Page 31 of Sinful as They Come
“I’m not mad. Just…” He hissed and shook his head. “A man’s got needs, Holly.”
“I know. I’ll be ready. I promise. I can’t give you a date, but…”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that before,” he mumbled. “What’s in the bag?” He nodded at the plastic on the floor.
It made me beam at him. “Oh, the chips and snacks and stuff. You wanna pick a movie?”
Carter rolled his eyes before standing up. “You know I don’t eat that shit. Let’s just go downstairs. I wanna get in the pool before it gets too cold.”
Sighing, I watched as Carter walked right by the plastic bag on his expensive floor. He wasn’t always so… cold. And mean. And… Okay, he was being a jerk. But he was under so much stress. And sometimes he couldn’t hold it in. He had too much on his plate. So many expectations to live up to. College applications and scouting and games and exams. Carter was dealing with a lot.
I wasn’t going to hold any silly comments against him.
Standing up, I picked the bag off the floor and made my way downstairs. I didn’t bring my bikini, but I could dip my feet into the pool. I needed a moment to just think, anyway. About Brodie.
The Chronicle would be one page short. Guilt filled up my heart. Brodie had made an effort. He had come out to the game and wrote an awesome piece for the paper. In a way, it felt like he wrote it for me, and there I was, literally ripping it out of the paper.
But Brodie would move on.
I reminded myself that Carter was my boyfriend. And that his pride and feelings were much more important. He was the one I loved. I knew that as I sat at the edge of the pool, watching as he winked at me and dove into the cool water.
He was mine. And I had to protect that.
Chapter 9
HOLLY
My hands shook as I held the newest copy of The Chronicle. The latest edition had been printed, the crisp copies sitting in a few places around school: the library, the main office, and in a few classrooms. It was a little lighter than I intended it to be, and that was because it was one page short.
There wasn’t going to be an article on the football game.
I felt awful. Brodie had done such a good job with writing it. A really good job. His questions weren’t boring; Lucas had been into the interview; and overall, it had been a good read. But it had to be scrapped. If Carter didn’t want it in the newspaper, then I wasn’t going to go against his wishes. He was my boyfriend and he came first.
With a sigh, I shoved the newspaper into my folder. I was normally proud of myself whenever a new issue came out. I worked hard on it to make sure it wasn’t the same boring drivel school papers usually contained. But this time, I was ashamed to even look at it.
I had just finished up a free period with a few minutes to spare until my next class. I had spent it in the library, getting ahead on some history projects. I was hoping to avoid Brodie. And Sawyer. Sawyer would be pissed at me too. He was probably still mad about the other night because of the whole money thing. He was so obnoxious. And testy. I tried to be nice and he threw it right back in my face.
But if he knew I had messed with his cousin, then he’d mess with me more than he already did. I remembered what he said to me the first dayof school…
I rounded a corner, intending on getting to my locker, but that was when I saw Sawyer leaning up against it. He spotted me straight away. He had a boot pressed to the metal, the other placed firmly on the ground. As per usual, both of his hands were stuffed into his pockets.
It would have been sane to turn around, walk away, and avoid confrontation. But even though I knew I was in the wrong, I still didn’t want to give Sawyer Westbrook any satisfaction.
“You gonna get out of the way?” I asked, standing in front of Sawyer.
“You remember what I said to you the other day? About fucking with Brodie?” he asked, his voice monotone.
I sighed loudly. Sawyer already knew. “Look, when I see him, I’ll apologize. I owe him one. The article didn’t work out.”
“He stayed up all night writing that shit,” Sawyer continued. “Then he made me drive him to the library the next day so he could type it up and send it to you. He wasexcited. He did what you asked.”
Guilt hit me again. I didn’t want to screw Brodie over. He was my friend. But Carter came first. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I catered to Brodie and not my guy?
“He can write a new article and I’ll put it in next one,” I offered. “Maybe we’ll take him off sports, okay? There’s a hundred things happening at school, so I—"
“Youtoldhim to do sports,” Sawyer cut me off, a deadly edge to his voice. “You told him to write about that stupid fucking football game.”
“Look, it just didn’t work out. I’m sorry! There’ll be other opportunities. It’s not the end of the world.”
