“Kay,” she said, swaying.
Rafe tucked an arm around her shoulders and steered Lianne toward the door. I watched them go. Maybe some girls would be reluctant to ask their boyfriends to walk a beautiful movie star home, but it didn’t faze me. Rafe was solid gold, all the way to the center.
Why had it taken me so long to figure out?
“Belluh!” Pepe called out. “One more game?”
“Sure,” I agreed. “Just let me hit the girls’ room.” I maneuvered toward the dark hallway at the back of Capri’s. It wasn’t the nicest john in the world, that was for damned sure. The men’s room door opened up in front of me, and I was suddenly face to face with one of the guys I’d just spent weeks avoiding.
Dash McGibb.
Shit! My stomach dove, and I took a big step backward, crashing into a chair.
“Easy,” he said, reaching out to steady the chair.
But I wasn’t taking anything easy. I spun around to get away from him.
“Bella.” There was something in his voice that slowed me down. I turned to check his face.
“Wait,” he said quietly. “There’s something I need to say to you.”
I waited. But I could hear blood rushing in my ears, and the urge to flee was strong. If the urge to avoid looking afraid wasn’t also strong, I would have probably pinballed from one piece of furniture to another, making tracks out of there.
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for what happened to you.” Dash cleared his throat. “Wait, that’s not good enough. I’m sorry I let it happen.”
“You mixed my drink,” I hissed.
Slowly, he nodded. “I told the dean everything. Whittaker told me to make the ‘special.’ So I did it. But then I regretted it immediately. And when he decided to recruit some help for his—” Dash took a deep breath “—Artwork, I said no way.”
“You did?”
He ran a hand through his short hair. “Yeah. I stayed, though, because the whole thing was really freaky. And I knew that since I was stupid enough to mix that drink, whatever happened afterward was on me. So I watched to make sure they wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”
My urge to flee had morphed into something hotter and angrier. Now I wanted to pick up one of the chairs and brain him with it. “They didn’t rape me, right? So you didn’t feel the need to stop them. Carry on, guys. It’s only marker.”
Dash pushed the heels of both hands against his temples. “I know you hate me, Bella. But I didn’t think I could stop them, short of calling the police. And since I’d just committed a crime, I didn’t do that. That’s how Whittaker sets up all his shit — he always makes sure that someone else is more culpable than he is. I didn’t understand until then. And I never went back.”
“What do you mean?”
“I slept on the sofa that night, in the same room where they left you alone to sleep it off. And after you left in the morning, so did I. And I haven’t been back since.”
“You haven’t?”
He shook his beefy head. “But I was still guilty of mixing your drink, so I didn’t say anything. Not until last week. They started harassing me, so I had a chat with my father, and then I went to the dean.”
“Why were they harassing you?” I asked, as the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
He chuckled. “There was a certain prank at the football game. They thought I did it.”
“What?” Beta Rho thought an idiot like Dash McGibb had pulled my stunt?
He gave me a wry smile. “Don’t look so outraged, Bella. You’ll give yourself away.”
Shit! Focus! “You must be in a pile of trouble for telling the dean what you helped Whittaker do.”
“You bet.” He nodded. “I got a year’s probation. And I’m off the football team.”
My inner bitch gave a snort. What kind of punishment was that? “What about the cops?”
He looked up with a wince. “After the dean finishes her investigation, she’ll probably ask you if you want to press charges against me. I asked my dad’s lawyer, and he said that’s probably what would happen.”
“Oh.” Oh. Jesus Christ. His fate was in my hands. How appropriate, really. And how strange.
The moment stretched on. We had a staring contest, which I won when Dash looked at his shoes again. “My dad’s lawyer probably wouldn’t want me talking about it. But I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. G’night.” He met my eyes one more time before walking away.