Page 90 of Sinful

She’d really gotten beneath my skin and had gone straight to my damn heart since she’d arrived here. I cared about her more than I ever cared for anyone before in my life. I didn’t know how to get her to see that. To even give me a damn chance.

I knew my competition.

There was simply no way in hell I was going to make the cut.

Instead, I’d just be here for whatever she needed. I’d rather have her as my friend than nothing at all, even if it hurts.

She finished her letter and turned to me with hopeful eyes.

Like I could say no to her.

Sighing, I held out my hand, and she was quick to place the note back into it. After stuffing it in my pocket, Sister Hazel began her droning, so I sat still in my seat, tuning her out.

The damn note was burning a hole in my pocket, though. I wanted to know what was going on. If nothing else, as a way to protect her. I knew Church was gone. It made sense Sin would try to wiggle his way back in.

By the end of class, I was beside myself. My decision had been made. I was going to see what was going on. If it was bad, I’d reach out to Church and let him know. Because I’d seen Ashes and Stitches chumming around with both Asylum—or Mirage as was the current name—and Sin on campus recently, I knew they were both slowly working their way in.

I was tired of being the odd man out. My whole life was spent on the outside, looking in.

Damnit, I wanted in this time.

Even if I didn’t fit in with any of them except her. It was all that mattered. Her.

We got up when the bell rang, and I walked next to her out of the room like we used to do.

“So, um, do you want to talk?” I asked, feeling dumb as shit.

She pulled me to a stop and stared up at me, making my heart tumbled awkwardly.

“Sirena?” My throat was tight.

She gave me a sweet smile and squeezed my hand, moves that all but broke me before leaving me alone in the hall and disappearing into another class.

Sighing, I stared at where she’d gone before my phone buzzed in my pocket. Figuring it was one of my friends, I pulled it out and saw her name on my screen. I blinked in surprise at it before fumbling to check the message from her.

I do want to talk. Soon, OK? I’m trying to work through some stuff. It’s a lot for me.

I stared at her message for a moment before quickly thumbing out my reply to her.

OK. I’m here if you need me. . . cupcake.

I didn’t want to push her on it, so I tried to play it cool and add a little nickname for her like the guys had. It was a feeble attempt at connecting with her on a different level.

After I hit send, however, I felt like an idiot.

I let out a groan at calling her cupcake. We’d eaten cupcakes a few times in her room since her arrival. She always seemed to really like them. It felt right to call her that, but now that it was out there in the wild, I wanted to kick myself.

Chocolate. Cherry icing. Pink cupcake wrapper.

The memory of our first cupcake together flashed through my mind, every detail recalled in perfect recollection, right down to the soft sound she’d made when she took her first bite and the damn fly that walked along her windowsill that had driven me nuts. I’d ignored it, not wanting to ruin our evening, but man, I hated flies.

I didn’t expect a reply from her, but one came just moments later.

I still think about that chocolate cupcake with the cherry frosting.

It wasn’t her words that got me. It was the little heart emoji after them that swept me off. It probably didn’t mean anything, but it came from her, so it meant something to me.

Smiling, I tucked my phone back into my pocket, vowing to get her another cupcake, before I headed out to where I figured I could find Sin.

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