Page 19 of Boys Who Taint

How many more will appear when I’m not there to see them grow?

My nostrils flare, and I turn away. “I don’t want to talk.”

“What?” She follows me. “No. You can’t just keep on ignoring me.”

“Yes, I can,” I reply stoically, trying to keep the voices in my head from taking over.

“But we’re best friends.”

God.

Please.

Make it stop.

“Were,” I retort.

But the pain on her face. Fuck, it wounds me.

“You don’t mean that.”

If only she knew how badly I meant that.

“Yes, I do,” I reply.

“Levi, no. You can’t just turn your back on me,” she says, blocking my way back to the table.

Everyone’s staring at us, and it’s bringing even more attention to something that should’ve died down long ago.

Fuck.

“Get out of my way,” I say through gritted teeth.

My teeth are clenched so harshly a chip falls onto my tongue, but I swallow it down.

Tears well up in her eyes. “Please … talk to me. We can figure this out together.”

This. This is what death feels like.

No blade could ever wound me the way she could with those pristine tears rolling down those freckled cheeks.

There’s no way back from what I’ve done, no way to fix what I’ve broken, no way to …

“Didn’t you hear?” I take a step forward, lowering my face beneath my hoodie a little so she can see the chill of death in my eyes. “I’m a killer.”

Aspen sucks in a breath, her feet shifting on the floor, growing the distance between us.

Good.

“Mavis died because of me.” I narrow my eyes at her. “And if you value your life, don’t ever talk to me again.”

The tear that rolls down her cheek is the death penalty, and I lower my head and take it in stride, knowing the pain could never compare to what awaits us if I would ever dare to say what’s truly on my mind.

Our fate was sealed the second Mavis died, and along with it, my ability to look into Aspen Caruso’s eyes without guilt.

Fuck.

I turn around and waltz off, but I can feel her searing gaze on my back.

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