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

“Should I wear a polo shirt or something?”

“Ew, no. Wear whatever you want. Whatever you feel comfortable in. I want you to be yourself, not pretend to be someone you’re not.”

“So no haircut?”

“Absolutely not.” I pushed a hand through his hair, my nails scratching at his scalp gently. My constant urge to tug and play with his locks had yet to go away. “And if you get one, I’ll get really mad.”

“Well, I don’t wanna make you mad,” he murmured, and all of a sudden, he had flipped us over so that his body was right on top of mine.

Once again, I had to hold back a giggle as he hovered above me.

He grabbed one of my heart-shaped pillows and tossed it to the side, pressing his hands either side of my head, trapping me in exactly where I loved to be.

I felt my heart race a little as I took him in.

At his toned forearms that he got from fixing cars and the steady, skilled fingers he had from painting and all that perfectly untamable hair, the strands always falling in just the right way.

“You used to love making me mad,” I said, my face feeling a little warm.

“ You used to love making me mad.”

“Only a tiny bit. ”

“A tiny bit?” he asked, his lips ghosting across mine. “I think you liked it a lot more than that.”

I felt his lips move from mine and then down to my neck, giving the skin there the softest, little kiss. “You definitely liked it more than I did,” I said.

He hummed. “Haven’t I made it up to you yet? What else can I do to make it better?”

“There’s a couple things you could do…”

“You seem to like it when I kiss you here.” Lips all soft and warm, he kept them pressed right to my neck as he sucked at the skin gently, and it felt so good that I couldn’t hold back my whine. “You seem to really like it. Is that enough to make it up to you?”

I laughed softly. “Don’t leave a mark.”

“I won’t. Just wanna kiss you here a little.”

My eyes shut, hands resting on his shoulders as he kissed that sensitive spot there on my neck, his body feeling so big and broad on mine. “Okay, maybe you can leave a teeny, tiny little mark,” I offered.

“Is that how I make it up to you? Like this?”

“Well, you could give me a hint about where you’re taking me for my birthday…”

“Nope.”

“What if I give you a nice, long kiss?”

“That’s tempting, baby, but I still won’t give in.”

“How will I know what to wear?”

“Just wear something pretty.”

“My pajamas are pretty. Can I wear them?”

Finally pulling away from my neck, his eyes lowered, giving his head a slow shake. “Those are for my eyes only. They’re not even pajamas. Fuckin’ rich girl underwear…”

“They’re pajamas, not underwear.”

“They’re short enough to be underwear, which means only I get to look at ‘em.” Then his gaze locked back on to mine, his green eyes all dark. “You should get some sleep, huh? You’re gonna be busy all day tomorrow.”

“Will you stay?” I asked. “I always sleep better when you’re here. ”

“You know you don’t have to ask. Come here.”

He moved so that I was resting on his chest again, the side of my face pressed up against the cotton of his shirt. I felt his long fingers stroking at my scalp, the gesture so soothing that it made my eyes gently shut.

I had developed a habit over the summer that I hadn’t been able to kick and quite frankly, I didn’t want to.

There had been so many nights where Sawyer would sneak into my room and lie in bed with me, my head on his chest as we talked for hours.

Tiredness would eventually take over and I’d fall asleep right there, all pressed up against him.

He was always gone by the time I woke up—and that was for the benefit of the both of us, because I knew my dad would lose it if he barged into my bedroom and saw me and Sawyer tangled up—but I could have sworn I always woke up feeling more refreshed than ever.

“G’night,” he said, giving my forehead a slow kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” I said back, sighing softly.

I hated that he had to leave. That when the sun came up, he’d be gone and I’d be left in my bed that all of a sudden felt too cold and lonely.

But that was about to change. We’d be in New York soon, in our own place, with our own space, and there would be no more silly rules to get in between us.

My dad wouldn’t be there to make Sawyer feel uncomfortable and unwelcomed and my curfew would be long gone and my bed would be our bed, and Sawyer wouldn’t have to sneak out of the window just so we could spend a couple hours cuddling.

The sound of Sawyer’s heartbeat was in my ears and that deep, woodsy scent of his was in the air and I was right there in his arms, feeling so loved and safe that I couldn’t quite believe it.

Soon, every night would be like this, and there would no longer be a time limit on what we could do and when we could do it.

Sawyer wouldn’t disappear into the night, and I’d get to fall asleep in his arms and wake up in them, with no more fear of him vanishing with the sunrise.

* * *

“I finally decided,” a soft voice said next to me, their tone all level and serious. “It took fifteen minutes, but I finally got there in the end.”

I turned to see my best friend taking a seat to my left. “I know it was a really hard decision.”

“I couldn’t decide between berry red and wine red,” Annie said, her hands flicking her brown curls over her shoulders. “One says flirty and the other says sophisticated, and I was torn between going with those two looks tonight. I went with sophisticated.”

“You’re so grown up.”

“I was going to pick flirty since there’ll be a bunch of your rich relatives at your party, but I’ll shoot my shot another time.”

“You’re going to meet much more interesting guys at CalArts,” I said, the nail salon tech grasping my hand softly to keep it held in place.

She was brushing a soft pastel layer of pink across the nails on my left hand.

It was the second last stop on mine and Annie’s journey before going back home to get dressed for my birthday party.

When our nails were done, we’d be heading across the road for our hair and makeup appointment.

“God, I still don’t know how I got in,” she said, voice laced with disbelief as the tech got started on her nails.

“Um, because you’re the best dancer in this city, obviously. There was no way you weren’t getting in.”

“My toes are killing me. Even now. Even when we’re sitting down. I need a foot massage.”

“We should squeeze in a spa day before we leave. Which is really, really soon.”

“I can’t believe we’re leaving in a week. This summer went by so fast,” she said. “And all my mom does is cry now. I feel so guilty going.”

“But aren’t you excited for California?” I tried to lighten the mood. “All that warm sun and the pretty views and the beautiful beaches.”

“Your native Malibu is only an hour drive away from me, by the way.”

Rolling my eyes, I let the nail tech get started on my right hand. “Send me a postcard.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna have time to hit any beaches actually. I’ve already seen the show schedule for the next two semesters. Sleeping Beauty , The Prince and Me , Romeo and Juliet . I’m gonna be busting my ass at auditions, and who knows if I’ll even pass a single one?”

“Stop,” I scolded her. “You’ll pass. Of course you will. And then you’ll get to wear the most beautiful costumes. You’ll have to send me all the photos.”

“Let’s see if I make it through my first week of classes. Have you seen your schedule yet?”

I blew out a puff of air. “Yeah, it’s pretty intense. But I have Fridays off which I’m excited about. Three-day weekend every weekend. Yay. But I’ll be cheering most of those nights.”

“God, I’m gonna miss cheer.” She threw her head back, groaning ever so slightly before she perked up in her seat. “Wait, when do you pick up your new uniform?”

“My first day there. I get to meet the rest of the girls too. I can’t wait. I only met my new head cheerleader at orientation.”

“I’ve seen the uniform they have there.” Annie shot me a sly, little look, one eyebrow raised. “It’s tiny . Does your boyfriend know how short your new cheer skirt is?”

My face suddenly felt a little warm at the thought. “Not yet. I figured I’d surprise him with that one.”

“I’m sure he’ll be plenty surprised. I still cannot believe you and Sawyer are gonna be living together. This time last year that would end in one of you killing the other. You’d be doing the killing.”

“Yeah, I still can’t believe it either,” I said with a little laugh.

“Have you showed him how you decorated the apartment?”

“No, not yet. I haven’t shown him any of the photos. I thought it’d be nice to surprise him with that too. But I’m all done with it. I tried not to go overboard on the pink. All the curtains are pink, though. I found really cute floral ones and I couldn’t not buy them. ”

“How do you think Sawyer Westbrook feels about your pink floral curtains?”

“I don’t know, but I refuse to change them.”

“You’re both too stubborn.”

But that had me sighing. “He’s more stubborn than me.

I’m never allowed to do anything for him.

He pays for dinner, he pays for our tickets when we go to the movies, he pays for gas when we go on all those long drives.

He pays for everything . He even wants to be the one to pay for rent when we move to New York. ”

“When did he turn into such a gentleman?”

“I think he kinda always was one. I just didn’t realize it,” I said, giving my head a shake. “He’s already looking at jobs to apply for. Mechanic jobs.”

“What’s wrong with that? He’s good at that. I should thank him again for fixing my car for free the other week. He saved me, like, four hundred bucks.”

“I know he’s good at that, but he’s so much better at other stuff. He’s done so many art projects over the summer and they’re all so gorgeous. People would pay thousands to have something like that in their house.”

“Is he still obsessed with painting you?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.”

“You don’t like being his muse?”

“It’s not that,” I said, taking a sip of my iced coffee, the taste of creamy caramel hitting my tongue. “It’s just that he should be painting stuff he can sell.”

“You have a very sellable face.”

“He never sells his paintings of me,” I said. There was what felt like an endless amount of canvases that featured me in his bedroom, all stacked against the walls. Some small, some big, and all that made my heart flutter wildly.

“Ooh, he’s making a Holly Sutton shrine.”

“Probably.” I laughed. “But seriously, he’s going to be living in New York City. That should be the dream for any artist, and instead of focusing on his art, he’s going to be busy working all the time just so he can pay rent and look after me.”

“Yup. Definitely a gentleman. He hid that pretty well.”

We kept sipping on our drinks and talked all about Annie’s plans for California.

She showed me more photos of the place she was about to move into: a beautiful apartment with a definite Spanish influence that was only about a ten-minute drive from campus.

I liked hearing the excitement in her voice as she talked about all the things she planned on doing when she got there and all the plays she wanted to audition for.

When we were all finished with our nails, I pulled out my card, paying for the both of us.

“And you are a gentlewoman.” Annie leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek. “You didn’t have to pay. Thank you.”

I hooked my arm with hers, giving the woman at the counter a wave goodbye. “I don’t mind paying.”

“I’d probably only be able to afford one hand. You had to pick the most expensive nail salon in Dallas, didn’t you?”

“They’re really good here. So pretty.” I held my hand up as we moved outside, the early afternoon sun hitting my freshly painted nails. “Come on, we’re gonna be late for our hair and makeup appointment.”

“Oh, you spoil me.”