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asleep.

 
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    8:24am
    Soreness can be felt all over my body. I moan as I turn onto my back in bed, but it's not my bed. This bed is much wider, and the sheets are cotton where mine are flannel. Once again I remember what happened. I sit up and my muscles feel like they have been through the ringer, all tight and sore. I take in my surroundings, which aren't much. A king size bed with a burgundy and gold comforter with swirling designs you can find at any department store. To my right is a bedside table with a lamp. The window behind me acts as a headboard and is completely bare. That's it. That's his entire room. Strange.
    I see a note on the pillow next to me and I pick it up to read:
     
    I'm in the living room. I didn’t want you to wake up and be scared to be sharing a bed with a strange man.
     
    Jay confuses me. I've never met anyone like him. He's raw and menacing, but he has a softness to him, a sweetness that tugs at my heart. Remembering the way he dismantled those men is seconds makes my body shiver.
    I get out of bed with the need to pee. Badly. Once in the hall, I'm glad to find the bathroom directly across from me.
    The fan clicks on when I turn on the light, startling me. I'm extra jumpy, which doesn't surprise me after last night. That's when I see my face. The side that was slapped is bruised and swollen along my cheek near my lips. He hit me harder than I thought. I'm thinking it was more than a hard slap. My lip is slightly puffed and the skin is broken, but I think it's cut from me biting it.
    I step all the way in and lean over the sink to get a better view. I touch the puffed out skin. It's definitely tender.
    Jay appears in the door frame behind me, leaning the side of his body against it.
    “ I thought he only slapped me, but this doesn't look like something a slap can do,” my voice is still raspy and sore.
    Jay's lips tighten and his jaw sets. I see the muscles in his arms clench, “No, that's definitely not from a slap. That's what happens when somebody hits you.”
    I lean in closer, my nose almost touching the glass. “Why didn't it feel like a punch? Shouldn't it have hurt more when it happened?”
    “ Adrenaline, it can dull the pain.”
    That makes sense. I had a shitload of that last night.
    I stand up straight and take in his appearance through the mirror. He barely looks touched. In fact, he doesn't have a mark on him.
    I whirl around, “How did you go unharmed?”
    A dark chuckle vibrates the room and goosebumps form on my skin. Eerie darkness returns to his eyes, “I've fought a lot more men than that at once, and they knew what they were doing. The guys last night hadn't a clue. They were weak and slow. I could have taken them out laying on my back.”
    “ Now you’re just being cocky.”
    “ No, I'm not.”
    I swallow from the seriousness of his tone.
    He scratches his scruff. I notice that his knuckles are broken and red. I glance at his other hand to see it just as banged up.
    I close the gap between us, grabbing the hand on his face to examine it. Wow, it looks bad. Red, raw, broken, and painful. “Are you okay?”
    He yanks it away, “Quit asking me that.”
    “ I'm only worried about you,” I fire back.
    “ Don't. I made coffee if you drink it.” Jay leaves me and retreats down the hall.
    I quickly go to the bathroom before heading to the front room. It's just as bare as his bedroom. A couch, a coffee table, a flat screen mounted on the wall. Underneath is a small console with an XBOX and a cable box. In the clear cabinets of the console I can see DVDs and XBOX games. To my left is an open kitchen with an island where he has one bar stool. No dining table or pictures on the wall, that's all there is to see. It only makes me more fascinated by him, which I know is dangerous. I'm not exactly the best judge of character.
    “If you’re done analyzing my place I can pour you a cup of coffee. I have orange juice too, if you prefer that,” Jay's