Page 43 of What Goes Around

The same stairs where a boy had just led a drunken girl.

Her.

It was her.

My feet were moving before my thoughts caught up. I took the stairs two at a time and hit the second-floor hallway at a near run.

I didn’t bother knocking.

I shoved doors open one after another, ignoring the startled cries, the curses, the half-dressed couples scrambling and shouting as I barged in.

Not her.

Not her.

Not—

Until I slammed open the right door.

Chapter 13: Not This Time

Rick froze when he saw me in the doorway. Shirtless, jeans half unbuttoned, like he’d been caught mid-act.

The girl lay sprawled on the bed behind him.

Naked.

Unconscious.

But still untouched.

Relief hit first.

Then the rage followed.

I didn’t say a word. I lifted my phone and hit record.

“What the hell are you doing?” Rick barked.

“You have exactly ten seconds,” I said quietly, “to get the fuck away from her.”

He scoffed, but something flickered in his eyes. Uncertainty. Good.

I stepped further into the room, angling the phone so both of them were in frame.

“She’s just drunk,” he muttered. “She wanted—”

“She’s unconscious,” I cut in. “And you drugged her. Three boys downstairs are bragging about it. I have them on video too.”

I didn’t.

He didn’t need to know that.

“Bullshit,” he snapped.

“Try me,” I said. “One more step toward her, and this footage goes to your coach, your parents, and every college scout in a hundred-mile radius. And if she decides to press charges? I’ll hand over everything. This is a life-ruining felony, Rick. Think very carefully.”

His jaw tightened. He wasn’t used to being challenged.