Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(112)

She makes a face. “And I told you that boy will get a taste of his medicine in time.”

“He’s hurting women,” I tell her quietly.

Her eyes narrow. “How do you mean?”

I fill her in on the latest updates I know. Aiden says that the campus police and local sheriff’s office isn’t inclined to move forward with any type of investigation because there’s nothing to go on. The only thing they’ve offered is restraining orders for the girls to make sure he doesn’t get too close to them. But it’s more restrictive to them than Wallace. From what the guys said when I spoke to them, he can still go anywhere he wants, whenever he wants.

“Please tell me you’re not plotting anything,” is her response. “I know that twinkle, mister. You’re never up to any good when I spot it in your eyes.”

I brush it off. “I’m not planning anything that isn’t unjustified.”

And, technically, it’s Matt that’s doing the plotting. Not me.

“Daniel…”

“Ma,” I return, knowing when the full name is out she’s not playing around. “I need to do this. Guys like him shouldn’t have the kind of freedom he does. I may not like Pearce all that much, but the Dragons don’t deserve to go down as an infamous team that SportsCenter—” I gesture toward the screen. “—reports on because of one player and his bad reputation. It’s not fair. I may not have football anymore, but those guys do. And a lot of them are working their asses off to make a name for themselves.”

Closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose, I murmur, “I think he hurt Sky. Or tried to. I don’t know. There’s not enough evidence that points in his direction. Yet. But I have this feeling in my gut, Ma. A bad one.”

She’s so quiet I have to glance over at her.

When I see the deep frown set on her face, I’m not sure what she’s going to say. But then understanding clouds over the disapproval of my need to meddle into business that isn’t really mine. “You always did want to do anything it took to protect the people you love.”

My eyes snap to hers.

She smiles. “You do love her, right?”

My heart starts hammering in my chest when the three-letter word leaves me. “Yes.”

Her smile widens as the front door unlocks and pushes open. “That’s good. Something tells me it’s mutual.”

I’m not so sure about that.

Before I can voice my doubt, Grandma Meadow calls out, “Boy, you better be looking decent because I have something for you.”

My brows pinch as I turn my head to see Grandma M come into view with a dark-haired girl behind her. “Skylar?”

I’ve never stood so quickly in my life.

She gives me a sheepish wave, smiling between me and Ma. When her eyes lock on mine again she says, “Surprise. Hopefully a good one.”

“The best,” I breathe, walking over and pulling her into a one-armed hug.

It’s my grandmother who pats me on the back. “Next time you tell me I can’t keep a secret, remember this moment.” She walks over to where my mother stands. “Come on, Carrie. Let’s leave these two be for a bit. Something tells me they have a lot to discuss.”

I guide a timid looking Skylar to the couch that I’ve been using as a temporary bed. There’s less room to flop around on my shoulder, so Ma and I thought it was best.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I tell her, taking the seat Ma had occupied.

She drops her hands to her lap. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to come. I texted you a couple times after I got your card, but you didn’t reply. I figured you were upset.”

“Ma took my phone away because I kept sending random texts to people,” I admit, flinching a little from some of the messages. Most of them were to the guys who found them funny as hell. One was to Coach who was less than amused. That’s when Ma decided I shouldn’t have phone privileges until I was less doped up.

Skylar turns to me, drawing one of her knees onto the couch. “Danny, I’m really sorry about what happened at your house. I freaked out on you, and you didn’t deserve it.”

While her apology sends instant relief to the piece of my heart that was worried she’d thought I was the bad guy in this situation, I don’t want her to think I held it against her. “I appreciate it, Blondie, but you don’t need to say you’re sorry.”

“I do, though. I took my confusion and frustration out on you because you were there, and it wasn’t right. I don’t want to cast blame on people. Not the wrong ones, anyway.”

I stare at her carefully. “Does that mean…?”

Her eyes evade mine for a moment. “I told my family. About everything. I promised them that I’d talk to somebody when I got to campus and let them know what happened.”

My hand quickly finds her, threading our fingers together. “Are you okay?”

When she peeks up at me, there’s something shadowed over her eyes. “Yes. No. I don’t know. Serenity has been a huge help in getting me to see that I can’t keep quiet about this. Bottling it up obviously only made me angrier.” She winces, giving me another apologetic look. “I may not ever know what happened that night. I have to accept that. But I don’t want to keep quiet about it either when there could be other girls out there who went through what I did and may remember more than me and are just too afraid to speak up. You know?”