Page 46 of Byte

“I know, and Patch will, too.”

I couldn’t sit still while he was on the phone with Patch. I had so many thoughts and questions running through my mind. First and foremost was whether or not Lauren intentionally gave me brownies laced with THC. I really didn’t see how it could have been an accident, but I also couldn’t think of a reason why she’d do something like that.

“All right, he said they have them at the hospital. He’s going to go by the ER and get some,” Byte said and paused. “Since you don’t have to be in Cedar Valley until Tuesday, do you want to spend the weekend in Croftridge? It’s totally up to you.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that. This place is nice, but I kind of feel like I’m under a microscope when we’re here,” I admitted.

“I know what you mean. Gather up what you need, and we’ll leave when you’re ready.”

“How did you meet Lauren?” Byte asked once we were on our way back to Croftridge.

“I met her at school. We were both in the library between classes. She asked me to help her with something she didn’t understand. We continued to run into each other at the library and started studying together. She’s a semester behind me in the program, but I still found the study sessions to be helpful.”

“When did you start studying at your house instead of the library?”

“At the beginning of this semester. The last semester is basically all clinical hours, so I don’t have a need to be on campus,” I explained.

“Have you ever been to her place?”

“No. With the exception of this past Wednesday, we’ve always studied at my house.”

“And does she always bring you something she baked?”

I slapped my hand over my mouth as realization dawned. “Yes! She’s been doing that for months. She told me she loves to bake but can’t eat everything she makes, so she gives it away. Do you think she’s been drugging me the whole time?”

“We’ll know for sure soon,” he said and turned into Patch’s neighborhood.

Instead of us getting out and going inside like I expected, Patch came out to the truck when we pulled into the driveway.

“Thanks, brother,” Byte said.

“Yes, thank you!” I added.

“No problem,” he said and focused his attention on me. “If you need my help with anything, let me know. I’ll be happy to help in any way I can. In the meantime, be sure to document everything and get in touch with the club’s lawyer sooner rather than later.”

“Thanks, Patch. I really appreciate it,” I said sincerely.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but you’ll get through this. Try to think of it as nothing more than an inconvenience. It might take some time to get it sorted out, but don’t get discouraged.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said.

“All right, Patch. We’ve got some brownies to test.”

“Good luck,” he said and waved goodbye.

“Do we have to wait until we get to your house?” I asked excitedly.

Byte chuckled. “Yes, we do. And not because drug testing a potential pot brownie in a moving vehicle is a bad idea.”

“Okay, then why?”

“Because I put the brownies in the toolbox in the bed of my truck.”

“Fine, I’ll read the instructions so I don’t have to do it when we get there,” I said and picked up one of the test kits.

“Well, that’s incredibly simple,” I sighed and dropped the test into my lap. “Swab the sample, then rub the swab on the test card in the designated area. If the sample turns red within ten seconds, the result is positive.”

“On the bright side, ten seconds is a lot faster than five minutes,” Byte pointed out.

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