by Harlow Layne
Moving forward, most of the guys got out of my way as I shoved my way through. When I saw West was stripped of his clothes, I lost it. I had no idea what their plans were with him, but whatever they were made my blood boil. I was ready to kill every last person in the room. Kneeling, I tried to tamp down my rage as I rolled West over onto his back and looked into his eye. He was there but barely.
Had he been drugged?
“Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of here,” I stated as I hefted West off the ground and threw one of his arms around my shoulders. Most of his weight pressed against me as his head lolled to the side. Behind me, I could hear Ford and Ridley landing punches and keeping the wolves at bay. I was grateful for their help. If they hadn’t been there, I might have been on the bottom of the pile along with West.
Getting a better hold by wrapping an arm around his waist, I asked. “Can you stand? Help me get you dressed?”
West tried to speak, but it only came out as a mumbled slur of words with his body sagging even more against my frame. I took that as a no. I was sure he didn’t want to walk through the house and crowd with no clothes on, but I didn’t think I’d be able to get him dressed either. Not with half the room now fighting as more and more teammates filed into the room and assessed the situation.
Shouldering past the few remaining onlookers, I dragged West along with me. The blond bimbo was now up against the headboard with the covers pulled up to her chin, shaking. Good. I wanted that bitch scared.
“Don’t hurt me,” she whimpered. Her eyes widened with each step I took toward the bed.
“I’m not going to touch you, you wretched bitch,” I growled out as I ripped the blanket at the end of the bed off.
The stupid bitch shrieked as the sheet slipped, and her breasts were exposed. She didn’t seem to mind a few minutes ago.
West flinched from the noise. His body tensed up for only a second before it went lax.
“Hey,” I pulled him away and held him up by his shoulders. It wasn’t easy. We were the same height, but he was heavier and bulkier than I was. “I need you to try and stay upright. I’m going to put this around you, and then we’ll get you home, okay?”
West didn’t answer, but he seemed to have heard me. He tried to stand but swayed and was close to falling when I grabbed his arm. Wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, I let his body rest against mine as I looked around the room. Both Ford and Ridley were standing sentry by the door now. I shuffled us both over to them. The moment they saw us, Ridley threw West’s other arm around his shoulder and helped me start to move down the hall and stairs.
Ford followed closely behind, and when we got inside our house, we let out a sigh of relief. No one would fuck with us here.
“Where should we put him?” Ridley asked as we looked up the stairs.
Four flights with someone who was dead weight wouldn’t be fun. Surveying the front room, I answered. “Let’s lay him out on one of the couches down here.”
Ridley nodded and helped me get West over to the closest couch. Once we had him laid out with a blanket around him, I took a step back and wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. “How dare they do this to one of us? To anyone?” I turned around to find the guys hovering behind me with worried expressions on their faces.
“I can stay down here and watch him to make sure he’s okay. Plus, I think someone needs to be here when he wakes up,” Ford said, looking West over. His face was a mess. The sheet and blanket hid the damage from their fists and kicks, but we wouldn’t be able to hide this from Coach. West was going to be out of commission for at least a game. Longer if his ribs were broken.
“I’m staying.” My tone brooked no argument from them even as they looked back and forth between each other. I didn’t blame them since I didn’t hide my disdain for the man laying out before us. What they didn’t know was it wasn’t because West had ever done anything to me to warrant my behavior. Well, not intentionally, that is, but it didn’t matter. No one deserved what those fucking assholes did to him tonight.
“Maybe we should have taken him to the clinic to get checked out,” Ford whispered as if he’d wake West up.
“Maybe,” I agreed. I didn’t know the right thing to do in a situation like this. I wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of weak actions. “But I say we let him decide when he wakes up.”
“And how long will that be?” Ford moved closer to lean over West’s body.
“Fuck if I should know. We don’t even know what they did to him.” I had to turn away. I was feeling too much. Too much I didn’t want to feel. “But if I had to guess, going by the look in his eye when I found him, I’d bet anything they drugged him.”
“Why would they drug him?” Ridley asked, confused.
Continuing to look out into the nothingness of the night, I answered. “When I got up into one of those stupid frat guy’s faces, he said they were trying to convert the queer on the football team.”
“West is gay?”
“The real question is, was it planned for West or was it planned for some unsuspecting girl at their party?” I growled out. It didn’t matter the answer. Those assholes were going to use it on someone at some point.
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. Alpha Mu needs to be turned in. We can’t let them get away with what they’ve done,” Oz stated vehemently. I saw him through the reflection in the window before I felt him place a hand on my shoulder.
“To turn them in, West will have to report it and get tested,” Ford stated.
“And we don’t know if he’ll be willing to do that,” Oz said with understanding. Danica had a friend our sophomore year who’d been date raped, and she’d been a mess. Understandably, but we couldn’t fathom why she tried to hide it until Danica explained how ashamed her friend was and how she thought everyone would say she was asking for it.
Would West feel the same way when he woke up?
Only time would tell, but he couldn’t hide that something happened to him. It was up to him what the story was.
“We’ll find out in the morning.” I sat in one of the recliners closest to the couch and started to recline back. “For now, let’s keep this between us until we can talk to him.”
They all nodded. Oz went to the other couch and stretched out on it, putting his hands behind his head. The other two looked back and forth between where we were and upstairs.
“Go on up. If anything happens, we’ll come get you.” I listened to their retreating footsteps, happy for the diversion until I could no longer hear them.
“You did a good thing tonight,” Oz said softly from his side of the room.
My hackles rose at his statement. “Are you surprised?”
“Truthfully,” he waited for a beat until I nodded, but I already knew the answer with his pause, “maybe a little bit. I don’t think your evil or anything, but I know you hate West, and—”
“It doesn’t matter if I don’t like the guy. I would have done it for anyone.” I gritted my teeth. Did he really think I was that shitty of a human being that I’d let someone be assaulted?
“Maybe, and maybe one day you’ll tell me why you hate him so much,” he muttered.
Doubtful.
No one could know my secret. Not even my best friend.
Closing my eyes, I tried to forget about what West had looked like lying there defenseless on the bedroom floor and what could have happened if we hadn’t gotten to him quick enough. Unfortunately, those thoughts were embedded into my brain, and I wondered how long it would take for me to accept that there were things in life I couldn’t change no matter how hard I tried—like my feelings for a certain mocha-skinned football player with a scattering of freckles across his nose that made him look even more innocent in slumber. My eyes popped open of their own volition, and I scanned the couch to make sure West was still resting comfortably.
It was going to be a long night.
12
We
st
Every inch of my body ached as I tried to move. The surface beneath me stuck to my overheated body. Where the hell was I? When I tried to pry my eyes open, I moaned, and from that small noise, a stampede of wildebeest ricocheted through my head.
“He’s waking up,” someone said in the distance.
I tried to listen to what was going on around me, to figure out where I was and what had happened, but nothing was making sense. Everything sounded as if it was coming through a tunnel.
A hand on my shoulder made me flinch and then groan in pain. My eyes fluttered open to find Oz standing over me with a line of people standing behind him. “You’re safe, but I advise you try to move slow.”
Slow? I was moving at the rate of a sloth as it was. I didn’t think I could move any slower.
“Everyone clear out,” Fin barked out, making me a jolt.
I watched as what looked like half the team scrambled out of the room from my spot that I now recognized as the couch in the living area. Why were they all in here?
Oz’s brows knitted together, and he swung his head around. “Fuck man, did you have to be so damn loud?”
Swinging my legs down until my bare feet hit the floor, my body swayed, and I nearly face-planted into the table. A hand shot out and pushed me upright. I winced at the pain and watched as the hand and Fin quickly retreated.
“Cover yourself up,” Fin gritted out.
Looking down, I found myself completely naked with only a blanket draped around me, exposing everything of interest. Quickly, I tucked the blanket around me.
What the hell happened to me last night? I tried to think back, but I could barely remember anything after arriving at the Alpha Mu party.
“Did I get wasted?” My voice came out rough and sounded like I’d been at a concert the night before, singing my ass off instead of a party.
Oz and Fin gave each other a look I couldn’t decipher before they sat down on the table in front of me.
Having Fin so close and not being hostile toward me was doing strange things to me. It must have been bad if he was here and being nice.
Oz leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together. “What do you remember from last night?”
“I…” I coughed and cringed at the pain. Looking down, I saw bruising up one side of my body.
“Here,” Fin shoved a water bottle in my face.
I took it and swallowed the water down greedily. The cool water felt heavenly going down my parched throat.
“I remember going to the party, but after that, it’s all a blank.” I hung the water bottle between my legs by my fingertips as I stared back at them. “This isn’t typical behavior for me. I didn’t plan on drinking except for a couple of beers.”
Not that I remembered drinking anything last night, but I must have, and it was a wild night going by my lack of memory and the bruises that adorned my body.
Meeting first my eyes and then Fin’s, Oz’s face dropped. “We know. Look West,” he shook his head as he wrung his hands together, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” He swallowed roughly and turned to Fin.
Now I was really getting nervous.
“We’re pretty sure some of the guys at Alpha Mu drugged you last night.”
“No,” I denied, my stomach turned sour at the thought. “Why would anyone drug me?” My brow furrowed, and pain shot across my forehead and through my eye. “Motherfucker, did I fight the whole frat?” It certainly felt like I took everyone on with the way my body felt.
“Because you’re a fag.” Fin’s jaw ticked as he said the last word.
This was a hate crime?
“We think you should go to the clinic and get checked out, and then… report it,” Oz said without looking at me.
“I… I don’t thi… think I can do that,” I stammered out.
Fin leaned forward, and I could feel the rage pouring off him. “Do you want this to happen to someone else? Do you wish it was some poor unsuspecting girl who got raped?”
“Raped?” I croaked out. I tried to scramble back on the couch to put some distance between us, but the pain was too much.
Scooting closer until our knees almost touched, Oz cleared his throat. He was clearly uncomfortable, making me think maybe he was telling the truth. “Unless you get checked out, it’s only suspicion. I know this is a lot to take in, but we’re ninety-nine percent sure you were drugged, and if it wasn’t you that they drugged last night, there’s a good chance they would have used it on someone else.”
Pulling the blanket tighter around me, I prepared for the worst. “Tell me everything that happened.”
The moment Fin finished telling me everything he saw last night, I stood and stumbled down to the hall bathroom to throw up everything in me. Once I finally expelled the contents of my stomach, I leaned my head on the rim of the toilet seat.
The smell of piss and vomit was nothing in comparison to what happened to me last night. I was almost glad I couldn’t remember. The only reminder was my battered body, and it would heal.
Strong arms pulled me back against the wall. “That’s disgusting. Who knows the last time someone cleaned that thing,” Fin’s gritty voice said from beside me. I turned my head to see him sitting next to me. His knees were up with his arms wrapped around them.
If I wasn’t feeling like absolute shit, I would have said something to convey my shock. Instead, I sat staring at him, wondering why Fin was being nice to me. This wasn’t his MO. Not even remotely.
“What?” he snapped, but instantly his tone softened with worry. “Are you feeling sick again?”
“I’m not going to throw up again, or at least I don’t think so. I was just wondering why you’re being nice to me.”
“Don’t get used to it. Think of this as my charitable act of the year.” He rolled his eyes as if it was an unbearable act.
I knew it was too good to be true.
Leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes and tried to process what I’d been told. Even though I couldn’t remember anything of what Fin and Oz told me, I believed them. Believing them was one thing, but I wasn’t sure if I’d ever understand why I’d been targeted.
“While I’ve been discriminated against because of the color of my skin and for being gay, I’ve never been a victim of a hate crime. I thought Willow Bay would be safe, but now I’m not sure if I’ll feel safe anywhere.”
“That’s why you can’t let them get away with it. If I knew who it was, I’d break in, find their shit, and then beat the hell out of them, but it could have been any one of them.” Fin slammed his hands down on his knees and growled. “They won’t get away with fucking with one of ours. I can promise you that. Why don’t you get dressed, and we’ll escort you down to the clinic?”
Looking down, I realized once again that I was still naked. I could feel the heat of my humiliation at Fin being so close and seeing me in this degrading state.
I didn’t want to take another slap to my pride, but I knew I needed to. I couldn’t live with myself if, by doing nothing, someone else was taken advantage of.
“Ford looked up what they might have used on you, and there was conflicting information. If you wait too long, it might not be in your system, and then they get off. Don’t let that happen.” The last was said as more of a demand, but I didn’t let it phase me.
Rolling my head back and forth along the wall, I stared up at the ceiling. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but thank you for saving me last night. You didn’t have to, and I appreciate it.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to hear it.” He jumped lithely to his feet and hovered, looking down at me with fierce, determined eyes. “You can repay me by getting off your ass and not letting them win.” His tone was angry, but, on this occasion, I knew it wasn’t directed toward me.
“Give me half an hour. I need… I just need time to… It’s a lot to process. For me, it doesn’t seem real. The few times I’ve come int
o contact with Alpha Mu, they seemed perfectly nice.”
“That’s what they do. They can’t lure you in by being an asshole.” He smirked.
I wondered if he was thinking about how it didn’t seem to make a difference how Fin treated me, I couldn’t help but be attracted to him no matter how much guilt or shame it made me feel. Finley Huntington was under my skin, and each time we had one of these encounters, he dug himself a little bit deeper.
After today, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to get rid of him.
13
Fin
All five of us trudged up the stairs, with me bringing up the rear. Oz, Ford, and Riley’s heads hung low, but West’s body seemed to barely have the energy to drag him up the stairs. What we thought would be a simple trip to the student clinic turned into hours of us giving our statements individually and then all together. No stone was left unturned. Alpha Mu would be investigated for beatings, drugs, and sexual assault.
I was in the room when he told the doctor at the clinic what happened and when we had to go in front of the Dean, along with Coach Kyle, and explain what transpired last night. If we thought we’d ever get to go out again during the season, that was null and void now. I watched as Coach’s face turned red with fury with each passing word that slipped from our mouths. If it was possible, steam would have poured out his ears.
When Oz, Ford, and Ridley turned on the third floor, they stopped and silently waited until West met them on their floor.
“Thanks for everything, guys. It meant a lot you were there for me today,” West quietly said as he passed them and moved on to our floor.
Ford and Ridley moved on, but Oz waited for me. He started talking in hushed whispers the moment I was close enough to hear him. “What do you think is going to happen?”
“Who the fuck knows? If I was those guys, I would have gotten rid of the evidence, but who knows if they are a smart enough to do that or if they’re too cocky to think we’d breathe a word of it or they’d get in trouble,” I answered as I kept my eyes on West as he finished going up the last flight of stairs.