Page 65 of Infatuated as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #2)

“You should see The Plaza. I’ve never felt so damn out of place. You know they gave me a robe? I’ve been living in that thing since I got here. I can’t believe Holly did all that for me. Have you let her splurge on you yet?”

“You don’t even wanna know how much this shirt costs.”

“I’ve got one like this.” He hummed, thumb and forefinger rubbing at the red and black flannel on my arm. “Can I see your paintings now?”

“Yeah, let me show you,” I said, looking over my shoulder, but there was no Holly in sight. “They’re this way.”

I guided Brodie around the partition, taking him over to where my designated section of the gallery was. My eyes widened a little when I saw how many people were lingering around my stuff. Some leaning in close, some with their heads tilted, some taking photos.

I stood in front of the first painting: the one that started the story, the one that felt like the beginning of everything for me and Holly: the day we first kissed.

I had painted a whirl of bright colors with her in the middle, her dark locks spilling down her back, her in a pretty pink dress.

The one she was wearing the day we kissed for the first time, the day everything in my life seemed to instantly get better from her touch alone.

“Aw, these are so beautiful,” Brodie said. “And they’re all of Holly? You’re so whipped, cousin.”

“I know.” I laughed. “Can’t help it.”

“They’re amazing.” Brodie walked past the first one and then to the next, eyes big as he took the canvases in. “Hey, I was there when this happened.” Brodie pointed at the fourth one—the one of Holly on the couch. “That was a good day.”

“Yeah, it was,” I said with a little laugh.

“Take my photo.” Brodie shoved his phone my way. “I was there for that. That’s history.” He gave me a big grin and a thumbs up as I snapped a photo of him next to the painting. “I’m so proud of you. I knew you first, though. Don’t forget that when you become some big, famous artist.”

“Could never forget you, cousin.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” a voice said next to me. “You’re the artist?”

I turned, seeing some guy in a suit, his brown eyes going from the paintings and then back to me.

“These are yours? You made these?”

“He made all of them!” Brodie said, throwing an arm around me. “They’re all amazing, right?”

The guy chuckled. “Yes, they’re wonderful. You must take inspiration from Curran and Pissarro then?”

I had no idea who those people were, so I just gave him a shrug. “I mean, I just kinda do my own thing.”

“Mm. I love the colors. Very vibrant. Soft yet bold at the same time. And such expertly crafted brushstrokes too. You must be studying. Are you at Columbia? NYU?”

“Uh, nah. I’m, you know, self-taught or whatever.”

“Exciting. I love the themes here. Naturalism, light, summer. You can feel the sunshine, the warmth and closeness. And I see there’s one young lady who seems to be your biggest inspiration,” he said, gesturing to the paintings with a wine glass in hand.

“My girlfriend. Yeah. She kinda brings that outta me.”

“All I need is here,” he murmured, squinting at the little plaque. “And this is a series, correct?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they all kinda… tie together.”

“May I know the story behind them all?”

“They’re just… You know, when you fall in love, it feels like everything kinda changes.

Everything feels like it gets better and you just wanna make as many memories as you can with that person.

But it’s the simple moments that really stand out.

Days where you don’t even really do anything special, but they feel special ‘cause you’re with the girl you love.

And you’d think you’d forget the little details, like the color dress she had on, or what she looked like when you were watching a movie, but you remember it all.

You just wanna give her lots of happy memories, lots of good things to think back on, and then…

” My eyes landed on the last one. “You also wanna give her a future to feel happy about as well.” My head shook and I cleared my throat. “I don’t know. That sounds dumb.”

“The short version is that he’s just really, really in love,” Brodie said, squeezing at my shoulder.

“Yeah, I should have just said that,” I said.

The man laughed. “No, I like your version much better. Very beautiful. I’m quite interested in purchasing your series, so I might be taking these off your hands tonight.”

I blinked at him. “You wanna buy them?”

“They’re all for sale, right?”

“Uh, yeah, they are,” I said.

“I might wander around some more, but I’m keeping an eye on your stuff,” he said, his eyes lighting up as he looked past my shoulder. “Ah, and that must be your inspiration in the flesh.”

I followed his gaze, and there stood a shyly smiling Holly with her dad by her side.

“Hi,” she said, voice soft and timid.

“Hey,” I said lowly. Fuck, had she overheard all that stuff I said? Her dad too?

“I’ll leave you guys alone,” Brodie said into my ear before disappearing into the crowd.

Her heels clicked on the floor as she made her way closer and closer, until she was standing right next to me. A shaky breath left her lips and I grabbed her hand at the sound, my fingers getting all tangled with hers.

She squeezed at my hand. “Um, my dad wants to talk to you.”

Slowly, my eyes moved over to his. Dressed up in a suit and tie, he fit in with a good chunk of the other people in the building.

“Is that okay?” Holly asked.

Looking back at her, I nodded. “Yeah, honey, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine.” I looked at her dad. “We’ll be fine.”

“I guess I’ll go find Mom then,” she said, tone all hesitant. Worry crossed her face as she looked at me, taking slow steps back into the crowd, leaving me and her dad all alone.

“It’s pretty busy in here tonight,” he said, keeping that distance between us.

“Yeah.” I looked over at the hoard of people. “It is.”

“Holly, um… Holly mentioned that you were the reason she invited me and her mom here tonight,” he said lowly. “Thank you for doing that.”

Hands stuffed into my pockets, I nodded. “I know how much she missed you. I’m glad you’re talking again.”

“Me too,” he said, taking a slow step towards me. “I missed her. I miss what we used to have. We never used to fight so much.”

“I don’t wanna be the reason you guys fight.”

“You’re not the reason.” He let out a long breath. “I’m the reason.”

“Is that right?”

“I haven’t been the father Holly needs me to be.

I also haven’t been the person you need me to be.

I’ve protected Holly her whole life, you know?

From the second she was born. All I’ve ever wanted was for her to be happy and safe and loved.

For her to never worry about anything,” he said, brows pulling together.

“It’s a scary world out there, and the world feels scarier when you have a daughter, and when I saw her with that bruise on her face… ”

“You panicked,” I said. My eyes flickered over to the side, and I could see Holly standing there with her mom, a look of concern on both their faces. “I get why you did, but I’d rather die than put my hands on Holly. I’d never hurt her like that.”

“I’m sorry for that night. For the accusation, for sending you to jail, for… bringing up your mother,” he said, voice sounding strained. “That was wrong of me. It was insensitive. It was stupid.”

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. Every word sounded real enough, though, because that tone he always used when he talked to me wasn’t there in the slightest, and I knew he had never been able to hide that.

“I forgive you,” I finally said. For Holly, I forgave him. For myself, too, because we couldn’t keep fighting and going at it. We couldn’t keep dragging out whatever was between us.

“But that doesn’t excuse how I treated you before.

From the beginning. I haven’t really given you a fair chance, and that’s because I’ve been judging you the whole time.

I don’t see the good in you, but I know you have a lot of it.

Holly wouldn’t be so in love with you if she didn’t see that good,” he said, as he looked over to the wall, where painting after painting of his daughter stared back at us.

“And it seems like you’re just as in love. ”

“Yeah, extremely,”

“You must have spent a lot of time on these,” he said as he turned to face the first canvas. “It looks like Holly’s your favorite subject.”

“She’s kinda the only thing I can paint now. She’s in my head all the time, and the second I pick up a brush, I don’t know what else to make but her. She’s just… there.”

“They’re nice,” he said, eyes scanning down the line of canvases, and then they narrowed when they made it to the last one. “That house looks familiar. It looks like… God, I forgot all about that place.”

“Holly told me she really liked it there.”

Slowly, he turned to me. “She was always really happy at that place. Me and her mother would take her there during the summer when she was a kid. We just sort of forgot about it after a while. I guess she liked it more than I realized…”

“I hope one day I can give it to her,” I said, eyes falling to the last canvas.

“Not now. I know I can’t give it to her now, but one day.

I’m saving up for her. Every paycheck I get.

Every dollar, every cent. I want it to be for the life I wanna give her one day, and it might not be the one you pictured for her, but it’d be one where I loved her forever. ”

Hand clasping my shoulder, he gave it a squeeze. “You will. I know you will. And I bet she’ll be over the moon to be living in that house with you. She’s so in love with you, Sawyer, and no one is ever gonna beat that, and I’m happy she’s found someone who loves her just as much.”

“I do love her.” I nodded. “And I always will. Nothing’s ever gonna change that.”