Chapter Twenty

Knox

I couldn’t sit next to her and not touch her. It had never been a problem before, and now? Now it just made me that much more eager to touch her. But Slater’s eyes… his face…

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Leo had brought her back to the dorm, but she’d left a few hours after that with a friend I didn’t recognize, which made me even more paranoid.

And that was how I ended up across the street from the club.

Sipping fucking green tea and watching the red door like someone who should have a restraining order strapped to his chest.

She’d been in there for two hours.

Hadn’t left yet.

But also wasn’t answering her phone.

As her TA, I had her number.

As her friend, she’d never given it to me.

Probably smart.

I had a thing about seeing my name on girls’ phones. I shuddered and tried to push the memory away as my stomach clenched, but it was too strong.

“Your name!” Slater shouted. “It was your name on that screen! YOU DID THIS!” he roared, throwing the first punch as the police tried to separate us.

As the sound of the coroner zipping up the body bag filled the universe around us.

As my first tear fell.

I tried to shake the memory away. Rein it in. I gritted my teeth and called her cell again. It was close to midnight, a school night. She should be back at the dorm, studying, watching movies, not out partying with God-knew-who from her team.

Finn said he’d only seen blond hair.

Leo had been in the bathroom.

One job. Protect her.

I tossed my tea in the trash then slowly made my way across the street and toward the mocking red door as techno pumped out into the night air. I showed my ID. The burly security guard nodded to me and unhooked the rope. I stepped in, my eyes instantly squinting against the haze of smoke and stage lights. The smell of sweat and nicotine filled the air as bodies ground in a massive wave of soon-to-be one-night stands.

The club was on the small side; it used to be a coffee shop.

The bar stretched out across the left side of the place and had barstools in a semi-circle around it.

It was two steps up from the rest of the floor, giving a good view of the place. I walked over and sat then started surveying all the drunk people dancing.

Where the hell was she?

Damn it, I needed to put a tracker in her shoe or something.

Yeah, that was just what she needed to find, a tracker in her shoe from the guy she’d never even given her number to, the same guy who had her address and GPA. Great. Awesome.

My eyes were starting to water from the smoke when I saw a flash of mocha skin and breasts.

I tried to pry my eyes away from the breasts.

And failed miserably.

A white dress that looked more like athletic tape barely covered them, and it looked like it was missing a good foot from the bottom. If she tripped, she was going to get arrested for public nudity.

“Hey there,” a familiar female voice came from my right.

I barely held my groan in as I slowly turned and eyed Jessica up and down. She was wearing a tight black tank top and black skirt. It was just enough leather to cover tits and ass, but that was it. “Can I help you?”

“Ohh…” She ran a finger lightly down my arm.

I shuddered from the need to brush her off and run.

“I think you have several times already, haven’t you?”

“Jessica…” I said her name smoothly, like I was in control when my heart was hammering against my chest with this need to find Shawn and make sure she was safe. “…this isn’t the time. Besides, you aren’t a client anymore.”

“Your kiss said otherwise,” she teased with a little lick of her cherry-red lips.

Had I really thought she was passably attractive?

Yeah, she had a banging body, but she was possessive, needy.

All the things she’d reported her ex had said to her before he dumped her ass.

Color me fucking shocked.

“Come on, Knox…” She grinned and walked into my personal bubble, which just pissed me off more. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I’ll tell you what.” I eyed the bartender and ordered a beer. Within seconds, I was shoving it in Jessica’s hands. “Drink this, and I’ll try to make it back before you’re finished.”

Her eyes lit up.

It was a lie.

But I figured the two guys checking out her ass, flanking either side of her trying to be incognito, would be more than happy to take my place. I gave one of them a wink and tipped her into his arms before saying my goodbye and bolting toward the dance floor.

He was probably sainting me in his head right about now.

And another life changed—or ruined — however you wanted to look at it, since it was Jessica I was giving him, but whatever.

I eyed the dance floor as women started bumping and grinding around me. Somehow, my bun was grabbed, my hair pulled. I was almost stripped out of my leather jacket by the time I made it to Shawn, who was dizzily holding her head in place as if it was going to fall off while people danced around her.

“Hey!” I yelled.

She didn’t look up.

I tapped her on the shoulder.

Her pupils were pinpoints.

My body felt weak.

Too similar.

Damn Slater for putting it in my head, for feeding my paranoia in such a horrible way.

Pain sliced through my chest as I gently grabbed her arm and pulled her into the protection of my body, yelling in her ear, “We should get you home.”

She nodded, her breath coming out slow as she slurred, “I don’t know what happened. I had two drinks, just two…” She was heavy against me.

“You sure?” I heaved her into my arms and walked her to the outskirts of the dance floor. “Did anyone give you a drink?”

She giggled a bit. “Well, yeah, but that’s the point… I had a hard day, you know? Because of the texts…”

“Texts?” I repeated. “What texts?”

“About you… and me…”

I smirked. “You and me? What about us?”

“And Leo and Finn.” She yawned and patted my chest. “They said I was the new slutty transfer, and there was a picture of us kissing at the frat party then somehow, one of me in Leo’s car and—”

Rage filled me, hot and quick. I’d always wondered when it would happen, when someone would get so resentful of us befriending another girl that they’d start shit again.

It’s why we kept our SHIT off campus.

Hell.

This was all Leo’s and Finn’s fault.

And mine.

We’d been so starved for something… anything… maybe even redemption… that we’d taken one look at the challenge in front of us and accepted, without even realizing how hard it would be for her.

“Let’s get you in bed first.” I carried her to my car amidst her giggles of being taken to bed then being tickled. By the time we were back on campus, she was crying and telling me a story about her favorite cartoon characters.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“It’s why I like cheese pizza.” She yawned when we got back to the room.

Leo and Finn were already in bed, the lights down low. With a grunt, I picked her up over my shoulder and knocked on her door.

The door jerked open.

Slater took one look at her and cursed. “Really? What part of ‘stay away’ don’t you understand?”

“She was alone at a club with God-knows-who, and I think she was roofied. Want to keep yelling at me or help?”

Slater’s face paled. He stumbled backward, the memory obviously too much.

I knew that feeling. I was currently battling it like a fucking demon in my own chest.

“I’ve got this,” I said in a low voice. “Go take my bed. I’ll stay up if she needs anything.”

“That’s not your job.” He crossed his arms.

“It isn’t yours either,” I fired back.

We stared each other down for a few more seconds then he was grabbing that damn unicorn, which I still refused to touch, and stomping across the room. He didn’t even knock, just opened up my door while Finn and Leo started cussing for being woken up.

He yelled right back.

They yelled at him some more.

So much yelling.

Then… silence.

I kicked the door shut behind me just as Shawn opened her eyes wide and stumbled to the trash can, puking every part of her insides into the outside.

“What happened?” she asked between heaving. “Two drinks, just two.”

“Drugs,” I guessed. “Who were you with?”

“A friend—” She heaved again. “Can we talk later when I’m not halfway in the trash can with my ass showing?”

Naturally, I looked right at her ass and had to smile at the fact that she wasn’t hysterical, which was what I would have expected, what I was prepared for.

“Yeah, let me grab you some Ibuprofen and Gatorade. You’ll need it. Roofies make you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck.”

She groaned louder.

And for some reason, I liked it.

I hated that she was suffering.

But this feeling? The one where I finally got to play hero instead of villain?

Yeah, a starved man could get used to that sort of feasting.