What Sinners Love (Sinners of Hawthorne University 3)

It’s bliss, I realize. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually felt it before, but that seems like the best word to describe the feelings bubbling up inside my chest.

Of course this is how Elias would tell me he loves me. Curled up on hospital chairs in the early morning hours with Declan leaning close on my other side. It’s such a perfect, intimate, real moment that it takes my breath away.

For a second, I can’t speak, but I force my vocal cords to function long enough to whisper, “I love you too, Elias. More than I ever thought possible.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Happiness infuses his tone as he leans in to kiss me like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I have to remind myself that it is natural, that this is my life now.

And I’m so goddamn lucky.

As if sensing the heat building in the air, Declan opens one eye, watching his friend with a look of mock suspicion on his face. Elias chuckles when he notices that Declan’s awake, deepening our kiss. Declan groans. He reaches for me, bringing his lips to mine as soon as Elias and I separate, his kiss soft and hungry.

When he pulls away, I catch the gaze of one of the nurses behind the receptionist counter. Her eyebrows are somewhere near her hairline, but I just smirk and look away, not offering any explanation. I refuse to blush or apologize. She was the one who was looking.

“We should go check on Gray,” I say quietly, and the guys nod.

When we step into his room, I’m not sure why I suddenly feel nervous, but I do. There’s a twinge of lingering fear that something will go terribly wrong, that fate will snatch him away from me. But the worry drains out of me when I catch Gray’s gaze, my breath hitching in my throat. His chestnut brown hair is a little tousled from sleep, but his cheeks have regained a lot of their color. He’s sitting up, his posture strong.

“My parents are back. They just left to get breakfast,” he says when we come in, his voice still groggy. “You just missed them.”

“Lucky,” Declan murmurs, flopping back down on the couch. He gives Gray a grimace. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Gray huffs a laugh, then looks back at me. “They weren’t exactly pleased that I took a bullet for some ‘random girl,’ but fuck them if they think that. I’ll defend the woman I love anywhere, anytime.”

My heart clenches. I want to tell him thank you for saving my life, but words won’t cut it. He knows how I feel, knows I love him back, but a small part of me feels like it isn’t enough.

Like it’ll never be enough after everything he did.

“Hey. Come here, Sparrow.” His brows furrow, and he pats the bed next to him.

When I reach his hospital bed, he pulls me close. His skin is warm against mine, his rich, spicy scent familiar in my nostrils. He leans in without hesitation, and just like Elias and Declan did a few minutes ago, he kisses me as if it’s the most normal thing in the world for us.

I melt into his touch, being careful not to touch him where his wounds are, but wanting nothing more than to sink into his body, to fall back into the bed with him and let him peel my clothes off.

He pulls away, sucking in a breath. His eyes are dark and the room is suddenly hot, but I know that there will be much more time in our future for those things. Once he’s healed up.

“Right now,” I whisper, trying to get my pulse back under control, “you need to focus on getting better.”

“Yes, nurse.” He winks at me, waggling his eyebrows and making me laugh. When a knock sounds at the door, he glances over and calls out, “Come in.”

Max steps into the room, and I smile when I see her. I sent her a text last night after we got to the hospital, and I knew she’d want to come see how Gray is doing. But when I see the man following close behind her, I stiffen.

It’s Aaron.

My eyes narrow in suspicion, but Max stops me with a quick frown, holding up a hand. Gray tenses next to me, and I don’t have to look over at the other Sinners to know that their reactions are the same.

“It’s okay. He’s on our side. He’s with us,” Max says. She brushes her dark hair over her shoulder as she glances back at Aaron with warmth in her eyes. “For real. He was able to give the police some information that linked Cliff to his father’s illegal business dealings. The cops arrested Cliff last night. They can’t convict Alan for anything because he’s dead, but at least his asshole son can be held responsible for some things.”

A wave of relief washes through me. Cliff may not be quite as smart or savvy as his father was, but he’s definitely as cruel, entitled, and vindictive.

He won’t be able to hurt us anymore, though.

I stand and come around the side of the bed, studying Aaron as I step closer to him. He looks a little rough around the edges, but there’s something lighter in his eyes too. Something that almost mirrors the relief I feel. He told Max that he fell in with the Saints after he changed schools in his senior year, but maybe he was never truly one of them.

Not in the ways that made them so fucking awful.

“Listen,” he says, glancing around at everyone in the room. “I didn’t know. I knew Cliff could be an entitled fuck sometimes, but I… I thought that was it.” His jaw clenches. “I told Max the thing about the hooker because I’d just found out about it myself. I overheard Shane giving Cliff shit about it one day, and it sounded pretty fucked up to me.”