Lessons in Sin - Pam Godwin Page 0,56

crouched to pack up her bag, ignoring both of us.

“Hey, Daisy.” He scuffed his shoe against the concrete. “I like your hair today, especially the way it curls around your, uh…neck.”

Her eyebrows pulled in, and her hand went to the brown waves, sweeping them forward, toward her chin. She never pulled her hair back. Not on purpose. I saw beneath the strands once, when the wind caught them. She didn’t have ears. Not much of them, anyway. They were more like little puckers of skin low along her underdeveloped jawline. I imagined she was self-conscious about it, even though she would never admit it.

When her gaze cut to me, I quirked up a brow and shrugged.

Her eyes turned to slits. She lifted her bag and paced off. “Eat a dick, Tucker.”

A smile struggled on my face as he huffed, looking all offended. But he didn’t say a word in return.

That was a start. Maybe he was trainable after all.

“You have four weeks.” I patted his head and left him sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

CHAPTER 21

TINSLEY

My gold high heels wobbled, knocking my knees. Restless energy buzzed in my stomach, and my pulse thumped with the music blaring from inside the gymnasium.

I hadn’t gone in yet. But given the din of chatter and dancing, the Winter Formal was in full swing.

“Are you staring at my ass?” Daisy strode ahead of me in a sparkling pink dress that did amazing things to her figure.

“You wish.” I paused in the dim entryway of the gym, totally staring at her ass. And her shoes.

She wore heels so high I thought for sure she’d break her neck. But she pulled it off, shaking her hot little shimmy.

Father Crisanto approached from the side door and motioned me over.

“I’ll catch up.” I tugged on her hair.

“Whatever.” She flicked a hand over her shoulder and headed toward the gym to make her grand entrance.

Flashing lights spilled out of the double doors as glimmering gowns and black suits poured in. And somewhere amid the throng of fancily dressed students, Magnus would be waiting.

It had been four weeks since he kissed me in the forest on that cold, stormy night. He hadn’t kissed me since. But he wanted to. I watched him wrestle with it every day with every breath.

We both fought against that ceaseless pull. It was fucking exhausting.

“You look truly enchanting, Tinsley.” Father Crisanto smiled like a man whose heart was filled with sunshine.

I felt enchanting in this dress. The delicate gold lace and organza stopped just above my knees. With an A-line silhouette, illusion neckline, and satin belt with a bow knot, the gown was both princessy and sexy. I owed Keaton and Iris big-time.

“Thank you, Father.” I grinned. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Oh, pshaw!” He waved it away.

He looked the same as he always did—black shirt, black pants, white collar, contagious grin.

Over the past month, I spent most of my downtime with Tucker and Daisy, mingling after church, attending football practices, and helping with the decorations for the Winter Formal. Spending more time with Tucker meant I saw more of Father Crisanto.

“I don’t want to keep you from the party.” He nodded toward the gym. “It’s just… I don’t ever get the opportunity to talk with you alone. So if you could spare a few minutes?”

I was always with Daisy, Tucker, or Magnus. Never alone. I didn’t want to miss this chance to chat with Magnus’s best friend. Crisanto knew things. I knew things. This conversation was long overdue.

“Sure.” I pointed at the hallway that led away from the side door. “It’s probably quieter over there.”

As we strolled in that direction, he asked conversationally, “How was your Thanksgiving?”

“It was good. I didn’t get to go home because I haven’t exactly been on my best behavior.”

“Yes, I heard you have some…colorful language.”

“I doubt that’s how he described it.”

“No.” He laughed, shaking his head.

“I didn’t spend Thanksgiving alone, though. Vivian and Perry, two of my siblings, surprised me with a visit.”

Vivian was my oldest sister. Unmarried and single, she possessed such ferocious confidence and beauty I imagined she intimidated the hell out of any man who looked at her.

Perry was my middle brother. Also single. Maybe that was why the two of them made the drive to see me. They didn’t have significant others to drag them away, and the holidays at home weren’t the same without our father.

Since he’d died, my mother put all her energy into strengthening the family holdings. What she should’ve been