large bite of meatloaf into his mouth.
Summer glared at him. “You will always defend him, won’t you?”
He shrugged. “He’s my best friend. I was there when he went to confront the bitch who drugged him.”
“What?” I gasped. Summer dropped her fork and we both stared at him. “What happened?”
He finished chewing his food and sighed. “She admitted to drugging him out of jealousy, she wanted to make you think they slept together.”
“So they didn’t?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nope. He could charge her with rape if she did. It was all staged to make it look like they did.”
Summer huffed. “There’s no proof he was drugged.”
“There will be,” Evan countered.
I sucked in a breath. “How so?”
“Kate.” A wide grin spread across his face. “She took a sample of his blood. We should find out in the next day or so. He was so sick after he woke up, he was vomiting and couldn’t see straight. Kate said those were the exact symptoms of a person under the influence of drugs. She’s an expert on that kind of stuff.”
“Why didn’t Kate tell me? She’s my best friend.” My gut clenched and I couldn’t eat anymore. What if I’d been wrong about Luke this whole time? Had I just left him there, drugged and in pain? He had been sleeping when I saw him on the bed . . .
Evan shrugged. “She didn’t want to interfere until she got the results. She knows you don’t feel as close to her as you once did, because of the memory loss. And I thought it best for everyone to stay away from you and give you your space. Obviously, Luke couldn’t abide by it. He was so desperate to see you.”
I could tell by the way he barged into my bathroom. “I should’ve talked to him, let him explain what he thought happened. Instead, I yelled and told him to get away from me.”
“Which I’m sure hurt him more than anything,” Evan added. Summer hit his arm and gave him a glare, but he grabbed her hand. “Think about it, Summer. This same shit almost happened to me and you.”
Summer sighed and lowered her head. “You’re right.”
I waved my hands in the air. “Uh . . . I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
Summer glanced at Evan and then over to me. “You don’t remember this, but when Evan and I started dating, his ex was jealous of me. At the same time, Jaxon, one of the other football players, wanted to steal me away from Evan. What’s crazy is that Jaxon is one of our friends now.” Evan snorted and Summer rolled her eyes. “Anyway, those two put together a plot to break us apart. One night at a party here, Evan got really drunk. Lindsey snuck into his bedroom and even planted a used condom in the trashcan. They wanted me to think they’d slept together.”
“How do you know they didn’t?”
“Because Luke caught them,” she replied. “He was the one who figured it all out in time. Lindsey had confessed to being a part of it, and the next morning, Evan went and kicked his ass.”
“It felt good too,” Evan added. “But do you see the possibilities here? I know it might seem farfetched to think Luke could’ve been drugged, but jealousy can make someone do desperate things. He’s a victim in all of this. Imagine how he feels right now.”
Tears slid down my cheeks. “What am I going to do?”
Summer reached for my hand. “You’ll figure it out. If you want me to find someone else to take Grayson’s shift, I can.”
I wiped away my tears. “No, I got it. Maybe the distraction will help.”
I helped clean up the dishes, then hurried over to the tavern. I wanted to text Luke, to tell him I was sorry, but after what happened at my house, I couldn’t blame him if he was upset with me. If the situation was reversed, I’d be furious if he didn’t believe my side of the story. A simple text wasn’t going to suffice; I knew what I had to do.
The hours dragged by and I kept looking over at the corner table, hoping the four guys catching up about all the girls they banged over the summer would pack up and leave. Josh ended up taking over their table because they kept flirting with Victoria. I was starting to think something was blossoming between those two.
Victoria removed the clip from her long, light brown