Page 24 of Boys Who Taint

He brushes down their tombstone so no fallen leaves block the names, and I can finally see what’s written on there.

“Pete and Dahlia Westbrook,” I mutter.

“They loved each other so much that they couldn’t even be separated in death,” he says.

“Romantic,” I say.

“Yeah.” He sniffles.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so nosy.” I quickly turn away again so I can focus on wishing away all the memories of Mavis’s death.

“Mavis Rivera … She your family?”

The stranger stands behind me now, his height casting a shadow on her grave. “She’s my sister.” I suck in a breath. “I lost her a couple of weeks ago.”

He gazes at me intently. “I guess life’s cruel like that. People you think will be with you forever suddenly never speak to you again. It’s as if they’re just … out of reach.”

His words move something inside me.

I look up at him, and he holds out his hand. “Grey Westbrook. Nice to meet you.”

His comforting smile makes me feel at ease, so I hold out my hand. “Aspen Caruso.”

“Caruso?” His eyes narrow as they switch back and forth between the grave and me.

“Oh, yeah, she is—wasmy half sister.” I clear my throat.

Here it comes.

TheI’m sorry for your loss.

Those meaningless words I’ve heard over and over again. As if it absolves the listener of their misery. As if it can take away the guilt eating us alive.

“She sounds like she was a fun person to get to know.”

Oh.

Wow.

That’s a breath of fresh air.

I look up at Grey and smile. “Yeah. She was.” I shiver, suddenly feeling the warmth rush back into my skin. “She was killed.”

“Killed?” He frowns.

My fist balls as tears well up in my eyes, but I refuse to shed them and blink them away. “By the person I once thought was a friend.”

“I …” he mutters.

There I go, trauma dumping on a stranger.

I shiver. “Um, never mind. Sorry about that.”

“Are you cold?” Grey asks, immediately taking off his coat. “Here.”

He drapes his coat over my shoulders, the gentle caress of his smell making me blush.

“Thank you,” I mutter.

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