Page 88 of Sinful as They Come
Holly whipped her head to me. “What?”
“It’s only for two weeks. Worth it, though.”
“I’m sorry. You got in trouble because of me.”
“I could use the time off, actually.”
“This is all my fault. I’ll talk to Principal Yorke and—"
“Holly, relax.” I held up my hands. “It’s not my first suspension. Probably won’t be my last.”
“I just… I don’t want you to get in trouble ‘cause of me. That’s not fair…”
Her eyes were so wide as she looked at me, her hands clasped behindher back. Her lips looked poutier than they usually did. That sweet scent of hers was in the air. I cleared my throat and turned away from her.
“It wasn’t because of you. I’ll take any opportunity to punch that asshole. That was just a good opportunity to do it.” That was a slight lie. I had been wanting to hit Carter again since the party, but some weird part of me had been defending Holly’s honor when he said all that shit about her not putting out.
“Oh,” she replied, turning away from me. “Well, either way… Thanks, I guess. Maybe he’ll leave me alone after this. But now I have to deal with everyone else knowing things about me they weren’t meant to know.” She blushed, staring down at the ground.
Did she really care if everyone knew she was a virgin? I was still a little surprised by the fact. I didn’t make it habit to think about Holly Sutton’s sex life, but my assumption had always been that she would have given it up for Carter. That was my fault. I may have stereotyped Holly a little bit in the past and thought she was your cliché cheerleader. To be fair, she had a cliché, douche bag, quarterback boyfriend. But my calculations had been wrong. Not that any of that mattered now.
“Who cares what people think?” I murmured, taking a slow puff of my cigarette.
“It’s just… I feel so embarrassed. Everyone knows Carter was cheating, and now everyone knows that I’m a…”
She couldn’t even say the word. Virgin. With her pouty lips, flushed cheeks, and wide eyes, Holly appeared to be the picture of purity. I had been wrong about her. About that part of her life, at least.
Looking at her under the gentle light of the morning sun, I realized then that there was a sense of… innocence… about her that I had never really picked up on. Probably because in the past, the only time I ever thought about her was when she pissed me off. But lately? Lately she had been in my life more than I was used to, and I was starting to see a side to her that was vulnerable and timid and… innocent. How the fuck did Carter ever get her in the first place?
“Virgin?” I offered.
She bit at her bottom lip and nodded.
“There’s nothing wrong with that… Nothin’ to be embarrassed about.” I was glad Holly had never let Carter get that far with her. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be her fucking first. Holding back a grunt, I tried not to think about that too much. About taking Holly and filling up her untouched pussy… Fuck. That was such a good thought. It shouldn’t have been, but it was.
“I just wish the whole school wasn’t aware of my business.” Holly’s voice brought me out of my filthy thoughts.
“They’ll move on. They’ll find some other stupid piece of news to get worked up over and forget about it.”
Holly sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re being so nice to me, and I don’t even deserve it.”
“What makes you think you don’t deserve it?”
“We fight. We hate each other. We have not gotten along from day one.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve someone being nice to you,” I mumbled. “Especially after how you’ve been helping me out lately. The art deal got me some serious cash. That’s groceries for a while. And… that article.” I kept my eyes on her, needing her to know that I meant everything I was saying. “I wasn’t lying when I said it was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” she said softly. “And it was the truth. Every word of it. I love your art. I wish I could see more of it, actually.”
My heart literally fucking fluttered when she said that.Fluttered. Christ. It was the way she was looking at me too, with those pretty eyes. Yes, pretty. They were fucking pretty. I could admit that too. They were glowing under the sun, framed by her thick lashes.
“I could always show you more…” I muttered. “If you really wanted to see my stuff…”
“I do,” she said sweetly. “I love the art you make.”
“You wouldn’t have thought so.”
“Well… We’ve had that wall between us this whole time…”
