Page 25 of Claimed and Shamed

“Are you okay?” she asks, eyeing Henrik warily.

I nod, feeling a rush of euphoria. “Yeah, I'm great. Henrik's just showing me a good time,” I say, giggling.

“You sure you don’t want to come back and dance with us?”

“Mel, I’m fine! I promise!”

Melissa seems hesitant to leave, but she eventually heads back to the dance floor with the other Zeta Tau girls. Before she goes, she leans in close to me. “Be careful, okay? I don't trust him. I’ll be watching you two,” she starts in a whisper, but says the last line loud enough for Henrik to hear.

I nod again, swatting her away, still feeling the effects of the ecstasy coursing through me. As soon as Melissa leaves, Henrik pulls me back into another slightly sloppy kiss, and for a moment, I forget all about Hudson and the complications of our relationship.

Still, Henrik isn’t Hudson and I know I’m just using him as a distraction. And a distraction is exactly what I want. I pull Henrik off the dancefloor and into a secluded corner. We start to make out and it keeps getting sloppier, with his hands all over me and our tongues colliding repeatedly.

Chapter Ten

Hudson

I see Stevie as soon as Sawyer and I get there. My heart drops to my stomach. Jealousy, shock, anger, and hurt bubble up inside me as I see her kissing another man.

WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING?!

I make a beeline to where they are in the corner of the party, not even waiting for Sawyer to spot her or join me. I yank Stevie away from Henrik by the arm and my free hand creates a fist that connects with Henrik’s face.

Of course a fight breaks out between us. Henrik tries to throw a punch, but it lands on my shoulder instead of my face. It seems my punch hit him so hard that his depth perception is off. I land another punch on the other side of his face and he tries to swing on me again; this time connecting with my arm instead of my stomach. To show him how it’s done, I jab him in the stomach and he doubles over in pain.

“Get outside, NOW!” I scream at Stevie and I can see fear and anger racing across her face.

Sawyer has gotten into the fight and he throws Henrik to the floor and starts kicking him.

“If you so much as look in my sister’s direction again, I will fuck you up,” he shouts.

“You guys are going to regret this!” Henrik whimpers, rolling around on the floor.

While I’m trying to shove Stevie outside, we are interrupted by Melissa and Tricia, freaking out in another corner of the room. I sigh exasperated, knowing that I can’t just ignore her.

“Come on, we need to go help Melissa with Tricia,” I say urgently, grabbing Stevie’s arm. She hesitates and I feel her resistance. She’s watching Henrik who is making a phone call, while still lying on the ground.

“But what about Henrik?” she asks.

I shake my head.

Why the fuck is she worried about Henrik, and not her best friend? I’d understand if she doesn’t give a shit about Tricia, but Melissa clearly needs her help.

“Right now, Melissa and Tricia need our help. We'll deal with Henrik later.”

Stevie nods, and we hurry over to them. My heart sinks as I see the state Tricia is in. She’s totally out of it and clearly high on something strong. I check her arms and see tons of track marks running up them both.

“Are you shooting up? Tricia?” I slap her face a few times to try to get her to regain consciousness, but she’s slipping away.

“Only…once…” Tricia’s words are barely above a whisper and she can’t even handle the weight of her own body, let alone her head.

“Only once, what?”

“The…stuff…” Tricia weakly gestures towards Henrik. “He…said…it’s…fine…”

Of course. I don’t know what ‘the stuff’ is, but I know it’s nothing good, if she got it from Henrik.

“Melissa, do you have any idea how to handle this?” I ask, gesturing to Tricia's arms.