“You’ll write him a note? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Absolutely nothing,” I said, spinning around to face her. “Nothing has changed. He still slept with another woman. He still broke things off with me because he freaked out.”
“Yes, but what if there’s more to it?”
“Like what?” I laughed sarcastically.
In truth, I had wished and prayed over the last week that there was a reason, that he hadn’t broken my heart over something so ridiculous, but I couldn’t allow myself to get my hopes up. Whatever happened, it was over.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a shower.”
“You’re going to the garage,” she countered. “You’re just running away.”
“I’m smelly,” I argued.
“You never take your shower in the morning.”
“Well, I am today. I’m starting a new trend.”
“Great, so I can expect our water bill to go up by fifty percent as you take a shower every night and every morning.”
Pursing my lips, I nodded.
“I have to get to work early today, but I expect you to think about this more, Missy. There’s something weird going on here, and I won’t rest until I get to the bottom of it.”
With that final parting, I slammed the bathroom door and quickly undressed, though I really didn’t need a shower, other than to stand under the hot water and have a good cry where no one could hear me.
And that’s just what I did.
I hadn’t broken when he kicked me out of his life.
Other than getting drunk a few times and crying once on my mother’s shoulder, I had held it together quite well, but seeing him in the hospital…
There hadn’t been a single day that I hadn’t stepped into the shower and used the fifteen minutes of solace to feel the pain of almost losing him for good.
Even then, it only tided me over until I was alone at night.
“Get over it, Bailey,” I whispered as the water skimmed over my body. “He’s fine, and he’s not your concern.”
Slamming my hand down on the shower handle, I killed the water and the pity party I was throwing. I quickly wrapped my hair before tying a towel between my breasts. As I stared at myself in the foggy mirror, I willed myself to be strong enough to get through the day.
But that hope was killed the moment I opened the door to the bathroom and heard his voice in the other room.
Sure I was hearing things, I tiptoed down the hall and peered around the corner.
Gasping, I slammed myself back against the wall, cursing myself for being so loud.
“Oh, look. There she is now. I’ll just be going,” Cheyenne said, annoyingly loud as she walked out, slamming the door behind her.
“Fuck,” I hissed.
What the hell was I supposed to do now? He was sitting in my living room, just waiting for me to make myself known. I couldn’t hide from him, and as much as I wanted to pretend he wasn’t there, I also wasn’t five.
Rolling my eyes, I gathered my courage and stepped out from my hiding spot, refusing to show any weakness.
The indifferent retort died on my lips the moment I laid eyes on him. While he was no longer breathing through a tube, he also wasn’t completely healed. There were still parts of him that were clearly banged up, but it was everything under his clothes that concerned me most.
“Your brother told me a beam had fallen on you,” I started, unsure why I was even bringing it up. “Were you burned badly?”
