Page 20 of Infatuated as They Come
“She never said that,” I muttered.
“You weren’t even here when she left!” he cried out. “Don’t you remember how it all went? You need me to remind you what happened?”
“No, I don’t need a fucking reminder.” I rubbed at the back of my neck, wishing the memory wasn’t so vivid. Me coming home from school expecting to see her smiling face, and then never getting a glimpse of her again for the rest of my life. I didn’t want to remember or feel any of that.
“That’s what she told me. And she meant every word of it. Don’t be surprised if your girlfriend feels the same way. In fact, I’m willing to bet that she does. Girls like that love money, and you’ve barely got any of that.”
“Mom didn’t leave because—”
“Those were her exact words when she left, right before she packed her bags. There’s no future with a poor man. And last time I checked, you were plenty fucking poor.” He moved past me, his shoulder knocking into mine as he made his way back down the hallway.
Sharp breath leaving my mouth, I grabbed the bags, pushed open the door and made my way back to my truck. I was dumb for having any kind of conversation with him, especially one about Mom. Everything about her always cut deep and he knew it. I missed her. I barely knew her and I still missed her, but then I winced as those words kept repeating in my head.There’s no future with a poor man.That one simple sentence shouldn’t have rattled me as much as it did.
Pushing those feelings aside, I dumped the bags into the back of the truck. When I slid into the front seat with Holly, her hand landed on my thigh the second I shut the door.
“Are you okay?” we both said at the same time.
My eyes searched her face, some weird, deep paranoia seeping inside of me. He hadn’t touched her, hadn’t gotten close enough, but for some reason, I found myself looking for cuts and bruises.
“Are you okay?” I asked again. “Are you alright? Areyou—”
“Sawyer, stop,” she said, worry there in her eyes. She pushed her other hand through my hair, her fingers light. “Areyouokay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just… Nothing, I’m fine. You sure you’re good?”
“Sawyer, what he said earlier… None of that’s true,” she said softly. “About me leaving. That’s not going to happen.”
Her words sounded oh so believable, but they weren’t sinking in. Not completely. Her fingers pushed into my hair more, her movements soft. She was everything I wasn’t used to. Warm words and gentle touches. Kisses to my lips and my cheeks, her hand always finding mine just like I always wanted to find hers. They were small things. Tiny, little gestures that she and everyone else might have been used to, but they were so foreign to me. I still wasn’t completely used to how much warmth she brought into my life.
“There’s no one better than you.” She pressed her lips to the side of my mouth, hands still tangled up in my hair. “I could never want anyone else but you, Sawyer. And this time next week, you’re gonna be far away from him, and everything’s gonna be so much better for you. Everything’s gonna change. I know it will.”
I turned so I could kiss her. Softly and slowly, like it could have been the last time, like she was made of fucking glass, like she was gonna disappear right there in front of me and never come back.
My hand landed on her waist, holding her softly as I kissed her, still so fully aware of how out of place she looked sitting next to me. I was everything she wasn’t supposed to want, but there she was, practically sitting on my lap as she kissed me right back.
“Brodie can’t stay here,” I said when we pulled away from each other. “My dad’s never hurt him, but he’s pissed I’m leaving. It’ll get messy.”
Holly squeezed my hand. “I get it. We’ll go find somewhere for you guys to stay. We’ll go find a hotel.”
I’d have to pay for a good few nights until my flight to New York and Brodie’s flight to Boston, so I couldn’t afford a hotel. Not when I was still saving for New York, for everything that was about to happen. Not when he just said all that shit to me.
“A motel might be better…” I said.
“I can pay for you. I can pay for the both of you.”
“You don’t have to do that. A motel’s fine. But…” I yanked my phone out of my pocket. It was close to six. “We were supposed to leave for your dinner right now.”
“It’s okay, we’ll pick Brodie up and find a place to stay. That’s more important.”
“You’re important too. Your birthday’s important.”
“It’s fine. Forget about dinner.”
I turned to look at her. “We’re gonna miss the reservation if we don’t leave now.”
“I don’t mind if we miss it.”
“That place cancels your reservation if you’re late.”
