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Paxton loosened his hand and spoke through clenched teeth. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The man huffed and strode away, rubbing his neck. Paxton turned to look at me, eyes narrowed slightly. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” I said grudgingly. “What are you doing here?”
He gestured to his gray hoodie, sweatpants, and running shoes. “I always jog around this area at night. It’s quiet and no one sees me.”
“Oh. Right.”
He stooped to pick up his phone and bottle of Gatorade, which he must’ve set down on the pavement before he grabbed the creepy guy by the throat. “I can order an Uber for you if you want. Or I can wait with you until a cab arrives,” he said. “It would be better across the street, though. They usually come from that direction.”
I bit my lip. “Um…”
He lifted his hands. “Don’t worry. I’ll stand a few yards away from you, and you can have 911 ready to dial on your phone, if it makes you feel better,” he said, staring down at me.
I sighed and relented. “Fine. You can wait near me. But I’ll definitely be doing that 911 thing.”
“Cool. Whatever.” He sighed heavily and crossed the street with me, making sure he remained a few feet away as promised.
I peered to the left, clutching my phone in my hand. “That might be a cab coming now.”
“Sienna, that’s a streetlight.”
I squinted. “Oh. Damn.”
“You’ve been drinking a lot, haven’t you?”
“If you had the day I had, you’d be drunk off your ass too,” I muttered.
Paxton let out another sigh, took a few steps closer to me, and held out his bottle of Gatorade. “Here,” he said in a grudging tone. “The electrolytes in this might help you avoid a hangover.”
My gaze lingered on the label. It was my favorite flavor—Cool Blue. It annoyed me that we had something in common. I didn’t want to have anything in common with a guy like him, even something as small and petty as a favorite flavor.
I accepted the bottle anyway and took several big gulps.
“Hey, you gonna leave any for me?” Paxton asked, amusement lacing his voice.
“Sorry,” I murmured, handing the bottle back to him.
“No worries.” He screwed the lid back on, stepped away again, and looked down the street. “There’s someone coming.”
Headlights had appeared in the distance, but as the car drew closer, we saw that it wasn’t a cab. Just a random Audi.
“Damn.” I sighed and rubbed my arms. “Where the hell are all the cabs tonight?”
“Someone will show up eventually. Don’t worry.”
We waited another few minutes in silence. More headlights appeared in the distance, and Paxton craned his neck. “Damn. Just another random car,” he muttered.
I sighed and rubbed my arm again. At the same time, a strange sensation began to unfurl in my body, like a fog creeping through my bloodstream. My legs, which were previously grounded comfortably on the pavement, suddenly felt weightless, and the edges of my vision had turned blurry. Every breath I took seemed to echo in my ears, and my thoughts seemed even more muddled now than they were after all of the cocktails.
I blinked and looked over at Paxton, who was staring right at me. “You,” I murmured.
“What?”
“You did this.” I lurched forward. “You put something in the Ga—”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. My mind and body were plummeting into another world, completely succumbing to whatever was coursing through my veins. The last thing I was aware of was a fleeting sensation of surrender. Then everything turned black, and I was gone.
