“She’s supposed to be staying at my house, but if my mom and dad see her like this, they’ll—”
“It’s cool, she can stay with me.” The words spilled out before I could stop them. I kept my eyes on the road but felt Hailee’s friend watching me.
“You like her, don’t you?”
I don’t know why, but the fact it wasn’t a question irritated me.
“I’m not doing this,” I said, coolly.
“Okay.” Felicity smothered a smile. “I won’t say another word.”
“Good.” It was barely a grunt, but I didn’t want to talk about this, not here. Not with her.
The ride across the river was quick enough and before I knew it, I was pulling up outside Felicity’s house. “Are you sure you’ll look after her?” she asked quietly. I huffed annoyed, and she swallowed, adding, “She’s my best friend and you haven’t exactly always been nice to her. I had to ask.”
“I’ll make sure she’s okay.” Hopefully everyone would be asleep so I could avoid any awkward conversations tonight.
“She acts tough but all this, your silly little games... she’s not as tough as you think, Cameron.”
I didn’t trust myself to reply, so I gave Felicity a sharp nod and waited for her to climb out.
Ten minutes later, I pulled up at my house. Hailee still slept soundly on the back seat, murmuring softly every now and again. Climbing out of my truck, I went around to the back door. Her body was heavy with sleep, and whatever else was in her system, as I picked her up and went inside, taking her straight up to my room.
“F- Flick, what happened?” She began to stir as I lay her down on my bed.
“Ssh.” I pushed the stray hairs from her face. “I’ll get you some water.”
“C- Cameron?” Hailee’s eyes flickered open and she stared up at me, confusion clouding her expression. “What is—oh God.” She clapped her hand over her mouth and retched.
“Shit, okay, up you come.” Helping her off the bed, I half-carried her to the small bathroom adjoining my room. Hailee crumpled to the floor clutching the bowl, just in time for her stomach contents to make a reappearance. I crouched down, gathering her hair away from her face. She seemed so small and fragile like this; nothing like the strong, stubborn, reckless girl I knew her to be.
Someone had done this to her.
The thought sucker-punched me in the stomach.
Fumbling to flush the toilet, Hailee finally managed it before sinking back into my body with a pained groan. “Feel better?” I asked.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now.” Her voice was groggy, her words sluggish.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” I found her a spare toothbrush and towel before helping her stand. “I’ll give you a few minutes. I can probably dig you out an old t-shirt if you want?” Her dress was wrinkled and stained but all I saw was how beautiful she’d looked at Homecoming.
“I, uh … yeah, that would be good, thanks.” She wouldn’t look at me, and it stung. More than it should have.
Nodding over the lump in my throat, I left her alone and went to find an old football jersey she could wear. It was a dick move, one she’d no doubt give me shit about when she felt better, but I couldn’t deny the idea of seeing her in my team colors was too tempting not to do it.
Knocking on the bathroom door, I pushed it ajar and slipped my hand inside. “Here you go.”
Hailee snatched the jersey off me and closed the door in my face. I dropped down in the chair in the corner of my room, rubbing my temples. This was not how I saw the night going. I thought I’d go to Homecoming, hang out with the guys, watch Hailee from across the room and imagine dancing with her, claiming her as my own, right there in front of our entire class. But then Miley had cornered me and the next thing I knew I was being swept up in the Homecoming Court announcements.
I was just relieved Flick had called Asher. If she hadn’t, it might have been Toby looking after Hailee right now, and not me. The idea made my chest tighten. Especially when I couldn’t be certain it wasn’t him who had slipped her something at the party.
Shit, she shouldn’t have been there, in East territory. Thatcher had made it clear he was coming after her. This had his name written all over it. I was just relieved Flick had found her before … Fuck. I couldn’t even go there. The idea of someone touching Hailee, hurting her, was almost too much to bear. Inhaling a ragged breath, I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. It felt like an eternity until the sound of the bathroom door creaking made me open them. She stood there in nothing but my old football jersey and her panties… and I realized my plan had backfired. Because she looked completely at home in my jersey, not to mention as sexy as fuck.
“I, uh…” Her cheeks flushed a deep pink as she tugged on the hem of my jersey. “So I may have puked a little on my dress and I tried to wash it off and now it’s all wet, and I couldn’t—”
“It’s fine.” I stood up, closing the distance between us, telling myself to look anywhere but at her long, smooth legs. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck. But I’ll live.” Her gaze dipped to the floor as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I wish I knew what happened.”
“We think you might have been slipped something.”
“We?” Her eyes lifted to mine, and my chest tightened, doing all kinds of weird shit.
“Yeah, me and Felicity.”
“She called you, huh?” An uncertain smile played on her lips. “Which is really odd because I had no idea the two of you were on a cell phone number exchange basis.” Hailee let out a strangled laugh.
“She called Asher.”
“Asher? Flick has Asher’s number? How did I not know that?” She frowned. “So she called Asher, and what exactly?”
It was my turn to look at the floor. I played football against some of the biggest defensive ends in the game. Getting tackled to the ground by guys twice my size was all par for the course. Yet, Hailee, a girl half my size, completely disarmed me.
“She called Ash and asked him to have me call her.”
“But why would she do that? And more to the point, why did you call her back?”
My eyes narrowed slightly. “Hailee, come on...”
“Why, Cameron?” Her eyes pinned me to the spot.
“Because you don’t deserve any of this,” I admitted. “And I was worried.”
“But—”
“Come on.” I cut her off. “It’s late, you should probably get some rest.” My head motioned to the bed, and her brow quirked up. I added, “I’ll take the floor.”
“Cameron.” My name on her lips sounded good. Too fucking good. “I’m not going to make you sleep on the floor.” Color crept up her neck and into her cheeks. Hailee ducked around me and got on the bed, slipping under the covers. Part of me had expected her to put up a fight; to insist I take her home.
But she hadn’t.
And like the sucker I was, I wanted to believe it meant something.
Yanking off my t-shirt, I started unbuttoning my jeans while Hailee tried her best not to peek. But I felt her eyes on me more than once. I crawled on the bed beside her, careful not to get too close. Fumbling for the light switch, I plunged the room into darkness.