Page 64 of Sinful as They Come
“Holly, please tell Sawyer how good of an opportunity this is for him,” Mrs. Blaine insisted.
I locked eyes with her. For the first time since that night in the forest, I looked right at her. Avoiding her had been easy. And that had been a favor to her as well, because I knew she didn’t wanna see me either. She had poured her heart out to me and probably wanted to pretend like it had never happened. She should have just stayed outside the art room and not come in.
Fuck, she should have broken up with her shitty boyfriend the other night.
“It’s… It’s a good opportunity to get your art out there,” Holly said quietly. Her cheeks were pink as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We put this special edition in the library and community centers. Even in the mall. So, lots of people will see it. Not just students. You’re allowed to sell the stuff you make, too. A couple students last year made some sales.”
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Mrs. Blaine smiled. “Sawyer, you have to do it. I’ll write your name down.”
I let her do it. I didn’t have to go. I didn’t have to do shit. It was easier to just let Mrs. Blaine have her little moment. My eyes hadn’t left Holly. She was still blushing, her eyes not meeting mine. She had her hands clasped in front of her, playing with the rings on her dainty fingers.
“Yeah, alright…” I managed to let out. “I gotta go now. Gonna be late for my shift…”
“Oh, yes. Go on, go on.” Mrs. Blaine waved at me.
I grabbed Brodie by his jacket and pulled him out of the room with me. I couldn’t look at Holly for much longer. He was chuckling beside me. If he thought I was going to spend time with Holly for some stupid interview, then he was dead wrong.
“Stop laughing,” I snapped at him. “I’m not doing that shit.”
“Why not? Come on. Don’t screw yourself over just because Holly’s involved.” Brodie guided us over to his locker, pulling a couple books out.
“The whole idea is stupid.” But even as I said that, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be a good opportunity. A sale here or there meant some extra cash, and I always needed that. “You go do it. Show everyone your vase and your flowers.”
“You know what? I will do it. Just to spite you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so annoying. Wait, hold up, we gotta go to my locker too.”
We walked over to mine and I dug through it, spending the next couple minutes trying to find the box of cigarettes I had thrown in there during lunch.
“Finally,” I muttered when I had the box in my hand, so ready to get in my truck and leave.
But then I saw Holly halfway down the hallway, pressed up against the lockers, that pink piece of paper in one of her hands.
She was looking up at Carter, her doe eyes fluttering shut when he kissed at her. My fists curled in my pockets. She let him kiss her. Let him put his hand on her waist. I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling a strong urge to punch him repeatedly. What the hell was she doing? Why was she letting herself get hurt all over again?
“Yeah, I don’t get it either…” Brodie mumbled behind me. “Come on, let’s go. You’re gonna be late.”
I let Brodie spin me around and nudge me towards the exit. But I couldn’t help it when I looked over my shoulder. Carter gave Holly another kiss – a kiss he seemed much more excited about then she did. His lips were on her neck a second later.
But the worst part was that we locked eyes. It was just for a short moment.But her brown eyes met mine and I could have sworn I saw her sigh. And it wasn’t a content sigh, either. No. She either looked bored out of her fucking mind or… sad. I couldn’t tell from where I was standing.
All I knew was that she kept looking at me. Kept looking at me until I met the door and had to leave.
For a second, I wished I could read Holly Sutton’s mind.
Chapter 21
HOLLY
My list of people I was speaking to for the special edition of The Chronicle included ten students. Nine had already been interviewed – including Brodie, who was rather proud about his vase. That meant I had one person left to talk to. And of course, it was none other than Sawyer Westbrook.
I sighed as I looked through my locker. I could see the notebook I had been using for all of my interviews, but I didn’t want to touch it, because I truly did not want to have a one-on-one conversation with Sawyer. It wasn’t just because of our history. No.
It was because… God, he wasn’t supposed to see what he saw that night. The stuff with me and Carter. No one was supposed to see that, but my bad luck had my enemy stumbling upon one of my most humiliating moments.
Sawyer had watched me go back down to the fire after my confession.Confessions. I was pretty sure I spilled every last secret I had right then and there, blubbering away like an idiot. He probably laughed in his head at how pathetic I looked. But it hadn’t seemed like he found any of it funny. Instead, he had given me what I wanted, what I needed: and that was help.
There was no reason for him to lend me a helping hand. He never had before, but he had never been around when Carter was all aggressive and pushy. Sawyer had kept a watchful eye on me as I walked back down to the fire. I had felt his eyes on me as I moved slowly, arms wrapped around myself as I sat back down with Annie, asking her what she had wanted only for her to frown and tell me she had no clue what I was talking about.
