Page 16 of The Sinner (Haven Grace Prep 1)

She gives her a disbelieving look. “I just sat down.”

Savannah leans her elbows on the table and levels her with a look. “You’ll be sitting down plenty at practice if you don’t go get me a blackberry Snapple.” Kinsley sighs but gets up to do it anyway. “And don’t come back without one.”

As soon as she walks away, Jace smirks. “Do they even sell that here?”

“Nope,” she replies, popping the P for emphasis. “I had to get rid of that chick. She’s been getting on my last nerve lately.”

He chuckles. “Not everyone can be flawlessly gorgeous with a killer personality, Sav.”

“Flawlessly gorgeous, huh?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t act like you don’t know it.” His fingers run through his hair, messing it up intentionally. “Whenever you decide to ditch that Brady fucker, just say the word, babe, and I’ll pick you up.”

She laughs. “I may just take you up on that.”

Unable to listen to their blatant flirting any longer, I subtly sneak my hand under the table and grip onto her thigh. She lets out a squeal as she jumps, and then smacks my wrist. Everyone looks confused, but I play it off perfectly. The conversation between Savannah and Jace is effectively ended, and if the way she lets my hand stay on her leg is any indication, that’s exactly how she wants it.

The thought of Savannah being with any guy puts an uneasy feeling in my stomach. There was a point in time where she belonged to me, and swore it would stay that way. Now, she’s anything but mine.

I know I shouldn’t want her. It’s bad enough that I’m here. To even be friends with her again would be a completely betrayal to my dad and not something I’m interested in. So, I force away the feelings that come alive when she’s near and chalk them up to teenage hormones and nostalgia.

THE COACH HAS US running drills and practicing our throws. Personally, I liked practice better when Carter was in charge. All he did was had us scrimmage for a couple hours and run some plays out of the book. Today, however, we’re under different authority—which means drills.

Running back and forth across the field is annoying, but nothing is worse than seeing the entire team basically undress Savannah with their eyes. A few of them don’t even try to hide it, whistling at her as she bends over to stretch. I clench my fist when I hear it, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have to keep from pounding their faces into the ground.

“All right. Shirts versus skins,” Coach announces. “We’re going to run plays for the next half hour.”

He calls out names to be on the skins’ team, including myself, Jace, and Wyatt—so we pull our shirts off and toss them onto the sidelines. We call tails on the coin toss, getting the ball first. As I listen to Coach tell me the play, I’m having trouble focusing. Savannah is on the sidelines, wearing her booty shorts and a tight-fitting tank top. It leaves practically nothing to the imagination, and I’m drowning in the thoughts of her skin and curves.

“Hayworth!” Coach yells in my face. “Get your damn head in the game!”

I roll my eyes as I jog over to the guys. After I repeat the play, we get into formation. I receive the ball from Wyatt and throw it down the field to Peyton. No part of me cares to watch how it plays out. I’m too focused on Savannah.

It’s as if I can still feel the softness of her skin. The way her body fit against mine as I had her pressed up against the locker. If she was able to feel my heart racing in that moment, it would have given everything away—but God, she felt so damn good against me.

It isn’t until Wyatt steps up beside me that I even acknowledge there are other people around.

“Don’t even think about it, man. You’re wasting your time,” he tells me.

I don’t turn away. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Savannah. I see the way you’re looking at her, but trust me. You don’t have a chance. She only dates college guys. Specifically, ones named Brady Laurence.”

I chuckle and shake my head. “You’ve got me all wrong, man. I don’t want a chance with her.”

“Dude, do you see her? She’s the hottest girl in school,” he deadpans, letting his eyes drift over to Sav. “Everyone wants one.”

A mumbled groan of obscenities leaves my mouth as I walk away from him and down the field. It’s hard enough to deal with the fact that I’m feeling things for her I shouldn’t. Hell, every part of me should hate her with a burning passion, and most of me does. But there is still part of me that wants to throw myself at her feet and give her everything she’s ever wanted. I need to get this shit under control before it ruins me—before she ruins me. Again.

I PULL UP TO my house, wanting nothing more than to go inside, take a shower, and climb into my bed. However, fate must have other plans for me, because just as I’m about to get out of my car, Justin walks out the front door. Every bit of frustration that has built up over the past few days boils inside of me. Slamming my car door shut, I storm up to him until I’m right up in his face.

“The fuck are you doing here? Didn’t I tell your ass to stay away from her?” I don’t budge as he tries to push me back a little.

“Your mother is a big girl. She can make her own choices.”

I growl, ready to hit the prick. “Like hell she can. She proved that shit wrong when I had to knock your ass out as you tried to strangle her to death.”

The smirk that graces his face tells me he would do it again if given the chance. “Yeah, well, clearly she doesn’t quite mind a little breath play. Your mom is quite the freak.”

---