Page 60 of Sinful as They Come
“You’re a creep.” She shook her head.
“You think I wanted to listen to that shit?” I laughed. “I just hope and pray I can forget what I heard tonight.”
“You could have walked away, you know?”
“I was here first. Enjoying my cigarette.”
“You still could have walked away!”
“Jesus Christ,” I grumbled. “How am I getting the blame for this shit? For something I didn’t do?”
“I wasn’t blaming you for anything!”
“Well, it sure fucking sounds like it.”
“I was just saying that…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes on the grass.
“That what?” I lifted an eyebrow when her sentence went nowhere. “You wanna get mad at me? Is that it? You want someone to take that anger out on?”
She shook her head. “I’m not angry.”
“Nah, I think you are. You can scream at me all you fuckin’ want, but that’s not gonna change the fact that your asshole boyfriend doesn’t love you in the fuckin’ slightest.”
Her lips trembled as she looked up at me and her big eyes quickly turned all shiny. Both things were a sure-fire sign that she was about to cry. And then she literally let out a choked sob. Holly ran by me, sprinting away from me as she took off into the dark, never-ending forest.
Chapter 19
SAWYER
“Fuck,” I said lowly, looking behind me. Everyone was down by the fire. No one was going to come to Holly’s rescue. Especially Carter. It would have to be me. “Holly! Fuck, where the hell do you think you’re going?”
I could hear the sound of her shoes hitting the grass and leaves. The noises she was making were the only thing that was going to lead me to her, because I couldn’t see a thing. As I ran I realized that I hadn’t just gotten under Holly’s skin. I had done more than that. I may have shoved my hand into her chest and pulled her heart right out.
We fought. We fought every time we were in the same room, but I had never made her cry. Ever. I had never pushed her that hard, and fuck, I really hated seeing girls cry. It always brought out some weird, protective side of me. Holly was gonna get herself hurt and it would be my fault for bringing her to tears: something I had never done.
Holly was a fast runner, but she wasn’t as fast as me. Despite the darkness I caught a glimpse of her pink jacket. The sight of her made me move quicker, my throat a little dry as my feet hit the ground hard and fast.
“Holly!” I called out again.
She kept moving. She must have heard me, but she just kept on running.
“I didn’t fucking mean what I said!” I screamed out the lie. Yes, I meant it. But maybe it would be enough to get her to stop before she tripped over a branch and cracked her head open. “It was a lie!”
She stopped in her tracks. Finally. Holly came to a holt, standing between the looming trees. It was so dark, but a few clouds parted, exposing the full moon above us that gave me just enough light to finally see Holly properly. I slowed down as I reached her, her back still to me. My hands landed on her shoulders as I yanked her around to face me.
God, her face. I hoped some clouds would suddenly appear and block off the glow of the moon, because Holly looked heartbroken. Trembling lips, swollen and red eyes, tears on her cheeks. Had my words gotten to her that badly?
“What the hell did you do that for?” I snapped at her, still pissed at her for taking off like that. “You could have fuckin’ hurt yourself, Holly.”
“You don’t mean that,” she said, talking so low. I could hear the sadness in her voice, though.
I shook my head at Holly. “What?”
“It wasn’t a lie. You believe that. You think that Carter doesn’t love me.” Her voice was so shaky, but that wasn’t stopping her from spilling her guts to me. “Y-you wouldn’t have said that if you didn’t believe it.”
“Look…” I sucked in a sharp breath. “I was just fucking with you.”
“No, you weren’t,” she said quickly.
