Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(38)

He grips the back of his neck. “Fuck, I’m bad at this. I don’t know how to ask you, but I think you should know. Just in case it’s something you need to take care of…”

He’s stumbling through one of the most awkward conversations of my whole life. Next to the one I had with the doctor.

Biting the inside of my cheek so hard I can taste blood, I whisper, “You guys wanted to know what the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done was. Well, now you know your answer. I lost my virginity to some random guy at my first college party, and I can’t even remember it.”

He goes stock still.

“And now one of the few people who seemed like he genuinely wanted to be friends thinks I sleep around with every guy who smiles my way.”

Pain crosses his features, but I don’t look for long.

“Don’t worry, DJ,” I add, voice nearly inaudible as I stare out the window again, bringing my thumbnail up to my lips. “I already know about what you’re warning me of. I found out for myself the hard way.”

He cusses again.

Smacks the steering wheel.

Mumbles under his breath.

Then, “I don’t think you sleep around. I was talking out of my ass. I was…am…” He stops himself abruptly. “It doesn’t matter what I am. I don’t think that.”

We drive.

Stuck at a red light, he asks, “You were really a virgin?”

I don’t answer him verbally.

Only nod once.

When he drops me off at the curb by my dorm building, we say nothing else. The short ride to campus was thick with tension and an unspoken truth lingering in the air.

I had a one-night stand.

Lost my virginity.

Caught an STD.

And have no recollection of any of it.

When I close the passenger door, I almost turn back around and ask him if he still wants to be my friend. That’s a lot of trust to put on someone who barely knows you, especially considering he thinks of me as just another one of the women that normally chase after him.

A catch and release.

Easily disposable.

But before I can even open my mouth, before I can so much as gather the courage to ask him about where we stand, he drives away.

Quickly.

Not looking back once.

Guess that’s my answer.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





DANNY





Skylar doesn’t show up to film class on Wednesday and I know I messed up. Bad.

Who the fuck kisses a girl they like and then basically calls her a slut?

Me. Because I’m a fucking idiot.

Granted, I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did. Then again, half of my conversations with the opposite sex usually end up the same way. Badly.

Me: U okay?





It’s only the second text I’ve ever sent her since Friday night. The first one just being my name and a short apology so she could save my number.

I get nothing back.

Not five minutes later.

Not ten.

Not when class starts.

I’ve barely seen her around campus when we usually cross paths. Not in the dining hall when her and a few other girls usually show up. Not walking along her normal shortcut in between the Science Building and Smithson Hall. She’s practically vanished since I dropped her off at her dorm.

When I passed Olive yesterday, she glared at me. I knew then for sure she was okay enough to tell her friend about what a dick I am.

I screwed up.

If I were a better man, I would have stayed and asked Skylar if she was okay after what she’d admitted before driving away. Considering she never actually said the words, it’s hard to confirm my suspicions about what she went through, not that it’s a valid excuse for rushing off on her.

What little she did tell me was enough to set me off.

I’ve been pissed for days.

Not at her. Christ, how could I be? She’s a freshman trying to make friends and settle into college life. I was in her shoes once doing stupid shit to fit in.

After going back to the house, I barged into Caleb’s room and interrupted him and Raine doing something that made them flushed and breathless. If I didn’t look ready to blow, my teammate probably would have kicked me out without a second thought. But I needed to talk to someone, and Aiden and I haven’t been on great terms lately.

A simple “I did something stupid” had both Caleb and his girlfriend hearing me out and offering advice when they could. I’d talked out of my ass with Sky. Kissed her because I wanted to—because I thought she wanted me to. Said shit I didn’t mean because I was jealous of her being with other guys. I had no right to feel that way, but I did.

Do.

Watching guys hang around Skylar is never my idea of fun. Not when I know their minds are on one thing only. Me? I want to know what makes her tick. Why she keeps her head down. Why she sticks around the group of girls who obviously don’t give a fraction of a shit about her as she does them. Why she colors her hair so much.

She’s made me curious.

So, yeah. One conversation with the running back and Raine made me realize I lashed out to blame Sky because I didn’t want to acknowledge the truth.

That I’m a selfish bastard who wants her all to myself, even when I probably shouldn’t.