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)
The entire room has gone quiet.
So quiet you could hear a pin drop.
And I don’t know whether to run or hide for cover.
CHAPTER 61
Grey
“Wh-what?” Aspen mutters.
“The whole fucking school heard, Aspen,” Silas says.
Oh, fuck me sideways, this is not happening right now.
“Wait a minute, are you telling me Apollo Torres and Aspen are having an affair?” Dylan asks.
“Not an affair,” Silas says. “Apollo happily announced it over the speakers in the cafeteria that he was railing both of them.”
“Oh my God,” Melody says, giggling into her hand. “A trio? Really?”
Aspen’s phone buzzes again, but instead of checking who it is, she turns off her phone.
She scoots her chair back. “I’m done here.”
“Aspen, is that true?” her mom asks, incensed.
“What I do with my body is my choice!” she yells.
I scoot my chair back too in defiance.
“Holy shit …” Her dad runs his fingers through his white hair. “I can’t believe it. My kid is in a threesome.”
“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Alistair chuckles.
“Silas, shame on you,” Aspen growls.
“They needed to know,” he says.
“No, I didn’t,” Felix mutters. “But it’s out there now.”
“You knew?” Her mom looks at him with furrowed brows.
“He announced it over the speakers. Of course, I knew. The entire school knows by now,” Felix replies.
“He’s a Torres!” her mom says.
“Not the same family,” I say.
Now everyone’s looking at me like I dropped a bomb even though they already know this.
“He’s right, though. Ares, Crystal, and their kids have nothing to do with this feud,” Alistair says.
“Atlas didn’t do anything wrong,” Melody says.
“Because he wasn’t there that night,” Silas says. “But Apollo was. You don’t know whose side he’s on.”
Aspen folds her arms. “Sides? We’re taking sides now?”
“Yes. It’s them against us. They killed a part of our family,” Silas replies. “It’s only fair if we kill a part of theirs. Quid pro quo.”
“Fuck this, I’m not listening to this,” Aspen growls, marching off down the hallway.
“Wait.” My phone buzzes, but I swiftly turn it off as I chase her.
“Nice finally meeting you, Grey!” Silas yells, but I’m not listening to him anymore.
She storms out the door and into their lavish yard and sits down on a bench underneath a gazebo. Bringing her legs up to her chest, she hugs them tightly.
I suck in a deep breath as I approach and sit down next to her.
With furrowed brows, she looks up at me, and she reminds me of her mother. She has the same kind of fire in her whenever she gets mad. Beautiful, but scary. “Why? Why would Apollo do this?”
“He didn’t want us to be a secret anymore.”
“God, this is such a mess.”
I gently caress her back. “So is your brother always like this?”
“I don’t remember him any other way,” she responds.
“He’s probably just very protective of you,” I say.
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.”