Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(77)
Moving his chair closer to me and picking up the book again, he glances up at me with a lopsided smile stretched across his face. “Now, get back to work and stop distracting me, woman. I want to know all about my next man crush.”
I shake my head but settle back into my seat in contentment. Especially when he uses the armrest on my chair to hold my hand.
He goes back to reading.
I go back to editing.
But my mind is completely wrapped up on him.
Stephen Marks hauls the mini fridge out of my room effortlessly as Caleb talks to one of my suitemates in the corner. I didn’t know they knew each other, but the moment he showed up, she started beaming. Even Danny looked a little perplexed when they hugged and started talking.
Danny is currently grabbing the last of my boxes and stacking them on top of one another to pick up when I eye him.
“I can take one of those, you know,” I tell him, reaching for the smaller one on top.
He smacks my hand away. “I’ve got it.”
I notice the small flinch in his face when he lifts the cardboard boxes containing odds and ends—trinkets, snacks, textbooks, and shoes.
“Are you sure that I can’t—”
“I said I got it,” he replies coolly, making me gape at him. He closes his eyes for a second before shaking his head. “Sorry. My shoulder is just hurting a little today, so I’m in a mood.”
Walking over to him, I grab the box on top and give him a don’t-argue-with-me-look. “I know you want to show off all those muscles,” I glance at his bare arms which must be cold since he’s been loading up Caleb’s truck parked at the curb outside, “but I can carry things too. What would happen if you got hurt and couldn’t play?”
“That wouldn’t happen, Skylar. I’m carrying—” He looks for the label in black Sharpie that Olive and Raine helped me with, so we knew what was in each box when we got over to Ellis Hall. “—shoes and textbooks. Why did you put these things in the same box? That’s so random.”
I laugh lightly. “I didn’t realize I was in the presence of an expert packer. But for your information, Olive packed those. We couldn’t fit all my textbooks in my backpack, so we just sort of tossed them in there. It isn’t like my shoes would get ruined.”
He shakes his head. “I’d hardly call myself an expert. Lived in the same house my whole life up until coming here. But Grandma M loves watching those get-organized shows, so the proper methods to these sorts of things are officially drilled into my head.”
Before I can reply, I hear, “What the hell is going on?”
Both Danny and I turn to Becca as she stops at the doorway, keys in hand and backpack hanging from her shoulder.
My half of the room is bare—the bed stripped of its bedding, the desk rid of its scattered contents, and the area between where the bedframe was pressed against the wall and the armoire now empty from the mini fridge Sienna bought me before I left. I might feel a tiny bit bad about taking that with me since she used it quite a bit, but not enough to let her keep it.
“I’m moving to a different building,” I answer, glancing at Danny. He nods once in encouragement before gesturing toward the door and leaving, letting me have my moment with Becca. She looks shell shocked. “Look, I tried talking to you about it, but you’d never let me say anything. When I was asking you to meet up it was so I could tell you I was doing this.”
“Are you kidding me?” Becca snaps, throwing her things on the bed. Her arms cross over her chest as she glares at my old pieces of furniture. “Unlike you, I actually have friends and a life. I couldn’t come meet up with you every time you asked because I was hanging out with them. I had better things to do.”
“That! That is exactly why I need to leave. If you just agreed to meet with me once, I wouldn’t have kept bothering you. But you’re always so dead set on making me feel like shit about myself that it’s impossible to tell you anything. You always say what you’d do with my side of the room if I were gone, so now’s your chance. Convert my bed into a couch for all I care. It’s not my problem anymore.”
“You’re such a—”
A throat clears from behind her, cutting off whatever insult she was about to call me. Bitch. Asshole. Slut. Whore. I’ve heard it all from her, so I’ll use my imagination to fill in the blanks this time around.
Except this time, I’m not going to give a shit.
Danny and Caleb are both waiting for me at the door with Sammi in the background. She’s frowning, and I’m embarrassed she had to witness the rift between me and Becca. I know she likes my roommate—that they get along well and always have something to talk about. But none of the girls have ever showed me any judgement despite what Rebecca might have told them. My grudge has never been with them.
“Ready?” Danny asks.
Caleb is looking between Becca and me, lips twitching into a frown but staying silent.
I give a feeble nod before turning to the angry girl in front of me. “For the record, I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you in person, so you didn’t find out this way. I did try, though.”
That’s all I say before walking around her and joining the athletes who look like pseudo bodyguards. It’s Danny who drapes his arm around me, not taking the box from my white-knuckle grip like I’m sure he wants to. He guides us out, Caleb says goodbye to my suitemate Sammi, and I feel eyes glaring into my backside until we’re out of sight.