Chasing Sin

21

With his hands still holding mine, Sin returns my grin.

A full-fledged, happy, carefree, smile from Sin Black himself. These are so rare—and so dazzling—I want to yank out a camera and capture it on film, but I don't.

My head is still reeling from the intense conversation we just had, and I would love to do something other than think about Jared and my life back in North Carolina. I look around Sin's place again, taking it all in.

"I do not remember your place like this," I tell him again, marveling at the beautiful house. "I thought it was an apartment, but it's not, is it?"

He shakes his head. "A duplex. The woman that rents it to me travels a lot, but she lives on the other side of the house. I don't run into her much."

I stand to look around some more now. There are nice furnishings in every room, and it's surprisingly really neat. I would have expected Sin to clean every three years or so, especially if he lives alone with no one to complain about the mess.

"You have an upstairs?!" I say, spotting a staircase in the corner. "How drunk was I last time?"

Sin laughs lightly, standing with me. "Pretty drunk," he confirms. "I know you're dying to be intrusive, so you can take a look around if you want."

I turn to look at him, my eyes widening dramatically in surprise. First, he shocks me with a real, genuine smile, and now he's letting me pilfer through his house? I feel like I'm being punked.

However, I take it and run with it. I smile and say, "You don't have to tell me twice."

Sin chuckles as his phone rings. He looks at it, and his smile fades. "I've got to answer this, but go ahead."

I nod, watching him walk out of the room. I peek through his kitchen, seeing a plain layout with somewhat fancy appliances. I open the fridge, seeing the boring healthy stuff that Sin probably eats every day, unable to truly cook for himself.

However, in the center of the fridge, there's a blue box of cookies, with a note on it that says "For Sin. Anyone else touches these and they die. - A"

I smile at the note, amused at its words and how much they sound like something Sin would write.

Maybe he really does have a secret girlfriend.

I close the fridge and leave the kitchen, opening another door to find a bathroom. Uninterested, I start to leave, but then I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

I look like a horrifying mess, with most of my makeup gone and streaks from crying on my cheeks. I splash some water on my face and salvage what eye makeup I can, making myself look a bit better. I run my hand through my hair a couple times and turn the light out in the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.

I decide to go upstairs, as Sin is still on the phone and he gave me the green light to pilfer around.

I open the first door I come to again, and see some sort of library or office or something. I'm only unsure because of the thousands of photos in boxes scattered around the room. There are photos of beautiful scenery: mountains, waterfalls, forests, sunsets, and more.

There are also a lot of pictures of Sin. There are pictures of him as a kid, ones of him and a tall woman with auburn hair and a huge smile, even a few of him with Kace, Peyton, and Beckett.

I look through a few, trying not to mess anything up as I do so. I feel like these are really personal to Sin, and I almost feel guilty for looking at them. He did tell me to look around, though.

"They're my mother's."

I spin around to see Sin standing in the room now, seeming serious yet at ease. I look back down at the picture in my hand. It's one of him and Kace, probably about fifteen or sixteen years old, getting ready to arm wrestle. It makes me smile.