelope, Dylan, and Alistair all look at each other like they don’t know either. And I guess that’s just it. No one knows how to deal with this situation, not even us.

“You all used to be friends,” I say. “Before I ruined it.”

Felix homes in on me. “You cost me my daughter.” He swallows. “But you managed to convince Penelope to forgive you … so maybe I’ll give you a fucking chance to prove your love to Aspen.”

Dylan throws him a grimace. “That’s not up to you to decide.”

“You wanna keep those two lovers apart?” Dad tells him. “They were willing to fucking die for each other.”

I squeeze Aspen’s hand, smiling at her from the side.

“There’s no way anyone’s going to separate those two,” Nathan says.

“God knows I tried.” Mom rolls her eyes.

“Fine…” Dylan sighs. “Do whatever you want. It’s not like I can stop you.”

Aspen lets go of me only to jump into her dad’s arms, smothering him with the same kind of bubbly joy I fell in love with.

“Thank you, Dad,” she mutters.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He’s grinning. “Whatever makes my pumpkin happy.”

I snort to myself.

Pumpkin?

“So are we good now?” Milo asks. “All of us, I mean?”

“I wouldn’t say good, but it’s a start,” her mom says.

“What do you want me to do, apologize daily?” Lana asks.

“You could bring over some of that delicious Torres food.” Dylan raises his brows. “Felix loves it.”

Her mother looks at Felix in a funny manner. “Are you saying you love your sister’s cooking more than mine?”

“No comment,” Felix replies.

Dylan and Alistair laugh, and soon everyone’s laughing, just like they used to before they all decided to despise each other. And maybe there might just be a way out of this mess after all.

“I’ll bring over the sushi,” Milo tells Dylan. “You bring the wine.”

“Hard liquor,” Felix says. “Nothing else.”

“I can go for a whiskey right about now,” my dad says, clearing his throat as he gets up. “Where do you keep your stash? You moved it.”

Felix points at a cabinet in the corner.

“So y’all are okay with us being together then?” Aspen gently asks all the people in the room.

Dylan points at me. “Don’t. Hurt. Her.”

I hold up my hands. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“And you’ll stop fighting,” Aspen tells her father, and then she looks at Felix and Alistair. “All of you.”

“Fine. I’ve tasted enough blood for the coming five years,” Felix says, as he gets up from the couch. “Kai, pour me a glass too.”

“Dad …” Aspen raises a brow. “Swear to me you won’t attack his dad.”

Dylan holds up his hands. “Fine, fine. I promise. No more eye gouging.”

“Or any other part of my body, thank you,” Kai says, tipping up his glass.

“That’s unfortunate because Felix still owes me a finger,” Nathan balks from the couch. “I got so damn close.”

Felix sticks up his middle finger, the scar on his hand a stark reminder of their bloodlust. “Never gonna catch me, Reed.”

Nathan shakes his head, but Milo elbows him and whispers, “You can take it out on me later.”

“I heard that,” I mutter.

“So? It’s not like you don’t know what we do,” Milo replies.

My skin crawls at the thought of them all doing it together.

“Aspen, what’s the deal with Apollo and Grey, then?” her mom asks. “Is this some sort of foursome? Like us?”

Aspen blushes, and she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“I’ll tell them to keep an eye on Levi,” her mom says, glaring at me. “Make sure he behaves around you.”

“They already keep tabs on me. Don’t worry about that,” I reply.

“Yeah, they basically tried to gut him like a fish,” Aspen says, chuckling under her breath.

“Good,” her mom says, leaning back as Felix pushes a glass of wine into her hand. “You deserve men fighting over you.”

Now Aspen’s giggling even more, and I grab her waist from behind and squeeze to let her know I’m listening to everything they’re saying, and I’m definitely making notes.

Mom grabs her purse and gets up, but Milo grabs her hand. “Wait, I thought we were staying for dinner.”

“Dinner?” Mom parrots, like it’s such an outlandish idea.

“Yeah. I love Penelope’s cooking.”

“You do?” Even her mom is flabbergasted.

Milo’s a chef. It’s not easy to impress him.

I lean in to whisper into Aspen’s ear. “He’s lying.”

“Totally. What’s your plan for tonight?” Milo rubs his hands. “Spaghetti al dente? A Korean hot pot?”

“Enchiladas,” her mom replies. “It’s Felix’s favorite.”

Felix makes a face, then casually takes a sip of his drink, which looks like it burns.

Aspen whispers, “It’s not.”

“I’m not opposed to some food,” Nathan says.

“As long as there’s no fighting, I guess they can stay for dinner,” Alistair mutters. “Right?”

“Gives them a chance to mend things,” I whisper back into Aspen’s ear, and she smiles.

Her mom sighs. “Okay, fine. Let’s all have dinner.”

“Good. Filled bellies keep the hate at bay,” Aspen whispers back.

“Is that so, pumpkin ?”

I wink when she looks at me, all embarrassed as fuck, but the little freckles on her nose wriggle along with her, and it’s too cute.

“I will kill you if you ever repeat that,” she hisses through her teeth.

A filthy smirk forms on my face. “What’s your weapon of choice, knives or tits? I vote for the latter.”

“Having a lover’s quarrel already?” Dylan muses, raising his brow. “I guess you two are in deep, huh?”

“How often does Mom want to kill you?” Aspen asks.

He snorts and grabs a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the table and says, “Every day.”

“Wait, how are we gonna eat enchiladas without forks?” Lana asks, and everyone looks at her before bursting out into laughter.

“Am I missing something?” I mutter at Aspen, who’s chuckling too.

She leans in and says, “Felix and Lana have a history with cutlery.” She winks. “It’s a long story.”