Page 2 of Boys Who Taint

Levi

The cliffsbeneath me run steep, the rocks down below promising imminent death.

That’s exactly why we’re here.

I didn’t just want to camp out with the guys in the woods far above Lake Verity at the top of the mountain for the fun of it. I wanted everyone to face their fucking fears and jump into the abyss with me.

I turn my head to find the girl who has been the bane of my existence and the sole reason I’m here.

Look at me. Look at me. Look. At. Me!

Her eyes find mine in the thick of night, like a moth summoned to a flame.

It’s never going to be enough.

One breath. In and out. That’s all I need to know that she saw me.

I blink once, tighten my muscles, and make the jump. Down, down, down the cliff to the water below.

My jump is meticulous, my angle calculated, my gaze fixated.

Not on the sea beyond, but her eyes.

God, those ocean eyes will be my undoing one day. And I would rather risk drowning in the water beneath my fingertips than forever submersing myself in the limbo she banished me to.

Behind me, cheers of my friends and family erupt.

“Whooo!” Apollo, my cousin, screams into the void.

Mavis and Cecelia clap, but I ignore the sound.

The sea is as cold as ice as my entire body is submerged, and as the water fills my ears, I close my eyes and focus on my heartbeat.

Here, there are no rules, no time, no eyes to judge me.

Nothing … except me and the thought of absolute ruin.

The ruin … ofher.

Fuck.

Aspen Caruso…

I would kill for you.

Aspen

Later that night

Nothing burns as brightlyas the set of deep brown eyes staring right back at me through the flames.

Flickers of fire flutter into the air above, casting an eerie shadow over the ground as my gaze follows the burned-out wood chips, the thick smoke making it hard to breathe.

I cough and look away, desperate to maintain the gentle equilibrium in my heart, but the pang is almost immediate. The boy with the scorpion tattoo is seared into my mind like a scar on my vision. Levi Torres. His middle-parted fringe falls over his gleaming eyes as he leans over to grab a new marshmallow for his stick. Even when I’m not looking at him, I can still feel his penetrating gaze on my skin, coaxing out the rapid heartbeats.

A bright blue butterfly flutters between us, instantly drawing my attention away as it settles on my marshmallow, calming my mind.

What are you still doing up so late, little one?

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