Page 191 of Scrimmage

“Were?”

“Were,” Alexi confirms.

“What do you know about him?”

“Works at The Roost, a coffee shop on campus. The girls said they met him Freshman year in their dorm. He had a massive crush on Ashland. Has.” I won’t talk about her like she’s dead. Even if she is, I never could. “He was her personal doormat.”

“So they dated?”

“No,” I scoff. “He wishes.”

“Why would he do all of that if they were just friends?”

“He was waiting for her to see him.”

“What gave you that impression?”

“He just…Would try to wait on her all of the time. He’d bring her coffee and food. Walk her from classes. I mean, the guy was practically her personal assistant. She stepped all over him, and he was happy to do it. He thought if he was the last man standing that she would see him and fall for him.”

“What was your impression of him?”

“He's a nice guy,” Alexi answers. “But he was definitely biding his time.”

I get a sour taste in my mouth. “I don't like him, and he definitely doesn't like me.”

“Because you took Ashland from him,” Alexi points out.

“We weren’t dating,” I argue. “And neither were they.”

“You punched him in the fucking face,” Alexi bites back.

Jeremy quirks a brow. “You hit Cole?”

“There was a party,” I admit. This is hard. That night was hard. Not just our split, but knowing someone had tried to hurt her in such an intimate way. “Over Thanksgiving. I came home early because something felt off. I didn’t like Cole hanging around, and she knew it. Like I said, I wasn't a fan of his. They got into an argument, and he left her alone. When I found her she wasn’t conscious. She had been drugged. The next day we ended up fighting about what he said and breaking it off.”

“You hit Cole at this party?”

I shake my head. “I saw him at another party with her and hit him there. I ended up going to jail. Ashland bailed me out.”

“So Cole had an argument with Ashland at a party where she was drugged, you argued and broke it off, Cole goes to another party with her where you fight and go to jail, and Ashland bails you out. Is that correct?”

“Yeah.”

“How does that warrant you attacking him?”

“He had insinuated that she owed him sex, too. That she owed him a relationship. Any man with dignity would hit him. Women don’t owe you shit, and he said it to Ashland, which pissed me off.”

“What charges were filed?”

“None. Cole dropped them after she bailed me out.”

“Do you find that odd?”

“Nah, she only bailed me out to yell at me,” I sigh.

“I mean Cole not pressing charges.”

“I think he was just embarrassed.”

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