Page 11 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

SAWYER

It was the closest I had ever been to Holly. Sitting near each other in class didn’t count. At least there was some distance. But there she was, sitting right next to me in her little cheer skirt. It kept riding up her thighs, exposing her smooth, bronzed skin.

Fuck, why was I looking? She was hot. That was it. I had a hot cheerleader in my car. I was allowed to look. And I was also allowed to hate her at the same time, which I absolutely did.

When we had got to my truck, all of us about to get in, Brodie had insisted that Holly sit in the middle. Our legs can’t fucking touch, dude . His words. I’d slap him later.

That was why she was right next to me. Why the hell did I have to get a pickup truck?

There were no backseats. It was the only time I had ever hated my truck.

And I hated Holly even more for making me hate it.

At least she was miserable too. I was positive she was.

Holly fucking Sutton was in my old, beat-up truck when she should have been in Carter’s car.

Too bad he took off with a cheerleader after the game. I had no idea what had happened in that locker room. All I knew was that when I was waiting outside for Brodie, I saw that blond asshole storm out, whisper something into some cheerleader’s ear, and then leave with her.

There was no doubt in mind what those two were doing.

Did Holly know?

How could she ?

She had been inside. I could have told her, could have broken her heart right then and there.

I loved pissing her off. But that shit with Carter?

I had known about that for a long time. I heard the rumors.

Fuck, I had seen him flirting with girls in class.

The dude was shameless. Me and Holly fought about everything, but that was the one thing I never had the heart to shove in her face.

That was the only thing to made me feel bad for her.

Looked like there was another girl Carter was fucking around with that could be added to his list. I gripped my steering wheel tighter as a vision of his face entered my mind. I hadn’t forgotten what he said to me the other day. Smug asshole.

“You have to turn right at the end of the road,” Holly said quietly.

I turned my head to the right, taking in the look on Holly’s face. She looked… Fuck, she looked sad. But I wasn’t about to lean over and hug her or some shit. Maybe she knew what Carter was up to. If she stayed with him after finding out, that was on her.

If she found out.

I just grunted at her in response. I didn’t want to talk to her.

“Your routine was really good tonight, Holly,” Brodie chimed up.

But of course Brodie wanted to make conversation. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, thanks,” she said. “I hope you enjoyed your first game.”

“This school needs a hockey team.”

“Good luck getting those boys on ice skates. I don’t even wanna imagine what that would look like.”

“A fun disaster maybe?”

The two of them carried on talking and I kept my eyes on the road. I hated the neighborhood we were about to enter. Rich kid territory. Holly’s territory. The complete opposite of everything I had ever known.

There were lines of mansions either side of me as we glided down the road. Yes, glided. Because there were certainly no bumpy, rocky roads out here in Highland Park. Everything was perfect. Neatly trimmed trees, picket white fences, the greenest lawns I had ever seen in my fucking life.

Insecurity hit me hard and fast. I would never have it.

What Holly had. What these spoiled, rich, trust fund babies had.

It angered me more than I cared to admit.

And I didn’t even want to live in a mansion.

I just wanted security. I didn’t want to wake up every morning wondering how I was gonna pay for food and rent.

All I had was painting. Like that would get me anywhere.

Brodie was lucky. He could write. He had a lot of opportunities and I was happy for him.

But me? Who the fuck was gonna buy my art?

“It’s this left here. I’ll tell you where to stop,” Holly instructed.

Still not in the mood to even fight with her, I just moved along the road, pressing my foot to the pedal harder.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to drop Holly off and never come back to her too fucking perfect neighborhood ever again.

Every house was huge. Every one loomed over me, not letting me forget that all I had was my trailer, and that she had everything in her life handed to her.

What a lovely reminder.

Holly told me to take one more left, and that was when we were on her… fucking driveway? I shook my head. The whole thing was her driveway? The whole road that led up to her house belonged to her? Did they even have a fucking mailbox? How the fuck did the mail man function?

My knuckles turned white as we pulled up in front of her house.

It was big. Stupidly big. Three huge floors with probably a million different rooms. The white front looked absolutely pristine and screamed old money. The thing was old school, Georgian style. It made sense that Holly lived there.

I eyed the countless windows out the front and the black shutters that framed them. Which one was Holly’s bedroom? The two oak-colored, double front doors at the front were a stark reminder of my about-to-fall-off-the-hinges door on my trailer. I’d have to fix that shit on the weekend.

We couldn’t have been anymore different.

“I’ll hop out.” Brodie opened up his door and jumped out of the car, his feet landing with a soft thud on the ground.

“Well, thank you for the ride, Sawyer,” Holly whispered. “I know you have to drive all the way back to Cedar Crest. So, thank you.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, looking out the window.

Did they have a fucking fountain in their front yard?

I heard a zipper being pulled beside me, and I looked over to see Holly pulling out her wallet.

She was digging through the light brown thing until she lifted out some cash and held it in front of me. “What the fuck is this?”

“Gas money,” she said. There was an innocent tone in her voice, but I knew it was fake “You drove me—”

“I don’t want your fucking pity money,” I exploded at her. No fucking way was she trying to give me a handout .

“It’s not pity money. You did me a favor and now I’m paying you back for that favor.”

“I don’t need it,” I said with gritted teeth. “And I don’t want it.”

Holly let out a shaky breath. “Well, you helped me out, I thought—”

“I have a job, princess. I don’t need your money,” I continued. “I know that concept is foreign to you since you’re a spoiled brat, but some of us actually have to fucking work. We don’t all have trust funds.”

“Sawyer, come on,” tried Brodie. “She’s just—"

“I don’t need it. You’re fucking lucky I drove you out here in the first place. I’m not your daddy or your boyfriend, Holly, so don’t expect me to do this for you again.”

Her lips parted like she was about to say something before she just pressed them back together.

“Good,” I barked at her. “Keep your mouth shut. I hate the sound of your voice.”

She rolled her eyes, slid out of the car, and then shoved the cash into Brodie’s shirt pocket. Then she swung her bag on her shoulder, giving me a determined stare.

“It would have been better if I had just walked home.” She glared at me.

“Yeah. Next time – fucking do it. And don’t ever expect me to do you a fuckin’ favor for a few bucks,” I spat. “Brodie, get in the fucking truck so we can get outta this place. Someone’s gonna call the cops on us if they get a look at this truck.”

Brodie gave Holly an apologetic stare before climbing back into my truck.

I shoved my hand into his pocket and pulled out the money Holly had given him.

I counted thirty, maybe forty bucks. That was dinner for the next few nights.

But I was too much of a proud asshole to take it.

I ripped the money up, tearing at the crisp green notes before throwing the torn pieces out the window. Holly just shook her head at me.

“I’m not your fucking charity case,” I snapped at her.

With that, I hit the accelerator, not caring how much noise I made in Holly’s quiet, gated community. They could all get fucked. Her included. Who the fuck did she think she was shoving her money in my face like that?

“Dude.” Brodie broke the silence. “Why’d you do that?”

“She deserved that.”

“She was just trying to help. Gas isn’t cheap. What’s your problem?”

“Are you fucking stupid?” I glared at Brodie for a second. “She did that to make me feel bad.”

“She did it because she owed you one. Holy shit.”

“Don’t care. I don’t need her money.”

“You’re an idiot.” He scoffed. “You know she’s already upset, right?”

It was my turn to scoff, and I looked at Brodie with what I could only assume was a glint in my eye. I didn’t care if Holly was upset. It wasn’t my job to look after her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I saw the way her boyfriend was talking to her. I guess he’s pissed all the attention wasn’t on him. I didn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell they were arguing. Dude’s an asshole.”

“Well, she wants to marry him and have his fucking babies. Maybe she’s not as great as you think.”

“He shouldn’t have left her at school all alone.”

“ He wasn’t alone,” I mumbled.

“Who was he with?”

“Some girl on the cheerleading team. I dunno. He does that a lot.”

When Brodie didn’t say anything for a long moment, I looked over at him to see him looking at me with wide eyes. Why the fuck did he look so sad?

“What?” I asked.

“Should we tell her?” he whispered.

“No, we shouldn’t tell her. Don’t be stupid. ”

“But she’s our friend.”

“Holly Sutton is not my fucking friend.”

“Okay, she’s my friend. And if her boyfriend is cheating on her, then maybe we should tell her. Especially if it’s with someone that she knows.”

We pulled up at a red light, and I let out a long sigh.

I had calmed down a little between the drive from Holly’s house to the main streets.

I was still pissed at her, but my knuckles weren’t white anymore and my heart was no longer pumping fast. With that settled, I stared at Brodie and shook my head slowly at him.

“You wanna be her knight in shining armor? Is that it?” I wondered with a sharply raised eyebrow. “And then what? She marries you instead of her douche bag, cheating boyfriend?”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t like her like that. She’s my friend. I know you can’t stand the sight of her, but I don’t wanna see her get hurt.”

“You tell her that shit, and Carter will not let you forget it. You got one year of high school left and he’ll make it your longest. I promise. And I can’t be there all the time to make sure you don’t get your ass kicked.”

“I just think it’s unfair that he can treat her like that… Why is she even with him?”

“I dunno.” I groaned loudly. “But the last thing you should be doing is getting involved in their fucking stupid, high school drama.”

“Holly deserves to know. Do you think she knows?”

“If he’s fucking her friends, they probably haven’t told her.

Maybe they get off on it. Carter too. Can we please stop talking about that asshole?

They’ll probably break up when school is over with and never see each other again.

Then she’s all yours. That make you feel better?

” The light turned green and I happily hit the accelerator, thankful to put Highland Park behind me.

“I don’t like her,” mumbled Brodie. “I just think she deserves someone nicer.”

I rolled my eyes. Holly deserved whatever was coming to her.