by L A Cotton
“It’s Toby, come on.” Flick grabbed my hand and tugged me toward it.
“Eager much?” I murmured and she threw me a scathing look over her shoulder.
“Homecoming might have sucked, but the night is still young, and I don’t plan on letting this dress go to waste.”
“You do look pretty hot,” I agreed.
“Damn right I do. Jude isn’t going to know what hit him.” Gone was the sad girl I’d found minutes earlier.
“Flick,” I said. “You don’t have to—”
“No, not listening. I need this, Hails.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she was referring to but the glint in her eye told me not to argue.
Toby rolled his window down, his gaze sweeping down my body, eyes darkening with lust. “Hey.” He gave me a lazy smile.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Toby.” Flick’s eyes looked past him into the car.
“Looking good, Felicity,” Jude’s voice drifted over to us and a wide smile stretched over her face.
“Ready to go?” Toby asked and she nodded eagerly, climbing into the back. I hesitated, my eyes glancing over to the gym.
“Hailee?”
“Yeah. I’m coming.” I ducked inside and pushed all thoughts of Homecoming and Cameron Chase out of my head.
“Why so glum, Sista?" Flick sipped her drink, swaying her body to the sultry beat. We’d been underdressed at the last party Toby brought us to, but tonight we stood out for different reasons.
So much for escaping.
“I’m just not feeling it,” I said, scanning the room. Kids were crammed into every inch of the house. It was nowhere near as big as Lewis Thatcher’s house, but I also hadn’t spotted any East football players, so it had that going for it.
“Toby seems keen.” Flick motioned over to the guys as they got us all another round of drinks.
“I guess.”
My best friend’s eyes narrowed and she grabbed my arm pulling me into her. “You’re moping.”
“I am not. I’m just...” Totally not thinking about how good Cameron looked.
“You should’ve just gone and talked to him.” Flick let out an exasperated breath but I didn’t reply. “Fine. Be a spoilsport. But please don’t ruin my fun. I need this, Hails. In fact,” she said conspiratorially. “I’m thinking I might do it.”
“Do it?” I stared at her blankly.
“Sex, Hails. I might have sex.”
My hand shot out, smothering her mouth. “Jesus, Flick, keep your voice down.”
“What?” She grinned. “It’s okay to say the words.”
“Are you drunk?” We’d only had two drinks.
“No, I’m not drunk. I’m merely embracing this opportunity. Jude is hot and he’s sending me all the right signals.”
“So this doesn’t have anything to do with whatever happened earlier?” My brow rose.
“It was nothing.”
Oh, it was something all right, she just didn’t want to admit whatever it was.
My eyes found Jude and Toby over her shoulder. They were heading back to us. “Just don’t make any rash decisions. Jude seems like a nice guy, but your first time should be with someone you like… really like.”
“Like you—”
“Is one of those for me?” I said, alerting Flick to the fact the guys were back. She shot me an appreciative smile, before turning to Jude and taking her new drink from him. “Want to dance?” she asked.
He shrugged but Flick wasn’t deterred. Grabbing his hand, she led them into the next room where the dancing was.
“I like her,” Toby said. “She’s got real... character.”
“Is that your polite way of saying she’s pushy?” I laughed and he smiled.
“She goes after what she wants, nothing wrong with that.” His eyes grew hooded as they lingered on me, and I lowered my gaze, needing to break the connection.
Toby was nice. A good guy. He was constantly checking if I was okay, getting me drinks, and making me laugh. And he didn’t seem as put off that my step-brother was Jason Ford as I’d first thought. But despite everything he had going for him, Toby didn’t set my world on fire.
He didn’t make my heart beat wildly in my chest or stir desire in my belly.
He was sweet. Kind and attentive. He was everything I wanted to like.
Everything I should have liked.
There was just one small problem.
He wasn’t Cameron Chase.
Cameron
“Are you going to wear that thing all night?” I asked Jase, eyeing the cheap plastic crown on his head with amusement.
“I’ve already had three offers to suck my dick and Lisa Tenby let me finger fuck her in the girls bathroom so yeah, I’m wearing it all night. What’s up your ass anyway?”
“Nothing, I’m fine.” My eyes searched the sea of bodies, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hailee. But I couldn’t see her.
I hadn’t seen her for hours since I saw her and Flick arrive.
Jase glared at me, his hard gaze burning into my face as he sipped his drink. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, looking out over the crowd again. I didn’t like school dances, never had, but when you were a Raider and played for Coach Hasson, they weren’t optional. We were expected to show up, smile, and give the people what they wanted. Most of the guys lapped it up—the chance to be kings for the night. But not me.
“Miley’s looking hot,” Jase said and my eyes slid to his. “What’s going on there?”
“It’s just casual.” I lifted my shoulders in a slight shrug.
“No shit. But come on, man, do you like her? I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
“We’re just friends, Jase.” Nothing more. Nothing less. But he didn’t look convinced.
“Yeah, well, keep it that way. The last thing we need is any distractions. And she has trouble written all over her. I’m going to take a leak.” He made his way across the room, parting the sea of bodies like he was the prodigal son.
And maybe he was.
For a town like Rixon, Jason was a ticket to having their name splashed in the national papers. People couldn’t wait for the day, five years from now, when they could say they knew the new star of the NFL.
I spotted Asher over by the doors on his cell phone. Worry lines were etched into his face, and I straightened, my spine tingling. But before I could go over there and find out if he was okay, his eyes found me across the room and he grimaced.
We met halfway, just as he was ending the call. “Everything okay?” I asked him as he stood staring down at his cell phone.
“I, hmm, that was Fee.”
“Fee? As in Felicity?”
“Y- yeah.” He swallowed, running a hand through his hair. “She, uh, she asked me to get you to call her immediately.”
“Me, but why would she want—Hailee.” The air whooshed from my lungs. “You have her number?”
Of course he did, they had just been on the cell phone. But everything was a little hazy, my heart thundering in my chest.
“I put my number in her phone the time she cooked breakfast. You’d better call her, she sounded panicked. When I asked what was wrong she said there wasn’t time to explain…” he added and my eyes locked on his.
“Text me her number and tell Jase I had to leave.”
“Shit,” he breathed. “What should I—”
“Tell him it’s my mom or something.” It didn’t matter. I just needed to get to Hailee. If Felicity had called Asher....
“Cam?” Asher’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“I said, are you sure you know what you’re doing? Maybe this isn’t a good idea—”
“Just text me her number.”
“Shit, yeah. Okay.” He started messing with his cell phone and I waited for the incoming message, and then I got the hell out of there.
Once I was clear of the dance, I pulled out my cell phone and called Felicity.
“What happened?”
“I... she... crap, this is bad, Cameron. I don’t know what to—”
“Slow down. Where are you?” I was almost at my truck.
“At a party, across the river.”
Fuck.
“Okay.” I schooled my anger. “Can you text me the address? It’ll take me about fifteen minutes.” If I broke the speed limit.
“Y- yeah. And thank you. I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said before hanging up. Reaching my truck, I almost yanked the door off its hinges.
An East party.
They’d left Homecoming and gone to an East party. Asher was right; I had no fucking idea what I was doing. Because it was the last place I should go. Especially without back up. But Hailee was there, and from the despair in Felicity’s voice, whatever had gone down wasn’t good.
Dammit.
As I reversed out of the parking bay and stepped on the gas, restless energy zipped through me. Hailee needed me. Okay, so the reality was Felicity needed me, but I wasn’t about to split hairs over the fact she’d called me to help.
I couldn’t deny a small part of me was pissed though. I’d spent most the night searching for Hailee, hoping to catch another glimpse of her, and all along she had been at an East party with that douche Toby no doubt. My hands tightened around the wheel. I’d always known Hailee was trouble. But if Jason found out about this, shit would hit the fan. I couldn’t leave her there, though, I wouldn’t. Because Hailee Raine was under my skin.
And even worse, I liked her being there.
“What the fuck happened?” I was out of my truck and on Felicity in a second, pulling Hailee’s limp body out of her friend’s arms and into my own.
“I... she... I don’t know. God.” Her voice quivered. “This is such a mess.” Felicity wept as I slid my hands under Hailee’s thighs and scooped her up, cradling her against me. She moaned, her head rolling to the side.
“F- Flick?” It was a garbled murmur.
“Ssh, I got you,” I said, my voice thick. Glancing over at the house, it was obvious the party was still raging on inside.
“Cameron, we need to go. She needs—”
“Yeah.” My eyes snapped back to Felicity. “Okay.”
Coming around to open the back door of my truck, Felicity helped me get Hailee inside, and we laid her out across the seats. I went around the driver’s side and climbed in, my hands gripping the steering wheel as I watched her through the rear-view mirror. She looked like a rag doll, her hair hanging loose around her face, makeup smeared around her eyes. The rise and fall of her chest labored.
Felicity slid in next to me and let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Tell me what happened.” I still hadn’t turned the key in the ignition, restless energy coursing through my veins.
“Drive, and I’ll tell you.” Felicity levelled me with a look that told me she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Cameron...” she added after a beat. “We need to go before someone sees you here.”
“Fine,” I ground out. “Fine.”
Gunning the engine, I backed out of the driveway and pulled onto the street. “Okay, talk,” I said as the house shrunk in the rear-view mirror.
“Toby texted her when we were at Homecoming, inviting us to another party. I got the impression Hailee was pissed at you, so we left.”
Pissed… at me?
It wasn’t a first, but I hadn’t even spoken to her at Homecoming.
“Did he...?” The words lodged in my throat, anger rising in my chest.
“What? God, no. Toby is a good guy, Cameron. I swear. But something did happen. We were drinking the same thing and I was fine, but Hailee started acting really strange. I wanted us to come home, but she said she wanted to stay and have fun. Next thing I know, she disappears. We looked everywhere for her.”
“We?”
“Yeah me, Jude, and Toby.”
Toby.
I was already sick of hearing that fucker’s name.
“What happened?”
“We couldn’t find her anywhere but then someone said they’d seen her go into the pool house, the pool house everyone said was off-limits....” her voice trailed off.
“And...”
“And we found her like this, almost passed out on the couch. She was completely out of it. Toby and Jude went to get her some water and to find out what happened, so I called you and managed to drag her out of there.”
“Why didn’t you just wait for them to come back?”
“I guess I panicked. I mean, look at her. That isn’t Hails, she doesn’t get trashed like that. What if someone...?”
I glanced over at Felicity and her gaze darted away. “What if someone what, Felicity?” It came out raw.
She inhaled a harsh breath. “What if someone gave her something?”
My eyes went back to the rear-view mirror. She was right, Hailee wasn’t drunk, she was completely wasted. “You think she was roofied?”
“Or something, yeah.”
“Fuck.” My back straightened, anger rippling up my spine. I wanted to turn the truck around, go back to the party, and beat the shit out of someone until I found out exactly what happened tonight. But I knew that wouldn’t help the situation. And right now, it wouldn’t help Hailee.
“Should we take her to the hospital?”
“I think she’ll be okay,” I said, checking on her again. “She just needs to sleep it off.”
“She’s supposed to be staying at my house, but if my mom and dad see her like this, they’ll—”
“It’s cool, she can stay with me.” The words spilled out before I could stop them. I kept my eyes on the road but felt Hailee’s friend watching me.
“You like her, don’t you?”
I don’t know why, but the fact it wasn’t a question irritated me.
“I’m not doing this,” I said, coolly.
“Okay.” Felicity smothered a smile. “I won’t say another word.”
“Good.” It was barely a grunt, but I didn’t want to talk about this, not here. Not with her.
The ride across the river was quick enough and before I knew it, I was pulling up outside Felicity’s house. “Are you sure you’ll look after her?” she asked quietly. I huffed annoyed, and she swallowed, adding, “She’s my best friend and you haven’t exactly always been nice to her. I had to ask.”
“I’ll make sure she’s okay.” Hopefully everyone would be asleep so I could avoid any awkward conversations tonight.
“She acts tough but all this, your silly little games... she’s not as tough as you think, Cameron.”
I didn’t trust myself to reply, so I gave Felicity a sharp nod and waited for her to climb out.
Ten minutes later, I pulled up at my house. Hailee still slept soundly on the back seat, murmuring softly every now and again. Climbing out of my truck, I went around to the back door. Her body was heavy with sleep, and whatever else was in her system, as I picked her up and went inside, taking her straight up to my room.
“F- Flick, what happened?” She began to stir as I lay her down on my bed.
“Ssh.” I pushed the stray hairs from her face. “I’ll get you some water.”
“C- Cameron?” Hailee’s eyes flickered open and she stared up at me, confusion clouding her expression. “What is—oh God.” She clapped her hand over her mouth and retched.
“Shit, okay, up you come.” Helping her off the bed, I half-carried her to the small bathroom adjoining my room. Hailee crumpled to the floor clutching the bowl, just in time for her stomach contents to make a reappearance. I crouched down, gathering her hair away from her face. She seemed so small and fragile like this; nothing like the strong, stubborn, reckless girl I knew her to be.
Someone had done this to her.
The thought sucker-punched me in the stomach.
Fumbling to flush the toilet, Hailee finally managed it before sinking back into my body with a pained groan. “Feel better?” I asked.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now.” Her voice was groggy, her words sluggish.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” I found her a spare toothbrush and towel before helping her stand. “I’ll give you a few minutes. I can probably dig you out an old t-shirt if you want?” Her dress was wrinkled and stained but all I saw was how beautiful she’d looked at Homecoming.
“I, uh … yeah, that would be good, thanks.” She wouldn’t look at me, and it stung. More than it should have.
Nodding over the lump in my throat, I left her alone and went to find an old football jersey she could wear. It was a dick move, one she’d no doubt give me shit about when she felt better, but I couldn’t deny the idea of seeing her in my team colors was too tempting not to do it.
Knocking on the bathroom door, I pushed it ajar and slipped my hand inside. “Here you go.”
Hailee snatched the jersey off me and closed the door in my face. I dropped down in the chair in the corner of my room, rubbing my temples. This was not how I saw the night going. I thought I’d go to Homecoming, hang out with the guys, watch Hailee from across the room and imagine dancing with her, claiming her as my own, right there in front of our entire class. But then Miley had cornered me and the next thing I knew I was being swept up in the Homecoming Court announcements.
I was just relieved Flick had called Asher. If she hadn’t, it might have been Toby looking after Hailee right now, and not me. The idea made my chest tighten. Especially when I couldn’t be certain it wasn’t him who had slipped her something at the party.
Shit, she shouldn’t have been there, in East territory. Thatcher had made it clear he was coming after her. This had his name written all over it. I was just relieved Flick had found her before … Fuck. I couldn’t even go there. The idea of someone touching Hailee, hurting her, was almost too much to bear. Inhaling a ragged breath, I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. It felt like an eternity until the sound of the bathroom door creaking made me open them. She stood there in nothing but my old football jersey and her panties… and I realized my plan had backfired. Because she looked completely at home in my jersey, not to mention as sexy as fuck.