I blinked up at him, noticing his messy hair and beard scruff for the first time. Behind the glasses his eyes looked tired, like he’d been up all night.
“What happened last night?” I asked.
Beckett’s eyes narrowed on mine. “You don’t remember?”
I started to shake my head but stopped myself in time. “No,” I said.
Beckett paced across the room, turned around, and came back to the bed, eyes blazing. “That asshole got you wasted, then tried to play it off like he didn’t know what was happening. I punched him and then brought you here.”
“That asshole? What asshole?”
“The guy with the man bun.”
“Xan?” I asked, putting the pieces together with difficulty.
Beckett snarled. “That’s his name?Xan?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and I saw that the knuckles on his right hand were bruised and swollen.
“You punched Xan?” I asked, horrified.
“I got one good one in before Peppy pulled me off him.”
“Why’d you punch him?” I asked, trying to picture Beckett losing his composure in a fight. The image was electrifying. All dark hair flying and muscles bulging.
“He fucking drugged you, Lacey.”
I sat up straighter against the pillows and fired an angry glare at Beckett. “Don’t cuss me.”
Beckett sighed and reached up to rip off his glasses. He massaged his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I’m not cussing you,” Beckett said, lowering his hand. “I’m cussing him. That little shit with the man bun.”
“Xan wouldn’t drug me.” Even though I couldn’t remember the details from the night before, I knew this was true. “We were dancing,” I said, trying to piece things together.
“You were doing more than that.” Beckett’s voice was an angry growl.
My eyes snapped open. “What?”
“Peppy said you were kissing.”
Heat burned my cheeks as I remembered. Xan had smelled like nutmeg and cinnamon. “It was just one kiss.”
Beckett scoffed.
“Maybe I got food poisoning.”
“No, Lacey.” Beckett’s lips thinned. “I don’t think you got food poisoning.” He flexed his bruised fist. “I think that asshole drugged you.”
I didn’t have to know Xan well to know he wasn’t that man. He was sweet and funny. His eyes were full of light and his smile was one of the most genuine I’d ever seen. He wouldn’t resort to criminal behavior to get a girl. I knew it in my bones.
Chapter 13
“Xan wouldn’t do that,” I said.
Beckett stood abruptly. The mattress shifted, and the drum in my head pounded.
“Stop saying that prick’s name,” Beckett said. “I never want to hear it again. He fucking drugged you, Lacey.”
I rubbed my temples and shot Beckett a glare. “Stop cussing me.”
