Page 53 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

HOLLY

I had been so… eager the other night in Sawyer’s trailer. The night he had painted me. It was such a sweet gesture. No one had ever done anything like that for me before.

I had to sneak the painting into my room that night.

If my dad had seen it, he would have known instantly who had made it.

There was no way my parents could ever know about me and Sawyer.

Especially my father. He would lose it. But Sawyer was worth sneaking around for.

He was my boyfriend . Sawyer Westbrook was my boyfriend.

And I was his girl. His words. I loved it when he called me that.

I could still feel Sawyer’s lips on mine days later. They were so soft. And I could feel his hands too. The way they had been grabbing at me…

I could see myself blushing in my locker mirror as I applied some gloss to my lips. Sawyer had always had a weird way of making me go red. It was funny how much things had changed. Sawyer wasn’t the guy I thought he was.

“Cute dress,” I heard a deep voice murmur out behind me.

Spinning around, my smile widened when I saw Sawyer approaching me. He pushed a hand through his hair, brushing the thick locks back. The thick locks I had been pulling at the other night.

“Hi,” I said a little shyly. “Good morning.”

I rested my hands on his shoulders and stood on the tips of my toes, giving him a quick kiss. People were staring. They had not been expecting me and the resident bad boy to be kissing in the hallways. It was still a shock to me too. They could look all they wanted.

“I missed those lips,” he said lowly, his hands on my waist. “I missed you.”

“Well, I’m here now.”

“You are very much here.” He held my waist a little harder. “And I had an important question to ask you.”

“Oh. What’s up?”

“What are you doing this Friday?”

I thought about it for a moment. I was pretty sure I didn’t have any plans. Honestly, I fully expected to spend the night in Sawyer’s trailer since there was no way I could bring him to my own house. I wanted my parents to meet him. For things to be normal. But that would have to wait.

“Nothing,” I answered. “Why?”

“I wanted to take you out.” He moved just one hand up, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Like, a proper date. Not just sitting in my trailer playing trivia.”

“Or painting me?” I grinned, letting those memories flood my mind.

“Well, I don’t mind doing that. I’ll paint you anytime you want. But I wanted to take you out on a proper date. A real one. At a restaurant and all that.”

My heart raced at his words. Yeah, I had been right. Sawyer was a gentleman. Underneath all of that – that deep, dark, brooding, mysterious armor – was a sweetheart. And I wanted to discover more of him. I wanted to peel off every layer I could, learning more and more.

“That sounds perfect.” I smiled. I loved the idea.. “Should I meet you at the restaurant? ‘Cause, uh… If my dad sees your truck pulled up in our driveway, he’ll—"

“Kill me.” Sawyer finished the sentence for me. He let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I get it. Dads don’t like me. I’ll pick you up, but I guess I’ll have to hide out halfway down the street or something.”

“I’m sorry. My parents… We’ll tell them. But right now, I think this will have to stay between you and me.”

“I don’t mind sneaking around, sweetheart. You’re more than worth it.” He pressed a quick but lingering kiss to my lips. “How does seven sound? I’ll come grab you then?”

“It’s a date.”

I returned his kiss, giggling against his lips.

He smelled good. It was that deep cologne scent that I still found so intoxicating.

Ever since that night – where I had sat in his lap and kissed him so hard and so deep – I couldn’t stop thinking about taking things further.

I had felt him. He had been hard, his length pressing up against me.

It was something I wanted to feel again and again.

I wasn’t ready to go all the way yet, but the more time I spent around Sawyer, the more eager I became. Could he tell?

“People keep on lookin’.” Sawyer grinned against my lips, keeping his hands on my waist. “Is this what you deal with every day?”

“Let them stare. They’re just jealous.”

“Of me? Yeah, makes sense.”

“Of me ,” I corrected. “And I think we may have broken their brains a little.”

“Our first fight is gonna be fun.”

I grinned at the thought. “Yeah, I kinda can’t wait for that now that I think about it.”

The bell suddenly rang and I let out a little sigh. Sawyer and I didn’t get to spend that much time together since there was so much sneaking around, so I was clinging on to every second we had.

“I have to do my stupid psychology presentation,” I mumbled.

“Let me walk you to class.” He held his hand out, lacing his large fingers with mine.

Hand in hand, Sawyer walked me to my psychology room.

We took slow steps. It seemed like Sawyer wanted to get as much time out of the walk as we could.

A few more people stopped and stared at us.

I couldn’t blame them that much. It didn’t make sense.

Sawyer and I had gone from going at each other’s throats to walking through the halls, side by side.

But they’d get used to it. And hopefully my parents would get used to it too. Hopefully .

“I’ll see you at lunch?” Sawyer offered, leaning up against the psychology room wall .

“Sounds perfect.” I pecked his lips.

“Oh, and this Friday… Don’t forget to dress up. I’m gonna take you somewhere special, okay? Somewhere you deserve.”

“Sawyer, you don’t have to do that,” I insisted.

I knew how hard things were for him and Brodie.

Life wasn’t easy for him. The last thing I wanted was for him to go out of his way just for some dinner.

“We can just order pizza and watch a movie at your place. Honestly. We don’t need to go anywhere fancy. ”

“I’m giving you what you deserve.” He leaned in, giving me a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. “I’ll see you later. Knock ‘em dead.” He winked at me before spinning around, making his way to his own class.

I let out a sigh. Sawyer was already struggling enough. I didn’t want to make his situation worse. His dad still hadn’t come back yet. Maybe he and Brodie were better off that way, though…

I waited until I couldn’t see Sawyer anymore before entering the classroom.

My eyes quickly focused on the only empty seat in the room.

My luck had run out, because that meant that I had to sit next to Carter.

He glared at me from his seat. I hadn’t talked to him since that day in the hallway.

The day Sawyer punched him in the face for me.

What did I ever see in Carter to begin with?

“Take a seat, Holly.” Mr. Gregson called out behind me. His tone was friendly, though, the noise putting me at ease a little. “Then we can get on with today’s presentations! Aren’t you excited?”

“Totally.” I cleared my throat and began the long walk to my seat.

I heard Carter muttering under his breath as soon as I sat down.

Lucas sat next to him on the other side.

I could see and hear the two of them sharing a hushed conversation.

Probably about me. Maybe about Sawyer too.

Word must have gotten back to him by now that I was with Sawyer.

It wasn’t any of his business either way.

We were two presentations in when Carter leaned over to me. I fidgeted in my chair, avoiding his stare. He wanted attention.

“Heard you and Trailer Park Trash are shacking up now.” He chuckled. “Is he having fun with my sloppy seconds?”

I rolled my eyes, my gaze stuck on Melissa Chalmers at the front of the room who had just started her presentation.

“Nothing to say, huh?” he continued. “What’s it like to downgrade this much, Holly? Must fucking suck. Do you miss me? I bet you do.”

Oh my God, he couldn’t be serious. How could one person be so conceited? Seriously, what did I see in him? How had I looked past his gross, arrogant behavior for so long? His words made me want to vomit and punch him in the face at the same time.

“I bet you wish you were still with me,” he whispered.

“You should have just given me what I wanted, Holly. Then you wouldn’t be slummin’ it with Westbrook.

You been to his house? Sorry, his trailer?

What’s that like? That thing got a roof and four walls?

Come on, look at me. I know you miss me.

I know you want to be with me. I know you wish—"

“You’re the worst thing to ever happen to me,” I snapped, finally looking at him.

He looked like he was about to say something else, but I cut him off before he could get that far.

I tried to keep my voice as low as possible, my words coming out in a harsh, sharp whisper.

“You’re a rude, classist asshole. I don’t know what I was thinking hanging around with you so long.

I deserve better. And you know what? Now I have better.

So much better. All you did was make me miserable.

I don’t need you. Sorry you’re desperate and want me back.

I’m not interested. Don’t talk to me. Don’t look at me.

And also, it doesn’t count as sloppy seconds if I never even let you touch me in the first place. ”

Lucas snorted, nudging Carter. “Dude, pack it up. She just embarrassed you.”

“Shut up.” Carter pushed Lucas’ arm away.

He said nothing else. He just slumped in his chair a little, his hand rubbing across his mouth.

That was the first time I had ever seen Carter look well and truly embarrassed.

And maybe even a little ashamed. Interesting how just a few words could form such a blow to his ego.

Class went on without any more drama – besides Carter looking at me like I had just punched him in the face when it was time for my presentation.

I also didn’t miss the way he rolled his eyes at me while I talked.

Nevertheless, the presentation went pretty well and Mr. Gregson seemed fairly happy with what I had come up with.

It would have been nice to have my next class with Sawyer, but he was busy with art while I had AP Latin. Thankfully, Annie was in that class and I didn’t have to deal with Carter for the rest of the day. When I entered the room, I was greeted with my best friend’s smiling face.

“Hey hey. I missed you this morning.” She got up, wrapping her arms around me for a long hug and a kiss to the cheek.

“I know. Sorry. I was a little busy...” I gave her a kiss back and got settled into my chair. “I’ve been busy a lot, actually…”

“Yeah, I heard.”

My head snapped to look at her. “Heard what?”

“About you and Sawyer.” She was grinning at me like it was the best news she had ever heard.

“Word spreads quick around here, doesn’t it?” I mumbled. Annie was my best friend, but I hadn’t told her about me and Sawyer yet. I hadn’t told anyone .

“Well, I for one think it’s really cute,” she said with a little shrug.

“You… You don’t mind that me and Sawyer are together?”

She shook her head. “Are you kidding me? No. Of course not. First of all, I always knew there was some… tension there between you and Sawyer. And secondly, I know Sawyer’s a good guy. You’re in good hands. He’s gonna take care of you. Unlike you know who…”

“You can say his name. I also kinda snapped at him in psychology,” I said with a proud smile. “He was asking for it. But it felt good to let it out.”

“I’m glad you’re done with him. You deserve better. And Sawyer is a much better fit for you, anyway. I don’t care how perfect everyone thinks Carter is. Guy is a loser.”

I nodded at her words, sighing a little. “I wish I had realized that sooner. Much, much sooner.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Annie reached over, resting her hand on top of mine. “He was the one who screwed up. You did nothing wrong. You’re done with Carter. Forget about him. Don’t even make eye contact with him when you see him around school. You don’t need him.”

I created a little sandwich with our hands and rested my other hand on top of hers, grasping it tightly. The little comforting smile she sent me made me believe her words even more. Annie had never led me astray.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

It would have been nice to have a wholesome moment with my best friend, but Miss Wilkinson was in the room before I knew it, already scribbling away on the chalk board.

I couldn’t really focus. I kept thinking about Sawyer.

About how he got the best friend approval and how he said he’d be taking me out on Friday.

I had to hold back a squeal. It would be fun, just the two of us on a proper date.

I still couldn’t quite believe that I was going out with Sawyer Westbrook, but reality was quickly setting in.

I just hoped he wasn’t going to take me to some overly expensive place. Did he think that would impress me? Because all I wanted to do was spend time with him. To just have him close and feel his touch and kiss him all night long.

Just like the other night, when I sat on his lap, our lips pressed together. We had been dangerously close. I had felt him. His hard length pushing into me…

I still hadn’t got that out of my mind. At how hard he felt. Not to mention how big he felt. What would it be like to have his hands on me? All over me? I wanted to know. I really did…

I cleared my throat and shook my head. Latin class was not the time to be thinking about that… But Sawyer had well and truly taken over my mind.