Page 102 of Trust Me

Chapter 28

Dean

It was pretty late, but I couldn’t sleep. I especially couldn’t stand the thought of running into Oli right now, so I’d climbed out of my window and dropped from the second floor like a problematic teenager. He’d probably still heard me with that damn super hearing, but oh well.

I parked beside the curb of the frat house and stared up at it for a moment. Many times throughout my years here, I’d considered what it would be like to live in this place. Most of the guys here were my friends. They were always partying, though, and I thought I’d get tired of being around so many people constantly.

Since I had a key, I walked right through the door. I would’ve been surprised there wasn’t anything going on tonight, but they had another big party happening over spring break, so this was the calm before the storm.

A couple guys on the couch greeted me. I said a few words to them before I headed up the stairs. When I reached Linc’s door, I knocked. The sound of the piano stopped, and a moment later, he let me in.

He looked more casual than usual in just a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. His curly hair was messy, whereas when he was out of the house, it was always styled neatly.

“You okay?” he asked, carefully studying me. “You sounded off in your text.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “No, not really.”

He hummed his understanding and motioned toward the bed. I sat on the edge of it and folded my hands in my lap. He returned to playing, and the sound helped to relax me.

Linc knew me well enough to give me space. I’d asked to talk to him, but I needed time to get my head straight. He was here when I was ready and he didn’t make me feel pressured. He was antisocial as fuck, and he usually hid away in his apartment, which he refused to disclose the location of to anyone. If someone needed him, though, he would always come through.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said finally.

He kept playing but softer. Without looking at me, he replied, “About what?”

“Everything. I was trying to be someone’s friend. They’re different than I thought, though, and I feel lost.”

He dropped his hands and turned to face me. “Different how?”

“Just . . . different.” I swallowed, trying to decide how much to say. “I thought he was kind of crazy, but I guess I just didn’t understand him. And now that I’ve started to, I find myself wanting to be there for him. To make sure he doesn’t feel so alone. God, saying that out loud sounds stupid.”

“Why do you think it’s your responsibility to make sure he’s okay?”

My brow furrowed. “I don’t. He has someone to do that for him already.”

“It seems like you’re putting a lot of yourself into this. Enough that you need to talk to someone about it. I can see that it’s wearing you down.”

“Fuck.” I dropped my face into my hands. “What am I doing?”

The bed dipped beside me. Linc’s hand came down gently on my shoulder. “Is this a good friend of yours?”

“We haven’t really known each other for very long. But I feel . . .”

“What?”

“Protective. I don’t know why.”

When he was silent for a while, I looked up. He was rolling his lips thoughtfully, then he brought his feet up to rest on the lip of the bedframe. The way he perched his elbows on his knees made him look like he was about to drop some sage wisdom.

“Maybe you need to really look at the relationship and figure out why you want to help him so badly. Do you identify with him in some way?”

I laughed dryly. “No, I don’t think so.”

“You know, I’m in a similar sort of situation. This guy is a pain in my ass and, objectively, we don’t know each other well, but I suddenly found myself drawn to him—intrigued by him, even. Is it probably going to end badly? Yeah, but it could also go the other way. I don’t think we gain anything by running away from these feelings we can’t explain.”

I looked at the distance in his eyes and remembered what I’d seen at the party. Not wanting to call it out, I decided not to say anything about it.

“I pushed him away when he opened up to me,” I whispered. “Now, I don’t know where we stand.”