Raelyn glanced down at her outfit. "No way."

Sam peeked around the corner and nodded. "Yes, way. You look hot."

Rae whirled on her roommate. "Is that the goal?"

"Aren't you trying to land a smokin' hot man? Is that not the plan?"

Rae frowned and glanced back at her outfit, a dark purple sleeveless dress that barely covered her butt. "Trevor is going to think I sleep around."

Sam smoothed out her maroon dress. "Careful. That's my dress."

"You are half a foot shorter than I am. This dress is covering six inches less of flesh." Rae tugged the dress down. "How am I supposed to dance in this?"

Sam stepped in front of Rae, pinning back her bangs. "You can take it off halfway through the night. I'm sure Trevor would love that."

"You clearly don't know Trevor very well."

Sam whirled and tugged Rae to sit down on the bed, climbing behind her to pull up her hair. "I know men. They're all the same." Her eyes darkened and she nearly tugged Rae's hair out. "Especially if they play lacrosse."

Rae snatched her hair back. "Careful." She carefully arrayed it around her shoulders, covering as much of her exposed skin as possible.

Sam grabbed her hair again and wrestled it back into a high ponytail. "I'm paying, so I get to decide what you wear."

"Tyrant," Rae muttered.

Sam tugged her roommate's hair. "What was that?"

"Let's go already." Rae carefully extracted herself and stood, grabbing her purse. "I'm sure Trevor and Zack are waiting for us at Nightfare."

Sam nodded and grabbed her purse. "Let me tell my sister we're leaving."

Rae nodded. "You decided not to invite her?"

Sam nodded. "She'd probably tell Mom. Besides, she's in the middle of Little Women. She'd kill me if I took her away from that."

They managed to arrive only a half hour after they told the guys, so waited outside in the frigid Chicago air. They bypassed greetings for getting into the club and warming up. The bouncer had let Rae and Sam in—no charge. A neon sign glowed "Girls Dance Free." Sam smiled at her roommate mischievously. So much for her altruism.

Rae tried to greet Trevor, but Sam downed a shot of whiskey before pulling the two guys onto the dance floor. She left Rae to trail along behind them, narrowly avoiding the flailing limbs and shattered glass that decorated the floor. Finally, she found the three of them dancing in the center of a mob.

"Real nice place you chose!" Rae shouted into her roommate's ear. Sam ignored her, throbbing with the music with her eyes closed. The entire room glimmered—sweat on people, lights on the ceiling, and a generous amount of broken beer bottles and wine glasses on the floor. She was grateful Sam didn't notice her sensible ballet flats and insist she wear heels.

Trevor and Zack hovered by each other, but Zack gravitated toward Sam as the music built toward the climax. Sam, taking his approach as the go-ahead, began dancing against him. Rae rolled her eyes.

"You come here often?" Trevor shouted in her ear. Rae shook her head and pointed to Sam. Trevor nodded.

"She wanted to come because they have stripper poles!" Rae shouted back. Trevor leaned down and Rae shouted again. Finally, he shrugged, unable to hear.

"Do you want something to drink?"

Rae nodded and leaning in close to his ear, skin prickling at their closeness. "Water!"

He nodded and slid off. Rae danced a bit by herself before heading over to the side and taking a seat next to the DJ's booth. The bar and entrance sat on the far side of the bar. She slid off her flats, rubbing the heel of her foot. She glanced over to the entrance and her jaw dropped.

While the guys didn't carry their sticks, Rae recognized the UC lacrosse gang once they walked in. After a few moments of shock, Rae jumped up and raced back onto the dance floor, searching for Sam. The crowd was too thick, though and Rae found herself back where she started.

"Crap." Rae tried again and found Sam whirling around one of the poles installed on the far side of the dance floor. Trevor threw up his hands when he saw her and handed her a glass of water. She rushed forward and grabbed Sam, who shook her off. Sam wobbled and Rae caught the scent of alcohol on her. "Sam, are you drunk?" She glanced at her watch. "We've been here for half an hour."

Zack had been keeping up with her, it seemed, because he just laughed and tried to join Sam on the pole.

Rae finally managed to drag Sam away from the pole, who pouted about losing her toy. "Sam, we have to go. The lacrosse team showed up."

Her eyes crossed briefly before anger washed over her. "Jacob?"

Rae nodded and began dragging her toward the door. "Let's go home." Sam reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled toward the door. When Rae saw the lacrosse crowd hovering by the bar, she redirected, pulling her friend toward the DJ booth.

She settled Sam down before scanning the room again. Zack and Trevor had disappeared, but at least Trevor was sober. Rae glanced back to Sam to see tears streaming down her face. Her fists shook in anger. Then, Sam burst to her feet and charged forward.

Rae caught her arm and whirled.

The lacrosse team approached. Gritting her teeth, Rae tried to drag her friend away, but Sam started taking off her heels and pulling back her hair, ready to slam her fist into Jacob's teeth.

"Sam, there's glass on the floor! Put your shoes back on!" Sam ignored her, throwing her heels into the dancing crowd. She stepped forward and Rae grabbed her with both hands, using her weight to keep her friend from being an idiot. She yanked and they two of them collapsed onto a couch. She yanked off her shoes and tied the flats onto her friend's feet. They were a bit large, but they stayed firm.

Sam elbowed Rae in the face, struggling to charge ahead toward the approaching crew. Rae felt something run down her nostril and reached up to see her nose bleeding.

"Sam!"

The wiry little exercise major managed to free herself from Rae and stood up, only to come nose to nose with her fiercest enemy—Jacob. Sam reared back her first and slammed it into his stomach. Even drunk, she could land a punch. Jacob smirked and caught her wrist, pulling her against him.

"Miss me, sweetie?" She thrashed, but unlike Rae, Jacob could trap her in his arms. Rae jumped up, but two other UC students stepped up, cornering her against the wall. Rae waved lamely, tilting her head up as she tried to stop her bleeding nose.

A shout echoed from behind them, and Sam sprinted back toward Rae. When the two lacrosse players stepped aside, she saw Sam had bitten Jacob. And now Jacob was pissed.

This is why Raelyn didn't go to clubs.

Jacob surged forward and Rae stepped in front of Sam, who dissolved into frightened tears. Jacob lifted a hand, but Rae lashed out with her leg, landing firmly in his stomach. Jacob gasped for breath, shocked.

A bit of confidence flooded her veins. Mom didn't enroll her in kickboxing for no reason.

Her confidence faded once Jacob nodded to his friends, who pulled Rae to the side and pinned her against the wall.

A loud crack echoed around the space before being drowned out by Pharrell Williams's "Happy" dropping into dubstep. Sam wailed and grabbed her face. Jacob's hand dropped.

"You missed me that much?" He grabbed Sam's hair and pulled her down to the floor. "Slut."

Rae's anger mixed with fear as Sam melted into a puddle—her confidence vanishing in front of her abuser. Rae cupped her hand and drove her fingers into the stomach of one of the guys by her. He stepped back, clutching his ribs and Rae darted out, jumping onto Jacob's back.

Jacob reeled, not expecting the sudden weight on his shoulder. He nearly toppled backward before realizing Rae had locked herself against him. She tried to lock her legs around him, but he responded quickly, falling to his knees and tossing her over his shoulder.

She collided with the floor and her breath left her in a huff. She gasped for air and Jacob leapt onto her, straddling her waist and pinning her hands above her head. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet. He moved both her hands into one of his massive paws and tugged her dress down over her chest. He admired her bra for a moment before sliding a finger under one of the cups. She didn't even resist; the weight on her chest made catching her breath difficult.

Suddenly, the weight on her disappeared. She pulled herself up to her feet as fast as she could, taking deep, steady breaths and surveying the scene in front of her.

A shadowy man held Jacob by the scruff of his neck before tossing him out onto the dance floor. Jacob yelped as he landed on broken bottles but scrambled up. Rae saw that two of the bouncers had stepped between Raelyn and the lacrosse squad.