Page 10 of Believing Bailey (Granton University 2)

Radley seemed to be about as taken aback by her behavior as I was. He stiffened before reluctantly pulling her closer and kissing her hair. “It’s okay, baby? What happened? What’d he do to you?”

I shook my head, baffled. What the hell were those two even talking about? And who was this guy? Most importantly, why had Melody just called sex with me horrible when she’d just toted me the best she’d ever had literally minutes ago?

I was too confused and still too drunk to sort through any of it. So I just stared at them, my junk still hanging out, used condom clutched in one h

and, and mouth falling open stupidly.

Over Melody’s shoulder, Radley pinned his gaze on me just as I decided I should probably zip up now. “What did you do to my girlfriend?” he demanded.

Wait. Did he say...

Girlfriend?

I nearly swallowed my tongue. I had no idea Melody had a boyfriend.

“Um.” Shit. Why hadn’t she told me she had a boyfriend?

I shifted a step back, already lifting my hands in peace, though one hand was still full of the condom I’d just used on his girlfriend, which he immediately zeroed his attention onto.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Melody clutched him harder, clinging dramatically as her weeping rose louder. “He…he made me do it,” she wailed. “I didn’t want to, but he…he f-forced me. I t-tried to stop him, I did. But I couldn’t. Oh my God, I couldn’t stop him. He held me down, and he,” She paused to hiccup pathetically. “He wouldn’t stop.”

My mouth fell open wider as I stared at her, unable to believe what she’d just said, too shocked to even react to it.

But seriously. Had she really just done what it sounded like she’d done?

“You,” Radley, the boyfriend snarled. When he set Melody aside and pointed at me, I stumbled back into the bathroom, shaking my head.

“No,” I said. “I didn’t. She’s lying. I would never…”

But he was already slowly advancing on me, trapping me in the bathroom. I tripped in reverse until I bumped into the sink. Then I lifted my hands, already cringing. I tossed down the stupid condom, flinging it out of sight. “I didn’t…didn’t even know she had a boyfriend.”

Dude, Radley was massive, and there were three of him wavering around in my drunk vision. I was able to focus on his hand—er, all three of them—right before he cracked his knuckles and curled the fingers into a fist. “Boyfriend or not, you still never force a woman.”

Yes, exactly. I knew that. I knew that better than anyone. But I’d never forced a girl in my life, and I especially hadn’t forced Melody. I hadn’t even wanted Melody.

This was all wrong.

I shook my head, but Radley swung, anyway.

The impact rattled through my teeth and down to my feet, shuddering through my jaw and reverberating into my spine. Blood filled my mouth. My head felt broken. I tried to shake it off, to clear my vision. Nothing helped. Pain throbbed through my brain.

And Radley swung again.

“I didn’t,” I tried to tell him, but my tongue wasn’t working right, my vision wasn’t working right. My thoughts weren’t working right.

Radley hit me a third time, this one in the ribs. I tried to defend myself, lift my arm to block the next blow, shove him backward. But it all felt useless. My limbs weren’t freaking cooperating.

Everything went gray. Then black. The last thing I remembered was the cold tile floor slamming against my cheek and a shoe ramming into my back before there was nothing.

* * *

I came awake one wheezing breath after another. Everything ached. I wanted to curl into a ball and die. After the slightest movement of drawing my knees up toward my chest, I gasped from the waves of agony that rippled through my chest.

I tried to blink my eyes open but one of them wasn’t working. My head felt like a big swollen ball of ouch.

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