Page 39 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

SAWYER

On Tuesday morning I made sure to get in a quick cigarette before class started. It had been a pretty short smoke break without Brodie joining me. I had to let him go and do his own thing – something I immediately regretted once I made my way to my locker.

He was leaning up against the metal, a wide smile on his face as he talked to, of course, Holly Sutton.

Everywhere I went I saw her. I had at least not had any more dreams about her, which was a miracle considering how often she was around now.

Shaking my head, I walked over to Brodie and his new best friend.

“Hey, Holly’s got great news.” Brodie clapped me on the shoulder. “Tell him, tell him, tell him.”

Holly smiled at Brodie before looking at me. “You remember Eric Anderson, right?” she asked.

“The guy who bought my painting?” I asked. “Yeah. What about him?”

“Well, he works for the Highland Park council. The library has been after some new artwork for a while. And they want the artist to be someone who live in Dallas. Eric recommended you and showed some of the library administrators your art work. They want you to do the painting. It’s a big project, but you’re their first selection! ”

Her smile had suddenly widened. It was the first time I had seen her smile that big in a while. And it was due to her giving me some good news, which was fucking weird. But the art thing… I had no time for that with bo th school and work on my plate.

“I dunno,” I muttered. “Sounds like it’ll take up a lot of my time.”

Brodie punched my shoulder. “Dude, you have to do it.”

“Why would I waste all my weekends and afternoons doing that?” I punched Brodie right back. “Plus I’m really busy with work.”

“They’re gonna pay you,” Holly chimed up. “I don’t know the exact amount yet, but from what I heard, it’ll be worth your time.”

It was starting to sound too good to be true. Most of the time, Holly couldn’t be trusted. But things had changed over the last few weeks. I had seen a side of her I had never meant to see. Not to mention the fact that she had been the reason I made money on my other painting.

“They’ll pay me, huh?” I looked at her.

“Yep. And you’ll have free reign too. I mean, you can’t paint anything . They’ll give you an idea of what they want. But it’s up to you how you wanna interpret it.”

The deal sounded interesting. If I got money out of it, then I was willing to look into it.

“Tell him to call me I guess.” I ran a hand through my long locks. “Thanks.”

Holly just smiled and nodded, looking ready to turn around. But she suddenly darted her head back around, her eyes widening. She seemed to cower and become all small. That confidence I had seen in her, that pride in her eyes when she told me about the offer – that all faded. And I knew why.

Carter Henderson was walking down the hallway like he was on a mission.

He spotted Holly from behind. I could tell.

Because he slowed down his walk, his blue eyes narrowed as they went from the back of Holly’s head, to Brodie, and then finally to me.

My eyes stayed on him, waiting for his next move.

“Is this what you’re doing now, Holly?” Carter called out.

All she had to do was turn around and kick him in the balls. It would have made for great entertainment, and Carter would get what he fucking deserved. But instead she looked terrified.

“You’re hanging out with little old Trailer Park Trash and his cousin now?” Carter grinned. “Why’s that?”

His asshole friends stood next to him, laughing at the insult.

“Fuck off, Carter,” I snapped.

Carter just scoffed. “Holly, you’re not gonna say anything? You do that a lot when you’re upset. You’re sad, right? About what happened at the party? About how badly you fucked up?”

“How did she fuck up exactly?” I asked lowly. “I’m pretty sure that was all on you.”

“And what did I do?”

“You know exactly what you fucking did.”

“Say it.” Carter stepped up to me. “You always hated, Holly, right? Why don’t you say it out loud, huh?

How I was fucking a different girl every night without her ever knowing.

Say it. You never liked her. Actually, you know what?

You and me actually have a lot in common. ‘Cause I never liked her either.”

God, he was asking for it.

I looked over at Holly. She was wiping at her eyes, her lips trembling a little, looking away from Carter. Carter was way too good at breaking Holly down. My bag hit the floor as I turned back to look at Holly’s stupid fucking ex. If he wanted to start shit, then I was more than ready to end it.

“Don’t think for one fucking second that you and me have anything in common,” I told him with gritted teeth.

“You’re right. You’re not like me. What was I thinking?” He grinned. “I have a house, and you have that lil’ old trailer. How’s that thing doing? You guys get electricity in there yet?”

“You say one more stupid fucking thing and I’m taking your head off,” I warned him. “You didn’t learn your lesson at that party?”

Carter just carried on looking at me with that stupid fucking smile. He had his guys with him and probably thought I’d be too scared to hit him if he had back up. Back up didn’t scare me. That was just an invitation to throw more punches.

“Easy, easy.” Carter held his hands up. “I come in peace. You should tone it down. I’m just here ‘cause I’ve noticed that you and Holly seem to be a little friendly now. I keep seeing you two together.”

The only reason Holly was hanging around me was because she was hanging out with Brodie – and that was only because Holly had gone from having hundreds of friends to zero. She didn’t know who she could trust.

“Yeah, and?” I shrugged, very much aware of the fact of how many people had stopped in the hallways to observe my early morning argument with Carter.

“You two broke up. No need to keep an eye on her anymore. Might wanna focus on getting better at throwing that football around since you’re not even fucking good at it. ”

Carter clenched his teeth. “You think talking shit about me is gonna impress her?”

“I’m not trying to impress anyone.”

“Good. Don’t waste your time on that one.” Carter gave Holly a sharp nod. “If she didn’t fuck me, then she’s not gonna fuck you, Trailer Park Trash. She doesn’t put out.”

Holly suddenly ran past us. She let out a choked sob and I turned for a quick second to see her curls bouncing as she made her speedy and sudden escape. I heard laughter. The people who had stopped and stared and were unable to mind their own fucking business were taking joy in Holly’s pain.

Unfiltered rage took over my body.

I was gonna have to fucking hit this guy again.

I slammed a fist into Carter’s eye and took joy in the pained grunt that left his mouth.

I yanked at his shirt, pulling him my way so that I could get him on the ground.

Landing fist after fist to every inch of his face that I could get, I was very much aware of the blood spilling from his mouth and nose.

The sight of him in pain just spurred me on.

Good. If anyone fucking deserved it, it was Carter Henderson.

All I felt was fury. It overtook me. The sight of Holly in tears…

It once again brought out that stupid protective side of me.

I hated seeing girls cry. I especially hated seeing Holly cry.

I was ready to admit it. When me and Holly fought it was all stupid, little arguments that didn’t mean shit.

I had never pushed her to tears: that was never my intention.

And now that was four times that I had seen Holly Sutton break down in tears. All four times had been thanks to her boyfriend. Whatever the reason for my anger, seeing Holly with wet eyes made we want to kill the one who had hurt her.

Hands tried to tug me backwards. First there was one pair, probably belonging to Brodie. Then I felt more and more hands pulling me from the bleeding Carter. Craning my neck, I saw Principal Yorke with his arms crossed not too far away. He looked ready to scream my ears off.

Brodie had his hands on my chest as he pushed me back, putting some distance between me and Carter. I shoved some of my long hair out of my face so that I could get a good look at him. That blond asshole was on the floor, groaning softly. More and more blood poured out of him. Good.

“You got anything else to fuckin’ say?” I yelled.

His friends scowled at me, one of them yanking Carter off the ground, probably trying to help Carter salvage some of his pride. The guy seemed to have an endless amount of it, so he’d be fine.

“Sawyer Westbrook,” Principal Yorke called out from my side. “My office. Immediately. Mr. Henderson, once you’re cleaned up, you’ll see me too.”

Carter groaned again in response. I was so tempted to go over there and kick him in the head and truly turn his brain into a mess, but Principal Yorke kept a firm hand on my shoulder as he marched me to his office.

The room was smaller than I remembered, but it was still a familiar place. I had been in there a lot. Not so much this year, but I had spent a good chunk of the last few years staring at Principal Yorke as he yapped on about how I was throwing my life away with my shitty grades and constant fights.

“He deserved it,” was the first thing I said when I sat down in the chair. “You can suspend me for as long as you want, but that asshole was fucking asking for it.”

“Mr. Henderson deserved to get punched so hard that he started bleeding, hm?” The man crossed his arms over his chest.

“He’s lucky I didn’t send him to the fucking ER again,” I snapped.

“Sawyer!”

“You didn’t hear what he fucking said to her!” I defended myself.

“To who? ”

“To Holly!” Yes, I had been defending her.

I could admit that. I had been defending her a lot lately, but it seemed like no one else was in her corner.

If Carter was going to keep getting in her face, then I’d just have to keep punching his until he learned his lesson.

I didn’t like that he held that against her, like he was fucking entitled to anything.

“Miss Sutton? I thought the two of you didn’t get along.” He flipped through some papers on his desk before finding the yellow suspension paper I had become used to receiving. “In fact, I thought the two of you hated one another.”

I sighed, sitting back in the chair. “Yeah, I thought that too.”

He hummed, scribbling down what I assumed was my name and the date at the top of the paper. He slid it over to me before shaking his head.

“Mr. Westbrook, all I want is for you to go far. I realize you result to violence quite often,” Principal Yorke sighed. “But have ever thought about keeping those fists to yourself?”

“No,” was all I said.

He shoved the paper in my face. “Two weeks suspension, Mr. Westbrook. Don’t you want to graduate?”

I snatched the yellow form from his hand. “Yeah, but I like kicking Carter’s ass more. Thanks for the two-week break.”

I stormed out of his office before I could say anything else. He liked to do the whole pep talk, heart-to-heart thing; I liked to do the whole screaming, fist-to-face thing.

The hallway was empty when I got out. Everyone had gone off to class.

But what about Holly? My hands turned into fists, remembering the look on her face.

She had run off before she even got the chance to see what I had done to Carter.

Maybe that would have put a smile on her face.

I thought about telling her. About reminding her that Carter’s words didn’t mean shit, but she was probably stuck in class too.

I sighed. She was never getting out of my brain. Ever.