Page 255 of Vile Boys

The filthy half smile on her face makes me tilt my head. This littlerose is sharpening her thorns, and I’m not sure I entirely loathe it.

“Crystal …” I mutter.

“No.”

“She looks adorable when she thinks she can win this from you,” Blaine murmurs, rubbing his own cheek.

“I’ll go grab the kit,” Caleb says, walking to the cabinet with supplies I keep in my bathroom.

I sigh out loud. “You really don’t have to—”

Crystal suddenly grabs my hand, and my mind goes numb. “Let him help you. Please.”

The way she looks at me has me momentarily stunned.

Caleb sits down behind me on the bed and says, “Sit down, please. I can’t reach the wound if you don’t.”

Grumbling, I do what they want me to, and Caleb unscrews the bottle, dabbing the cotton into the alcohol before shoving it straight into the wound.

The pain doesn’t faze me nearly as much as her warm hand squeezing mine, an unfamiliar feeling rushing to bring life to the shriveled-up heart still miraculously beating behind this rib cage.

“Do you need any help with that, darling?” Blaine asks.

“No, thanks,” Caleb growls back.

Blaine lifts his fingers and makes a claw. “Rawr.”

Caleb sighs behind me. “Can I kill him?”

Crystal snorts and hides her laughter behind her hand.

“No, you cannot,” I reply in all seriousness. “You need him, and he needs you.”

“Don’t be mad at me, darling,” Blaine says, approaching. “I’m just having fun with you.”

“There, all done,” Caleb says after he places the final suture and pats down the wound with some alcohol.

“Thanks,” I say, and I turn around to grab his face and kiss him on the lips.

His kisses are so different from hers, much more needy, but both taste divine. And I’ll be damned if I don’t have both of them.

“I mean it,” I say.

He leans his forehead against mine. “I know.”

“God, I’m so fucking tired,” Blaine says, yawning wildly.

I crawl onto the bed behind Crystal and drag her to me. “Caleb. Blaine. Lie down.”

“What? In your bed?” Blaine asks with widened eyes.

“Is there a problem with my bed?” I retort.

His cheeks redden. “No. But you’ve never asked me before.”

“Don’t make me change my mind,” I say.

A smile forms on his face before he crawls onto the bed and lies down next to Crystal, with his back turned to her. “I want to be the little spoon.”

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