Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
“Where are you going?” Apollo asks.
“Away from you three!” I yell back.
I waltz into the hallway, but the beautiful glass ceiling still makes me stop and stare. It’s like a gateway to heaven from hell. A glimpse at what could’ve been … if only we’d made different choices.
I sigh. I find myself back here again in the same place I once saw my stalker. Now in the living flesh, without a mask, without secrets.
I turn as all three boys stroll inside and close the front door. Levi’s face darkens with every step he takes, as if being here in my presence unlocks the shared memory we have. But Grey’s eyes flutter between me and him like he’s deciphering the same memory from a different perspective, all while Apollo keeps his haughty gaze fixated on me.
A lump forms in my throat.
The silence is like lightning flickering between us all, and it’s bound to detonate. The only question is when.
CHAPTER 54
Grey
“So this is it? Aren’t you three going to kill each other now?” she says through gritted teeth. “You wanted to do it. What’s stopping you? Not me. I’m done. I’m done trying to keep you from ripping each other apart.”
“Aspen …” I mutter.
“No. I don’t want to hear it. Just kill each other and get it over with.”
“You don’t mean that,” Apollo says.
Tears well up in her eyes, but she blinks them away. “It’s destroying me.”
God.
All I wanted was to earn her love.
And I ruined it all.
I step closer, and when she backs away, I kneel in front of her. “I’m sorry.”
She frowns. “You’re all trying to hurt each other because of me.”
I avert my eyes.
She’s right. We did try to end each other on the beach.
But how could I not when I saw him on top of her, having his way with her?
“But Levi—”
“Levi didn’t hurt me,” she interjects. “He didn’t even kill Mavis, but she died because he fell in love with me, and I was too scared to get close.”
Apollo approaches too and listens in on our conversation.
“What do you mean?” I ask, glancing at Levi, who’s still standing farther away.
“He didn’t kill her! You saw the video. Levi told me the truth. They made a pact to forget about their unrequited love by jumping off the ledge. But in the end, he couldn’t do it. And then she fell.”
She rubs her forehead, clearly shaken up. “He’s been feeling guilty all this time and literally tried to jump to end it all. But I couldn’t let him die. I couldn’t … take my hands off him.”
Oh God.
It didn’t hit me until now.
She’s not just upset because of our fight.
She’s upset because she lost herself to him.
I grab her hand and squeeze it softly.
“I’m sorry.”
I don’t want to lose her. I can’t. I won’t.
“I loved you so much …” I try to protect my heart from shattering into a million pieces. “I loved you so much that I was blinded by jealousy because you never loved me back. It destroyed me little by little.”
“What?” she mutters. “What do you mean?”
“When I told you I loved you, you didn’t say it back.” The silence between us was deafening. “And I knew it was because of him.” I glance at Levi, who just stands there watching us. “You loved him more than you could ever love me.”
She shakes her head.
“And I don’t blame you. I’m a monster, I know that. I lied to get my way. I was obsessed with the idea of having you, and I took it too far. But I am so in love with you that I can’t see straight anymore. If someone hurt you … I’d kill them in a heartbeat.” I gently caress the bottom of her hand with my thumb. “But I understand now. And I’m here, begging you for forgiveness. For every lie I told. Every video I ever took. I’m but a monster infatuated with a single girl.”
I lower my eyes.
Even when I tried so hard to keep him away, he still found his way back into her heart.
I lost.
“Please … forgive me. I can’t live without your love.”
“You hear that? Got the boy begging on his knees,” Apollo muses.
I frown at him. “Really?”
“Don’t start something again, please,” she says. “I don’t want you three to fight over me.”
“That’s hard because there’s a lot of you to fight over.” Apollo bites, then licks his lips and winks.
Unbearable. But also too damn hot.
“She just got railed after saving a killer, and you’re already foaming at the mouth.”
“She’s not the only one who can make me go hard.” He winks at me, making me blush all over just because I’m reminded of that night in his bedroom.
Fuck.
He chuckles. “I meant in an actual fight.”
“Sure you did,” Aspen says, but she’s finally showing a smile again.