Page 33 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

SAWYER

It wasn’t going to be easy to forget that conversation with Holly.

I couldn’t get her out of my head. The way she smiled at me, the light in her eyes, how her cheeks turned that perfect shade of pink…

And she looked so good in that dress, the color contrasting against her sun-kissed skin.

What the hell was Carter thinking? He had the chance to spend a night with her alone and instead he brought her to some stupid party so he could get drunk. Fucking idiot.

I needed a distraction, because I was thinking about Holly way too much lately – in ways I never had before.

Forcing my brain to focus on finding Brodie, I spent a good ten minutes moving through the drunk mass of people.

When I got back inside, my eyes finally landed on my cousin in the corner.

He was busy with a girl: an excited grin on his face as he talked animatedly with his hands.

I wasn’t going to get in the way of that, so I moved to the kitchen so I could grab a beer.

Lucas had at least stocked the fridge with a large supply of drinks.

Leaning against the counter, I nursed the beer, letting the bitter liquid hit my tongue. One drink was going to be my limit since I’d be driving me and Brodie back tonight. Maybe Brodie wouldn’t be coming back with me, though...

As I took another slow sip I realized I could see Carter in front of me. With a girl who wasn’t Holly. I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head.

What the fuck was his problem ?

He was so shameless about it too. Holly wasn’t even that far away. Holly, who got all dressed up for their fucking date, only to get dragged to a party with assholes getting black out drunk.

Taking in a deep breath, I realized then how badly I needed a smoke. My hand inched toward my pocket, watching as Carter leaned in closer and closer to the girl. His lips ghosted against her neck as he whispered something in her ear. The girl giggled and gave Carter a kiss to the cheek.

I rolled my eyes. He really, truly did not give a fuck. He whispered one last thing into the girl’s ear before she nodded at him, spun around, and walked away. My guess was that she was gonna hunt down an empty bedroom.

“You’re not really gonna do that, are you?” I called out to him, unable to keep my mouth shut.

Carter spun around and looked at me. There was a lazy grin on his face as he took some sluggish steps towards me. Dude was already drunk out of his mind and clearly couldn’t handle his alcohol.

“Oh, Trailer Park Trash was invited, huh?” Carter asked, voice all smug.

I shrugged at him. “Believe it or not, but we share a mutual friend.” How did Lucas hang out with this asshole?

"You here to start a fucking fight?"

"Nope."

"Then what do you want?"

"You didn’t answer my question.”

He tilted his head. “What question?”

“You’re not really going to do that, right?” I repeated, the edge in my voice growing.

“She’s practically fucking begging for it,” Carter slurred, his blue eyes glazed over. "Why the hell do you care?"

“Your girlfriend is around the corner.”

Carter laughed. “She’s not gonna find out.”

“She’s not?”

“Why would she?”

“I mean…” I clicked my tongue. “Wouldn’t you tell your girlfriend if you ch eated on her? Ya know… Guilt and all that?”

“She hasn’t found out about all the other times I cheated on her. Why the hell would I tell her about the girl I’m about to fuck?”

I already knew he cheated on Holly. But that was the first time I ever heard him admit it. It seemed like alcohol was the trick to getting Carter Henderson to tell the truth.

“Why don’t you just break up with Holly?” I asked lowly. Why the hell couldn’t he just leave her alone? If she wouldn’t break up with him, then it would have to be up to him to end things.

“Why would I do that?”

“So you can fuck as many girls as you want without cheating on your girlfriend,” I said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. God, he was stupid. Did he not realize how good he had it?

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Carter chuckled before leaning in closer.

He then lowered his voice to a whisper. “Besides, I’m still waiting for Holly to give me what I want.

I’ve been dating that frigid cunt for over a year now and she still hasn’t let me hit it.

Once I pop that cherry, I’m fucking outta there. ”

There was nothing to hold me back once he said that. I saw red. I felt red. My ears were fucking ringing and all I could focus on was his confession. The rage rose up in me suddenly and took over my whole body as one hand curled into a fist and the other let the glass bottle hit the tiles.

There was no stopping me as my fist collided with Carter’s jaw. His eyes clenched shut as he groaned, taken aback by my sudden act of justified violence. Reaching forward, I grabbed at his shirt, ready and aimed to punch him again.

But then I heard her voice.

“Sawyer?!” I heard Holly say.

My eyes shut at the sound of my name. I sighed loudly, not able to look at her. Of course, she came back just in time to see that. She didn’t see me defending her honor. No, she saw me whaling on her boyfriend.

“What was that for?” Carter screamed. “Fuckin’ asshole!”

A few guys stepped in between me and Carter before I could do anymore damage, creating a wall that I was ready to storm through: because he deserved to get his ass kicked some more. But Holly was at our sides, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Why did you do that?” she demanded with big eyes. “Carter, are you okay?”

“Fucking tell her what you just told me!” I said, glaring at the blond asshole in front of me.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Carter snapped. “Who the hell invited you here, anyway?”

“Sawyer, why did you do that?” Holly asked again.

I sighed loudly once more. “Tell her, asshole! Tell your girlfriend what you just said to me!”

“I didn’t say shit,” mumbled Carter.

“You’re a fuckin’ liar,” I told him with gritted teeth, taking a quick leap forward, but two pairs of hands on me yanked me back. “You deserve more than a fucking punch!”

“Will someone please tell me what the hell happened?” Holly asked.

“Tell her what you fucking said!” I yelled at him. I wanted the satisfaction of that asshole admitting the truth, because there was no way Holly was going to believe me if I told her I had caught her boyfriend in the act. “Say it! Be a man and fucking say it!”

“Sawyer?” Holly said, her voice suddenly so much quieter. “What happened? Please…”

I yanked myself out of the grip the guys had on me before I looked down at her. There was a combination of heartbreak and pure shock on her face. I couldn’t say it. Not when she was looking at me like that with those big eyes. And there was no way Carter was going to admit the fucking truth.

With a huff I stormed out of the kitchen, shoving my way through the wall of bystanders who got their free entertainment for the night.

Jesus, I needed a cigarette and I needed one bad.

I yanked open the front door, so thankful to feel the cold night air hit my skin.

I needed out. I had no idea what I was thinking staying at a party that Holly and her asshole boyfriend showed up to.

That was a mistake. What wasn’t a mistake was punching Carter in the jaw.

I had no control over my body when I hit Carter.

He deserved it, though. He deserved every second of pain he was feeling.

“Sawyer?” I heard Holly call out behind me.

I said nothing. I just kept walking, a million different emotions pulsing through my body.

“Sawyer!” Holly yelled again.

“What?” I snapped at her, keeping my eyes in front of me. Where the hell was my truck? Where did I park?

“Don’t yell at me! Why the hell did I just walk into that kitchen only to find you punching my boyfriend?”

“He was asking for it.”

“What, he deserved to get hit in the face?”

“Yeah, actually, he fucking did.”

“And why’s that?”

I spun around angrily. Now I was mad at Holly.

I was mad that someone like her who actually had a chance of having a good fucking life was throwing it away for a high school quarterback who had already peaked.

All he was going to do was drag her down.

If anyone was going to get far in life, it was Holly fucking Sutton; but for whatever reason, she couldn’t see that.

“Do you like getting hurt?” I asked her, my voice as direct as ever because Christ, when was she gonna wake up?

She blinked and shook her head. “What?”

“Do you like getting hurt?” I repeated. “Huh? Do you enjoy it? Does it make you happy, Holly?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“How blind are you? How do you not fucking see what everyone else is seeing?”

“It would be nice if you just told me what you were talking about, Sawyer!”

I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to be the person who told Holly about her cheating, shitty boyfriend. But it seemed like no one else had tried to help her. Either that, or she was truly in denial about what kind of person Carter was.

“You can do better,” is what I told her instead. “I know you want whatever cliché fairytale you’ve been dreaming of ever since you were a little girl, but that’s not the guy who’s gonna give it to you. You can do better than that fucking asshole.”

“Carter?”

“Yes, Carter!”

“What is it with you and him?” she cried out. “Why can’t you two just… Look, I don’t expect you to be friends with him. But you could at least tolerate him and not punch him in the face.”

“I should have punched him again.”

“What am I supposed to say to that?” She threw her hands up.

“Say that you’ll break up with him. That you’ll end it with that asshole and never talk to him again.”

“I love him, Sawyer. Why don’t you get that?”

“You can do better. You can do so much better than him.”

“Like who? You?”

“Yes!” I said quickly. The word escaped my lips before I had the chance to harness some self-control.