Page 22 of Sinful as They Come
“This one needed a ride,” Sawyer muttered, elbowing Brodie’s side.
“Oh. Well, Brodie, you ready for your interview?” I asked.
“Should I interview the captain or the guy who got all the touchdowns?” Brodie asked innocently. He pulled out his old phone, looking like he was getting prepared to record.
I winced a little at his words. Sawyer picked up on that instantly and laughed, his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket. As usual he was dressed head to toe in black, much like Brodie.
“What’s so funny?” I interrogated the laughing boy.
“How pissed off is Carter right now?” Sawyer wondered with a grin. “Bet he wishes he was the guy who got all those touch downs.”
“Carter still had a great game, thank you very much.”
Sawyer smirked. He looked far too smug for my liking.
“Remind me, Sawyer, how many touchdowns have you had?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You say that like I’m supposed to be offended, princess. I don’t give a fuck about football or playing football or cheering on a bunch of dumb assfootball players. That’s where we’re different.”
“Whatever. Feel free to think you’re better than me and everyone else.” I eyed him before staring at a rather uncomfortable looking Brodie. “Come on. I’ll get you into the locker room, Brodie. Your cousin can stay out here since he hates football so much.”
Sawyer just laughed some more. I pulled at Brodie’s arm, guiding him off the field and into the hallway so we could find the locker room. We could already hear the guys sharing a rather loud pep talk. As we walked I gave Brodie’s questions a quick once over. They were all pretty good; I was happy to put them in the paper.
The locker room door was already open when we got there. I could see Coach screaming his head off and shaking Lucas by the shoulders, clearly excited for the guy’s talent despite the loss. Lucas looked both ecstatic and terrified – but mostly terrified. The other guys looked deflated on the benches. I spotted Carter in the corner. He was sitting down, head bowed, hands clasped together as he rested his elbows on his thighs. His blond hair hung down in front of his face, blocking his eyes.
I knew he was disappointed in himself.
“Brodie, do you mind waiting out here for like, five minutes?” I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I just have to talk to Carter. You can go over your questions again if you need to. Promise I won’t be long.”
He smiled and nodded. “All good. Yeah, gonna read over ‘em again.”
I sent him a smile back before sneaking my way through the locker room. They usually didn’t mind when girlfriends snuck in after a game – at least when they won. I had done it before. And Carter was usually over the moon, but tonight just hadn’t been his night.
“Carter?” I asked quietly, approaching him with my hands behind my back. “Are you okay?”
All I got was silence.
I sat down on the bench next to him, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. He flinched and shook his broad shoulder away from me. I did my best to hide the look of pain on my face.
“Carter, it’s okay. The season just started. And you did so good. You hadall eyes on you. Like you do every time. Everyone loved you out there,” I tried. My voice was soft but I knew he could still hear me. “And I loved seeing you out there too. You were the only one I was really cheering for.”
He took a deep breath. “Holly…”
“Yeah?” I smiled.
“Leave me alone.”
He turned to look at me, and all I saw was… hatred.
He had looked at me like that before, but tonight was different. He didn’t blink at me. His lips barely moved. He stayed stoic and still, like he wanted me to take in everything he was offering to me, everything he didn’t seem to bother hiding: complete and utter disdain.
It was different to how Sawyer hated me or how I hated him.
Carter looked at me like he wanted to punish me.
But for what?
For being supportive?
