I look up and grin. “Okay what?”
“One dance.”
Logan
“I know your secret,” Sarah strolls up beside me in a pair of jeans and a red shirt. It’s not her usual getup, but she looks good. I’d tell her, but I don’t want Danika to think I’m a dick and hitting on her friend.
I walk back into the kitchen again and toss our old cups in the trash. People are sketchy as fuck. There’s no telling what may have been slipped into our sodas while left unattended. Because I have an audience now, I grab the bottle of whiskey I stashed in the cabinet above the fridge and pour in just enough to flavor my soda. I know I shouldn’t care what Sarah of all people thinks of me, but I do. All it takes is one person to ruin the reputation I’ve built for myself.
“Oh, yeah?” I bring the rim of my red plastic cup to my lips and take a sip. “And what secret might that be?”
Sarah leans into me, nudging my arm with hers. “That you have a crush on Danika. Don’t worry. I won’t tell.” She smirks. “Although, for the record, I’m pretty sure she likes you too.”
I chuckle into my cup. Sarah is a day late, dollar short with that news. “Like anyone would care.”
“You and I both know you’re full of shit.” She punches my shoulder. Normally, her weak hit wouldn’t even phase me, but I’ve taken a few beatings tonight. I’m working hard to keep Danika in the dark, but I’m fucking sore. “A lot of people would care, particularly the girls you’ve been screwing.”
I smirk but hide it with another sip of my drink. We both know I haven’t been playing the field like I usually do. Hell, everyone knows. If not for the random sophomores claiming to have hooked up with me to boost their reputations, my name wouldn’t even be a whisper this semester.
“Guys!” Rachel pushes through the crowd in a panic. She looks around, her gaze bouncing from one face to the next around us before settling on Sarah. “Have you seen Danika?”
The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. My stomach churns at the tremble in Rachel’s voice. How long have Sarah and I been in the kitchen for? Two, maybe three songs? Nothing that bad could happen in fifteen minutes. Then again, if I know my friends, they’re probably pissed having lost the bet and I know at least Melody is out for blood. It’s not the money they would be mad about, they have more than enough to go around, it would simply be the principal of losing.
Sarah shakes her head, not the least bit concerned. “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere. Why? What’s up?”
Rachel bites her lip. A tiny wrinkle forms between her brows and on an exhale, she says, “Melody convinced me to have Danika try my drink, only it was spiked, and now I can’t find her.”
“You did what?” I yell. I rush into the living room again, pushing people out of the way. I’m not gentle and garnish more than a few nasty comments in the process. Being a head taller, I have a better view of the room than the girls but I don’t see Danika anywhere. “Where was the last place you saw her?”
“We were dancing but then someone bumped into me and spilled their beer on my shirt. I went to the bathroom to clean myself up and when I got back, she was gone.”
“Goddamnit, Rachel! How could you let this happen?” Sarah yells over the music.
Rachel shakes her head, tears running down her cheeks. “It was supposed to be funny. Danika’s so serious all the time. Melody thought we should loosen her up.” She looks at me. “I feel really bad. I’m sorry.”
I clench my hands, crushing the red cup and spilling my drink all over my feet. I take a deep breath to keep myself from snapping. This isn’t Rachel’s fault, not completely. Getting angry won’t help. I need to find Danika, get her someplace safe, then deal with those assholes later. “How long ago was this?”
Rachel shrugs. “Maybe five minutes. I think.”
A lot can happen in five minutes, but considering they were just downstairs I’m hopeful. “Rachel, check this floor. Look in every corner and at every couch you can find. Then start checking cars. “Sarah, this house has six bathrooms. Two downstairs and four upstairs. You check those. If she is not there, help Rachel by looking in car windows. I’m going to check the chambers.”
“Logan, it's a party. They’re probably locked.” Sarah says, hesitantly. She’s never been invited to play the game. She doesn’t know the house like I do.
“I’d bet my left nut they’re not.”
27
Logan
My heart drums in my chest when I reach the first closed door. I suck in a breath and reach for the knob. Considering I know the rooms lock from the outside, I’m not surprised when it twists. I step into the room without a care in the world that there’s a couple getting it on. The dude tunneling into the chick from behind barely blinks when I walk around the side of the bed. His fingers shove the face of a girl into the pillows, her red hair twisted in his palm. Not Danika.
I turn and storm out of the room, not bothering to shut the door behind me and run to the next chamber. The one Danika and I were in. This door is locked, from the inside. Something possible only if you have the key. My stomach twists, a feeling of dread coursing through me. I lift my foot and kick the white door, leaving a dirty footprint on its pristine paint. The frame makes a cracking sound but doesn’t budge. I kick the door again and this time it swings back, thumping against the wall.
“What the fuck!” A female voice shrieks.
I recognize it immediately, wishing I hadn’t. The soda in my gut twists with bile and lurches into my throat when I see her. Danika lies, passed out in the center of an elaborate four poster bed. Gunner stops tugging at Danika’s panties, leaving them loose around her thighs and gives an upward nod.
Melody finishes tying Danika’s wrists to the headboard, a smug look on her face. “You’re fixing that door before Jake finds out what you’ve done. He’s going to be pissed if you don’t.”