Page 12 of Infatuated as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #2)

Holly

The goodbye at Fort Worth Airport had been a bit of a mess.

Mostly because Mom couldn’t stop crying, and that made me cry, and that seemed to make my dad cry too as he turned around, trying to wipe at his eyes without anyone noticing.

Then my mom pulled the three of us into a dramatic group hug that felt like it was never going to end.

She had also made sure to wrap her arms around Sawyer, giving him a big kiss on the cheek while my dad and Sawyer just exchanged awkward looks.

Now Dallas was far behind us and so was Sawyer’s dad—and mine—and I just knew that things were going to be different for him. I didn’t care if anyone else didn’t believe in him, because I did with my whole heart.

“Are you ready?” I asked as we stood outside the door to our apartment. Ours . That felt so good to say. It was decorated and ready to go thanks to all the back-and-forth trips me and Mom had done over the last few weeks.

“How much pink stuff did you buy?” Sawyer asked. “I don’t mind, I just wanna prepare myself.”

“There’s not that much pink.” I pushed the door open, walking in backwards.

“Okay, we have our exclusive closet to your left.” I pointed to the white doors right by us, watching as Sawyer dumped all our bags to the floor.

Throwing the closet doors open, I waved a hand at the mostly empty space. “Very luxurious, right?”

“Very,” he said.

I grabbed his hand, guiding him forward and hoping he liked all the stuff I picked out.

I had done my best to keep the space warm and comfortable, with a hint of a feminine touch here and there.

Soft carpet met my feet as I kicked my sandals off, nodding to the left.

“Okay, here is the living room, where we will live.” I gestured to the cream-colored sofa.

There was a rectangular oak coffee table in front of it and a TV up against the wall.

“And then back here,” I said, still grasping his hand tightly as I pulled him across the room, “is the dining area where we will dine.” Next to me was a round, white table that was big enough to seat four people, but all I cared about was that me and Sawyer would fit and that we’d get to have so many meals together.

“And then right behind us is the bedroom where we will—”

“Bed?” he offered.

“Exactly.” I stood on the tips of my toes, throwing my arms around his shoulders. “You read my mind. Do you like how I decorated?”

“It looks great.” He gave me a slow peck to the lips. “I don’t even care what this place looks like as long as you’re in it. And you—” He frowned suddenly, nodding behind me. “Are those mine?”

“Hm?” Spinning around, I followed his gaze. I had decorated the white walls with a few of Sawyer’s paintings. There were some in the bedroom too. “Yeah. Those are some of my favorite ones so I had to put them up.”

“You hung my own art on the wall?”

“You don’t like those ones?”

“Do you know how weird it feels to see your own paintings on a wall?” he asked. “Makes me feel like a raging egomaniac.”

“I can’t take them down.” I shrugged. “I love looking at them.”

“Can we just keep one up or something?”

“I superglued them to the wall. None of them will come down.”

“Gonna have to rip ‘em off when you’re asleep, huh?” he said. “This place looks really great, though. I know it’s not as spacious as what you’re used to…”

I raised an eyebrow up at him. “Stop it. I don’t care about that.

This is our place and I can’t wait for us to share it.

It’s perfect. Columbia isn’t too far away and Central Park is close by, so we can go on nice long walks and have lunch there and go to the Conservatory Garden.

Ooh, and we can visit The Met every weekend and I can tell everyone about how my very talented boyfriend’s art is gonna be in there one day. ”

“Such a little dreamer,” he said. “I wanna do all that with you. I don’t know about that last one, though. People might think you’re crazy…”

“Let them. Do you wanna unpack or should we go out and get some lunch?”

Sawyer’s eyes moved over to the clock to our side. “Uh, I actually wanted to go for a walk around the city.”

“We can go together.” I tightened my arms around his shoulders. “I’ll be your tour guide.”

“You might get bored.”

“I’m never bored with you.”

“I was gonna apply for some jobs.”

Pulling my arms away from him, I scoffed. “Really? We literally just got here and you already wanna do that?”

“Well, we agreed that I’d pay for the rent.”

“Uh, we didn’t really agree, you straight up refuse to let me pay for it. Or anything.”

“Either way, I plan on keeping my end of the bargain. I’ve got some cash left over from all those art projects I did over the summer, but I wanna make sure I’ve got a solid job to rely on before that runs out.”

“You know… I could just—”

Crooked smile on his face, he cut me off. “You could, but I don’t need you to.”

“But what about your art?”

“What about it?”

“Aren’t you going to focus on that?”

“I’ll get around to it, just not right now. When everything’s settled I can worry about my art, but until then, I gotta do this.”

My brain was forcing me to relive our last few days in Dallas, that short and not so sweet conversation with his dad uncomfortably vivid as I remembered all the words he spat out. Sharp and hurtful and hateful.

“Is this about what your dad said?” I asked, studying Sawyer’s face closely. “ Because no offense, but your dad is an idiot.”

“Holly,” he said, and then his eyes closed for a moment before he focused back on me. “It’s not about him. I just want to make sure I’m on top of all this stuff. The important stuff.”

“You’re an artist in New York City . This is the best place in the world for you to get started. There’s up and coming artists everywhere here, and you’ve got them all beat on talent.”

“Right now, my art’s gonna have to come second place. That’s the case for a lot of people, right? And I’m okay with that.”

There was a long pause as I stared up at him, guilt suddenly filling up my heart. “Did I just ruin your life?”

“What?” There was a tinge of amusement in his voice as he took a seat on the couch, giving the spot next to him a pat.

I stayed standing, fidgeting with one of the rings on my finger, sliding it up and down. “Did I just drag you out of Dallas? Out of your home? Where you had a job and a truck and a life?”

His green eyes stayed stuck on mine and I watched as they slowly softened, as something warm and sincere looked back at me. “You didn’t ruin my life, Holly,” he said, voice perfectly even. “You did the exact opposite.”

“I feel like I’ve made everything harder for you. And I really, really don’t want things to be hard for you.”

“Goddamn drama queen,” he murmured, giving my hand a pull and settling me on his lap. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to go overboard just to take care of me,” I said, pressing my hands to his chest. “You shouldn’t be putting your dreams on the backburner. You didn’t just come here to look after me, right?”

“I like looking after you.”

“What about your art?”

“I can still do it. And I will. Meanwhile,” he said, raising an eyebrow up at me as a playful tone washed over his rough voice, “I can’t sit around all day like some spoiled, little princess, right?”

My eyes narrowed a little. “I’m not spoiled, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Holly, I’d never. ”

“I’m not spoiled.”

“How much did this couch cost?”

“That’s not important,” I said, ignoring Sawyer’s deep laugh. “The point is that you don’t have to worry about me all the time. Moving here isn’t just about me, it’s about you too. You should be doing what you want and what you love.”

“But I love you,” he drawled, his lips ghosting against my neck. “And I love taking care of you. Can’t I do that?”

The sensation of his lips on my skin made me sigh, my fingers toying with the collar of his shirt. “You already do that.”

“Well, I wanna do it some more.”

“Why can’t you just be my trophy boyfriend? Then you can stay at home all day and paint shirtless and I can spoil you and look after you the way you deserve.”

“When you become a big-time journalist, huh?” Sawyer pecked my lips, and then that teasing look that had been in his eyes faded into something more serious.

“Look, you’re sweet and it means a lot to me that you think I’ve got what it takes to be someone.

I’m not really used to that. And as much as I appreciate everything you say to me, I still have to be an adult, right?

I’m used to it. I’ve been looking after myself for a long, long time. ”

“I mean, I can’t stop you from getting a job if that’s what you really want to do. It’s your life and I have to respect that and I do, but you can keep all that money you earn if you didn’t pay for rent.”

“That’d mean you would have to pay for everything.”

It always felt arrogant and obnoxious to think about how much money I had in the bank, but I knew that paying for rent wouldn’t even make the tiniest of dents in my wallet.

I could pay for me and Sawyer’s rent for the entire year with complete ease.

I was pretty sure I could pay everyone’s rent in the whole building and still have more than enough left over.

“But…” I started softly. “It wouldn’t be fair for all of your money to go to rent.”

“I can’t live here for free.”

“Let me pay for it. ”

He gave his head a shake, the look on his face telling me that he had already made up his mind a long time ago. “I wanna do this fairly.”

“How is that fair? What kind of girlfriend would I be if I let you slave away working for hours and hours?”

“I did it before and I was fine, so I can do it now. I wanna do all that fun stuff with you that you said, but I’m not just here for the fun stuff, right? I gotta do the adult stuff too, and that means working.”

“Well, maybe I’ll get a job too,” I said defiantly, straightening up in his lap. “I’m gonna go work at Tiffany’s.”

He laughed, reaching a hand up to brush a thumb against my cheek.

“You don’t need to work. You’re gonna be busy with classes and cheer and a million other things.

You don’t need any distractions. Don’t worry about me or about looking after this place.

I can do it. I’ve got this and I’ve got you. I promise I’ve got you.”

There was no convincing him to just take it easy, to just focus on himself. He had never really ever had the chance to do that. “What about your art?”

“I’ll get around to it.” He kissed the side of my face. “When everything is settled, okay? Just give me some time to get things together here, then I can do all that.”

“It was so nice seeing you paint all summer and do all those projects,” I said, my voice a little wistful. “Everyone was so in love with everything you made.”

“That was back home. It’s different here. There’s an artist everywhere you look in this city.”

“But…”

“It’s okay, Holly. You don’t have to worry about me.”

He was too stubborn. Always had been, always would be.

No one dug their heels in harder than Sawyer Westbrook.

That used to be one of the things about him that annoyed me the most: how he never backed down or shut up and did what he should have been doing.

But being with him and loving him had taught me that those traits existed deep within him for a reason.

A hard life was bound to do that to a person.

All those long days working back home, all those years dealing with his father.

It made him strong and determined. It made him someone I knew I could always rely on, but he still had no idea how to learn to rely on someone else.

“There’s no changing your mind,” I said, pressing my forehead to his. “You’re very stubborn and annoying.”

“Just a tiny bit,” he said, offering me a quick grin.

“Well, can you at least hold off on the whole job hunting thing until later? You just got here. You’re allowed to enjoy the city as well.”

His tongue clicked. “I wanted to get started on that as soon as I could.”

“You can do it later. Just take it easy today. Please. For me?” I did what he said he could never say no to: batting my lashes at him and turning my lips into a little pout. “Please, please, please.”

Groaning, he threw his head back. “That fuckin’ face…”

“You said you couldn’t say no.”

“And I can’t.” He hissed, one finger stroking at my bare thigh. “Alright, alright. I’ll wait. Since you asked so nice.”

“Thank you.” Hands on the sides of his face, I kissed his lips.

“What do you wanna do tomorrow? In the morning I have to go to the campus book store before all my textbooks run out, but then after that, we’ve got the whole day together.

We could go for a walk around Central Park and maybe have lunch there.

And then on Sunday I was thinking we could go to The Met and spend the day there.

That’d be perfect inspiration for you to paint something, right? ”

He hummed. “I just wanna paint you, though.”

“You have to get out of that habit.”

“No, I can’t quit.” Strong hands gripped my waist tight, drawing me in closer to him. “I don’t wanna quit.”

“You’re in New York City. There’s so many beautiful things to paint here, and you still just want to paint me?”

“You’re the prettiest thing in this city,” he said, nose nuzzling into my neck. “You’re the prettiest thing in every city.”

My cheeks felt all hot and tingly at his words. “You’ll get bored of painting me eventually.”

“Not possible.”