If he already knew Billy was my ex from their conversation, alone, that couldn't be good.

"He woke me up talking on his phone. When he realized it, he apologized," he said with his back toward me, putting the first sandwich into the sizzling pan. "He said he'd called into work and that his boss was being a jerk. When he hung up, I asked him where he worked. He told me about his construction job and how he was in a band. When he told me which one, I recognized him." He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "He's a really good guitar player," he said before turning back around.

"Whatever."

"Anyway, we talked for a bit about his band and stuff and he went on to tell me how his ex-girlfriend had almost bled to death." He flipped the sandwich. "I thought it sounded familiar, but I didn't say anything." He turned around and leaned up against the counter. "He said you must've lost a lot of blood and wasn't thinking right to have called him."

"I agree."

"He said y'all had been broken up for almost a year but that he still cared about you."

He looked at me like he wanted me to say something, but there was nothing to say, so I just shrugged. He turned back around and slid the sandwich onto a plate, which I really hoped was mine. My stomach leaped for joy as he sat the delicious-looking golden sandwich down in front of me. I picked it up and took a bite, not caring that it was still too hot to eat, letting it burn my tongue. I quickly took a swig of Gatorade, which is awful with grilled cheese, so I asked if I could get a glass of milk instead.

When he turned and looked at me, it was the first time I thought I could read the look on his face—or maybe it was wishful thinking. "You can help yourself to anything here." His eyes smoldered and, for the first time, I noticed that they were, in fact, green and not blue. I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach, or maybe it was just my food. Whichever one it was, I liked it.

I poured myself a glass of milk and finished off my sandwich. When the next one was ready, he didn't ask if I wanted it, he just slid it onto my plate.

"So, was that all you all talked about?" I asked, still curious.

"Nope." He sat down next to and poured himself a glass of milk, topping off my glass before he put it up.

"Did he know you were waiting for me, too?"

"He did when the nurse came in and said you were ready to go and that you wanted me to drive you." He tried to hide his smile. "And then she just told him that you were doing well and that you said to tell him thanks." As much as I wanted to not care, I did. He must've noticed the look on my face because his not-so-hidden smile faded. "So, what did he do to you?"

"What did he do to me?"

I repeated, pondering exactly what he'd done. He had not only cheated on me that day, but he had taken the trust that I had in him and threw it out the window, never to be found again. And not only did he ruin the trust I had in him, but he ruined it for every other guy that I'd met since him. Now that I thought about it, I'd not been able to trust anyone since that day. If someone who I loved, who I thought loved me, would go and do something like that behind my back, then anyone would. I doubted that I'd ever be able to trust anyone, especially a potential boyfriend, ever again. Since the day I made him leave, I depended on no one. My mom had practically abandoned me, and when Billy did what he did, so did he. The only person I could trust was myself, which would surely lead to a life of loneliness, but at least my heart would stay intact. If it ever got broken like that again, I don't think I could put the pieces back together. Not again.

I looked at him and answered as honestly as I possibly could. "He ruined me."

***

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Chad asked as he got ready to leave for work.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I'll leave a light on."

He had made me sleep in his bed, since the couch still had dried blood on it. He'd scheduled some company to come get it in the morning so they could professionally clean it, and if they couldn't, he was going to get it reupholstered. I told him that I'd pay for it or buy him a new one, but he said not to worry about it. The fact that I may be out of a job for a while kept me from arguing with him. I was glad that I had money saved up but hated having to dip into my savings just to survive until my arm healed. I hoped that I would be able to return to work before my savings account ran dry.

He walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, making the butterflies in my stomach come alive again. "Promise me that you'll call if you need me."

"Hopefully I won't need you."

"But if you do, call."

"I will." I had been so wrapped up in everything that had happened and trying to do things with just one arm that I hadn't even gotten my phone out of my purse. I almost felt panicked, wondering what they had done at the salon and if Beth, the owner, had called. "Will you bring me my purse before you go? It's on the counter."

He brought me my purse before he left, leaving his bathroom light on for me. "Call if you need me," he ordered. I gave him the thumbs up, which made him smile, since it was from my bandaged hand. The way they had wrapped it had left my thumb sticking out awkwardly to the side, so it looked like I was always giving a thumbs up.

I turned on my phone, which was almost dead, as he walked out the door. I ran into the living room to retrieve my charger and darted back into his room, shutting the door behind me and leaping onto the bed like something was after me. I plugged the charger up as my phone came to life with notifications. I started at the top of the list and worked my way down. They had also wrapped up my fingers, making something as simple as dialing a number a monumental task.

I talked to Kim and Eric first, who were mad that I hadn't called, and I couldn't blame them. I lied and told them that I'd been groggy all day from the surgery, which they accepted, and that I'd see them tomorrow. And then I returned Beth's call, anxious to see what we were going to work out with my work schedule, hoping that I was still on it. I knew I'd have to be out for the next couple of days until I saw the doctor and was released. Thankfully, she said she wasn't about to lose me and that we'd figure something out for me to do. I knew I wouldn't be taking home my normal paycheck, since I wouldn't be working with clients for a while, but anything is better than nothing.

The light in the bathroom started to flicker before I hung up with her, making my heart leap into my throat. Oh, no, not again. I told Beth I'd stop by tomorrow and quickly hung up the phone.

"Please," I almost cried. "You're scaring me." Maybe if it was that girl, she'd understand that I couldn't help her if I was scared to death of her. The light stopped flickering. I scooted toward Chad's headboard and pulled the covers up around my chin like they would actually protect me somehow. "What do you want?"

No sooner I got the words out, the blankets were pulled out of my hand and off the bed, falling to the floor, leaving me fully exposed. "Help me," came from the side of the bed, and I looked up to see the same girl—the sad one, not the zombie-looking one—standing by the bed.

I scrambled away from her, falling off the other side of the bed. "Please leave me alone," I cried. "I don't know how to help you."

She vanished and reappeared right next to me, making me jump back again. I couldn't take this. I covered my face, hoping she'd just go away, but it didn't work.

"Stop him," she moaned in my ear. "He kills me every day." I uncovered my face to see that she was crying now, too. Suddenly I didn't feel as afraid. "Please... help... me." And she was gone.

I sat on the floor, stunned. Stunned that she had come to me like she did. Stunned that I even saw her—saw her like she was a real person. Stunned that she talked to me and that I wasn't afraid... not in the end, anyway.

My phone pulled me back to reality, letting me know that I had a text. I slowly got up and gathered the blankets, trying to make the bed back up, which was almost impossible with just one arm. Why couldn't she have just thrown a pillow or something? I climbed back into Chad's bed and looked at my phone to see who had texted me. It was Billy.

How are you feeling?

I debated on ignoring him, but after he'd stayed up all night and missed work, I couldn't. I was so glad I had talk-texting on my phone.

I'm fine. Thanks for taking me to the hospital and staying with me. I really appreciate it. I can't talk to you anymore, though. I just can't.

It wasn't long after I hit send that he texted me back.

Why?

You know why.

I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am. There’s no excuse for what I did. I regretted it then & have regretted it every day since. I let that one bad decision ruin us & I’m sorry.

Tears streamed down my face, making me despise him more and more as each one fell. The fact that he could still make me feel this way….

I threw my phone across the room and snuggled into Chad's pillow. The smell of him calmed my nerves and helped me to relax enough to go to sleep. I heard my phone go off a few more times before sleep took me deep into my dreams, where phones weren't allowed.

***

"Wake up," Chad said as he gently shook me back and forth.

When I rolled over, pain shot through my arm, causing me to grab it and wince. "What time is it?"

"It's a little after eight," he replied. "I knew you were going to go to your work, so I thought you might want to get up early, since I'm sure it's gonna take you a while to get dressed with one arm."

"Oh, yeah." I moaned as I pulled myself out of bed. Once I was fully awake, I remembered what had happened last night and told Chad what the girl had said. "Have you talked to Rich or Jeff yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. They want to have a meeting Friday night to go over everything. Do you care to stay here until then?" I shook my head. "Okay, then. Now get out of here so I can go to bed," he teased.

"Oh, sorry," I said as I got up and walked out of his room. "Hey, the couch is gone."

"Yeah, I told you they were coming to get it this morning."

"But how did they—"

"The security guard let them in. They said that they knocked, but no one came to the door, sleepyhead."

"Sorry."

"Goodnight," he said with a smile as he shut his door.

I ate a bowl of cereal and got ready to go to the salon to talk to Beth and just hang out for a while. The salon was my normal and I needed normal today. When I got ready to leave, I realized I had forgotten about my phone that was still lying in Chad's bedroom floor. I hated going back into his room, especially since he'd shut the door, but I wasn't going to wake him up just to get my phone. Ugh.

I walked down the hall and stopped to listen at his door. When I didn't hear anything, I slowly turned the knob and crept in. His curtains were pulled and it was dark, but enough light came in through the door that I could see my phone lying on the other side of his bed. I could also see that he didn't have a shirt on and that he slept in his underwear, obviously not liking to be covered up. Ugh again.

I hurried and picked up my phone and turned to leave, only to have him stop me. "What are you doing?" he asked softly.

"I'm... I'm sorry. My phone. I threw it. Last night. Forgot about it," I spat, not using complete sentences, which made him laugh. "I'm... I'll just be going now."

When I finally looked back at him, he had covered up, but only partially. I couldn't help but notice his muscles that were still peeking out from under the sheet. He rolled over on his side, watching me watch him.

Oh, crap, I'm staring. "Um, I'll see you later," I said as I made a dash for the door.

"Wait." I stopped but didn't turn around to look at him, which made him laugh again. "When do you think you'll be back?"

"I should be back sometime after lunch. Do you need me to get something?" I said from the door.

"Come here a sec." He waited on me to walk over to the edge of his bed before he continued. "I'm supposed to be going out with one of my friends and his girlfriend for dinner later. Would you like to go?"

"Um..." I didn't want to take it there with him, or anybody, for that matter.

"Come on, go with us. I don't like being a third wheel."

I sighed. "Well, seeing as how you've saved me from evil and didn't kill me when I bled all over your couch, I'm thinking going out to dinner with you is the least I can do."

Even in the semi-darkness of his room, his teeth appeared to glow when he smiled. "Great. I'm supposed to meet them at seven, so as long as you're ready to go by six-thirty."

"Gotcha." I turned to walk out his door, but before I shut it behind me, I whispered, "Sweet dreams."

"Oh, I'm sure they will be... as long as you take zombie-girl with you." I gave him the bandaged thumbs-up again.

As I grabbed my purse and headed for the door, all I could think about was Chad on the other side of that door half-naked. I put on my sunglasses and hurried out the door, trying to leave thoughts of Chad here with him.

I glanced down at my phone as I walked to my car and sighed, having four texts—three being from Billy.

Please say something … Jacynda I’m sorry … I still love you. I always have. Probably always will. If you never talk to me again I understand but I just wanted to let you know how I feel.

I stopped dead in my tracks, rereading his last text. Did he just tell me he loved me? I felt like throwing my phone, again, but needed it too bad to take my anger out on it, so I stomped to my car instead and slammed my door when I got in, cursing the day I ever met Billy Jakes.

***

It's crazy how my life had changed in the span of a week. I had gone from doing hair and managing an upscale salon in the heart of Knoxville, moving into my first home, and finally feeling like my luck was changing, to answering phones, assisting stylists instead of being one, moving in with an almost-stranger because the spawn of Satan was residing in my home, and almost chopping my arm off, making every little task seem like an impossible chore.

And now Chad and I were heading to a meeting with his team to see what needed to be done about my house. The part I hated about this meeting was that it was at my house