Page 125 of The Friend Zone

My voice comes out raspy. I really need some water.

The stranger moves, and I pull my comforter tighter to my body on instinct.

“Hey sleepy head,” he smiles. “How are you feeling?”

“Topher… right?” I ask.

His smile widens as he stands up, brushing some nonexistent dust off his dark blue slacks. “Glad you remember my name. Are you feeling ok? Do you need anything?”

I blink a couple of times in the futile attempt to stop my head from pounding. “I—How did I get here? What happened last night? Did I do shots or something? The last thing I remember is you asking me to dance and then I woke up here.”

Topher closes the distance between us, but he stops a few steps away from my bed. “May I?” he indicates that he would like to sit down by my side on the mattress.

I hesitate, but eventually I nod. If he wanted to do anything wrong, he could have done it while I was passed out and he wouldn’t have been here when I woke up.

“I’m not sure what you did, Bay,” he frowns. “One minute we were sharing a margarita, and I asked you to dance. One minute you were gone and I found you passed out cold on the bathroom floor.”

I massage my temples. I have only a very vague recollection of talking to Topher. “Did we dance?”

He shakes his head. “We never got to. I came to the party with my roommate and the dumb ass got blackout drunk. So Travis asked me to help them move him to the ‘drunk couch’ in the basement. I walked away to do that right before we could have that dance. When I came back, a few minutes later, you were nowhere to be seen.”

I consider his words and some memories start coming back. “I think I went to the bathroom. I felt like I was going to be sick.”

Topher’s tone is kind as his eyes search mine. “You’re a bit of a lightweight when it comes to partying, huh? Unless you managed to down a few shots while I was gone.”

His implication rubs me the wrong way.

“I’m not a lightweight and I’m not a drunk. I didn’t do any shots or had anything to drink. That margarita we shared was my second drink of the night. All I had before was one glass of Champagne.”

Topher scoots a couple of inches away from me, his tone apologetic. “Whoa, I’m not saying you got drunk, Bay. I’m just trying to understand what happened, because you didn’t look or sound drunk when we were talking.”

I frown again, but the gesture sends a shot of throbbing pain to my head, so I exhale a slow, pained breath. “I didn’t have anything else, not even water.”

Topher considers my words. “Where did you get the Champagne from?”

I don’t have to think about it. “There was a Zeta at the entrance welcoming the rush class with a tray of Champagne glasses. Pretty much every girl who came to rush Zeta Theta Beta took one. The Gammas were offering a beer bottle to everyone. They had a guy at the entrance too.”

He nods. “Yeah, I took one of those beers. Did you put down your glass of Champagne or lost sight of it at any time before you finished that drink?”

“No, but…” it takes me a second to catch what he’s really asking. “Do you think someone could have put something in my drink?”

Topher’s expression is serious. “I hope not. Both Zeta Theta Beta and Gamma Delta Tau have a stellar reputation on campus for throwing safe parties. But I’m looking at the facts. You say that two drinks wouldn’t get you that drunk. And yet I found you unconscious on the bathroom floor. Could someone have put something in your drink?”

My knee jerk reaction is to say that’s impossible. But then I reconsider my answer. “Anything is possible. But who would do that?”

Topher’s eyes darken. “I don’t know, but I’ll talk to Travis about it. Stuff like that puts our organizations at risk of being shut down and gives Greek life a bad name.”

He sounds angry.

“I’m so sorry, Topher.”

His jaw falls.

My first impression of Topher was that of a cocky, rich douche bag, but his expression is now grief stricken.

“Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong, Bay. I’m just furious on your behalf. What if you had a bad reaction to whatever some creep put in your drink? What if instead of me,the person who tried to drug you found you unconscious and unable to defend yourself? Or someone who decided to take advantage of you, anyway?”

He’s right.

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