“What the fuck, Randy!” I shot off, reaching for a towel to cover myself.

“You look ripe, baby. You should let me see to that.”

“Are you fucking crazy? Jayden’s—”

“Fast asleep and won’t be up for hours.” He took a step toward me as Jayden closed the gap.

“Wrong, motherfucker,” Jayden hissed behind him before landing a bone cracking punch directly to the side of his face. I watched in horror as Jayden stood above him as a crippled Randy lay on the floor. He looked up at me, anger clear in his features as I stood paralyzed.

“Get up,” Jayden ordered in a voice I didn’t recognize.

“Jayden, I didn’t mean—” Randy defended as he tried to stand.

“Get up, Randy.” His voice was deadly as he ordered his friend off the floor.

“Jayden, I locked the door, I swear,” I told him as his eyes shot down to Randy.

“Get up!” Jayden screamed, his face pulsing with rage.

Randy stood at his full height as Jayden stepped up to him, barely an inch from his face. “Twenty Goddamn years of friendship gone over a woman you know only wants me. I hope it was worth it.” Jayden reared back and threw a right hook that had me screaming at the top of my lungs. Randy stood there in an attempt to take it, but as soon as Jayden’s fist connected, his head jerked and a spray of blood flew across the bathroom, landing directly on me. Randy went down, groaning in agony and holding his broken nose.

“You have one fucking hour to get your shit out of my house or I’ll remove it for you.” I stood crying as Randy blocked the entrance to the door, still groaning. Jayden looked at me with steely eyes and walked back into his bedroom, slamming his door so hard it sounded like the frame cracked. With the towel still wrapped around me, I threw my t-shirt on, unsure of what to do. It took Randy the better part of a few minutes to sit up on the floor. He didn’t bother looking my way as he grabbed a towel off the rack and made his exit. I raced into Jayden’s bedroom, bag in hand, and froze when I saw him standing in the middle of the room, seething, his knuckles busted. I pulled out some shorts, putting them on quickly as I rushed through my words.

“I locked that door, Jayden. I swear to God I did. I had no idea he was there.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you use my bathroom!”

“I didn’t want to wake you. You were dead asleep. I was afraid I would make too much noise. I know how hard it is for you to—”

“How fucking considerate of you!” He was still yelling as I rushed to him, putting my hand on his chest.

“No, baby, please don’t blame me for this shit. I was coming to you Jay—”

My words were cut off as he threw my arm off his chest. I’d never dealt with Jayden this angry and I knew I was out of my element. He’d warned me about this. I turned to leave the room before it went any further.

“Where the fuck are you going?”

“Home, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’ll wait until he leaves.”

“Why?”

“Because in the twenty years I’ve known him, I never thought he’d pull that sick shit and I don’t know what he’s capable of!” He moved me out of the doorway as he looked out to see Randy rapidly packing his room.

“Get it all, man, because you are never getting back in.” He slammed the door again, making me jump.

“Go, clean the blood off,” he said, ordering me away.

“Fuck you,” I said, shaking as I slid down the wall next to the door, covering my head as I buried it in between my legs, crying quietly. A twenty year friendship, whether it was my fault or not, was over, and I felt terrible for Jayden. But at the same time, it was the first time I’d ever wanted to truly be away from him. This raging monster was nothing like the man I loved. He was understandably pissed off, but it was amped up by a million, making him unreasonable toward me. I stayed silent, not looking up as I heard Randy racing down the hall with his shit to make himself scarce. I could feel Jayden’s presence, but couldn’t bring myself to face him. I hadn’t done a fucking thing wrong, but somehow it felt like I had.

“I would never hurt you, Hilary,” Jayden said after a few minutes. “Ever.”

I nodded into my knees as a small sob escaped my lips.

“He deserved it and so much worse,” Jayden said, his voice now belonging to him.

I didn’t say anything as he stood in front of me with his door open, watching Randy leave. I looked up briefly and saw the flash of pain cover his face as Randy threw his key on the floor at Jayden’s feet before leaving.

I was too emotional to form a sentence, so I waited a few minutes as Jayden looked down at me. Our eyes met and I stood up.

“Is Gerri home?”

“No,” I said through a snot-filled nose.

“Take the bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, picking up my bag.

“Please, just stay here tonight. When I know where he’s landed, I’ll feel better. I don’t think he would do anything, but I guess you really never know people.” I nodded as he grabbed a pillow off his bed and walked out the door.

I stood in the shower for the second time, wiping off the now dried blood and sucking it up. I’d acted like a cry baby, when in truth Randy did deserve it. But I had never witnessed anything like that and I couldn’t deny it shook me to my core. I finished my shower and threw on one of Jay’s large t-shirts that swallowed me and dove into bed. I was crying quietly a few minutes later when Jayden slipped into bed behind me.

“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I swear.” I nodded as I broke down with a quiet sob. He turned me over on my back, forcing my face to his. “I’m sorry, baby. Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean it.” I cried harder because of how much I loved him, how much I knew his friend had just hurt him.

“I’m okay,” I hiccupped.

“I should have taken him outside to deal with him. You shouldn’t have had to see that. I just couldn’t handle it when I saw him in the doorway looking at you. I fucking lost it.”

“I... .” I hiccupped again. “I get it, I totally do. I don’t know why I can’t stop crying,” I said, taking a breath.

“I scared you,” he said, remorse apparent as he wiped my tears away. “I don’t want you afraid of me. I would never hurt you, baby, I swear. I’d hurt me before I ever hurt you. And I hate that he saw you like that. It fucking kills me.”

He leaned in, kissing me gently. “This body is mine, you know? Or at least I want it to be. I never want another man looking at you like that.” His soothing whisper set me at ease, and when I was finally able to talk without baited breath, I kissed him and turned on my side. “It’s getting late, we both have work. Let’s just try to sleep.”

“Okay, baby, I’m going to go walk Trip.” I nodded as he kissed my shoulder and let me go. An hour later, I was still staring at his bedside clock when I felt his arms around me. I relaxed into him as I drifted off.

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. I realized I’d only slept for a few hours but knew it was pointless. My alarm would be going off in an hour so I decided to swim early. Finding the apartment empty, I began to worry about Jayden. I shot him a text stating where I would be as I made my way to the pool. I froze at the gate when I saw him in a lounge chair staring off into space. I opened the gate and walked over to him. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and the morning was looking as bleak as last night. It was only when I was standing in front of him that Jayden acknowledged me.

“Did you sleep at all?” I asked as he looked up at me.

“No,” he replied, low. He was looking right at me, but seemed to be looking past me as he asked, “Did I fuck us up? Did I lose you?” His eyes were rimmed with red, not tearful, but mournful. He’d honestly thought he’d lost me.

I climbed into his lap and he quickly gathered me close to him as I wrapped the towel I was holding around us, looking down at him. “Of course not, Jayden. Is that why you are out here?”