Page 52 of Infatuated as They Come
“They might have changed their policy.”
“Come back as a ghost and we’ll argue some more.”
“But then I can’t touch you,” he murmured, his fingers moving up to my hair. “I can’t kiss you and hold you and feel you close. All I can do is haunt you. And knock shit over. I’ll get bored so fast.”
Groaning, I sat up, quickly leaning over to give him a short kiss to the lips. “I love you. I’m mad at you, but I love you. Goodnight.”
One hand reached up to cup at my cheek and that halted me, keeping me locked right there on the spot as our eyes met. His thumb moved across my skin in soft, little strokes. “Look, I get that you want to help me, okay? I appreciate it. I know why you’re doing it too.”
“You think I’m doing this to annoy you,” I said.
“No, I don’t.” He tucked some hair behind my ear. “I think you’re very… positive. You think everything’s gonna work out ‘cause you’re used to things working out. When you’ve got a heap of money, things usually tend to work out, but I need you to see this from my perspective, Holly. I need you to be realistic. I can’t not work and I can’t just rely on you. I’ve never had anyone to rely on but myself, and I know you want good things for me, but… guys like me don’t get to take risks. Taking a risk means losing a lot. More than you know…”
“What do you mean?” I frowned. “Like what?”
“Just…” He smoothed a hand over my hair. “Look, I can’t lose this job. I can’t go up to my boss and just ask to cut back on hours. I need to work. And I need you to understand that I can’t just drop everything and… follow my dreams. As nice as that sounds, it’s not an option.”
“I just want things to be good for you,” I said. “I know I’ve never had to struggle the way you have, the way a lot of people have. And if I can change it, if I can make it easier for you, then shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I help you?”
“You think I’m unhappy doing this,” he said, his hand lowering to my shoulder. He settled against the mattress first and then guided me to him, my head suddenly there on his broad chest, and I instantly felt relief being close to him again. “I’m not. I like it. I like working for something, working for you.”
“I have enough money that neither of us ever has to work.”
“Then why are you going to college?”
“You know I’ve always wanted to study journalism.”
“You don’t have to, though. Like you said, you’ve got so much money that you never have to get a job. But you want one, ‘cause you’re a hard worker, ‘cause you like what you study and you’ve always wanted to do that. I don’t just wanna sit back and paint and hope I’m lucky enough to make a career out of that. And you know what?” He squeezed me tighter. “I like knowing that at the end of the day, I get to come home to you. It’s worth it for you. All of it is. The really early days and the late nights. If it means I see you at the end of the day, then it’s worth it.”
I sighed. “This is either a really good time or a really bad time to tell you that I applied for that art program for you,” I said, and I heard him exhale sharply, but he didn’t let me go. “I’m sorry.”
“Holly,” he said lowly. “Why’d you do that?”
“I know I shouldn’t have gone behind your back. I’m sorry. That was wrong of me, but I only did it because you deserve to have an opportunity like that. They got back to me today. They said they want to meet you. Why don’t you go see them? Just for an hour or something? I already checked, and the studio is really close to your work. You said you’d love todo something like that, right?”
“Yeah, I did say that. And… And I meant it…”
My brows knitted together and I pressed myself to him tighter. “It’s okay to put yourself first, Sawyer.”
“I’m not really used to doing that.”
“When was the last time you did something for yourself? When was the last time you let yourself have a break? You work so hard all the time. You’ve been working hard your whole life…”
For a long moment, he stayed silent, his fingers brushing at my hair all softly and slowly. It was enough to make my eyes flutter shut.
Finally, he let out a long breath. “Alright, I’ll go. For you, I’ll do it.”
Chapter 11
Sawyer
Deep down, I missed school. Deep, deep, deep down. At least back then I got to sleep in class.
Leaning against the front desk at work, my eyes zeroed in on whatever the hell Lex had written down in one of the authorization books. Lex was Jay’s nephew who had a habit of hiding in the break room whenever things got busy.
Soon, I’d be leaving work for my lunch break and heading down to that art studio Holly seemed much more interested in than I was. I got why she wanted me to do it. She said it herself: she wanted good things for me. I really wasn’t used to good things, though—except for her.
“Sawyer, hey!”
