Page 85 of Boys Who Taint

“Fuck you,” Dylan growls, before marching off too.

“Well, this went sour quickly,” Milo mutters to himself.

“Maybe you guys shouldn’t have,” Alistair tells him.

“Is this going to turn into a fight again?” Melody asks, but no one’s listening.

“Can’t we have a normal birthday party for once?” Atlas asks.

“Not in our family,” Orion says, chugging down his drink.

“Please, calm down, everyone,” Ares says.

Felix waltzes out again with his helmet in his hand. “No, why did you invite those fuckers?”

“Felix, please,” Mom says.

“Tell them to leave, now,” Dylan tells Ares, adding fuel to the fire.

“But we just arrived,” Max says, frowning.

“Why? We can celebrate her birthday just as well as you can,” Kai says.

Levi mutters into his ear, “Dad, maybe it’s better—”

“No. I won’t let them bully us out of their lives too,” Kai interjects.

“They killed my daughter!” Penelope shouts.

Everyone goes quiet, while I can’t help but look at Aspen, who seems mortified by the whole situation that’s unfolding. Dammit.

“I cannot stay in the same fucking room as them,” she says. “I just can’t.”

“Maybe we can do the party outside then?” Milo suggests, but Nathan nudges him to keep quiet.

“If you won’t tell them to leave, we’re gone,” Felix says.

“Great, I can’t fucking wait to get out of here,” Silas says. “All this pink makes me nauseous.”

“Felix is right,” Dylan says. “Let’s get out of here.”

Alistair grabs Melody’s hand. “C’mon, Mel. Let’s go.”

“Dad, please, let’s think this over for a second,” Aspen says.

“Why aren’t you siding with us?” Xavier asks her.

“Bunch of idiots,” Sunny mutters under her breath.

“What did you just say?” Silas growls back, his eyebrow twitching.

“Hold on. Not on my grounds.” Ares steps between the two feuding families. “You wanna fight? Do it somewhere else.”

“Or what?” Xavier rebukes, egged on by Silas.

“Stop,” my mom says, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please. Just stop.”

“Fine,” Penelope says. “C’mon.”

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