Page 37 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

HOLLY

Jennifer kept smirking at me. She seemed more than happy about what had taken place over the weekend.

All I could do was focus on Mrs. Wayne at the front of the class, and ignore the stupid ‘Holly + Carter’ scribbles that I had at the front of my notebook.

I spent the first few minutes of class crossing them out and preparing myself to see the same scribbles in all my other notebooks.

It was just one more thing I had to remove from my life that involved Carter.

I hadn’t even gotten started on all the photos I had of him.

They were scattered around my room. On my dressing table, on the walls, in my photo albums I was planning on keeping forever.

Carter was there, in so many aspects of my life.

When I woke up I would literally count down the minutes until school started so I could see him, and at night I would hope that all my dreams revolved around him.

It seemed I wasn’t as important to him as he was to me.

It seemed like I was nothing but a second thought.

Just a girl he could string along for the hell of it.

Our relationship had been a game to him.

Despite my devotion to him, all I got was a slap in the face.

The stinging had yet to fade, and honestly, it felt like it was never going to end.

The bell rang, the shrill noise startling me. I had barely focused in class. Whatever Mrs. Wayne said had already been forgotten. Hell, I had barely taken in her words in the first place.

I rubbed at my swollen eyes for a second before packing my bag, so ready to get some fresh air, even if it was only from the few minutes of my walk to the next class.

“Ya know,” Jennifer said next to me, her voice laced with confidence and her lips turned up into a smirk.

“I always felt so bad for you. ‘Cause of Carter and everything. It was so hard hooking up with him when he was with you… You took up so much of his time. What I’m trying to say is… Well, thanks for sharing him with all of us. Like, all of us.”

I looked up, my eyes welling up with tears again as I stared at Jennifer and her friends.

Candice Williams sent me a wink and Melanie Perry was wearing a little grin.

They were two more girls to add to Carter’s long list of people he cheated on me with.

I felt my heart ache as the horrifying images filled up in my brain.

Carter kissing them, their limbs all tangled up, in Carter’s bed. God, I felt like I was going to vomit.

Why did he have to hurt me so much?

The girls laughed in unison and I darted past them, desperate for escape. I had English class next, but I needed a break. Some air. Something to distract me from the awful images of Carter kissing every girl that wasn’t me and God, he truly picked the worst possible way to break my heart.

I was just going to duck out for a minute. Just for a short moment to get some fresh air. Moving outside, I felt the tiniest bit of peace as I felt the early afternoon rays hit my skin. A hand on my shoulder made me jump, though. Spinning around, I saw Annie staring back at me with sad eyes.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“Hi,” I answered. Was she one of the girls who had slept with my boyfriend too? That was an image I really, really didn’t want in my head.

“I didn’t get to talk to you properly the other night at Lucas’ party. When we dropped you off, you were just so upset. You didn’t say anything the whole car ride to your place,” she said softly.

“I didn’t know where my brain was after I found out what he did,” I confessed, my eyes on the ground. “I still don’t really know where it is.”

“Holly.” Annie wrapped her arms around me, pulling me to her. “I’m sorry. I heard what he did. I’m so sorry.”

“I was so dumb,” I let out with a sob, pressing my face into her shoulder. “ Why was I so dumb?”

“No, you weren’t. Don’t say that. He’s the one who screwed up. Don’t blame yourself for this. For anything that he did to you.” Annie held me that little bit tighter, her body radiating with warmth. “Please.”

“I don’t even know what other girls he cheated on me with,” I whispered, feeling paranoia take over as I heard Sawyer’s voice in my head.

God, he’s probably fucking the whole cheerleading team.

Please don’t let Annie be one of those girls.

Please, please, please. “I don’t know which girls stabbed me in the back and which didn’t.

So many girls on the cheer team… Annie.”

“I was not one of them.” Annie pulled away from me, grabbing my shoulders. She shook her head at me. “I swear. I was not one of those girls. And if I knew what he had been doing, I would have been the first one to help you kick them off the team. And physically kick them too.”

“You didn’t know either?”

Annie shook her head. “No. I would have told you if I knew. I wish I did. He had the both of us fooled. He’s good at sneaking around, I guess. God, I have class with him now. I’m gonna slap him so hard…”

My heart was filled up with the tiniest bit of relief knowing that my best friend hadn’t betrayed me. At least I had that going for me. It was a sad accomplishment, but still, there was at least one person I could trust.

“Don’t let him bring you down,” whispered Annie. “And don’t you dare take the blame for his mistakes.”

“I just feel so… Why did he have to do this?” I buried my face in my hands, letting Annie pull me back into another hug. She rocked us back and forth, the sensation wonderfully soothing, but still not quite enough to fix the ache in my heart.

“You’ll get over this. You will. I promise you that you will,” she said.

She sounded so confident when she said that. But I still didn’t quite believe her.