Page 45 of Cheap Shot

I was about to say no but remembered the cup of water he offered me.

I dropped my chin to my chest. “Yes, but I watched him fill it from the tap. I don’t know how he could have slipped something in.”

But I remembered it tasted off. Sweet. How could I have missed him putting something in?

He pulled me into his arm, and I felt calm. He was safe. He came when I needed him. “Haley, it’s not your fault. You should be able to drink water without having to wonder if it’s been tampered with. I’m so sorry.”

“I called you?”

He nodded, bumping his chin against my head. “You told me you locked yourself in the bathroom, and I went and got you.”

I wiped my face. “So nothing happened?”

“I was on the phone with you from the time you locked yourself in the bathroom until you passed out. There were only a few minutes between, and the door was still locked.”

“Yeah.”

“How are you feeling now?”

“A little sore, and I have a pretty bad headache.”

“That’s what the internet said would happen.” He sounded relieved, like my pain was a good thing. “I wanted to take you to the hospital, but you told me not to. You said your parents would take you home if I did.” He leaned back and looked into my eyes. “Why would they do that?”

I wanted to hide or run. I didn’t want to talk about this, especially not with him. Ethan only knew the bare minimum. I wanted it to stay in the past.

“Where’s Ethan?” I hoped he would catch the hint and move on.

His shoulders dropped. “I’m not sure. He called last night, asking if I’d seen you recently, and when I told him no, he hung up. I haven’t been able to reach him since.”

That was strange.

“I’m trying to not worry, but he’s usually pretty quick to respond to texts and almost always answers my calls. If he can’t he texts me to let me know when he can call me back. This is the longest his phone has been off.”

“Should we be worried about him?” I wasn’t sure if his disappearing for the night was common or not.

“I’ll give it until practice. If he doesn’t show up, then I’ll know something is wrong.”

That sounded better than panicking or running around campus looking for him. Not that I was in a state to do either.

“Do you remember who the guy was that you were with?” His voice was calm, but I could see fury in his eyes.

“He told me his name was Jay. He lives in Granger Hall.”

He nodded once. “Do you want to report him?”

Did I? My first instinct was to say no. It would be my word against his, and nothing really happened, since I was able to get to the bathroom. We didn’t have proof there was anything in my system since I refused to go to the hospital. He could claim I drank too much or was just sick.

Then again, if he didn’t get in trouble now, how many other women would he try this on? How long would it take for him to hurt someone else? I got lucky, but the next person might not. Could I handle having that on my conscience?

Would it open a whole investigation? What if my name came out, and people knew I’d accused him?

The anger and pain from last year returned as a low simmer in my gut. I hadn’t been able to do anything then. Did I want to repeat that?

“Can I report him without him knowing? Like just give the police or security his name and let them do whatever they want with it?”

“I’m not sure, but we can try. I called and gave an anonymous tip last night about the party and told them someone was drugging women. I don’t know yet if anything came of that.” He picked his phone up and typed something. Seconds later, it beeped and he checked the screen. “Another friend was there and she said campus security arrived and broke it up around two. That was about thirty minutes after I called.”

“So, it worked?” I was surprised they actually listened to him.