Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(80)

She told me she’d filed a report with Alba who handed it over to custodial. “Ernie did look at it, but he said he’d need to order a couple of things that the school doesn’t have on hand. It was backordered or something.”

“Christ.” I guide her over to the bed where she was clearly hanging out before I arrived. Her sheets are wrinkled, pillows are propped up, and comforter bunched toward the end. “Climb up. Let’s get you tucked in.”

She snorts. “You’re such a dork.”

I ignore her, covering her body and then plopping myself in the tight space next to her. “I have a few chapters left of the book, by the way. Had to force myself to put it down to go to class earlier. I think they’re about to get it on.”

She blushes. “I still can’t believe you wanted to read it.” I shoot her a wink. “The second one is about his best friend and little sister. I have all the books that are out in the series if you want to read them.”

“No shit? His little sister…” I settle against the pillows. “Don’t suppose you’d be willing to read that to me, would you?”

“Nope.”

Chuckling, I turn to study her. She looks like a wrapped-up burrito. “As fucking adorable as you look right now, Ernie needs to get his shit together and fix your heater.”

“Ernie is nice. Don’t be mad at him.”

“Blondie, only you could befriend the custodial staff,” I muse, tweaking her red nose. Settling onto my side, I use my palm to prop my head up and watch as her eyes rake over my face.

She cuddles into the blankets, inching over slightly so we’re pressed together. “It’s not that hard. Ernie is the sweetest. He said he’s glad Lindon gave him a chance to work because nobody else would with his disability. He got into an accident when he was 24, so he’s a little slower than others but hard-working. I don’t think he needs to work, but he likes to. I respect him.”

I reach over and move her hair behind her ear, tracing her cheekbones and then her jaw. “I love that you know his story. You’ve only been here two days.”

“He’s a talker and I’m a good listener.” She points her chin toward the door. “He even made me a door stop using some scrap wood he found in case I wanted to keep my door open and chat with people. Alba said the people who lived here other years used to do that all the time to interact more, but since the building is pretty empty there’s not as much of that happening these days.”

I’m not sure I like the idea of her doing that since her room is so close to the side exit where most of the students come in. “That might not be safe. I imagine there’s a lot of drunk people that stumble in and out of here during the weekends.”

Her lips tilt upward. “Last night when I was moving some stuff to the garbage room, a couple walked in. The girl was so drunk she stumbled into my room and sat down in my chair telling me how much she loved all the purple things I owned.”

I snicker. “Sounds about right.”

“Her boyfriend kept apologizing but I think we both found it funny.” Her smile lightens until something flashes in her eyes. I don’t need to ask her what when she says, “Can I ask you something about that Wallace guy?”

Why the hell does she want to know anything about him? “What exactly do you want to know?”

There’s an edge to my tone that I try keeping to myself, but it’s obvious she hears it.

“Don’t get all weird on me,” she mumbles, wiggling until one of her arms is free from her blanket. She rests it under her cheek after turning on her side so we’re facing each other. “I’m only asking because Ali told me he made her really uncomfortable during some party she was at. And she and I may not be very close, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. She’s been really off. Even Becca has said she hasn’t been acting like herself. There’s something more to the story that she hasn’t told me, but I get a bad feeling.”

My face screws. “Why would she come to you about him?”

There’s a brief pause when I think the absolute worst before she murmurs, “Because he was at the party at your house. He’s part of your team and people know that you and I…hang out.”

I blink. “Okaaay…”

“There’s talk,” she tells me. “About Wallace. Aliyah said there were girls at the party who mentioned seeing him slip things into girls’ drinks. It’s only party gossip, so I don’t know how true it is, but it seems like something worth bringing up. Why would Ali make something like that up? And why would she come to me to tell me? It means something.”

My body stiffens. “What exactly is your question, Skylar? Going to need you to spell this one out for me.”

The way her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she looks away for a second has me reaching over and gripping her hip, squeezing once until she focuses back on me. “You haven’t heard about this, have you? You’ve said that he’s bad news before, but I assumed you meant he played girls and slept around. Not, well, that.”

“Do you honestly believe I’d let that sort of thing slide if I knew?” I ask her, flabbergasted she even has to ask. “Or that the other guys would? You know Caleb by now. You’ve talked to Brady. Marks may be an idiot, but he’d never let Wallace get away with that. None of us would let that sort of thing happen on our watch.”