Free All We Are (8th Sin Book 2) by Holly Hood Page A

one more time and press it against his face. “It’s not that bad. Just a small cut.” I can’t take my eyes away from his mouth.
    “What are you doing here?”
    I blink. “I told you I brought the papers.”
    “You’re lying again.”
    I sigh. “I figured since we met before it wouldn’t be a big deal to deliver the papers myself.”
    “No other reason?” He raises an eyebrow.
    I raise one back. “No other reason.”
    I stand there while he cleans up his mess. It’s a bit awkward standing inside of his bathroom but if it means we are in the same room together, I’m willing to deal with it.
    “What are you doing?” I ask, startled when he starts to unzip his pants.
    “Taking a piss. If you want to stick around and see you’re more than welcome. But I’d suggest waiting in the hallway.” He shakes his head, grinning that beautiful grin; even with the battered lip he is still beautiful.
    I shut the door and lean up against the wall trying to catch my breath. No matter the moment, it’s always the same—intense.
    I’m not sure what is happening to me but I am becoming an idiot.
    “Hey there pretty lady,” Nash’s dad calls from the living room. I didn’t realized he could see me from his spot in his chair.
    I follow the trail of dust bunnies. “Hey.”
    “Sorry about that earlier. I by no means meant for you to see my angry side,” he keeps looking at me. I know its because I look familiar to him. And I know why I look familiar to him.
    And that scares me.
    “Take a seat,” One of the guys says on the couch. They all move one right after another until there is a spot waiting for me. So I sit down.
    “How’d you meet Nash?” He leans back in the recliner, resting his arms behind his head. On the back of his arm is a worn out 8 th sin tattoo.
    This is the man my mother was involved with and I am sitting a few feet away from him, the man that might have killed her for betraying him, so I don’t know what kind of answer to give him.
    “Just around, at the bars.” I swipe my hair behind my ear and look around at the television and the few portraits on the walls. You can tell a woman hasn’t set foot in the place in a long time.
    “You don’t look like the partying type,” he insists on telling me. “You look more sophisticated…classy.”
    I smile. At least he’s nice. I don’t know what I imagined him to be but this isn’t it. And I don’t feel any kind of resentment towards him at all even if I wanted to.
    He’s a sickly man without a care in the world. And I am reminded how much so when he starts coughing again.
    Nash is behind me. “I’ll walk you out.”
    I say goodbye to the four of them and follow him outside.
    “He seems nice,” I tell him, following him down the stairs.
    “He’s an asshole to everyone except hot chicks,” he points out.
    God, he just told me I was hot.
    He lights up a cigarette. “I didn’t know you smoked.”
    “Only when I’ve been punched in the mouth by my dad,” he grins, taking a long drag. “We all have bad habits.” He exhales.
    I shake my head. I know what mine is. Falling for guys I shouldn’t be.
    “Thanks for bringing over the paperwork. And thanks for getting this over so quickly,” he tells me.
    “Okay.” I teeter between going to my car and saying something else so I can keep talking to him. He nods, tossing his cigarette into the street.
    “Do you want to get lunch?” My cheeks immediately heat up.
    He rubs the back of his neck looking around as if someone is about to jump out and tell him he’s under arrest. “I guess it’s the least you could do considering.”
    I shake my head; he seems to never let up on picking on me.

Fourteen
    “They have the best burgers,” I announce, once I pull in front of the little burger shack Ryker introduced me to at the edge of town. It really is amazing and I hope Nash enjoys it as much as I did the first time I was taken here.
    He undoes his seat belt and stares out the window at the