When Sinners Play (Sinners of Hawthorne University 1)

My eyes find Gray’s, and I gaze into the churning blue-green of his irises as I let a small, sardonic smile tilt my lips.

“I win.”

Someone cut the music while I was putting on my little show, so even though my words aren’t loud, they seem to fill the room anyway.

“I guess you do.” His eyes narrow slightly, his face still as hard as stone. “I’m impressed, Sparrow. You put everyone else to shame.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Somebody raises their voice behind me. “She’s the bet. She can’t win the prize herself—”

Gray levels an unflinching look at the guy who spoke up, and he instantly shuts his mouth. The rest of the room stays silent, though I can hear the low buzz of whispers around me.

Gray’s gaze sweeps the crowd quickly, as if he just remembered all these people are here. Then his attention moves back to me.

“The competition is over,” he says, raising his voice to address the room.

Then he stands smoothly and steps closer to me, closing the small bit of space between us until I can feel the heat of his body radiating into my skin. It makes a shiver run down my spine, but I keep my gaze level on him as he looks down at me, a force too kinetic to pull away.

He’s standing so fucking close to me that I can barely take a breath without my chest brushing against his. It almost feels for a second like he’s trying to block me with his body, to use his larger form as a barricade to prevent anyone else from looking at me.

But that doesn’t make any fucking sense. He’s the one who started this stupid game. And isn’t this what he was after? More of me on display for the entire school?

“Put your fucking clothes back on, Sophie

,” Gray murmurs. This time his voice is low, a deep rumble that barely reaches my ears. “And get the fuck out. You’ll have your money on Monday.”

I don’t point out that he’s the one who forced my hand. I don’t point out that telling me to put my clothes on makes him a total hypocrite. I don’t need to, because I’ve won.

I’ve shown that I can dish out just as much as I take, and I’ve shown it in a way that will become infamous within the walls of Hawthorne University.

I’m not to be fucked with. If you think you can break me, think again.

“Fun party.” I lift a taunting eyebrow. “Although it seemed a little boring until I showed up.”

Gray’s eyes flash, and as I move to turn away, he grabs my upper arm in a tight grip, his fingers closing hard around the tattoos that grace my skin. His voice is still quiet as he dips his head, his breath caressing my ear. “I’m letting you get away with this once. Don’t ever pull this kind of shit again.”

Sparks erupt inside my body as if this physical connection has opened up an electric current between us. My pussy clenches, and I yank out of his grasp before he can realize how much his touch affected me.

“Don’t make me,” I say shortly.

Then I pick up my shoes and gather my clothes before striding back across the room to meet Max.

The low whispers in the crowd grows steadily louder as we leave the room. I’m pretty sure the only reason people aren’t yelling and catcalling is because none of them can get a read on Gray’s reaction, and nobody wants to risk misstepping and invoking his wrath.

It makes me wonder how many previous scholarship kids have fought back. How many of them simply chose to accept the bullshit because it was necessary to be here, and how many eventually broke and ended up skipping out on Hawthorne and the people within it.

“You know, I had my doubts about coming here,” Max says as we finally step outside the house. I’m still naked, and we stop by the side of the driveway so I can get dressed. “But Gray’s face was priceless! And I don’t know if you noticed, but every fucking guy in the room was drooling over you. I don’t think Declan and Elias blinked once after your shirt came off. Cliff’s tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and Caitlin looked like she had a mini rage-stroke.”

She chortles, and I roll my eyes, but I can’t stop the grin that spreads across my face. “If I got under Gray’s skin and pissed Caitlin off, I’ll call this a win all around.”

As I tug down the hem of my top, my thoughts flick back to Declan and Elias. I wonder if Max is right. I was so focused on taking Gray down a peg that I didn’t look back at his friends as we had our little stand-off. But now I sort of wish I had.

When I step back into my shoes, Max starts to fish her keys out of her pocket. “Hey, since we’re not sticking around, wanna get a burger on the way back to the dorms and—”

“Hey! Skank!”

I turn around as Caitlin strides up behind us. Surprisingly, she doesn’t have her little minions by her side.

“That’s not going to keep him interested, you know,” she says, her lip curling as she rakes her gaze up and down my body. “Your little show was fucking pathetic. It’s nothing you can’t find for free on the internet.”