Hate me

Aspen

“Mom,” a deep voice calls out, stirring me awake. 

I open my eyes and glance up at an unfamiliar ceiling. It suddenly dawns on me I’m not in my bedroom. 

And I’m not alone. 

My brain pounds against my skull, like a hammer thumping a wall. 

I jolt when I take in my surroundings and realize I’m in the basement. 

What the…

Sheer horror surges through my bones when I notice I’m in Knox’s bed. 

Despite the migraine from hell and the exhaustion pummeling me, I lurch off the mattress. 

“What the hell is going on?” 

Shock roots me to the spot when I look down and see I’m wearing nothing but a black t-shirt. 

One that smells just like him. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Knox’s raspy voice grunts from under the covers. 

Is he freaking serious?

Walking over to his side of the bed, I rip the pillow he’s sleeping on away and hit him with it. “Why am I in your bedroom, asshole?” 

An irritated rumble escapes him as he rolls over, and if looks could kill I’d no longer have a pulse. “Because it’s where I put you.” 

With that, he snatches the pillow out of my hands and rolls back over like it’s no big deal. 

Where he put me? What the hell does that mean?

I poke his naked back with my finger. “Knox.” 

“Go away,” he snaps. 

I poke him harder. “I need answers.” 

He pounds the mattress with his fist. “And I need sleep.” 

Rolling my eyes, I flick my gaze to the alarm clock on the nightstand. “No, you don’t. It’s two—”

Holy shit. It’s two in the afternoon. 

I never sleep this late. 

I snatch his pillow away again. 

“Goddammit,” he roars, sitting up in bed. “Why the fuck are you extra a

“Gee, I don’t know,” I start. “Maybe because I woke up in your bed wearing your t-shirt and I have absolutely no idea how I got here.” 

With a huff, he reaches for his cigarettes on the nightstand and brings one to his mouth. “You seriously don’t remember anything from last night?” 

Folding my arms around myself, I shake my head. “No. I mean, I know I went to a party with Traci and Staci, but after that…” 

“After that, what?” he prompts, bringing a lighter to the end of his cigarette.  

“Everything is kind of fuzzy, and then it just goes blank.” 

Like there’s a glitch in my memory.  

I have no idea what to make of the look on his face. 

I take an awkward step back, hoping like hell that the worst didn’t happen.  “Please tell me we didn’t sleep together.” 

I know people do stupid things when they drink, but I never thought I’d be one of them. 

My worst fears are confirmed, when Knox laughs callously under his breath. 

I can feel every ounce of color drain from my face. “Oh, my God.”

“Technically, we did sleep together,” he states through a cloud of smoke. “But I didn’t fuck you.” He snickers. “You couldn’t pay me enough to do that.” 

Relief flows through me. For once, we’re on the same page.  

I notice my jeans, heels, and corset on the floor and I’m about to pick them up, but Knox halts me. “What’s the last thing you remember?” 

Normally I’d tell him to go fuck himself, but a flicker of concern slashes across his face, rendering me speechless. 

“Dammit, Stray,” he gripes. “Quit standing there gaping at me like a fucking idiot and answer me.” 

I chew on my thumbnail, trying my hardest to think. “I uh…I was talking to Ken Ruckman by the lake. He was telling me how he got into Notre Dame on a football scholarship.” 

Knox takes a long drag of his cigarette. “Was he wearing his letterman jacket by any chance?” 

“How do you—”

“Answer the question.” 

“Yeah.” My mind flits back to the events of last night. “He gave it to me when I got cold.” 

I’m not prepared for his next inquiry. 

“Did he force you to drink anything?” 

“No, Ken didn’t force me, but I had a sip of his beer.” Realizing where he’s going with this, I quickly add, “The same beer I saw him drinking out of.” 

Surely if he slipped something into my drink, he wouldn’t drink out of it himself before and after. 

Same goes for Traci and Staci and their jungle juice. 

Although, Staci did get herself another cup after she handed it to me, but I thought she was just being nice. 

Then again…I can’t seem to recall anything after that. 

It’s like my memory is a database that’s been wiped clean. 

“Aspen,” Knox grits out, pulling me from my thoughts. “Tell me you’re not that dumb.” 

“I thought they wanted to be friends,” I whisper, feeling so stupid I could cry. “Why would—”

“Who?” Knox growls, making me jump. 

“Staci and Traci.” I look down at my feet. “They gave me something to drink at the party—”

“Jesus,” he interjects, bringing the cigarette to his mouth. “I know your mom is a space cadet, but I didn’t think she passed the dumbass gene on to you. Don’t you know not to take a drink from any—”

“Yes, I do,” I yell because it’s hard enough realizing I screwed up without having him rub it in my face. “However, I didn’t think it was a big deal because I saw Staci take a sip before she gave it to me. Everyone was drinking at the party and I just wanted to…” my voice cracks and I stop talking. 

Knox stabs his cigarette out in a nearby ashtray. “Wanted to what?” 

“I wanted to have fun and fit in, okay?” I swallow the tears prickling the back of my throat. “I wanted to see what it was like to be popular and—” 

A sardonic snort cuts me off. “Well, congrats. You’re definitely popular now.” 

I raise a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Getting out of bed, he swipes his phone off the nightstand. “Here’s some advice, Stray. When two bitches who have always been cunts to you invite you to hang out…don’t fucking do it.” 

I start to speak, but he twists his phone around and what I see and hear next nearly brings me to my knees. 

“You like sucking this big cock, don’t you, Aspen?” someone who sounds exactly like Ken Ruckman says. 

I close my eyes when the sounds of me gagging fill the room, and I want to scream at him to shut it off because I don’t think I can take anymore.  

“Good news is it will only be up for a few more hours,” Knox states dryly as I hear Staci and Traci laugh on the video. “Bad news is, I’m pretty sure everyone at school has already seen it.” 

“Thank you, captain obvious,” I choke out, trying my hardest to keep my impending tears at bay because I refuse to give him the satisfaction of watching me break. 

Because he’d enjoy it too much. 

Another horrifying thought hits me, and it takes every ounce of self-control not to curl up into a ball on the floor. 

I woke up in his bed. 

If there’s one thing I know about Knox, it’s that he not only enjoys tormenting me…he loves teasing and enticing me first—drawing me in like a moth to a flame. 

Only so he can watch me burn. 

“Let me guess,” I say, my voice a painful rasp. “This is where you open the closet door, hold my underwear up, and tell a bunch of guys I smell like tuna?”

He raises a brow. “Wh—”

“This is where you confess it was all your idea?” I interject. “That you convinced Staci, Traci, and Ken to go along with your plan to set me up?” I take a step forward, so disgusted I could puke. “God, you’ve really done some sick, horrible shit to me before, but this takes the cake.”