Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Haley
Pain throbbedthrough my entire body. I could feel my heartbeat in my skull. I tried to lift my arm and nearly cried out from the shock of agony. I tried to open my eyes, but the dim light was too much. It stung and made my head feel like it was even closer to exploding. Okay, no moving. I would just lay here and die.
I focused on breathing and staying calm. The more my mind woke up, the clearer I was able to think. I pushed past the immediate discomfort and tried to assess the rest of my body. I wiggled my toes and bent my hands into fists. Everything was accounted for, and I could move. That was a good sign.
Where was I? I could feel a bed beneath me, but the sheets didn’t feel right and there was a masculine scent.
Oh no.
Was I in some guy’s bed?
I gently moved my hands to touch my legs and stomach. My clothes were on.
After counting to three to prepare myself, I opened my eyes a crack. A dorm room. Dark bedding and books on the desk next to me. I checked on the other bed and saw a sleeping figure. Male. Shirtless.
My breath caught.
Who was that?
I studied the bulging muscles along his back and along the dip of the spine. He was big. Trim. Wide at the shoulders but not too tapered like a swimmer.
I groaned.
I knew that body type all too well.
Hockey player.
My eyes adjusted enough that I could look around. My face looked back at me from a picture on top of the dresser. Ethan.
The scent. It was him. This was his bed.
Which meant the person in the other bed was Reid.
I glanced back, hoping I was wrong and Ethan had just slept there, but the back was missing the three freckles that formed a perfect triangle on his shoulder blade.
That wasn’t my brother.
I fell back against the pillow. What happened last night? Why did I feel like I got hit by a train?
It didn’t matter. I needed to get to my room. I could take some medicine and shower and sleep through whatever flu this was. All I had to do was move.
I closed my eyes and groaned then rolled to my side so I could quietly drop my legs to the floor. My movements weren’t as smooth as I hoped, and I stumbled a bit, reaching out to hold onto Ethan’s bed so I didn’t fall over. A horrible screech of worn metal filled the room.
Reid shot up and stared at me. “Haley? What are you doing?”
This was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I just wanted to get to my own bed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He slid off his bed and took a step toward me. “I didn’t think you would wake up for a while.”
What did that mean? I wanted to ask if he knew what happened and how I ended up here, but that would mean admitting I didn’t remember, and that felt like a bad thing.
“How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” I said quickly.
His eyes narrowed. “Haley, I know that’s not true. Tell me how you’re really feeling.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t great, but now that I was up, I was pretty confident I could make it to my room.
“Do you remember what happened?” he asked in a voice that nearly broke me. He sounded scared.
I stared back at him, losing my internal fight to lie to him. “No.”
He took another step toward me, reaching for my arm. I looked down at myself. The high-waisted jeans and red shirt were unexpected. I didn’t own these. I blinked as flashes of the night before came into my mind. Dressing up with the girls. The party at the frat house. The one I wasn't supposed to go to. Dancing. A guy. Nothing after that.
I touched my forehead. “What?”
He put his hand on my shoulders. “Someone gave you a roofie. You called me from the bathroom to come get you.”
“Someone drugged me?” I couldn’t believe it. Not again.
“I think they slipped it into your water. You told me on the phone that was all you were drinking.”
I nodded. I remembered that. I didn’t like drinking, especially around people I didn’t know, so I followed Linc’s advice and got in the habit of filling a cup with water to make it look like I had a drink.
“Were you with anyone other than your friends?”
I leaned back against the bed and his hands slid down to my wrist, then he took my hands in his, not letting go.
“There was a group of guys. I started feeling a panic attack so I went outside with Ella and two of the guys. She left, and it was just me and him, so I told him I wanted to go back inside. I started to feel anxious again, and it was too crowded.” I shook my head. “That’s all I remember.”
“Did he give you a drink?”
I was about to say no but remembered the cup of water he offered me.
I dropped my chin to my chest. “Yes, but I watched him fill it from the tap. I don’t know how he could have slipped something in.”
But I remembered it tasted off. Sweet. How could I have missed him putting something in?
He pulled me into his arm, and I felt calm. He was safe. He came when I needed him. “Haley, it’s not your fault. You should be able to drink water without having to wonder if it’s been tampered with. I’m so sorry.”
“I called you?”
He nodded, bumping his chin against my head. “You told me you locked yourself in the bathroom, and I went and got you.”
I wiped my face. “So nothing happened?”
“I was on the phone with you from the time you locked yourself in the bathroom until you passed out. There were only a few minutes between, and the door was still locked.”
“Yeah.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“A little sore, and I have a pretty bad headache.”
“That’s what the internet said would happen.” He sounded relieved, like my pain was a good thing. “I wanted to take you to the hospital, but you told me not to. You said your parents would take you home if I did.” He leaned back and looked into my eyes. “Why would they do that?”
I wanted to hide or run. I didn’t want to talk about this, especially not with him. Ethan only knew the bare minimum. I wanted it to stay in the past.
“Where’s Ethan?” I hoped he would catch the hint and move on.
His shoulders dropped. “I’m not sure. He called last night, asking if I’d seen you recently, and when I told him no, he hung up. I haven’t been able to reach him since.”
That was strange.
“I’m trying to not worry, but he’s usually pretty quick to respond to texts and almost always answers my calls. If he can’t he texts me to let me know when he can call me back. This is the longest his phone has been off.”
“Should we be worried about him?” I wasn’t sure if his disappearing for the night was common or not.
“I’ll give it until practice. If he doesn’t show up, then I’ll know something is wrong.”
That sounded better than panicking or running around campus looking for him. Not that I was in a state to do either.
“Do you remember who the guy was that you were with?” His voice was calm, but I could see fury in his eyes.
“He told me his name was Jay. He lives in Granger Hall.”
He nodded once. “Do you want to report him?”
Did I? My first instinct was to say no. It would be my word against his, and nothing really happened, since I was able to get to the bathroom. We didn’t have proof there was anything in my system since I refused to go to the hospital. He could claim I drank too much or was just sick.
Then again, if he didn’t get in trouble now, how many other women would he try this on? How long would it take for him to hurt someone else? I got lucky, but the next person might not. Could I handle having that on my conscience?
Would it open a whole investigation? What if my name came out, and people knew I’d accused him?
The anger and pain from last year returned as a low simmer in my gut. I hadn’t been able to do anything then. Did I want to repeat that?
“Can I report him without him knowing? Like just give the police or security his name and let them do whatever they want with it?”
“I’m not sure, but we can try. I called and gave an anonymous tip last night about the party and told them someone was drugging women. I don’t know yet if anything came of that.” He picked his phone up and typed something. Seconds later, it beeped and he checked the screen. “Another friend was there and she said campus security arrived and broke it up around two. That was about thirty minutes after I called.”
“So, it worked?” I was surprised they actually listened to him.
“I guess, unless there were other people that called and reported it.”
That gave me a tiny bit of hope. “I guess I could give them his name and let them investigate. I don’t want to be directly involved though.”
“Okay.” He dropped his eyes to the carpet but didn’t ask why. “I know I have no right to ask this of you. I’m not your brother. I’m barely even your friend. But please don’t go back to that house. That place has a horrible reputation for a reason. Stuff like this happens all the time, and the guys there just let it happen. I know you were with friends, you were drinking water, you were doing everything right. It shouldn’t have happened. It’s not fair. But I’ve heard too many stories of things that happen there. Not to say every other party is safe, but …” He trailed off.
I crossed my arms, biting back my initial response. He was right. He wasn’t my brother or close friend. He shouldn’t tell me what to do or where I could go, but I could feel his concern. He was telling me because he cared. He proved that by coming to get me last night. He took care of me and even listened to my wishes about the hospital. I wasn’t so immature or deviant that I would ignore his advice again.
“I shouldn’t have gone last night. I didn’t know where it was until we were walking up. I considered going back to the dorms, but I assumed I would be okay if I stuck with my friends.” I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “I won’t go back. I promise.”
He met my gaze and gave me the smallest smile. “Thanks.”
Did the girls know where I was? Were they worried? I couldn’t remember if I said anything to them before going upstairs. Hopefully, they weren’t panicking.
“Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?” he offered.
It was kind of nice being in here with him. I felt safe, but there really wasn’t a reason to hang out and he probably had things to do.
“Sure, thanks.” I looked around for my shoes while he moved to his closet.
“I’ve got the number for the security line, too, if you want it.”
“Okay.” I found the platform sneakers I borrowed from Sadie and started to untie one.
The doorknob made a scraping noise as it turned. I turned to Reid at the same time he looked to me, a second before Ethan came barreling inside.
“What’s going on?” he yelled, looking worn out and ruffled with messy hair and wrinkly clothes.
“Where have you been?” I asked, eyeing him.
He stared at me, and his shoulders dropped. “Haley. You’re okay.”
I nodded then looked at Reid. That got his attention to shift to his best friend. “What did you do?”
Ethan shoved Reid hard into the open closet, causing Reid to fall into the clothes before sliding down. “What’s your problem?”
Ethan pointed at me. “What happened to her? Why does she look like she’s been through hell?”
He thought Reid had hurt me? What was he talking about? He had no idea what had been going on. He’d been ignoring my texts and calls. Blowing off his friends. He was the one that went missing and suddenly reappeared with his fists flying.
For the first time ever, I was worried about my brother.