Page 117 of Stroke of Fate

The commotion wakes Austin, and Sam follows shortly after.

“What the hell is going on?” Austin mutters around a yawn, peering down at us from his bed.

“Ask Levi. He’s the one shoving people,” Mack grumbles.

“You weren’t waking up, dickhead.” I shoot back. “Check if my phone is on your side. I can’t find it.” I mumble, ducking my head under the blanket again in case I missed it the first time.

I feel Mack shift as he fights with the blanket wrapped around him. I try not to get too agitated when he says it’s not on his side.

The headache and lack of memories have me on edge. But more so is the fact that I’m not in my apartment. And my gut is telling me something is wrong. Really fucking wrong.

I take a deep breath, willing the headache away so I can think straight. “Well, can someone help me find it? I need to text Bear.”

Instead of jumping into action, they exchange shifty glances, and my stomach twists at the sight. Or maybe it’s the lingering nausea that’s been present ever since I woke up.

“For fuck’s sake! I need to find my phone.” I snap, frustration bleeding through my words.

That does it. Finally, they all start scrabbling out of bed.

“On it!”

“Sure thing, Levi.”

“Absolutely.”

Sam finds it halfway under the dresser, but when I take it from him, the damn thing won’t turn on. I pull the charging cable from his phone and plug it into mine. I’m shocked to see it’s already past one in the afternoon when his screen lights up.

“What the fuck happened last night, and how did we end up here?” I ask no one in particular.

Again, those shifty glances get thrown around. And my muscles tense when no one says anything.

Austin clears his throat, and I instantly know it’s not good. Since he rivals me in the maturity department, anything he's about to say must be serious, especially since neither Mack nor Sam are willing to speak up.

“Listen, man,” He glances at the guys before his eyes find mine again. “You had too much to drink last night and disappeared on everyone for a while. We found you, uh, shirtless, in a room.”

“Okay,” I nod slowly. That lines up with those half-ass memories I have. I still don’t know how the hell I had too much to drink, but we can come back to that later.

So, they caught me hooking up with my girlfriend. No big deal. I only hope Bear wasn’t too embarrassed they walked in on us. But it still doesn’t explain how I ended up here. And why we were still at the party when I thought the plan was to leave rightafter I used the restroom? Or maybe I wasn’t planning on using the restroom at all, and Bear and I were sneaking away?

I rub my temples, trying to ease the pressure all this overthinking is putting on my already tender head.

“I was with Bear, yet somehow ended up spending the night in the dorms with you three?”

Shit. Was she pissed they walked in and left?

Austin’s gaze shoots to Mack, who shifts beside me like he’s uncomfortable with whatever has to be said next. And someone better talk soon.

“Well, see, that’s the thing,” Mack says, rubbing his neck. “Bear asked me to find you because she and the girls had to leave, and you were MIA. So I rounded up the guys, we went looking for you, and… well, we found you.”

My brows furrow in confusion. “But Bear found me first, right?”

He shakes his head. “No, Bear had alreadyleftwhen we found you.”

I stare at him, my pulse spiking. I feel like they’re talking in circles. And then Sam speaks, and his words make my blood run cold.

“Levi, you wereshirtlessin a room without your girlfriend, at a party, and pretty drunk.”

No. No! They’re wrong. They have to be because there’s no way I would do what they're implying. Not to her. I would die before I did anything to jeopardize what I have with Bear. She’s the fucking sun in my world. Ilivefor her.

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