Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(70)

I give him a wary look. “He’s Olive’s older brother.”

His eyes widen. “No shit?”

I nod.

His look becomes contemplative. “I wasn’t expecting that. Not with her fangirling Alex since Bash and him had some sort of rivalry.”

“Does everyone know about their war?”

His shoulder lifts. “Pretty much. I guess we all assumed it was over when Bash graduated and got drafted. But, I mean, the competition is always going to be there between them.” His thumb hooks toward Alex’s direction. “Once O’Conner is released into the world, it’ll be ten times more brutal.”

“What do you mean?”

Danny pulls me toward the refreshments as a group of guys come barreling in. He shoots them warning looks that they mostly ignore as he offers me an unopened beer. I accept the slightly chilled can with a small smile. He grabs one for himself. “O’Conner and Henderson duked it out all the time on the ice. They worked well together to get Lindon plenty of wins, but off it? It was always stiff competition to get scouts’ attention. Bash is good. Great, even. Nobody was shocked when he got picked up by the Rangers. But Alex is, dare I say, even better. And I doubt he’ll get drafted to the same team because the ones that missed out on Henderson learned from their mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“Money. Contracts.” He glances over at the hockey player in question. “With Bash, everyone assumed he’d play for a New England team. Stay close to home. Represent, you know? But the local teams weren’t willing to dole out the money during contract negotiations. Thing is, if they really wanted him, they probably would’ve tried harder.”

My eyes wander over to Olive’s obsession. Thankfully, he isn’t making out with anyone now. A couple guys who look as massive as him joined his little group and they’re all talking about something. “You think the New England teams are holding out for him?”

Danny presses his lips together for a second before sighing. “Probably, yeah. It’s what I would do if I were in their shoes.”

I soak in that tidbit of information before following him off to the side so people can get drinks from the table. “It’s not as packed as I thought it’d be.”

Danny leans against the wall, keeping me close to his side as he examines the room. “The frat can’t get another complaint, or they’ll be shut down. They’ve had to keep it low-key.”

Ah.

He nudges me. “Did you want something else?” His chin gestures toward the unopened can in my hand that I’m fidgeting with. “There’s probably water around here I can grab you. You don’t have to drink that.”

“Stop being such a buzzkill,” Becca tells me, pushing a plastic cup in my hand. “Drink another one of those and loosen up.”

“Sky?”

My eyes stay locked on the beer.

“Blondie?” Fingers carefully graze my chin before lifting it up to meet his eyes. “You good? Do you want to go?”

Swallowing, I shake my head. “No, I—” I cut myself off and think about that little piece of information I didn’t remember before. “I’m good. Sorry. Zoned out. Um, I’ll just keep this for now.”

He smiles. “Want to dance?”

There’s a group of girls on the opposite side of the room huddled together and moving to the beat of the music. I have absolutely no rhythm whatsoever.

So, on second thought…

I crack open the beer and take a long sip while Danny’s curious eyes watch me. It’s only after I force myself to roll my shoulders back that I take his hand and smile up at him. “Yes. I’d love to dance.”

His eyes look a little weary as I take another sip, but he lets me pull us away from the wall until we’re facing each other much closer than before.

My free hand grips his shoulder as his hesitates by his side.

I say, “You can touch me.”

He studies my face before one of those large hands palms my hips. It’s him who guides my body to match the music playing, and I don’t mind it at all. Bits and pieces from the football party come back to me and it involves a lot of gyrating, grinding, and fumbling on my part.

But this? This is nice.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks, leaning closer since it’s gotten louder with the arrival of more people.

I bite my lip. “The first party I went to.”

His eyebrows go up.

I don’t indulge him on more information, and he doesn’t ask. But I can tell he wants to. “I told Rebecca that she couldn’t come tonight.”

My admission makes him blink.

“It felt good.” My smile is sly, even though her hurtful accusations make it fumble.

“No wonder you looked so happy when you left. I take it she didn’t like that very much.”

I shake my head, gripping his shoulder a little tighter when someone accidently bumps into me. Stepping into Danny until our chests are flush, I look over my shoulder when a girl already partially drunk apologizes and stumbles away with a friend. “No, she seemed pretty pissed. But I don’t care. Is that bad?”

“She doesn’t seem to care about hurting your feelings,” he points out matter-of-factly.

I frown.