Page 127 of The Friend Zone

She torments her bottom lip with her teeth, deep in thought. “It’s been a while since that night. But you’re right. He was talking so much and it’s possible he didn’t really drink. And he had his back turned to me while he was fixing the drinks. He was telling me he was adding lemonade and more ice to the margarita, but I’m not sure I really saw him do it.”

A painful lump forms in my throat. I would rather hack off one of my limbs than see Bay go through something so painful.

“It still doesn’t make sense, though.” Her eyes are huge and full of pain as she looks at each of us. “Why roofie me and then take me back to my room and sleep on the floor? Why take me out to breakfast the morning after? He would have had every opportunity to… to…” she swallows, as if every word was too painful for her. “He didn’t touch me that night. And before you ask, I’m sure. I was still in the same clothes I had on at the party, including my underwear. If he had done anything like that, I would know.”

Jagger is the first one of us who has the courage to touch her. He takes her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “We’re talking about Topher. He’s a twisted motherfucker. Everything with him is part of some kind of scheme. He was flirting with you that night, right? I noticed you immediately, but he was stuck on youlike a piece of hairy gum. Was he getting anywhere with you? Or were you trying to send him on his way?”

Bay sighs. “I didn’t hate the attention, but I had my eye on Cole. So I wasn’t being rude, but I was trying to cut the conversation short, so I could go find Cole and try to catch his eye.”

Fuck.

I clench my fists, wishing I had a fucking time machine. Bay could have been mine three years ago. “I had noticed you, too. I was waiting to see you by yourself to come and say hello.”

She lets go of Jagger’s hand to fly into my arms. “Oh, Cole.”

There’s something else that’s bothering me even more. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I murmur, holding her tight to my chest. “I can’t even think that Jagger and I saw him carrying you out of the bathroom. We asked him what was going on, but he said you were wasted and he was taking you home. We let him walk away with you because we thought he wouldn’t do anything stupid after we warned him he shouldn’t touch someone who is unconscious, no matter if you had been making out before.” I’ve never felt so guilty before. I should have stopped Topher. I should have found the Zeta president and had her take care of Bay.

She pulls back a little, so she can look me in the eye. “I think you and Jagger did save me. He probably didn’t try anything because you saw him taking me out of that bathroom. He knew he would get caught.”

On a rational level, I know Bay is right. But then, why do I feel so guilty?

I know the answer without the shadow of a doubt. I would do anything for Bay. I would protect her with my life.

“Cole,” she whispers, tracing my jaw with gentle fingers. “Seriously, I don’t blame you for not stopping him that night. He didn’t touch me.”

Regret coats my tongue, bitter and hot. “If I had stopped him, he wouldn’t have gotten to pretend that he was your knight in shining armor.”

Bay sighs. “Maybe. Or maybe things had to go the way they did. We were both younger and immature back then. Maybe we would have been just a hookup. I was too focused on my academic and professional goals and one of the reasons Topher was right for me at the time is that he had that same focus.”

She’s right.

“Yeah, you were this power couple. And maybe,” I admit. “You’re right that I wasn’t ready to give you what you deserved three years ago. My focus was hockey, but I also wanted to party and hookup.”

Jagger intervenes. “That’s what I wanted too. I think our relationship evolved at the right time.”

Bay nods. “The universe sometimes works in mysterious ways. I think I had to kiss that particular frog so I wouldn’t let my princes slip through my fingers. There’s just one thing that bothers me, though. If Topher had those drugs stashed away in that secret compartment, do you think he used them on someone else?”

I consider her question. “It’s more than possible. We’d have to see if there have been reports. I’ve personally heard about two incidents. One last year and one sophomore year. Unfortunately, some of the victims feel ashamed and don’t report these kinds of things.”

She agrees with me. “Yeah. I didn’t report it either three years ago. I mean, nothing really happened to me. If I’m being honest, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to report if things had gone differently. I guess if he did it again, he was smart enough not to draw too much attention to it. Topher is a sociopath, but he isn’t stupid, he—oh my God.” Bay covers her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide and full of shock.

“What?” we all ask in unison.

Bay begins to shake her head, as if trying to convince herself about something. “Earlier tonight,” she says. “Topher offered to get me a drink.”

“Yeah, I was watching him from my table.” Ryker scowls.

“I really didn’t want to drink more because I was nervous about the speech, so I said no thanks. But he kept insisting. In the end I accepted just to get rid of him but didn’t really touch the Champagne he gave me. Then my speech turned into a shit show and?—”

“What?” I ask, unsettled by the haunted look in Bay’s eyes.

“When I ran out of the room, Topher followed me. He was being nice. He wanted to comfort me. He had an entire bottle of Champagne that he kept offering me. He said we should drink it together to drown our sorrows. I didn’t really feel up for it, but he was so insistent. I took a tiny sip, but the Champagne had a weird taste and after that, I only pretended to drink. Do you guys think he…”

Fuck.

Jagger is the first one to react. “If he had another stash of pills, it’s possible.”

Bay continues to shake her head, more distressed with every passing moment. “Maybe he didn’t have another stash. I caught him loitering by my door a few times recently. I just thought he was being a pain in my ass, as usual. But what if he came into the room when I wasn’t here to get more pills?”

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