“Nope. I told you, I’m staying,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’re lucky I didn’t bust that bathroom door down, though. I was starting to worry that you’d drowned inthere.”
She rolled her eyes upward, sighed heavily, and fell onto her back. “Is it weird that I’m not tired at all?” she asked, staring up at theceiling.
“Not if you were drugged with some sort ofupper.”
“Even if I only had a few hours sleep over the last fewdays?”
“Yup. Pills will do that to you. I know all about it, thanks to mymom.”
She sat up, forehead creasing. “Do you know when she’ll be done withrehab?”
“No idea. Doubt she wants to come back here anyway. Dad’s been fucking some twenty-year-old while she’s beengone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Caught them together a few weeks ago. I actually went to school with the girl. She was a senior when I was asophomore.”
Laney grimaced. “Yikes. Howawkward.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t fun seeing my dad balls-deep in her, that’s forsure.”
Laney fell silent for a few minutes, picking at her nails and looking at the rug on the floor. “What did you mean earlier?” she finally said, glancing up atme.
I lifted a brow. “You’re gonna need to be morespecific.”
“You said someone is trying to hurtme.”
“I meant exactly that,” I said, leaning forward. “Someone is trying to hurt you, and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Even if you never believe a word I say, that isn’t gonna stop me from helpingyou.”
She bit her bottom lip and looked away. “So you’re still trying to claim it wasn’t you who pulled that shit at the assembly onTuesday.”
“It’s not a claim. It’s thetruth.”
“But—”
Before she could reply, I lifted a palm and cut her off. “I know how fucking bad it looks for me, okay? And I want you to know I take full responsibility forit.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So now you’re admittingit?”
“No. I didn’t do it. But it’s still my fault it happened. I put you on that blacklist in the first place, and by doing that, I made someone else hate you so much that they wanted to hurt you. Or maybe they wanted to impress me. I don’t know. All I know is that it’s myfault.”
“Is that what you wanted to tell me in person?” she asked, tipping her head slightly to the side. “Trina told me you sent a text aboutit.”
“No. That wasn’tit.”
“What was it,then?”
I hesitated, lowering my eyes to the floor. I wanted to tell her how I felt about her. How I was so fucking in love with her that I could barely see straight when she was around. How I couldn’t think of anyone or anything else. How I didn’t care if I had to sit in my car outside her dorm all night, every night, just to make sure nothing happened toher.
I couldn’t do it now, though. Not when she was still partially under the influence of whatever the hell that asshole at the island costume party slipped into her drink. I needed her to hear it when she was perfectly sober, so I could see and hear her real response. Not some scattered, half tripped-out response that she might regret when she was finallysober.
“I can’t tell you now. Not while you’re high,” I said, looking back up ather.
“I’m nothigh.”
I steeled my jaw. “Your pupils are still the size of my fucking car, so yeah, you’re high. Even if you feel totally normal, your brain isn’t working the way it usuallywould.”
“Whatever.” She blew out a loud breath through her nostrils and lay back on the bed again. “Why should I believe you,Hunter?”