Page 72 of Believing Bailey (Granton University 2)

I didn’t but I might later. That son of a bitch had squeezed hard enough to possibly leave a bruise.

“He was going to hit you. Oh my God, Bailey. We need to call campus police. We need to—” Her voice quivered and her hands shook. Her eyes looked wild with fear as tears pooled in her lashes.

I grabbed her shoulders to steady her and said evenly, “We need to calm you down first.”

I glanced pointedly at Jonah, who immediately stepped in and wrapped his arm around her from behind, kissing her hair before murmuring, “It’s okay, babe. I’ve got you. It’s okay now.”

When her breathing settled, and she calmed enough to close her eyes and sink back against him, I finally said, “I don’t want to call anyone about this.”

Tess’s eyes popped open. “But…no. That girl. She broke your phone. He grabbed your arm. He was going to hit you, Bailey. Hit you.”

“But I’d just have to explain why Melody broke my phone in the first place. And I’d really rather not.” I stared at her meaningfully, the fact sinking in that she now knew what I’d done, what’d I’d videotaped.

Oh hell. What had I been thinking? I knew I was impetuous, but pulling that phone out to shove it in Melody’s face, proving I had evidence of what a big fat liar she was, had probably been one of the rashest, worst things I’d ever done. Seemed like I was setting records on dumb, rash things lately. Now Tess knew I’d made a sex tape.

Tess, my best friend on earth…

The realization hit her, and she seemed to take a step backward away from me, her eyes revealing her shock and horror.

“Why did she break your phone?” Jonah asked innocently.

Both his girlfriend and I turned to him as if he’d asked the one question he should never ask.

“I’m going home,” I blurted, unconsciously rubbing my wrist and backing away from Tess and Jonah.

“But—” This time, Tess stopped herself from trying to talk me out of not contacting the campus police. Her eyes filled with sympathy. It made my heart kick.

“I’ll see you later,” I mumbled, whirling away and hurrying off.

For some stupid reason, I expected Beck to be there when I reached the apartment. But it wasn’t even noon and he didn’t think he was allowed to return until after three.

I retreated to my room, assuming a little time alone to myself would be best, but when I got there, I felt lonelier than ever. The strongest sensation lingering within the four walls was his absence.

How the hell had he managed to do that within three days? And what was I going to do when he found a life again away from here and left?

I sat on my bed, and blew out a breath, staring at the window that looked out onto the park. But the more I sat there, the more the events of the day caught up to me. I pressed the palms of my h

ands against my lap and began to smooth the fabric of my jean from my thighs to my knees and back again until my fingers became to tremble.

And then holy shit, suddenly, I was trembling all over, imagining what would have happened if Jonah hadn’t shown up when he had. Would the cowboy really have hit me? Would he have stopped at one punch? Could I be sporting a black eye like Beck right now? Or worse?

“Holy shit,” I whispered, pushing suddenly to my feet and pacing my room before going to my book bag and retrieving my shattered, mangled phone from the front pocket. I worked off the back and thankfully found the sims card inside unharmed. Thank God I had insurance and could get it replaced.

I spent the rest of the afternoon, calling the cell phone company from the apartment’s landline and getting a replacement ordered. Then I tried to work on some homework, but my mind was a scattered mess. This was going to be a bad semester for me, I could already tell. I never skipped class, and here I’d done it twice this week. And now I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

Anything but the fact that Tess knew I’d taken a video, and Jonah probably did too. Paige and Logan would no doubt be enlightened soon. I was so not looking forward to that. Plus, I’d almost gotten beaten up by a guy I’d had a ridiculous raging crush on for a year. And on top of that, I was becoming fixated on another dude who may or may not be suicidal and had a shit-ton of baggage to work through before he should even think about dating.

I was one pickle away from being a full barrel of whack.

* * *

By four, when Beck hadn’t returned yet, I found myself pacing the front room, worrying.

“I told you guys,” I muttered, chewing urgently on my fingernails. “He shouldn’t have been kicked out during the day. What if someone else beat him up? What if he just up and left town and never came back?”

“Well…” Logan shrugged. “He is an adult. He doesn’t have to come back.”

I scowled at him, making him shift cautiously backward. “What if he hurt himself?” I countered.

---