Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(71)

“Can I go, then?” he growled, wanting to be as far away from this party and these people as he could possibly get.

“Not just yet. We’ve got a couple more questions, Mr. Xander.” The two officers closed in on him as if they were about to apprehend him. “It’s been brought to our attention that you’re known for brawling where you come from. That a death actually occurred from one of your high school scrapes.”

So, someone from the grief group had talked, huh? He should’ve expected that, but for some reason, the news caught him off guard.

“Yeah?” He rumbled out his answer, glaring at both cops, daring them to cuff him.

“We don’t want that kind of reputation here at Granton. If we learn of you getting into any more fights, for any reason, you’re out of here. And we don’t just mean out of the party. Got it?”

A tremor of fear shivered up his spine. Kicked out of school for preventing a rape? Yeah, he got it. With a silent nod, he brushed past them, no longer caring if they had any more questions.

They didn’t call him back, so he figured they were done “warning” him.

He wanted to howl at the moon, beat on his chest, do something savage and primal. The campus cops could intimidate him as much as they liked. He deserved a little dirt. But no punishment for Paige’s attacker made him seethe.





Paige left her coat at the fraternity house. She didn’t even notice the cold until Grammar Hall and the promise of a safe haven came into view. Then she finally started to shiver.

Keeping stride beside her, Mariah cast her a quick, assessing glance. “Almost there,” she said.

Paige nodded, letting Mariah know she’d heard and would keep herself together until they made it to their room.

Einstein lurked in his usual spot and darted into the foyer as soon as Paige came through the door. Without meaning to, she gasped and shied away from him.

Freezing in place, he looked her up and down, his gaze pausing on her chest where she physically held up the top of her dress. “What happened?”

Mariah snorted. “Dorian Wade happened. The bastard.” She bustled inside behind Paige and manually took Paige’s shoulders to aim her toward the staircase.

Paige couldn’t stop staring at Einstein as Mariah nudged her along. He didn’t look real, his mouth falling open and eyes shocked.

“Dorian Wade? The star football player?”

“Yes! The star football player,” Mariah snapped as she prodded Paige up another step. “He just tried to rape Paige.”

The word had her shuddering. Hearing it aloud made is suddenly real. Oh, God. She’d almost been—

She couldn’t even think the word.

“What!” Einstein scurried after them, following them up the stairs. “Are you okay, Paige? What happened? Did he hurt you?”

“Does she freaking look okay to you, kid?” Mariah waved him back. “Go back to lurking in your creepy little hole. She wants to be left alone right now.”

It wasn’t until after he’d disappeared that Paige blinked and glanced at her roommate. “You didn’t have to be so mean to him.”

Mariah snorted. “What? He’s an eerie little freak that needs to grow up and learn how annoying and weird he is.”

“He’s not annoying. He’s just lonely.”

She understood loneliness. Too well.

“And you’re totally wigging out,” Mariah said, clutching Paige’s arm to keep her upright when her shaking knees turned to noodles.

Paige shrugged Mariah away. “I’m okay.” But as soon as she spoke, she shivered and huddled her shoulders deeper over her torso, preserving as much body heat as possible.

Mariah stopped touching her but lingered close enough to catch her if need be as they inched down the hallway, Paige leaning on the wall for support.

“Here. I think I have my key.” Being uncommonly helpful, Mariah surged in front of her to take care of the lock. After she disappeared into their room, Paige followed, going straight to her bed and slumping down. She kicked off the shoes Mariah had loaned her and hugged herself, rocking back and forth.

Shoving open the bathroom, Mariah hurried inside only to pound on the opposite door. When neither Bailey nor Tess answered, she cursed. “Where the hell are Larry and Curly? Aren’t they always around?”

“They left for the weekend. Went skiing,” Paige automatically answered before squinting over the comedy reference. “The Three Stooges? Does that make me Moe then?”

Her roommate didn’t bother to answer. She let out a weighty sigh, set her hands on her hips, and studied Paige with an expression that clearly said, What’m I supposed to do with you now?

Paige burst into tears.

Mariah cursed again and began to pace.

“I’m okay,” Paige tried to reassure her, though she couldn’t stop crying and she couldn’t stop shaking. “I…I think I’ll just…I’m going to take a shower and…and scrub my skin raw.”

“Okay.” Mariah nodded. “Okay, good. I’m just going to…” She glanced longingly at the door.

Paige gave her a wobbly smile. “Yeah. Thanks for bringing me home. You can go.”

Hesitating, Mariah frowned. “You sure you’ll be okay alone?”