Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(64)

Now, she’s staring out the window as we drive down Main Street looking for a spot to park. Sundays are always busy on the main drag, especially with the start of exams. People are getting their caffeine fixes as they cram in some last-minute studying.

“You ready for exams?” I ask, heading for a spot at the end of the street that a car just pulled out from.

It’s only then her eyes peel away from the window. “Mostly. I’m a little nervous about my math one.”

“Why?” When we’ve studied before she looked like she knew what she was doing. Her nose would do this cute little scrunching thing in concentration as she copied down formulas from her textbook and figured them out on a scrap piece of paper.

“I tend to zone out in class these days. I always paid attention in high school, got good grades, never had an issue. My mind’s been preoccupied here. The professor told me I have a good chance at passing the course if I get a good grade on this exam. If not…” She makes a face. “I’ve never failed a class before. Ever.”

I note the disappointment in her tone as I put the truck into park and wave at a couple familiar faces that pass by.

Turning off the ignition, I turn to her. “I don’t know if you’re interested, but I can help. I’ve had to take a handful of math courses with my degree. I’m not bad with numbers. Maybe after we’re done we could grab your things and head somewhere to study.”

Her fingers fumble with the seatbelt. “I think the library is going to be packed.”

“True. We could do it at my place, but the guys are all there. It’d be loud.”

She nibbles her lip and looks over at her bag resting on the seat behind us. “We could go to my suite. It’ll be quieter than a lot of the alternatives.” As soon as the suggestion is out there, she tries taking it back. “I mean we could probably go to the Student Center or—”

“Blondie,” I laugh. “Relax. If you’re cool with it, I’ll stop by my place and grab my books then we can head to yours. But let’s grab food first because I’m starving.”

On cue, my stomach rumbles loud enough for her to crack a smile. She nods once and follows me into the diner, our arms brushing as we’re guided to an open booth in the back where there’s less people. Sky gives me a shy smile as we slide into the benches opposite of each other and thank the waitress who gets our drink orders and leaves us with menus.

I already know what I’m getting, so I don’t bother touching the one placed in front of me. I fiddle with the saltshaker and ask, “Did you have a good time with your family?”

Her eyes move from the list of food to me, her lip between her teeth. The same lips that I may or may not have woken up from a dream about the night before. They’d been painted the same bright red as they were in the picture she sent and doing very dirty things to me.

Releasing her lip, she lifts a shoulder. “It was okay. My oldest sister Serenity, the one hosting the event, stopped being psycho after all the family photos were taken and her boyfriend—well, fiancé now, actually—whisked her away to pop the question. He did it in this beautiful lit up garden at the venue. It was full of flowers and lights and really cheesy classical music. She loved every second of it, though. I think my other sister Serena got it on video as soon as she realized what was happening.”

“Wow. That’s quite the weekend.”

“For her,” she agrees quietly. “It was good to see them. I needed it more than I thought I did. Anthony—he’s Serenity’s fiancé—is really cool. We were all waiting for him to ask her to marry him because she’s been going nuts trying to get him to do it since forever. Maybe she’ll stop being so nutty now that she’s got a huge rock on her finger.”

I snicker. “You don’t sound that impressed with the ring. I thought all girls liked that kind of stuff.”

She makes a face. “Not me. I’ve never been into jewelry that much in case you haven’t noticed. The diamond that Tony got Serenity is pretty, but it’s huge and flashy and expensive. I prefer smaller, less obvious things. Simple.” Her shoulders lift as if embarrassed. “That’s just me, though. I guess I’m weird.”

“Nah. You know what you want, and that’s going to make some guy—” My jaw ticks. “—one lucky motherfucker.”

She snorts. “Especially if he’s broke.”

I chuckle. “Especially then.”

We fall into silence for a few seconds as she studies the menu some more.

“I had a nightmare,” she says. “Like the ones I’ve mentioned before. I guess I…I screamed. It woke up a couple of my sisters.”

I gape. “You screamed?”

She winces, still not meeting my eyes. “I don’t think I’ve done that before. I don’t even fully remember what the nightmare was. But Serena and Sienna were freaked out. They thought I was being murdered.”

She’s never told me about her nightmares in depth before. Only that she has them and they make it hard to sleep. “Did you tell them what you remembered? Did you tell them about…?”

Skylar presses her lips together and shakes her head.

My eyebrow twitches. “You should tell them. Or somebody. It doesn’t have to be me. I know you don’t like talking about it. But it might help.”