Tempted By The Sweetest Sin

Sabrina's POVBy five in the evening, my eyes were burning from staring at the computer screen all day. I finally shut it down, stretched my stiff arms, and started packing up. Just as I slung my bag over my shoulder, my boss called out, “Hey, we’re heading to the bar. You coming?”I forced a smile and shook my head. “Can’t. I’ve got something to take care of at home.”It wasn’t a lie—just not the whole truth. “Something to take care of” meant rushing across town to flip burgers at my second job before the dinner rush.Accounting was my main job, but it barely paid enough to keep my student loan collectors off my back. So, I worked nights at a fast-food place. Seven more months—that’s all I kept telling myself. Seven months and I’d finally be free.The smell of fries hit me the moment I walked in. I tied my apron, plastered on a smile, and tried to push through the exhaustion. For a few hours, everything went fine—until someone shouted.“Hey, you!”I turned, expecting a customer aski

Since that night at the bar, I hadn’t seen Eric again. Thank God.Frank had been too busy showing off about how he finally got Tina’s number. He disappeared for days after that, not calling, not texting. Which was fine with me. I didn’t want to talk about him, or about that night, or about the way Eric’s voice still lingered in my head every time I tried to sleep.I told myself it didn’t matter. That none of it did.But I was lying.The truth was—I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About him. About the way he’d looked at me like he could see straight through me. About the way his voice wrapped around me, sharp and smooth all at once.And the worst part? The shame. Because some stupid part of me had felt something that night at the bar. Not love. Not even affection. Just…heat. Dangerous, reckless heat.I wanted to forget. But every time I closed my eyes, I remembered his words—’You can try dating me instead.’I hated that my body still reacted just thinking about it.So when Frank texte

The bell above the shop door chimed as we walked in, and my stomach dropped. Bright lights. Glass shelves. Colorful swimsuits hanging everywhere—tiny pieces of fabric that barely counted as clothing. I froze in the doorway, the air-conditioning biting at my skin. “Eric,” I hissed, trying to pull my hand free. “You’ve completely lost it. I’m not doing this.” He didn’t even look at me. “Relax,” he said smoothly, his tone calm like this was the most normal thing in the world. “You said you didn’t bring a swimsuit. Problem solved.” “I didn’t ask for your help,” I snapped. “Didn’t have to,” he murmured. His eyes swept over the racks, assessing, calculating. “You clearly weren’t going to do it yourself.” My pulse jumped. “You don’t get to make decisions for me.” He turned then, finally meeting my eyes. That unreadable, dark gaze pinned me in place. “Someone has to,” he said softly. For a second, I forgot how to breathe. Then the clerk appeared—young, smiling, too cheerful for the k

I turned to Eric—his eyes were steady, unreadable, burning with that quiet fire that made it hard to breathe. Then I looked at Frank—his jaw tight, anger simmering in his face, his eyes filled with something I couldn't name. I didn’t know who to trust. Who to believe.Before I could stop myself, my body moved on its own. One step. Just one. Toward Frank.Eric’s hand twitched at his side. Frank’s shoulders straightened, like he’d won something.But I couldn’t move any further. My feet locked in place. My fists clenched tight by my sides. My heart screamed in confusion.This was too much.Before I could think it through, before either of them could say another word—I turned and ran.“Sabrina!" "Sabrina!”The sound of my name tore through the air, Frank’s voice sharp, Eric’s lower and rougher, both of them chasing me like ghosts. But I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.I ran until the sound of waves swallowed everything else. Until my chest ached and my eyes burned.When I finally stopped,

His body pressed against mine, caging me in. His palms were flat against the wall beside my head, his eyes dark and unrelenting.“You need to learn to defend yourself, Sabrina.”His voice was low—commanding. It wasn’t cruel, but it wasn’t soft either. It vibrated through the air, through me. “You can’t just let people walk all over you like that. Not Tina. Not anyone.”I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breath. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”“Oh, I think I do,” he said, his gaze holding mine like a lock I couldn’t break. “You let them talk to you like that. You let them insult you. You keep shrinking smaller and smaller every time someone hurts you. When are you going to stop?”His words stung because they were too close to the truth.I shoved at his chest. “What I do is none of your business!”He didn’t move. His body was solid, unmoving, like stone. “Really, Sabrina?”Something inside me cracked. “You think saving me from your sister suddenly makes you my hero?”His