Page 58 of Sinful as They Come
“All the way up here? They’re not gonna see us. Don’t be stupid. Come on. Come kiss me.”
I heard the hideous sound of Carter’s moans while Holly seemed to just… stay silent. I rolled my eyes. How long was I supposed to listen to the worst free porn show ever? Then I heard yet another soft whimper and then a grunt. An angry grunt.
“What are you doing?” Carter snapped. “Come on.”
“Carter, we can’t do this here,” Holly murmured. She sounded upset.
“What do you mean? I thought this is what you were waiting for. Carter, I want my first time to be romantic. Carter, I want our first time to be special,” he mimicked what I assumed were Holly’s words. “Well, here we are, Holly. Under the stars and all that shit. I thought being in the outdoors was your dream date or whatever.”
Wait. Holly was a virgin? I didn’t like to spend any spare time thinking about Holly in that sense, but in the back of my head I always assumed she had given it up for Carter. But she hadn’t apparently.Apparentlyshe wasabsolutely untouched. The fact interested me more than it should have.
“I said apicnicin the countryside was my dream date,” Holly sighed. “And yes, I want our first time to be romantic. As in: with a bed. And maybe a roof if that’s not asking for too much. Not out here up against a wall.”
“Then let’s go inside already.”
“But someone could walk in and see us.”
“Well, we’ll shut the door.”
“But I don’t want to have to worry about that. I just… I want it to be you and me. That’s it.”
“Do you see anyone else here, Holly?”
My eyebrows rose at that. I even felt like a pervert at that point. But I wasn’t the asshole who couldn’t take no for an answer. Holly should have kicked him in the balls and told him to get fucked. I was cheering for her to do that.
“No, but…” Holly sighed. “I just… I just want it to be special. I don’t wanna rush it. I don’t want our friends all around. Can’t we wait until it’s just me and you?”
“I am so sick of waiting. How long do you expect me to wait for, Holly? Every time it’s something. Some other excuse. I have needs. When the fuck are you gonna meet them?”
There was silence. My eyebrows furrowed as I imagined Holly being her usual confident self: the type that didn’t take shit from me, so why the fuck would she take it from him? But all I heard was a cry. A soft one. But it was there. It was the first time I had ever heard Holly cry.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just not ready yet. I will be. I promise. I’m just… I’m waiting—"
“You’re waiting for the right time. Yeah. I’ve heard that one before. You’re waiting for the right time or the rightguy, Holly? Because if it’s the second one… Then it seems like you don’t think I’m the one for you.”
“Are you crazy? Carter, I love you. I love you so much, I’m just not… I’m just not ready to have sex yet. I will be. I swear I will be.”
“If you loved me, you’d show me, Holly. You never show me…”
Holly said nothing. Again. Holy shit, why wasn’tshe punching him in the jaw and kicking him in the nuts? My fists balled at his words. At the manipulative shit he was spewing right to her face, and how she was doing nothing to stand up for herself. I couldn’t believe it, but even I thought she deserved better than that.
“I love you so much…” Holly sniffled. “I don’t want you to be upset with me…”
“Baby, if you love me, and if you wanna make it up to me… Then come inside… Show me how much you love me…”
I couldn’t fucking take it anymore. He kept coming up with more and more bullshit and I was ready to hit something. Or someone.
Putting my cigarette out, I turned around the corner, watching as Carter jumped and narrowed his eyes at me. Holly let out a little gasp, obviously startled by my sudden appearance. I didn’t miss the way she quickly wiped at her eyes. She wasn’t quick enough, though.
I pretended like I hadn’t noticed. But I wasn’t going to forget. I had seen her brown eyes glistening, even in the dark. I had never seen her like that, looking so damnhurt.
“Annie made me come up here and get you,” I lied.
“Annie?” Holly asked softly. “Oh.”
The relief in her voice was easy to notice. I could see it on her face too. Her voice sounded lighter, less strained. All it took was someone else to be there for her to feel better around her shitty boyfriend – and it was someone she fucking hated. What did that say about Carter? About her?
“Weren’t you supposed to be on a walk?” Carter asked, suspicion in his voice. “What the fuck are you doing up here by the cabin?”
