Page 3 of Boys Who Taint

“So Aspen … how’s Spine Ridge treating you?” Cecelia asks, breaking up my thoughts.

The butterfly flutters off into the void of the night.

“Oh, I love it there,” I reply, trying not to overthink things.

“Do you?” Levi’s voice makes my entire body shiver, but I ignore him.

Ever since I came to Spine Ridge University, I haven’t been able to face Levi.

He’s changed so damn much. Not in personality … but in looks.

He’s more muscular than I remember, taller, leaner, with a sharper jaw and cheeks, has more tats, more … everything.

“You like it there? Really?” Cecelia Preston frowns. “’Cuz I heard it wasn’t exactly a ‘safe’ university.” She uses air quotes to emphasize her words. She’s the only one of our group who doesn’t attend our university, but rather Prodigium, wherever that is.

“What do you mean, not safe?” Elliot says, sarcasm lacing his voice. “We’re just a bunch of innocent students.” He lifts his shorts and shows off the scar on his thigh from a bullet.

Looks gnarly, damn.

“That’s not what I meant. You wouldn’t understand.” Cecelia rolls her eyes.

“She means us boys,” Apollo says, rolling his shirt back over his arm to flex his biceps, which are covered with a black-out tattoo. “Guys with puppies like these, terrorizing campus.”

Puppies? Jesus.

Apollo never fails to mention his muscles anywhere he goes, and I don’t even blame him. He’s shredded in all the right places, with a thin waist and a ripped body many women would kill to lick. Which probably happens on the daily, judging from thesmug grin on his otherwise stone-cold chiseled face. Something I should definitely not be thinking about.

“Gross.” Cecelia snatches her marshmallow off her stick and chucks it at Apollo. “Keep your puppies where they belong.”

“But I like puppies,” River mutters to himself.

Apollo laughs obnoxiously loud and runs his fingers through his short black hair. “None of you can beat me. Admit it.”

Cecelia pokes the fire with a stick. “No one cares.”

I snort. Even though they’re all arrogant as fuck, I’m kind of enjoying this unexpected camping trip. I guess I should thank Xavier for signing us up for this trip at the last minute, only to bail on me because he got sick.

“Let me give it a shot, then.” Talon runs his fingers through his curly black hair with a smug grin on his face.

Oh boy.

I’m surprised he’d accept Apollo’s invitation to an open brawl.

“Oh God, not again.” Océane, his girlfriend, rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Please.”

“What? He thinks he’s the strongest. Let him prove it,” Talon states, rolling up his shirt to reveal the impeccable muscles hiding underneath.

“Now we’re talking.” Apollo throws aside his marshmallow, grabs an empty wooden stool next to him, puts it down in front of him, and places his elbow on top. “Arm wrestling time.”

“Oh my God, y’all are so damn boring,” Mavis whines as she gets up. “Not the arm wrestling.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” Apollo taunts her.

Mavis ignores him and grabs a flashlight, ominously pointing the light underneath her chin. “Who wants to go explore the woods? See if we can find some ghosts.”

Elliot raises his hand lightning fast. “I’m in.”

“Me,” River says, crawling up from the ground.

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