Page 265 of Boys Who Taint

She snorts. “Good one.”

“You don’t think so?”

“He’s just an obsessive asshole who hates the Torres family.”

“But did he hate them before Mavis died?”

She looks up at me. “I … don’t know. I saw him feud with Apollo once, mostly over their muscle differences.” She chuckles.“Apollo always won whenever they fought over something stupid, like who stole the most kisses from girls on campus.”

“So they’re both big macho heads.”

She laughs. “You can say that again.”

“So maybe he doesn’t truly hate them … maybe he’s just lashing out because he’s devastated over the death of his sister, and finding someone to blame takes the edge off.”

She takes in a deep breath and sighs. “Maybe.”

I put my arm over her and pull her in for a hug. “C’mere.”

“How do you always have such a way with words?”

I chuckle. “Comes with overanalyzing people.”

She smiles. “Thanks.”

I give her another big hug and plant a sweet kiss on her forehead. “Should we go back inside?”

“Do we have to?” she asks.

“Well, if you want the dinner to go well and make sure your parents like me, I have to be there,” I reply.

She chuckles. “You made a really lasting impression, didn’t you?”

I snort. “Tell me about it.”

She leans into me, and we hug for some more before finally getting up.

“Your mom’s probably wondering where we are,” I say.

“Please don’t say anything about her cooking. It’s … sensitive,” she says.

I snort. “I noticed. But I don’t get why. The chili was good.”

She looks at me like I’ve gone insane. “You liked it?”

“It was okay. The right amount of spice. Just a little zesty.”

“Zesty?” She laughs out loud.

I don’t know why it’s funny, but I’m glad I was able to make her laugh.

We head back inside, and Melody immediately comes up to hug her. “I thought you were gone.”

“I was just at the gazebo,” Aspen replies, but she still hugs her back.

“Are you okay? You looked like you were about to cry,” Melody says.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aspen replies. “Just needed some time to decompress.”

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