Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(69)

My throat tightens as I swallow past the harsh words being thrown at me. Why the hell would Tyler lie about us getting together? It’s no wonder he hasn’t bothered me as much lately. He must have realized those rumors were all he’d get out of the weird friendship we had.

“I don’t know what you’re even talking about.” I can’t look at her, so I decide to evade my eyes and collect my thoughts. Taking a deep breath, I decide to choose my battle wisely. “You know what, Becca? You can think all you want about me, but you don’t know the real me at all. You believe in some screwed up version that makes you look good. I’m sorry you’re pissed off that I’m not inviting you. I’m sorry that you think I ditched you guys at the parties we went to. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“You could own up to it.”

“I’m not owning up to something I didn’t do,” I inform her gingerly. I should tell her about moving out, tell her how I found a single room that Alba showed me earlier in the co-ed dormitory across the street. But I don’t.

I don’t tell her that I called my mom and asked if I could get the room, or that my parents already paid for it in full within an hour of me seeing it. I don’t tell her that, buried at the bottom of my book bag, is the key to my escape.

I say nothing about the paperwork I signed, or how I can move by the end of the weekend once I sign off on papers with the current RA here in Morris Hall and hand in the keys weighing heavy in my hand.

Becca wouldn’t care if I left anyway.

She wants me gone.

When Danny texts me that he’s outside, I double check to make sure I have what I need before calling out a murmured, “Bye,” to my roommate and leaving her to steam on her own.

When I push open the front door and see the tall football player waiting exactly where he says, his eyes go straight to the smile on my face. “Not that I’m not flattered you’re so happy to see me, but what’s with the smile?”

I stop beside him, zipping up the jacket I grabbed on my way out and stuff my hands into the pockets to protect them from the nipping wind. “Nothing. I’m just…glad we’re going out tonight.”

He beams, draping an arm over my shoulder and tugging me into his side. “I knew you wanted me, Blondie.”

I playfully push him before settling into his side as we walk side by side.

His eyes flash with something that I can’t distinguish when I look up at them before he starts walking us toward his friend’s truck. Opening the door like he always does, he waits until I climb up before gripping the roof and watching me buckle.

My brows pinch when I see him staring, wondering what’s on his mind. “What?”

“I was just thinking that you should smile more,” he says, almost to himself more than to me. “That’s all. It’s nice.”

It takes me a couple seconds to grapple with that as the smile wavers. “I’m working on it,” is all I say.

He drums the roof of the truck, nods, and closes the door.

When he hops into the other side, we share another look. His eyes go to my lips, and I wonder if he wants to see another smile, or if there’s another reason.

I swallow.

Force my lips to stretch upward again.

He blows out a breath and starts driving.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR





SKYLAR





The party isn’t as big as I’m expecting. Unlike the one Danny’s friends had, there’s not as many people crammed inside or music thumping at an ear-piercing volume.

As we walk through the front door and weave through the small crowd in the foyer, Danny’s hand keeps mine in a firm grip as people call out his name in greeting. I don’t know any of them, not that I’m surprised. What does make my brows arch is that he barely acknowledges them and gets us to the living room where there’s more room to mingle instead.

I notice Alex O’Conner in the corner surrounded with his usual gaggle of girls and am suddenly thankful Olive couldn’t make it. She hasn’t said much about her hookup with the hockey player currently sucking face with some purple-haired girl, but I know there’s something she’s holding back about their situation.

“Olive couldn’t make it, right?” he asks, tracing my eyes over to Alex. He doesn’t look shocked, just indifferent. If anything, he feels a secondhand sense of responsibility for Olive simply because she’s my friend.

I turn my back, so I don’t have to watch the very public display and nod. “Why do people do that? Olive is a catch. I don’t understand why he’d want to be with other girls.” I make a face, then remember what Danny has said about his past. “No offense. I know you used to…uh…”

His lips waver. “I haven’t done that in a long time, Blondie. Especially not now.”

My brows pinch. “Now?”

“My attention is focused on one person only. I don’t need anybody else.” One of his shoulder lifts casually, as if he isn’t implying something big.

Choosing not to read into it, I decide to focus back on my friend. “Olive drove home to spend time with her family. Have you heard of Sebastian Henderson?”

Recognition lights up his face. “Bash? Sure. The whole campus knows him. Why?”