Page 78 of Sinful as They Come
“Holly, please—"
“Carter wouldn’t do that to me.” She wrapped her arms around herself, walking backwards. “He’s a good guy. He’s... You don’t know him like I do. You don’t know anything about us! And those girls are my friends!”
“Yeah, that’s why it’s so fucked up.”
“They wouldn’t do that to me!”
“Holly—”
She spun around, her heels clicking against the ground angrily. I wanted to chase after her. Fuck, I should have. But she was too pissed at me to even look at me, let alone listen to me. But someone had to tell her the truth. I always figured Carter would just slip up one day. But no. That asshole gavemethe job of breaking his girlfriend’s heart.
Fucking prick.
I watched Holly as she stormed off, keeping my eyes on her, not stopping until I saw her turn right so she was back at Lucas’ house. Carter would come up with some lie. I started the fight, but was he gonna tell her why? Would she be back in his arms tomorrow? Or would she wake up and understand that she could do better?
“Fuck it,” I said with gritted teeth, making my way to my truck. Brodie could get a ride home. All I could focus on at that point was the absolute fuck up I had suddenly become apart of. And how badly I wanted to strangle Carter.
Chapter 25
HOLLY
I stomped back to the house on shaky legs.
Who did Sawyer think he was talking to me about that? After his little “thank you” moment, I thought maybe things would be different. Maybe he finally decided to grow up and act his age. Instead he punched my boyfriend and then blatantly lied to my face.
When I got back to the house, the first thing I noticed was that the front door was wide open. Standing there in the doorway with tear-stained cheeks, I could see Carter sitting on the couch. There was an ice pack pressed up against his eye, but he wasn’t the one holding it. When I looked to his left, I could see Jennifer Katz standing there next to him, holding the ice pack in one hand while her other hand rested on his thigh. She was leaning over, whispering something into his ear.
But Carter’s eyes landed on me. All I could see was resentment in them as he got out of his seat and approached me. He walked over to me with intent. I took a step backwards, my eyes on the ground. Then he slammed the front door shut behind him.
“Where were you?” Carter asked immediately.
“I… I…” I was with Sawyer. He knew I was with Sawyer, so I had no idea why he was even asking. “I was with—"
“Are you fucking him?” he asked, voice demanding and cruel.
I nearly choked on my breath. “What?”
“You heard me. Are you fucking him, Holly? Is that why you’re aroundhim all the time now? You fucking little old Trailer Park Trash now or what?”
My mouth opened but no words came out. I looked over to my left and then my right, like that was somehow going to help. I realized then that I was too scared to look him in the eyes. I hated it when I felt like that around him. But when I finally had the courage to glance back over at him, I could see that his normally clear skin was all red around his eye. Sawyer must have punched him hard.
“Are you gonna answer the question or are you just gonna stand there all night with that dumb look on your face?” Carter’s harsh voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Sawyer and I were talking,” I finally managed to let out. “I wanted to know why he hit you.”
Carter pressed his lips firmly together. “Well, what did he tell you?”
“He… He told me…” My voice trailed off, struggling to repeat Sawyer’s words. “He just said how...”
“What did he tell you, Holly?”
My eyes shut and I pressed my face into my hands. The tears were spilling from my eyes again and I couldn’t stop them if I tried. All I wanted was for Carter to hold me. To tell me that he loved me, that Jennifer was only that close to him because she was a good friend who was trying to help, that he didn’t want anyone else but me. But my brain wouldn’t let what Sawyer said escape me.
“Holly…” Carter grunted.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I cried into my hands.
“I knew it. I knew you were fucking him. Why aren’t you with him now, huh? You can’t even admit. You can’t even look me in the eyes and admit that you fucked up.”
