“Get your ass out of here or I’ll call the cops,” Paul said. Sherri was too grateful to argue that he shouldn’t give those jerks this ultimatum; he should call the cops anyway, and take the film. “I told you to stop tricking the girls.”

Sherri burst into tears. “This was a trick?”

Danny helped her get her shirt on, and he led her, limp and tired, to the cart. “Let’s get you back.”

“What were you doing walking, Sher? You know you’re supposed to let us drive you to the dorms,” Paul said. He sounded angry, as though the whole experience had been her fault, and it had. She was an idiot, an idiot!

“They said they were with the magazine,” Sherri said.

“And you believed them? Those guys have your pictures now.”

They had more than that, she thought. Even in her stupor, she understood that those men had taken a piece of her.

Danny took her to her dorm room and told her to lie down. Val rushed to her side, shouting expletives as Danny relayed the situation. The couple seemed like older siblings to Sherri. Danny’s hand was on Val’s shoulder, and the three of them felt like they were linked together in a chain. “Oh, Sher,” Val said, her voice softer and kinder than anyone would ever have believed possible. She was moody and difficult, but in that moment, Sherri loved Val with her whole being.

“You aren’t the first girl those guys have tricked,” Danny said. “Believe me.”

“What am I going to do about work? I have the Bob Hope event tonight. I can’t even think!”

Val said, “I’ll cover. As far as Gloria is concerned, you came down with food poisoning.”

“I’m sorry.” Sherri began to cry. “I should have known better.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Danny said. “Those guys are scum. I’m just glad I was with bad golfers who shot their ball into the rough or I wouldn’t have found you.”

“Why can’t I be more like you?” Sherri asked Val.

“You don’t want to be like me.” Val smoothed Sherri’s hair. “You get like me from having bad stuff like this happen all the time.”

“Your problem,” Danny said, “is that you’re so surprised by everything.”

Sherri couldn’t stay focused. Whatever the guys had given her made her sleepier than she’d ever felt. “I’m so stupid. They used me. I was used.”