Page 134 of Boys Who Taint

I laugh. “Sure sounds like you are.”

Silas tosses away his mop. “You wanna try me?”

Ivy literally throws her broom on the floor. “Motherfuckers, stop it! Right now.”

Everyone looks at her, impressed by the sudden outburst.

“Ivy’s right. All this fighting will lead us nowhere except death,” Aspen mutters to herself while picking up leftover masks off the floor. But she doesn’t continue talking, even though her lips are still parted. Her eyes are fixated on the masks in her hand.

I float over her shoulder to look, and she turns her head. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“These masks …”

“What about them?”

“Why did you pick these?”

“It’s a Phantom tradition to give these out at parties.”

She stares at the mask like it’s cursed or something. “Please tell me it’s a joke.”

“It’s true. I got another one from my last party here,” Grey adds.

“Corny,” Silas mutters, trying to start another fight.

Suddenly, Aspen waltzes off to the kitchen, clearly upset, but no one else seems to notice. I follow her only because I’m curious. Because I’m an obsessed motherfucker who can’t let something go once he’s sunk his teeth into it.

And this girl … this girl has definitely piqued my interest.

Aspen

I graba glass of water to have a drink, but my hand is shaking. Levi almost died.

Why did I call out his name?

I nearly drop the glass, but then I hear footsteps, and I can already tell by how heavy they are that the person is bulky and muscular.

Apollo.

He brought me into this party, into this mess. “Did you know when you invited me to the party?”

He’s standing in the door opening, watching me intently. “I organize these parties. Of course, I knew about the masks.”

Of course, he knew.

I march over to him and slam the mask into his chest. “This is the mask my stalker wears.”

He lowers his arrogant gaze at my hand still stuck on his chest, and he covers it with his, almost as if he wants to keep it there, while a smile slowly spreads on his cheeks. “So that’s the mask you were looking for when you stormed into my room. You’re convinced your stalker is part of the Phantom Society, but he could’ve gotten this mask at any of our parties.”

He steals the glass right out of my hand, sloppily glugging down the water I was about to drink. Rivulets of water rush past hisveiny neck as his Adam’s apple rises and falls with each gulp, and I don’t know why it makes me want to lick the droplets right off his skin.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

He puts the glass down on the kitchen counter. “Or it could still be a Phantom.” His tongue dips out to roll around his mouth, licking up some stray water droplets. Then he leans in. Too close. “It could be anyone. Could even be me.”

Chills run up and down my spine.

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