Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(52)

“Hitler,” Sky answers. I choke on a surprised laugh at her little tirade as she takes a long sip of the caffeine. Then she adds a murmured, “Probably.”

Scrubbing my jaw with my palm, I swallow my laugh and clear my throat. “For someone who looks ready to faceplant into the dashboard at any second, you’ve got one hell of a mouth on you.”

There’s a mild pause before she makes a face at herself. “You’re not Jewish are you? I should’ve really chosen somebody else, but I was trying to think of someone evil. And if it were between Hitler and Satan, I feel like Hitler would be the worst out of the two.”

I blink, giving her a quizzical glance. “You think Hitler is more evil than Lucifer? Lucy is the devil himself.”

She clasps onto the mug like a lifeline as she shrugs. “Mmhmm. Lucifer was an angel. Just a fallen one. Who was Hitler before? A baby. And I’ve heard it on good authority that babies can be evil. I’m pretty sure my mom struggled deciding to have more kids after my sister Serenity was born because of it. I mean, Ser is the oldest, so obviously Mom got over it. But still.”

There’s no stopping the snort that comes from me. “Wow. That’s…” I have no real words for how twisted this conversation got. “For all intents and purposes, I’ll agree with you. Mostly because I don’t know where to begin with this conversation or your whack train of thought. I’m concerned.”

“Why?”

“You’re comparing the devil to babies.”

“No, I’m comparing him to Hitler.”

“Who was once a baby.”

Another hum comes from her.

I snicker. “You’re something else when you’re half asleep. I already found you interesting as hell, but this? I’m glad I offered to take you even if it’s the ass crack of dawn.”

Her head thumps against the glass like she can’t hold it up any longer. “Like I said. Evil.”

“Because I like being around you?”

“That is questionable,” she mumbles, probably more to herself than me. “But I’m mostly judging your affinity for mornings.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t go fishing for compliments, Skylar. We both know I like you just fine. I wouldn’t subject myself to getting lectured on the dos and don’ts of driving my buddy’s truck for just anyone otherwise.”

Since Caleb has to open his dad’s hardware store bright and early to get things going before his pops can come in, I had to ask Aiden to borrow his truck. After twenty minutes of being berated about not fucking up his property—or fucking in it—he passed me the keys with his usual charming glower.

She finds the energy to turn her body toward me, eyelids still heavy as she rubs one with her closed fist. “Why do you like me, anyway? It’s so…random.”

“How is it random? You’re a cool chick. I like cool people. Chicks, especially.” My brows wiggle, not that she can see it well in the darkness.

“At first I thought it was pity. You made it pretty clear from the start that you didn’t want to sleep with me, so what else was there? Especially after I gave you perfectly good reason not to ever sleep with me—”

I grip the steering wheel tightly. “Hold up, Blondie. I’m going to stop you right there before you go spewing more bullshit. In fact, I’ve wanted to talk about this for a while, but you always find ways to shut me down. Now’s as good a time as any.”

She stares at her coffee mug in silence, knowing she has no other option as a captive audience.

“I already apologized for what I said when we met,” I begin, eyeing her for a moment before my eyes return to the road. “And I meant it. I am sorry for how much of an asshole I came off as when we first started talking. I have a thing against going after girls who like men for their sports stats. Jocks get bad reps for being only good for one thing and that shit pisses me off. I made a dumbass assumption and rolled with it because I’m used to women treating me like I’m only worth a quick fuck. I shouldn’t have lumped you into them without getting to know you. And, yeah, I said some shit about hooking up that obviously was misplaced, so I get why you’d be weary of me.”

“Danny—”

“No. When the driver is talking, the passenger shuts their cakehole.”

“Did you just misquote Supernatural?”

“Unimportant,” I reply dryly. “Just listen. We don’t have that much longer until we’re at the airport, so if nothing else, I want you to hear me out before you head off for the weekend.”

When she makes no move to cut me off, I nod and take a deep breath. “I don’t always take things seriously. I know, I know. Shocking. So, when I saw you trying to sneak out of the house, I wasn’t really thinking. Sex has always been sex to me, so I joke about it. And then when I saw you again I kept pushing you on it because I thought everyone had the same mindset. I was wrong. I remember you at the party. Even remember dancing with you.”

Her body tightens.

Scratching the back of my neck, I grunt to myself. “Don’t know if you remember that. Honestly, I barely do. We were both drinking quite a bit that night. You’d went back with your friends, and I didn’t see you again until the next morning when you were leaving. Thing is, I don’t dance and joke around with just anybody. I don’t go up to random people at bakeries and try hitting them up for their number. That’s what I was trying to do, by the way. Failed miserably, too. Guys still pester me about it.”