How Sinners Fight - Eva Ashwood Page 0,70

liked it.

Elias and Declan join us, and Elias swings an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to his warm body. As we head out to Gray’s car, all three guys talk excitedly about how much of a success the night was. Gray even shocks me by mentioning that the gallery might want to display my art again.

“Especially if you’re not keen on selling anything right now.” He glances down at me with pride gleaming in his eyes. “Not,” he quickly adds, “that that’s a bad thing. If you choose not to sell, people are still gonna want to see your work again. And then if you ever do sell, you’ll probably be able to charge whatever you want and still have buyers.”

I laugh. “Yeah, whatever.” Even though that prediction seems a little far-fetched, the thought is nice.

“I’m telling you, Sparrow,” he says teasingly, “you’re the next big thing.”

As we reach the parking lot, I suddenly realize that Max isn’t with us. The last time I saw her was maybe an hour ago.

“Hey, where’s Max?” I ask.

Declan gives a knowing grin. “She told us to let you know she’s letting Aaron take her back to the dorms tonight.” He raises an eyebrow. “Sounded like she might actually be getting somewhere with him.”

I make a mental note to shoot her a text and make sure she’s all right—even though Aaron may be the most bearable of the Saints, I still don’t trust him. He associates with Cliff, so how the hell could I trust him?

The school is only a thirty minute drive away, and as we pull up on campus, all the tiredness I was feeling as we left the gallery has been replaced with another wave of adrenaline. There’s no fucking way I can sleep right now.

Maybe the guys feel the same way, because as we cross the quiet, dimly lit campus, I realize that Gray isn’t leading us back to my dorm or even his.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

He throws me a look over his shoulder that makes my skin heat. “You’ll see,” is all he says, and when the other two Sinners don’t question him, I get the feeling they already know where we’re going.

They take me to a building I’ve never been to—a lecture hall that I don’t have any classes in. Despite the hour, they manage to get into the building by a conveniently unlocked door, and I vaguely wonder what favors they called in and who they called them in from, but decide not to think too hard about it.

My skin is tingling with anticipation as we head up a long flight of stairs, turning out into a hallway and then finding another flight of stairs, smaller this time. I know we’re on the top floor, but for some reason, as Gray opens up the door at the top of the final flight of stairs, I’m shocked when I see a bright expanse of stars stretching out over a clear night sky, the chilly air stirring little tendrils of my hair.

“Holy shit. This is beautiful,” I breathe, taking the hand that Gray offers me as we step out onto the rooftop. “How did you manage to…”

My question trails off as he leads us to a spot on the roof where a few large lounge chairs are set up, as if this is a place they frequent enough to call their own. I’m not sure if it’s theirs, or just a little hideaway on campus I never knew about, but I think I love it.

As we settle in, Declan produces a bottle of whiskey that he must’ve had stashed in the car. He uncaps it and holds it out, offering some to me.

I accept the bottle and take a deep swig of the liquid, letting it burn down my throat before turning to a very pleasant warmth in the depth of my belly.

When I hand it back to him, he stands and holds it up as if toasting.

“To Soph, for sharing her art and her soul with us.” His gaze catches mine, holding it for a moment before he takes a drink.

“My turn.” Elias reaches up and takes the bottle from him. Standing as well, he says, “To Blue, who’s got the hottest ass I’ve ever seen.”

His stupid grin is enough to make me reach up and smack his ass playfully.

“What?” he asks, grinning as he brings the bottle to his lips. “It’s the truth. And we can’t all be poets like Declan.”

I roll my