Page 290 of Boys Who Taint

“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 itat 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.

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