On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,6
there.
I watched for a few seconds as she tried to help Calli to her feet, and then took off down the sidewalk that led straight off campus. It was nothing I hadn’t seen before; girls unable to hold their damn liquor, embarrassing themselves for all to see. So why, as I kept walking, did the image of her lying there refuse to get the fuck out of my head?
“Fuck,” I hissed, coming to a sharp stop. I dragged a hand down my face and let out a long breath.
Just leave her.
Just fucking leave her there and let someone else deal with her.
Without overthinking it, I spun around and marched back toward the girls. Josie’s eyes widened the second she saw me emerge from the shadows. “Z- Zach?”
“Where is she staying?”
“Abrams.”
“Grab her purse.” I barked as I stared down at Calli.
She invoked so much emotion inside me, but none was more prevalent than hate.
I hated her.
I hated everything she stood for, everything she was.
So why I did what I did next, was beyond me.
Crouching down, I pushed her hair out of her face, and said, “Sweet pea, you alive?”
“Sleep, I just sleep riiiight here.” Her eyes rolled.
“Okay,” I slid one of my arms under her shoulders and the other under her knees, “up we go.”
She barely weighed one-hundred and twenty pounds, and a strange memory hit me in the gut. I couldn’t remember her being this light.
Don’t. Fucking. Go. There.
Calliope James was woven into my soul. A dark stain that no matter what I did, who I fucked, I couldn’t get rid of.
For a second, I contemplated dropping her on the ground and leaving her there. I had no business being there, doing this.... and yet, in that second, she looked so fragile. So innocent and pure.
She looked like something I wanted to ruin.
“Zach, what the hell?” Josie called after me as I took off down the sidewalk. Steinbeck campus was a sprawling place, and the dormitories were located past the main buildings.
“Zach, I said—”
“Do you want to get her back to her room or not?” I ground out, not bothering to slow down.
Josie stumbled beside me, catching her breath. “Of course... I didn’t think she’d get so wasted. But she saw you and... what exactly is your history?”
Something snaked through me. Something I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“We’re both from Bay View. We went to school together.” I gave her a tight-lipped reply.
“Did you bully her or something? Because I swear, she saw you and almost passed out.”
“Bully her, really? What are we, twelve?” I shot her an irritated look.
“Hey, what’s your problem?” Josie ducked around me and planted her hands on her hips, making me draw to a stop. Calli murmured in my arms, hanging there like a rag doll. I tried to ignore the way her outfit molded to her curves... the way her tits were practically spilling out of the lacy halter top she wore, but I was only human.
“Look, I’m not doing this for her, I’m doing it for you. Joel would kick my ass if he knew I’d seen you and not helped out.”
“You’re doing this for me?” She balked.
“Yep. So if you don’t mind...” I raised a brow.
“Ugh, fine. Whatever.” Josie stepped aside and we continued down the sidewalk.
“Just how much did she drink anyway?”
“Not much at all. I got the impression she doesn’t drink a lot.”
“You don’t say,” I mumbled. We were almost at Abrams.
Thank fuck.
“And you just let her go at it?”
“I didn’t let her do anything. She’s eighteen, she can make her own choices.” Josie let out a resigned sigh. “I tried to make her alternate with water. But she wouldn’t listen.”
“You got your key?” I asked as we arrived at the door. Abrams was a co-ed dorm so there wouldn’t be a problem with me roaming the halls.
“Yeah, here.” Josie scanned her key card and the door clicked open. I cradled Calli close to my chest as I maneuvered her inside.
“What floor?”
“Second. She’s in two-eleven.”
“Lead the way,” I said, motioning for her to go on ahead.
I should have been home by now, passed out in bed with a bottle of Jack. Instead, I was about to put Calliope James, a girl I thought I’d never see—hoped to never see—again, to bed.
The universe clearly wasn’t done fucking with me.
We finally reached her room, and Josie dug around in Calli’s purse and pulled out another key card. “Here.” She pushed the door open and let me go inside first.