Page 28 of Infatuated as They Come
“I’mnotspoiled.”
“How much did this couch cost?”
“That’s not important,” I said, ignoring Sawyer’s deep laugh. “The point is that you don’t have to worry about me all the time. Moving here isn’t just about me, it’s about you too. You should be doing what you want and what you love.”
“But I love you,” he drawled, his lips ghosting against my neck. “And I love taking care of you. Can’t I do that?”
The sensation of his lips on my skin made me sigh, my fingers toying with the collar of his shirt. “You already do that.”
“Well, I wanna do it some more.”
“Why can’t you just be my trophy boyfriend? Then you can stay at home all day and paint shirtless and I can spoil you and look after you the way you deserve.”
“When you become a big-time journalist, huh?” Sawyer pecked my lips, and then that teasing look that had been in his eyes faded into something more serious. “Look, you’re sweet and it means a lot to me that you think I’ve got what it takes to be someone. I’m not really used to that. And as much as I appreciate everything you say to me, I still have to be an adult, right? I’m used to it. I’ve been looking after myself for a long, long time.”
“I mean, I can’t stop you from getting a job if that’s what you really want to do. It’s your life and I have to respect that and I do, but you can keep all that money you earn if you didn’t pay for rent.”
“That’d mean you would have to pay for everything.”
It always felt arrogant and obnoxious to think about how much money I had in the bank, but I knew that paying for rent wouldn’t even make the tiniest of dents in my wallet. I could pay for me and Sawyer’s rent for the entire year with complete ease. I was pretty sure I could pay everyone’s rent in the whole building and still have more than enough left over.
“But…” I started softly. “It wouldn’t be fair for all of your money to go to rent.”
“I can’t live here for free.”
“Let me pay for it.”
He gave his head a shake, the look on his face telling me that he had already made up his mind a long time ago. “I wanna do this fairly.”
“How is that fair? What kind of girlfriend would I be if I let you slave away working for hours and hours?”
“I did it before and I was fine, so I can do it now. I wanna do all that fun stuff with you that you said, but I’m not just here for the fun stuff, right? I gotta do the adult stuff too, and that means working.”
“Well, maybe I’ll get a job too,” I said defiantly, straightening up in his lap. “I’m gonna go work at Tiffany’s.”
He laughed, reaching a hand up to brush a thumb against my cheek. “You don’t need to work. You’re gonna be busy with classes and cheer and a million other things. You don’t need any distractions. Don’t worry about me or about looking after this place. I can do it. I’ve got this and I’ve got you. IpromiseI’ve got you.”
There was no convincing him to just take it easy, to just focus on himself. He had never really ever had the chance to do that. “What about your art?”
“I’ll get around to it.” He kissed the side of my face. “When everything is settled, okay? Just give me some time to get things together here, then I can do all that.”
“It was so nice seeing you paint all summer and do all those projects,” I said, my voice a little wistful. “Everyone was so in love with everything you made.”
“That was back home. It’s different here. There’s an artist everywhere you look in this city.”
“But…”
“It’s okay, Holly. You don’t have to worry about me.”
He was too stubborn. Always had been, always would be. No one dug their heels in harder than Sawyer Westbrook. That used to be one of the things about him that annoyed me the most: how he never backed down or shut up and did what he should have been doing. But being with him and loving him had taught me that those traits existed deep within him for a reason. A hard life was bound to do that to a person. All those long days working back home, all those years dealing with his father. It made himstrong and determined. It made him someone I knew I could always rely on, but he still had no idea how to learn to rely on someone else.
“There’s no changing your mind,” I said, pressing my forehead to his. “You’re very stubborn and annoying.”
“Just a tiny bit,” he said, offering me a quick grin.
“Well, can you at least hold off on the whole job hunting thing until later? You just got here. You’re allowed to enjoy the city as well.”
His tongue clicked. “I wanted to get started on that as soon as I could.”
