A shameless flirt. That was right. Sutton used to avoid his flirting by passing it away, but now she’d gotten used to firing it back. He used to tell her that there was an alternate universe just for them, no Jackson, no any other guy, but him. She didn’t want to admit it to him, but there weren’t many other guys in her life asides from him. Sutton had her friends, some of those she’d made in Australia, and had even stayed relatively in contact with Devon and Jason. Yet.. out of all them, every single one of them, Adam stayed. Through everything. --and naturally, that meant that the flirting came pretty easily to them.
Sutton couldn’t remember if she’d ever tried to make herself important during her time at Easton. She was pretty sure she didn’t. Her time there was wonderful, half of it spent either drunk or high - or both - but she’d never decided to go for head of house of anything ridiculous like that. Not that it was ridiculous. To her, the idea of Sutton Palmer even trying to do something like that was just.. so unlike her or anything she’d ever think about.
They were close to Easton, now. Sutton recognised where they were and knew the route like the back of her hand. From the airport to Easton, she used to travel back and forth every time she left. Which.. oddly, was a lot. She enjoyed how it felt to be in his car. His Porsche. A roll of her eyes had her thinking about the fact that he’d bought it. Sutton hummed when he said he looked good; it was nice to know that he was still as humble as ever. “I better get that invite. Or at least.. introduce me to your other topless friends.”
Sutton could go on about how much of a terrible person his ex was, but she opted to stay quiet about it. He knew what she thought about it, and she’d completely agreed that it was his ex’s fault for not taking her pill. Sutts would always be careful about that - no unwanted surprises, and everything. “No need to apologise. I think the same.” She muttered, listening to him for a second before glancing towards him. Sutton didn’t know why hearing him happy that she hadn’t met anyone in Australia made her.. happy. “Any competition here for me that you haven’t mentioned yet?” Taking the cigarette from his fingers and placing it between her lips. He’d told her before that he was proud of her, but nothing beat hearing it in person. “You know that means the world to me, right? And all that shit.” Sutton teased.
It was just playful—at least, it was back at the academy. That’s what Adam had told himself. There was nothing that was going to come of them because when they came back from that alternate reality where there was no other guy and definitely no Jackson, the truth of it was that Sutton had, for better or—definitely for worse—dedicated herself to him. And while that shameless flirting had continued over the following years, the fact that Adam was across the world made it hard for anything to happen, and when he had finally settled down, Sutton was already firmly camped in Oz. They could never do anything about that teasing, and that only encouraged Adam to… escalate his playfulness. They couldn’t do anything about it—until now.
There were two camps in Easton as far as Adam was concerned—those who wanted to make something of themselves while they were at the academy, and those who wanted to focus on their academics. He couldn’t fault the latter group, but being the first Sawyer to enter the prestigious school and having stumbled into a particularly prestigious set of friends, it felt as if it was expected of Adam to put that effort in. Ultimately, it was a popularity contest, and the photographer was plenty popular.
Adam laughed and bit against his bottom lip, sparing a glance to Sutton as they came to a halt at a set of traffic lights. “Maybe I’ll convince the boys to take our volleyball games on tour… I’m sure I can find a good bar or two in Australia to make it worthwhile.” A few recognisable faces were in the background of Adam’s—slightly homoerotic scene. Lovely had Anthony up on his shoulder, Kit and Zach were on the opposite side of the net too. The rest weren’t familiar—though they seemed plenty friendly with one another as Sutton scrolled through the photos, suffice to say. “I’m sure I could spin it with the gang.”
Nothing that Sutton could’ve said would have topped anything that Adam had said about Sibylla himself—they had their fair share of discussions about her in the years that had passed. Originally Sawyer was sympathetic to his ex to some extent—but that had very quickly worn thin and it wasn’t long before he’d joined Sutton in their colourful descriptors of his once-lover. “You know what Easton’s like, Sutts. Everyone’s heard the tales of despair that follow the illustrious Adam Sawyer—some people like the reputation, but the smart ones know to steer clear of the trainwreck that is me.” Adam’s grin widened for his companion as they’d swung into the underground parking complex for his apartment. “Yeah, well—don’t get too poetic about it, love. I just thought you should hear it in person.”
Adam pulled his keys from the ignition and wasted no time in pushing open his door, sliding out to open Sutton’s door for her and fish out her luggage. “Let’s get you settled and get something to eat. I’m starving.”
Until now. They couldn’t do anything about their flirting until now. And while Sutton wasn’t an awkward person, she’d never actually thought about the fact that their escalated video calls might actually have the ability to become something else, now. While she was here. Back in Easton. Sutton and Adam hadn’t been in the same country for years. In fact, it hadn’t all been Sutton’s fault - Adam had travelled all over for his work throughout the first few years she’d been trying to settle in Aus. She never minded; he always made enough time for her to be satisfied with the contact. Then she managed to find the bar, just as she was debating moving back home, and he settled back down again. Unfortunate timing. Until now.
Sutton couldn’t see herself in either group. She never wanted a name for herself; her grandfather had given her enough of a ‘prestigious’ name as it was, yet she was still never in Billings and she was never that dedicated to her studies. She went to her classes for the most part, but she definitely got away with doing the bare minimum. It was a popularity contest that Sutton wasn’t going to win, so she never made the effort. Instead, she was herself. And that got her plenty of friends and acquaintances along the way.
She could spot the familiar features of those she hadn’t stayed in touch with. She knew what they looked like, through.. some form of social media. Oliver, Kit.. they’d changed, but not that much. Sutton had known about their lives through Adam’s calls and texts, their catch-ups. She enjoyed hearing about what everyone else had gotten up to. Part of her knew that everyone would probably have heard about her rehabilitation, but pretty much all of her didn’t care; she was now the manager and owner of a popular Australian beach-bar, and that was all that mattered. She’d managed to make something of herself. “A high-school reunion in Aus? I’m sure I know a little place that could fit you all in.” She teased.
In other words, no. She didn’t know why she felt so happy knowing that there wasn’t a girl back here for Adam. His reputation was something she always questioned, when it came from his mouth. Any girl was extremely lucky to get near to him, though most of them used to take it for granted. Sutton hated that. He was a good guy who had the worst things happen to him. “Some people like the trainwreck. Can’t take their eyes off it.” She muttered, sparing glances out of the car to those parked around them. “Poetic? Sutton Palmer? Please.” Sutton scoffed, sinking back into her chair as he parked them up.
“Always the gentleman.” She chuckled, realising all too late that he’d slipped from the drivers’ seat to open her door for her. As if on cue, Sutton’s stomach rumbled. “Yeah, plane-food isn’t all that good, you know? I’m down for some food.” She told him, exiting the vehicle and reaching out for her bags.
