Page 67 of Infatuated as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #2)

“Sawyer!” Claudia called out. “We saw your paintings of Holly!”

“They’re so pretty!” another girl said.

All I heard was a chorus of “yays” as they hugged at me, watching as Holly just stood there and laughed. “Okay, thank you, ladies,” I muttered, patting them on the back. “Appreciate it. Thanks for coming.”

They let go of me and took off running around the corner and I finally got to lock eyes with Holly with no one else in the way. “You wanna get out of here? Maybe go somewhere I can stop getting harassed every five seconds?”

Giggling, she nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

I grabbed her hand, pulling her through the never-ending crowd and right towards the back of the building where all the studios were.

As soon as I shut the big, heavy doors behind us, I felt pure relief.

There had been too many people in my face back there, but as I guided Holly over to my section of the space, all we had was pure, comfortable silence as we walked through the dark.

“You weren’t having fun in there?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” I said, switching on one of the lights. It offered only a soft glow, but it was enough for me to see Holly’s face. “Was getting kinda bored of shaking hands with everyone.”

“But everyone loves you.” She circled her arms around my shoulders. “You don’t wanna bask in your glory?”

“No. I can’t imagine anything worse. This is the last time I do anything like this.”

“You mean paint me? I’m sorry it’s such a difficult task.”

“No. I love painting you. I don’t love having to talk to everyone.”

“You’re more of a reclusive artist, hm?” she said, her fingers softly playing with the strands of hair at the back of my neck. “How mysterious of you.”

“I just don’t like having all that attention on me.”

“How do you think I feel with you painting me all the time?”

“You don’t like being my muse?”

“It’s a little overwhelming sometimes, actually,” she said, her cheeks going a little pink. “Sitting there having you stare at me is pretty intimidating.”

“You’re used to people staring at you.”

“Yeah, but you’re the only one who gives me butterflies when they do.”

I hummed, my lips pressing to hers as my tongue softly slid into her mouth. It wasn’t easy standing out there all night yapping away when all I wanted to do was feel Holly close to me. She was so soft and warm, her pretty scent in the air as we kissed.

“I’m so, so proud of you, Sawyer,” she said against my lips. “You deserve this. This and so much more and I know you’ll get it.”

“I couldn’t have done any of this without you. Literally. Someone wants to buy all those paintings of you.”

She gasped. “That’s great! Why do you look so miserable?”

“I don’t like the idea of some guy having your face in his house.”

“You get the real thing, though.”

“Yeah, I guess the real thing’s better.” I squeezed at her waist. “But thank you for being my inspiration and all that. You make everything brighter and warmer. I guess that’s why everything I paint these days looks like that.”

“You’ll make me cry again,” she said as she avoided my eyes. “I love how you remember everything, even the small things. The things most people would forget.”

“Well, you make me wanna remember everything about you and us,” I said, pressing a finger to her chin and tilting her head up. “Those paintings are all my best memories. I’ve made so many with you and I want to keep on doing that. I want to give you as many happy memories as I can.”

“I want that too.” She smiled softly. “The house was my favorite. It looks exactly how I remember. Like you ripped the image right out of my mind.”

“I didn’t just paint it because you love that place, I painted it because…

” I took in a long breath. “Because that’s what I wanna give you and I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure you get it.

The house and the lemon tree and the place you wanna be forever.

Your home. Our home. The place that makes you feel happy and warm and safe.

The place where you wanna make all those good memories. I want to give you that future, Holly.”

“You think about that?” she whispered. “About our future?”

“All the time.” My eyes landed on the mess of paint brushes on the table, finding the thinnest one before grabbing a tube of yellow paint with my other hand, squeezing just a pea sized amount on to my palette sitting on the desk.

“Nothing will ever stop me from loving you. From being the guy who loves you more than anyone else ever could,” I said, holding Holly’s left hand gently, my thumb tucking under her ring finger and lifting it up a tiny bit.

I dipped the brush into the yellow, the tip of it finding Holly’s skin as I started to trace a thin line.

“I promise you that one day I’ll give you that house.

And this,” I said, running the brush against the back of her finger, not stopping until the lines were connected to create one solid circle, “is me promising to you that one day I’ll put a ring on that finger.

Not just one I paint on you, but a proper one.

No matter how long it takes me to save up for it, I swear I’ll get it for you, Holly. I promise I will.”

Our eyes finally met and I got to take in her big smile and wet eyes. “Okay, see, you’re gonna make me cry again.”

I eyed the strip of yellow I had painted against her skin.

There was some weird sense of pride building inside of me as I looked at the mark I had made.

“All I want to do is love you and give you everything I can, and that might not be a lot to some people, but I swear I’ll still give you my all every day.

I love you with everything in me, Holly.

Every last part of me. I wanna make a million more memories with you.

I’ll paint them all too if that’ll make you happy.

God, that’s all I wanna do. Make you happy, make you feel the way you deserve to feel.

I can’t give you the world, but I’ll love you more than anyone else in it. ”

“I love you,” she said with glistening eyes.

“I love you,” I said. “So, so much. I wanna give you everything I can. Love and happiness and more drawings on the fridge that make you smile. I love making you smile so much, so I’m pretty set on doing that for the rest of my life. Forever. Longer than that, actually.”

“Longer than forever?”

“Much, much longer than that.”

I kissed at her slowly, arms circling around her, pulling her close to me as my tongue pushed into her mouth, tasting her, feeling her, wanting her forever. That bridge that had been growing between us had crumbled, but me and Holly were still standing.

All the noise from the outside world was gone, and I quickly imagined our future being like that.

Calm, still, just us. Just her. My ring on her finger and my heart absolutely filled with nothing but love for her and her alone.

She made me feel everything all at once—the best things a man could feel, the only things he could feel when he was absolutely without a doubt in love.

And in love I so fucking was.

The Sinful trilogy comes to a conclusion in Infinite as They Come. Click here to pre-order Book 3 !

The end of the road. The beginning of forever.

Holly Sutton has her degree, her dreams for the future, and the boy who’s absolutely, positively, undoubtedly ruined her for anyone else.

Sawyer Westbrook has his paint-stained hands, a plan he’s been keeping to himself, and the girl that he just wants to be his for the rest of his life.

They come back home. Back to Texas. It’s supposed to be a celebration, but healed wounds are suddenly ripped open, and now what felt like a dream feels like a challenge.

Old memories. Old pain. Old faces Sawyer never thought he’d see again, and now, the plan he had for his forever with Holly feels like it’s slipping away from him.

All Holly sees and feels is secrets and distance.

The boy she loved has turned into a man over the years.

An honest one. A strong one. One that works so hard for her and their love—but now, he won’t let her in.

He can’t . Not this time. He’s stuck between the life he came from and the one he’s desperate to give her.

A love like theirs was never meant to be easy. It’s the kind that has to be fought for, bled for, earned —but Sawyer Westbrook is a fighter to the bone, and if there’s a single person on this planet he’s going to bleed for, it’s his girl.

He knows it’s the final test, and he’s going to do what he’s always done for her: fight like hell .