Page 127 of Infatuated as They Come
Reaching over, he gave my hand a squeeze. “That sounds good. Let’s do that.”
“You also owe me a meal.”
A little smile stretched across his lips. “Yeah, I do.”
* * *
Sawyer knew all the best places in Dallas. The quiet places no one ever went to, the ones that were soundless besides the gentle sound of birds chirping as they flew past. We sat on the edge of his truck, the tailgate turned down as I swung my legs back and forth, with nothing but green, flat land in front of us. We were in the middle of nowhere, but I liked it that way.
There were a couple restaurants open on Christmas Day, but I wasn’t really in the mood for anything like that after last night. I didn’t think Sawyer was either. So, we stopped at a gas station, bought some soda and sandwiches, and found a place that was far, far away from everyone and everything.
I took a bite of the sandwich, tongue out to lick at my lips before swallowing, all of that tangled up worry in my chest still very much present. “So… can we talk about what happened last night?”
There was a long pause before Sawyer finally answered. “I have really bad luck.”
“What does that mean?”
“I mean… I had every intention of meeting you on time for that dinner, Holly. God, I even left early, and then…”
“Then?”
His lips parted and then his head shook. “I don’t wanna make things worse. Things are already a fuckin’ mess.”
“Just tell me what happened. Please.”
“Look, your dad said some shit to me, but it was my fault for letting it getto me.”
My eyes moved to the green grass in front of us, my head shaking in disbelief. Of course. “Are you gonna tell me what he said?”
“The usual stuff. I’m sure you can use your imagination.”
“Unfortunately, yes, I can pretty much envision what he said to you very clearly.” Something about money. His job. Him not being good enough. “It was my fault for making you stay at my place. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, it wasn’t. It’s my fault for letting him get under my skin. I just wanted us to do something that wasn’t so…”
“Low budget,” I said, finishing the sentence for him. Now I know where he got that term from. “Right.”
“Maybe you get tired of the things we do together. You know…” He nodded to the wide, empty land in front of us. “This sort of stuff. Sitting in a truck eating sandwiches while we look at trees. I mean, this is the kinda stuff I used to do as a kid because I couldn’t afford to do anything else.”
I scooted in closer to him and almost instantly, he wrapped an arm around my waist. “I don’t need country club dinners. One of my favorite things about you is that you never wanna do dumb, superficial things.”
“Yeah, and you literally told me you didn’t wanna go and I didn’t listen to you.” He lifted up a hand, stroking a thumb across my cheek softly. My bruised one. But his touch was so soft and careful that I didn’t even feel a hint of pain. “How’s that bruise feeling?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks.”
He hummed, pressing a soft kiss there, and once again, I didn’t feel even the tiniest of stings. “I thought you’d like a night out at some place fancy. That’s the kinda stuff that you’re used to. That’s the life you’ve always had, right? I thought it’d be nice, especially after I missed so many dates the last few months. And I was already so messed up from everything else with us. I was missing you but I kept making mistake after mistake and I just wanted to make it better but I didn’t know how. I thought that maybe just for one night, we could be in some expensive restaurant like all the couples in your part of town. That was the plan,and then…”
“My dad happened.”
“Yeah.” He blew out a breath of air. “Well, thenmydad happened.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
Sawyer shrugged lazily. “I went back home. My head was a mess and your dad said all that stuff, so I went to the one place where I felt like I wouldn’t feel so fuckin’ out of place.”
“And you saw your dad there?”
“Yeah, we had a nice little fight. That explains the ruined suit and why I was so late.” He gestured to his shirt. “Felt like a classic Westbrook Christmas, actually. Was kinda nostalgic…”
