Page 51 of Cheap Shot

I had a feeling he was softening the words for Ethan’s sake.

“Let me go!” he screamed from under me. “I’m going to kill him!”

I shifted so more of my weight was over him.

“Bayman! Clarkson! Cruz!” Coach Weston’s voice bellowed in the room. “My office. Now!”

Chapter 17

Haley

My heart thudded in my chest. After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I was pretty sure I was reaching my limit. My body was going to give out soon. Ethan was silent when we walked me to my door earlier. I thought I was off the hook, but it seemed like he was just waiting to boil over.

“I can’t believe you would be so stupid!” Ethan roared at me while he stomped around the quiet courtyard. He was usually too tired after practice to do anything but eat and sleep, but he found enough energy to scream at me.

This was too much. I wasn’t stupid. I made a mistake. I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I’d been in the middle of working through a panic attack. I was overwhelmed and couldn’t think clearly when all I wanted was to get back to my friends.

“You’re an embarrassment to me, our parents, and yourself.” His words were another slap in the face. “I should call them and tell them you need to go home. You clearly can’t take care of yourself and need supervision.”

“Ethan, no! Please don’t do that.” I clutched at the edge of the table in front of me. It was my worst nightmare coming true. If he told them what happened, they would be on the next flight here to pack me up and drive me home.

I shouldn’t have answered his call. I shouldn’t have met him. He was clearly upset, and I didn’t think it was entirely about me and what happened. Something else was going on, and he was taking it out on me.

“Why not? You were drugged. Who knows what would have happened to you if Reid hadn’t gotten there?” He marched a path in front of me.

Didn’t he hear all the flaws in his blaming me? I was drugged. I didn’t purposely or willfully take anything. It was entirely Jay’s fault.

“You’re victim-blaming,” I retorted. “I know I shouldn't have gone to that party, but someone violated me when they took my choice away and put something in my drink. I am lucky I was able to get somewhere safe and even luckier that I remembered Reid’s number and not just yours because you weren’t there to help me.” My voice rose, but I didn’t care. If we gained an audience, it would look bad for him, not me.

“You know better. You should have left. You shouldn’t have even put yourself in that position.” He stopped moving and rubbed his face. “People saw you. They think you’re easy now. They think you’re this mess that parties too hard and is looking for the wrong kind of attention.”

Was he right? Did people think that about me?

How could news spread so fast?

I didn’t believe him. He was just upset and telling lies.

“Was last year not enough? Did you not learn anything?”

That was it. That was too far. I stood, squaring off against him.

“How dare you?” I ground out each word. “Don’t you ever throw that in my face.”

His eyes flashed with regret, but he was too worked up to stop now.

“You need to think about your actions and the consequences.”

I rolled my shoulders back. “You mean, how my actions might affect you?”

He straightened to his full height, looking down his nose at me. “Yes. Exactly. My reputation matters. What people think about me matters. I won’t let you screw that up for me.”

I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. “Not everything is about you. It’s my life, Ethan! You can’t even stop for five seconds to realize how that night made me feel. How terrified I was. How hard it was to think straight long enough to find a phone and call you for help. Only you didn’t answer! The one time in my life that I needed you.” My voice broke. “And you weren’t there.”

He stepped back and lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”

That was it. Still no explanation. I didn’t care anymore. If he was doing something he shouldn’t, it wasn’t my problem. He made it clear I was on my own, and as far as I was concerned, so was he.

I huffed out a laugh. “No you’re not.”