How Sinners Fight - Eva Ashwood Page 0,12
most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen.
“That was beautiful,” I blurt, fighting the urge to blink back tears that prickle behind my eyes. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it, but that was really… it was lovely.”
He kicks his dangling legs, looking down at them instead of me. “Yeah, it was okay.”
I frown. “No. It was good. It was amazing. You should put it out there. Record it and post it somewhere. It’s not fair to create something that beautiful only to keep it locked up. It deserves to be shared with the world.”
His gaze darts to mine, and something in my chest constricts. I’m not quite sure what it is that I see lingering behind his eyes, but I don’t have to think about it long—not when he palms the back of my head a second later, his lips finding mine in a kiss I feel through every atom of my body.
Maybe it’s the drugs that make my head spin a little.
Or maybe it’s just Declan.
And when he reaches up with his other hand to cup my face between his palms and deepen the kiss, I know it’s not the drugs that are making my body ache and my heart pound. He lets out a groan that rumbles in his chest as his tongue slides out to taste me, tracing along the seam of my lips.
The joint slips from between my fingers, dropping onto that pretty elite rooftop garden below us, but I don’t give a shit. Not when Declan’s fingers are sliding through my hair, pulling me closer. Not when he kisses me so deeply that I feel like I’m falling.
When we finally break apart, a small laugh escapes his lips, his exhale ghosting over my skin as his thumbs brush over my cheekbones.
“I’m glad you came here, Soph. To Hawthorne.” His voice is raw and vulnerable, so full of honesty that it makes my heart stutter. He’s not trying to hide anything, not trying to lie to himself or me about the way this is making him feel. “I’m glad as hell I met you.”
Little flecks of lighter shades in his dark brown eyes gleam in the light as the sun filters down on us. My whole body feels like it’s buzzing, like I’m floating somewhere happy, safe.
“Me too.”
With that quiet admission, I pull away from him and rest my head on his shoulder, the woodsy, warm scent that I’ve come to associate only with Declan still lingering in my nostrils.
I’ve been alone for so long that it’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I have four people, Max and the guys, who seem to feel something for me other than disgust or hate.
All my life, I’ve never known what it was like to be cared for, and now…
Don’t get used to it, I tell myself. Nothing lasts forever.
4
“Pack your bags, bitch. You’re getting out.”
I laugh at Max’s dramatic declaration as she swings my door wide open. I had a restless night last night, waking up twice from dreams I couldn’t remember. After the second one, I fell back to sleep replaying my moment with Declan on the roof, and no more nightmares disturbed me.
“Thank fuck,” I mutter, and now it’s Max’s turn to laugh.
Unfortunately, I have to go through a few more ridiculous health checks, as if the doctors are afraid I’ve suddenly grown a tumor overnight or something. I put up with them and go along with everything Doctor Cohen asks of me to get it over with as quickly as possible.
Stepping through the sliding glass doors feels amazing, and even though I’m still walking with a slight limp, I start to make a beeline toward Max’s beat-up old car the second I spot it in the parking lot.
“Uh, no. Not that way.”
To my surprise, she steers us away from the car and into another section of the parking lot. Maybe it’s just the stir-craziness that’s been keeping me on high alert, but my heart jumps to my throat when we don’t get in the damn car. I’m ready to get home.
“Where are we going?” I ask, leaning on her a little. My ankle is mostly better, but everything is still sore. I have a feeling it’s going to be like that until I get back into my own bed and get a solid three days’ worth of sleep. “Your car’s back there.”
She glances at me, cocking an eyebrow. “Yeah, but the guys are this way.”
Sure enough, when I look up,