How Sinners Fight (Sinners of Hawthorne University 2)

When I don’t say anything for a while, he speaks again, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“Do you believe me?” His fingertips slide down to brush against the bare skin at my throat, feeling the flutter of my pulse there. “Please, Sparrow. Please.”

Clearing my throat, I look away from him, staring at the bare walls of the stairwell.

I know what it’s like to be in his position. I grew up in foster care, and it taught me a lot about choosing between shitty options, which is exactly what Gray had to do—he had to choose between two terrible choices, and he chose the one he thought was the lesser of two evils.

He grips my chin, turning my gaze back to him so he can search my eyes.

“Please…”

He murmurs the word again, and it’s the heartbreak in his voice that breaks through the wall of ice around my heart. Maybe he doesn’t deserve another chance, but fuck it. I told him once that people don’t always get what they deserve, and maybe that’s not always a bad thing.

“I believe you, Gray,” I say quietly.

Something flares in his eyes, hotter and more intense than just relief. He crushes his lips to mine in a bruising kiss, but before I can lose myself in the feel of him again, I press hard against his chest, breaking the connection between our lips.

“But,” I add, “if you’re really on my side, you need to prove it.”

It’s the same thing I told Declan and Elias. And I mean it just as much now as I did then.

He seems content with that answer, giving me a nod and a soft smile before pressing his lips to mine again. It starts as a simple press of our lips, but that only lasts a few seconds before it morphs into something more.

His kiss is maddening, consuming, possessing.

He kisses me with a claim that says mine, a promise that says protect, and my whole body burns for him as I grasp the back of his neck with my hand and pull him closer.

When we break apart for air, my head is still spinning, but my body feels grounded. My soul feels fucking grounded for once. I’m on solid footing for the first time in weeks.

Somehow, we manage to untangle our bodies and straighten our clothes. I half glance at the clock on my phone and realize tha

t the class I was worried about being late to is almost over. Whoops. Even if it was worth it to slip into the back and catch the tail end of a lecture, there’s no fucking way I’m going to after what happened.

Gray seems to have the same thought, because he threads his fingers through mine and leads me out of the stairwell and across the quiet campus toward his dorm building.

On our way, I shoot a text to Declan and Elias, telling them to meet us there. They respond immediately, thinking something is wrong, but I reassure them in another quick text.

ME: Everything’s okay. Just come ASAP.

Since Gray and I have hashed shit out, the next order of business is telling his friends. I’ve grown more close to Elias and Declan since I’ve been spending less time with Gray, and I’m not just going to leave them guessing about everything.

A few minutes after Gray and I get back to his dorm, Elias and Declan show up. As soon as I open the door, they surge inside, their gazes immediately scanning me to see if I’ve been hurt before locking on Gray with twin glares.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, man?” Declan demands. “I told you to stay the hell away from her.”

I almost feel guilty for the furious looks Declan and Elias are giving him, but they’re doing it because they promised me they would—they promised me that they were on my side.

I don’t want them to be on my side though… well, not just on my side. No matter how shitty these past few weeks have been for me, I know they’ve been shitty for Declan and Elias too. For Gray. I hate that there’s a rift between these three men. It feels unnatural somehow, like there’s something fundamentally wrong with a world in which the Sinners aren’t a unit. A team.

“I’m sorry.” Gray’s shoulders are rigid, but his voice is honest and quiet. “I did what I had to do.”

Before Elias or Declan can protest, I put a hand on each of their chests. Declan presses against my palm a little, like he’s thinking about fucking Gray up anyway, but I catch his gaze and shake my head. “Listen to him. Just listen, okay?”

Tension lingers in the air as Gray explains everything he already told me—how Cliff threatened to ruin me if I didn’t leave, how he’s been building fabricated evidence against me to link me to Melissa McAlister’s death.

“I knew Cliff was being weird about Sparrow all last semester,” Gray continues, “but since she beat the shit out of him, he’s really had it out for her. I don’t know if it’s wounded pride or what, but he’s fucking obsessed with her, with making her pay—even though he’s the fuckwad who attacked her. The deal I made with him was to keep Sophie safe, and only that.”

For the first time since Gray told me the truth about Cliff, I start to feel sick. I already knew Cliff is an asshole, but up until now, I didn’t think he’d actually try anything else after our fight in the alley. I thought that he’d back down after that. I didn’t think he’d actually be so pissed that he’d form some kind of sick vendetta against me.