Page 5 of Infinite as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #3)

Sawyer

It was a few days later when me and Holly left that motel and made it to Austin in just under two hours.

We were both itching to stretch our legs, so we found a place called the Castor Motel in Round Rock, dumped our stuff there, and decided to look around the town.

I was trying to force myself to live in the moment, to enjoy the peaceful days with Holly after leaving New York, but my mind was stuck in some other place as well.

Home. Our future home. After Holly went to bed last night, I had stolen her laptop and searched for house listings in the area.

After trawling through a bunch that didn’t even seem to come close to what she had described, I finally stumbled upon one that stood out.

It’d need a little work done on the outside, but it was in a perfect spot, the kind Holly had described to me all those years ago.

The photos had shown me lots of open space, green grass that went on forever, a big garden.

It was the white picket fence home I had never had.

The kind she didn’t have, either—she had something entirely different, something bigger, but I so badly wanted to give her that house she told me all about.

Her dream home. It sounded like my dream home too as long as she was living in it.

In the afternoon, I’d go check that house out.

In the meantime, I got to spend the morning with my girl.

We had been walking around town hand in hand when we found some little park with a tiny pond.

There were a few ducks swimming around in it and Holly insisted on feeding them, so we grabbed a loaf of bread from the grocery store and got settled on one of the benches.

We had been sitting down for a good half hour now as Holly tore at the slices of bread and tossed the crumbs to the ground.

“They’re so cute,” Holly said with a little pout, three ducks waddling around her feet. Her fingers worked quickly, tugging off little bits of bread and letting them scatter in front of us. “Let’s get a pet duck.”

“Can I eat it after we get it all plump?” I asked.

“ No , you cannot.” She laughed, giving me a playful nudge. “It’s so nice here. I love it when we go to places like this.”

That caught my interest as I sat up straighter, her words replaying in my head. “It’s a little quiet, though.”

“I know, but I love it.” Smiling, she looked over at me. “Don’t you?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do.”

“I like quiet. And peaceful. And… all this open air,” she said, neck craning as she looked around us.

The park was on the smaller side, but there was a lot going on. There were some flower beds all the way in the left corner, all bright and colorful, and more benches over to the right. The pond sat in the middle, nothing but little ripples in the water as the wind picked up.

“You always take me to really pretty places. Places I won’t forget.” She turned my way, pressing her lips to my cheek to give me a kiss. “Thank you.”

Her words had my heart beating a little faster, my hand landing on her thigh as I let my thumb trace soft, slow circles against her smooth skin.

I loved that Holly liked small towns and simple things.

She was like me in a lot of ways, and it was funny to think that we had gone at it over the stupidest things for the longest time when really we were so alike.

Holly dusted off her hands after throwing the last of the crumbs, and I looked down at the ground and saw nothing but green looking back at me. All the bread had been eaten, and the little white ducks waddled away from us, slipping back into the water.

“Aw,” Holly said. “They only hung out with me for my bread.”

“I’ll cheer you up.” I shoved a hand into my pocket and got my wallet out, sliding out one of the business cards Holly had got me. Turning it over, I pressed it to her thigh, the blank side looking up at me. “You got a pen? ”

“Mhm.” She opened up her purse and pulled one out. “Here.”

“Thanks,” I said. My eyes moved from the slowly moving water and the ducks that were now swimming in it to the trees in the distance and then back down to the card, pressing the black pen to the crisp white.

“Hey,” Holly scolded. “You’re supposed to give those to people.”

“Don’t be like that. You said you liked it here. Now you can have it forever.”

“I’ve gotta get you more cards now.”

I laughed and got to work on drawing the water, using Holly’s smooth golden thigh as a surface.

“So, what do you want for dinner? I saw this place when we were driving in yesterday. It sounded good. Maybe I’ll go there and grab us some food.

It’s a bit of a drive. I can drop you off at the room if you want. ”

“You don’t want me coming with you or something?”

“It’s not that…” It wasn’t a complete lie.

I had seen some chicken place that looked good and figured it’d make a decent meal for dinner, but I had also been waiting over three years to find her that dream home, the place we’d spend the rest of our lives together.

I needed it to be perfect, but I also needed it to be a surprise.

“Just don’t want you getting bored while I drive.

I’ll take you back and you can get some rest.”

“Hm, okay. It’ll give me a chance to get some writing done. I was thinking of writing about all the places we see along the way,” she said. “Maybe I could add those to my portfolio or something?”

“Yeah, good idea.”

“When are we doing that interview again, by the way?”

I snorted, the pen meeting the lower half of the card so I could draw some grass. “You don’t wanna interview me.”

“Yes, I do. I need an interview piece for my portfolio, and I don’t know anyone famous but you.”

“Baby, I don’t think you know what that word means.”

“You’re a famous, successful artist. Be generous and let me interview you. I’ve got so many questions I wanna ask you….” She broke out into a little laugh, fidgeting ever so slightly under my touch. “That tickles.”

“Don’t move,” I said, dragging the pen over to the right to make the trees .

“You know I’m ticklish there.”

“I know. That’s why I’m touching you there.”

“You’re the worst. Always have been.”

“Yeah, but—”

I heard a loud thud to my left and I quickly looked at the source of the noise.

Some kid had hit the grass a few feet away from us, his dark hair a tussled mess as he pressed his hands to the ground to sit up slowly.

Two other kids stood in front of him—both taller and probably a couple years older, all neat brown hair and wide grins and blue eyes that were filled with a little too much amusement.

They were laughing as the one on the ground reached for something a few inches away from him, but he was too slow, and one of the other kids was snatching whatever it was up.

I squinted. Glasses. They must have fallen off him when he hit the ground.

“You want these back?” one of the kids standing up said, waving the glasses above him. “If you want ‘em back, you’re gonna have to ask nice, Spencer.”

The kid on the grass pushed all his dark hair out of his eyes. “Don’t break them. I need them. I only have one pair, please just—”

“I told you to ask nice, Spencer.”

The kid—Spencer, apparently—let out a shaky breath. “Can I please—”

“Try harder.” The other kid cut him off.

“Can I—”

“Try again.”

“Oh my God, what do we do?” Holly gasped next to me. “We have to help him.”

And I was on my feet before I knew it. I didn’t even really know what I was doing. It was like my legs were thinking before my brain could as I moved over to them. I snatched the glasses out of the kid’s hands and watched his smug little smile fall in a second flat.

“Don’t do that,” I said, holding the glasses tight. “What’s the matter with you?”

“We were just messing around,” the kid grumbled, hands stuffed into his pockets as he looked at the boy on the ground. “Spencer deserves it, anyway.”

“That’s dumb.” I scoffed. “Don’t be dumb. Go home. Leave him alone. ”

The boys mumbled out some words I couldn’t quite make out, sending Spencer some looks over their shoulders before walking away and over to the front entrance of the park.

I turned to the kid, his hair still messed up and his lips trembling a little.

When I looked down, I saw a scrape on his knee that made me wince a little.

“You okay?” I asked, holding a hand out for him.

“I think so,” he said, voice soft and croaky as he grabbed my hand.

I got him to his feet and I realized just how short he was.

Smaller than those other boys for sure, his frame all slender and tiny as he hastily rubbed at his wet eyes.

It was a quick motion. Like he didn’t want me to see him doing it, so I stared at a panicked looking Holly who was quickly making her way over.

“Is he hurt?” Holly asked, eyes all wide, and then she gasped when she saw his knee. “Come sit down. I have Band-Aids in my purse.”

“Here,” I said, putting his glasses back on him. They made his brown eyes even bigger as he blinked up at me, reaching up to push the frames along his little nose. “You sure you’re good?”

“I’m okay,” he said softly, looking over at Holly who was back on the bench and waving us over. “Who’s that?”

“My girlfriend.”

“Wow,” he said, grasping the straps of his backpack tight.

“Yeah, I know. Come on, she’ll help you.”

We walked back over to Holly together and she quickly dove through her purse, pulling out a Band-Aid. Spencer took a seat next to Holly, his little fingers wrapping against the edge of the bench as her eyes fell to his knee, tsking softly.

“Are your glasses alright?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Spencer nodded. “I have to be careful with them. All I have is one pair, and I already broke another one last year.”

“ You broke it or they broke it?” I grumbled.

“Um…” His cheeks got all red. “They broke it.”

“Kids are so mean sometimes,” Holly said, rolling her eyes, her hands moving gently as she placed the Band-Aid on Spencer’s knee. “I’m sorry those boys were so awful to you.”

“It’s okay,” he said, shrugging lazily. “I’m used to it.”

Holly paused. “You shouldn’t be used to something like that.”

“My mom and dad say when I finish school, I won’t have to see them ever again.”

A sweet little smile graced Holly’s face. “They’re right.”

“Hey,” Spencer said, picking up the card that sat on the bench seat. The one I had drawn on. “That’s the park.”

“Sawyer drew it,” Holly said, shooting me a smile as she gave the Band-Aid on Spencer’s leg a little pat. “There. All done.”

“I love the park,” he said, looking at me with big eyes. “I come here all the time.”

“You can have it,” Holly said. “It’s all yours.”

He smiled big, all bright and crooked. “I can have it?”

“Mhm. You can keep it.”

“Thanks,” he said, holding it to his chest. “Um, I have to go now. My parents get scared when I get home late. Is it okay if I go?”

“You can go. Will you be okay walking home by yourself?” Holly asked, tilting her head. “Those boys…”

Spencer’s head shook as he slid off the bench. “I’ll be okay.” He held the card with two hands, staring up at me with those big eyes. “Thank you for the drawing.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I said with a little shrug.

He gave us a tiny, unsure looking smile before beginning his journey down the pathway that led to the back part of the park.

I watched him until he made his way through an old beat up fence with his head down, until he became nothing but a spec that disappeared when he moved around the corner. That must have been where he lived.

Holly pressed a hand to her chest. “How sad,” she said. “Kids are awful.”

My brows raised as I took a seat back next to her. “Yeah, I know.”

“It was very sweet of you to help him.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek. “So brave. You’re my hero.”

“They were, like, ten years old. Is this my life now? Fighting ten year olds?”

“Someone’s gotta do it. I hope you don’t mind that I gave him that card. I thought it’d cheer him up.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll make you another. You wanna get outta here?

” I said as I took a glance at her watch.

I’d have to go check out the house and I didn’t want to be late.

“I’ll drop you off at the motel and you can relax.

” Standing up, I reached a hand out for her, her fingers lacing with mine as I helped her up. “Don’t want you to get bored.”

“I’m never bored with you, but okay. I’ll hang out at the motel.”

Fingers locked, we left the park and those ducks behind us, my mind replaying all those words she said earlier. How much she liked the place, how it was all quiet and peaceful. She seemed so relaxed and at ease. Happy too . I loved seeing her happy so damn much.

It could be a home. Our home. The place we spent the rest of our lives.

I’d give her that. I would.