12. Grady
GRADY
Fuck!
When I first got to the party, I raced through the door, frantically hunting for Blake.
No one knew who the hell I was talking about, and even if they did, I doubt they would have been much help.
The party was beyond chaotic by the time I arrived, drunken bodies gyrating around the room, manic cackling, the thumping bass.
We’ve had our fair share of parties at Football Frat, but this one was wild.
Shouldering my way between bodies, I searched for a tall cabinet but couldn’t see one anywhere. Finally, I popped out into a hallway. And that’s when I saw her.
Well, I saw the back of her head as she was being led who knows where to do who knows what. She seemed to be pushing at the guy, trying to get away from him, but her body was too floppy to have an impact.
A primal rage tore through me as I shouted her name and wrenched that guy away from her. She nearly hit the ground, and I only just caught her arm. I couldn’t stop her from hitting the floor, but I managed to soften her landing.
That was why I missed the fist launching at me.
It clipped me right in the fucking lip, and it still hurts.
I can taste the blood in my mouth as I carry Blake out of this damn house.
“What’d you take, huh?” I jostle her in my arms, too scared to let her fall asleep.
She’s so out of it, I’m panicking that she’s OD’d.
“Come on, Blake. Wake up.”
With a groan, she opens her eyes and gives me a blurry-eyed stare before her heavy lids slid shut again.
“No, no, no.” I hitch her higher in my arms, walking down to my Jeep as fast as I can.
I had to park a fucking block away and run to the house. I sprinted like my life depended on it.
Maybe her life did.
Fuck. What if I hadn’t reached her in time?
What the hell was that creeper planning on doing with her?
I should have hit him harder.
My final blow knocked him backward. He smashed into a lamp on the side table before toppling to the floor, nursing his face with a groan.
It hurt my hand, but I don’t give a flying fuck right now.
I just need to make sure Blake’s okay.
“What’d you drink? Was it just alcohol? Huh? Or did you take something too?”
“I… I don’t…” She groans and lurches sideways, rolling out of my arms .
“Whoa.” I catch the back of her shirt but can’t stop her from landing on the wet grass. “Blake?”
I crouch down beside her, brushing the hair off her face as she kneels on the ground, a trembling wreck.
“I’m gonna be…” Her words are lost as her body starts to convulse. She glances at me with wide eyes, like she’s terrified, then lets out this weird gagging noise and starts to puke.
A spray hits my knee—thank fuck I’m in sweats—but most of it lands on the grass.
The stench is overwhelming, but I can handle it if it means she’s getting this poison out of her. It won’t cure the hangover she’s gonna get. Whatever she’s taken is pumping through her bloodstream, and she’s gonna feel like total shit in the morning.
But she’s with me now.
She’s safe.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I huff out a shaky breath as I gather up her hair. Brushing it over her shoulder, I then twist it around my fingers, holding it away from her face while she hurls chunks on the grass.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I whisper.
Watching her go through this is a weird kind of torture.
She’s in obvious distress, and I can’t do anything but let her ride it out. Her body continues to convulse, but she’s out of puke, her stomach still jerking as she dry heaves, then tries to flop down onto her side.
I grab her arm before she falls, keeping her upright. She’s trembling like she’s got a fever, but when I rest my hand across her forehead, she’s not burning up. Her body is just protesting the toxic shit that’s been pumped into it .
“I feel sick,” she blubbers, saliva dripping off her bottom lip.
“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.” I slash my finger over her mouth and chin, then wipe her spittle off on the grass beside me. Rubbing her back for a minute, I give her a chance to reset before coaxing her to my Jeep.
After a few minutes, I think she’s okay to move and am about to lift her back into my arms when she starts convulsing again and pukes once more.
Fuck, that smell is eye-watering.
“Did you mix your drugs?” I pinch my nose, gathering her hair back up again. I don’t expect her to answer me. The last thing she needs right now is a lecture, but I’m trying to figure out if I need to take her to a hospital.
Her body jerks beneath mine. And just like before, her stomach is still spasming, but she’s run out of puke.
Her head lolls back and she flops to the side, resting against me. Placing my hand on her forehead again, I cringe. She’s clammy and cold, but at least her body isn’t shaking as badly.
Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I hold her close, taking this slow. She might need to puke again, and I don’t want to be jostling her around.
Between the streetlights and the moon, I can see how pale her skin is. Brushing my lips across her forehead, I gently ask, “Have you ever partied before?”
“All the time.” She whimpers. “But this is different. This feels different.”
Her face buckles in distress, and the rage I felt when I saw that guy pulling her down the hallway has me ripping the phone from my pocket.
Roofies. Fucking roofies !
Someone slipped something into her drink. And because she was there alone, she had no backup. No one to keep an eye on her.
I dial 9-1-1, reporting a wild party as worry for any other girl in that house courses through me. I can’t go back and check on them all. I need to take care of Blake.
“It’s getting out of control,” I tell the operator. “And I’m pretty sure there’s underage drinking going on, plus I’m concerned there might be roofies floating around. The party needs breaking up. Now.”
I stay on the line long enough to give the location, but I’m not sticking around to get interviewed by the cops. Blake’s underage and doesn’t need the trouble.
As soon as I hang up, I sweep her back into my arms and make a beeline for my Jeep. By the time I’ve got Blake buckled up in the passenger seat, I can hear the distant ring of sirens. Good. They’re on their way.
“Here. Drink this.” I hand her a bottle of water.
She takes a few reluctant sips, but I force her to take at least five more.
“You need to hydrate.”
Her upper lip curls in protest, but I nudge the bottle back toward her.
“Drink.”
She does as she’s told before swiping the back of her hand across her mouth and resting her head back. Closing her eyes, she lets out an exhausted sigh. “Don’t tell Wily,” she slurs.
I grit my jaw, pulling away from the curb and heading in the opposite direction of the red and blue flashing lights. Two units pull up outside the party, and I glance in my rearview mirror, relieved things will get broken up quickly.
Wily should probably know about this shit, but… I don’t want to get Blake in trouble.
“He can’t know.” She swivels her body to face me, but her eyes are still closed. Reaching out a floppy hand, she manages to rest it on my arm. “Not about the partying or getting kicked out.”
Gripping the wheel, I glance at her. “Getting kicked out of where?”
“College,” she mumbles, her chin dipping forward while I try to process what the fuck she just said.
Is she serious?
She got kicked out?
Her hand drops off my arm, landing with a thud on the center console.
“Blake?” I swerve up next to the curb, quickly pulling to a stop so I can check on her.
Lifting her chin, I check her vitals, not taking a full breath until I’ve figured out that she’s just fallen asleep.
Her breaths hit the back of my hand in even puffs, and the pulse in her neck seems to be steady, but I’m gonna take her to the hospital, just to be sure.
Resting my head back with a sigh, I stay where I am for a second.
Shit. What a night.
Glancing back at Blake, I run my finger lightly down her cheek, tucking a wayward clump of curls back behind her ear.
She got kicked out of school?
What the hell?
Wily always talks about her being a star pupil. She was valedictorian. A complete study nerd. He jokes about it all the time, but you can see how damn proud he is.
How’s he gonna react when he finds out his sister’s been expelled?
Do her parents know?
I doubt any of them know she’s been partying… and whatever the fuck else she’s been up to.
Shit.
Resting my head back, I stare out the windshield, wondering how I’m supposed to handle this.
I want to respect Blake’s request and not dump her in it. This news is hers to share, not mine. But Wily’s one of my best friends. I love the guy like a brother, and sitting on this is gonna kill me.
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, I lightly dab the cut on my lip and shake my head.
I should have fucking stayed up in my room and studied.
But if I had, I would have missed Blake’s phone call.
And shit, I can’t even think about where she’d be right now if I hadn’t managed to find her.
Checking the road, I pull away from the curb and do the right thing… even though it sucks.
Going to the hospital will mean paperwork and possibly an interview with the police, making it that much harder to keep it from Wily.
Shit! Why do I want to hide this from him?
He should know.
Glancing at Blake again, I wage a silent war, trying to figure out which is worse: betraying her trust or hiding the truth from her brother .
Both options suck, but as I near the hospital, I know I can’t take the first one.
It takes two hours to get Blake checked out.
She wakes up in the middle of the exam and starts crying, blubbering incoherent answers to the sweet nurse who patiently talks her through the process.
I stay by her side the whole time, answering what I can and holding her hand when a police officer shows up to take her statement.
Her answers are muddy and vague, her skin turning scarlet when he asks her age. I quietly beg him to go easy on her.
“Please, Officer. I know she’s underage, but she’s had a really rough night.”
He eyes me up and down, then points to my face. “Looks like you have too.”
I dab my lip and softly murmur, “Some guy was trying to take her where she didn’t want to go. I only just got there in time. If I’d known where she was, I would have gone sooner.”
Clicking his tongue, he scribbles something else in his notebook while my heart starts to race the way it always does around authority like this. I’ve never once done anything wrong, but damn if they don’t make me feel like a criminal just because my skin’s a few shades too dark for their liking.
My teeth clench and I will my chin to stay up, because I am an innocent man.
“Can you describe the person you fought with?”
Closing my eyes, I try to picture him, but everything was such a blur.
“Uh… the party was pretty chaotic, but from what I can remember, he was about six foot—a little taller than me. Caucasian. Light brown hair, kinda sh aggy. Medium build. He was wearing jeans and a white shirt. I think it was white.”
“And he’ll have a fat lip too? Or a black eye or something?”
Smashing my teeth together, I give one quick nod but refuse to feel guilty for that.
He was an asshole and deserved a punch in the face.
“I was defending myself… and her.” I rub my thumb over the back of Blake’s hand and glance down at her.
Her eyes are closed, her lips slightly parted.
She’s asleep again, oblivious to this conversation.
“You her boyfriend?”
“No, sir. She’s my best friend’s little sister.”
“Where’s he?” The officer frowns.
“He’s with his girlfriend tonight, and I’m…” Looking down at Blake again, I give her slender fingers a light squeeze. “I’m trying to keep her out of trouble.”
The man stops writing to study my face, and I dare to look him right in the eye. After a long pause, where I can’t breathe, his lips finally twitch, and he starts nodding. “I take it he won’t be too happy about his kid sister partying it up where she shouldn’t be.”
“No, sir.” I shake my head.
“Okay, then.” Flipping his notebook closed, I watch his lips form a thoughtful pout before he looks at the nurse, who’s hovering nearby. “I’ve finished up here. Does she need to spend the night?”
“No. Test results are back, and she should be good to go home and sleep it off.” Looking at me, the nurse rattles off some care instructions for the morning and I nod, absorbing each word like it’s fresh information .
It’s not. I’ve seen Carson through enough rough nights to know. Although I doubt he was ever roofied.
Those fucking assholes!
A blast of hot rage fires through me, and I call after the officer. “Any chance you’re gonna find the guy who did this to her?”
He glances back over with a sad smile. “I wish I could say yes. It’s going to be hard to prove who put the roofie in her drink, but we’ll do our best. The information you’ve given me will be helpful.” He points to Blake. “Just make sure she knows the danger she put herself in tonight.”
I frown at him. “She didn’t ask to be roofied. I’m not victim shaming her.”
The officer frowns right back at me. “She went into a party, alone , obviously got drunk, and didn’t watch herself.
I’m not saying it’s fair, but it is reality, and she needs to know not to put herself in a situation like that again.
” His lips form a thin line before his intense blue gaze is burning holes in my face.
“She won’t remember much in the morning, and it’s up to you to make it clear for her.
She needs to know that if you hadn’t shown up, it’s most likely she would have been raped tonight. You understand?”
I swallow, the reminder making my blood run cold. “Yes, sir.” I lick my bottom lip and nod. “I will.”
“Good.” He turns, and with a heavy sigh, I watch him walk away before taking the discharge papers from the nurse and helping Blake to my Jeep.
Fuck, this night could have gone so much worse.
And it still could get worse if I can’t get Blake inside without alerting her brother.