Page 197 of Boys Who Taint

We stare at her without saying a word.

“My brother was right. I should’ve known better than to ever get involved with some goddamn Phantoms.”

I can’t even look at her because I don’t want her to see the evil growing in my heart, that need to finally lash out. Because she doesn’t understand just how far I’m willing to go for her.

“I’m so goddamn done with all of you,” she hisses. “Leave me the fuck alone!” She storms off, but then turns around again to point at us all. “And if any of you fuckers follow me, I will put a bullet in you myself!”

She marches off toward her sorority, and when she gets there, she slams the front door shut so loud it reverberates across the entire street.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Apollo mutters.

“This is all your fucking fault,” I growl as I waltz up the steps and pull out my knife, pointing it right at Levi’s chest at the same time as he holds one under my throat.

“You try something, and you’re dead.”

“Stop, stop,” Apollo says, but when he tries to intervene, both of us point our knives at him instead.

“You fucked with them both, didn’t you?” Levi says.

“The only reason she’s gone now is because you wouldn’t let us fucking leave,” I tell Apollo.

Apollo lifts his hands. “Hey, don’t get mad at me now. I’m the one spreading the love.”

My nose twitches. “You call blackmail love?”

“And you call secretly videotaping her love?”

“Neither of you would know the fucking meaning of love if it looked you right in the face,” Levi growls.

“Whatever. I’m out of here,” I say, waltzing down the steps.

“Where are you going?” Apollo balks.

But I just stick up my middle finger. “Away from you two fuckers who just ruined my relationship.”

“You did that yourself, motherfucker! You don’t deserve her!” Levi shouts back, but I ignore him.

I have to glue this thing with Aspen back together, no matter the cost. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her because I am nothing if I’m not with her. Nothing.

Nothing …

My hatred slowly crawls into my skin and sinks beneath my bones, consuming me from the inside out.

I have to fucking take care of this violence first, and I know just the place.

And when I’m done … I’m going to destroy that son of a bitch.

Aspen

“Can you drop me off somewhere?”I ask, clenching the phone.

“Yeah, why?” Xavier asks.

“Just … to get my car. I left it at a parking lot somewhere. I’ll give you directions once we’re in the car.”

“O...kay. Be right there.”

He hangs up, and I pace around my room nonstop until I finally see him out the window. I run downstairs and out the door, headed straight for his car, and I jump inside and close the door. “Let’s go.”

---