When Love Hurts Read Online Free PDF Page A

hands, and when I get back to my room I feel refreshed. I lie flat on the bed looking up at the ceiling. I close my eyes and try to block images of Chris and the girl from the car making love. I wish I can shut my mind off and be somewhere else at the snap of a finger.  
    I turn over in the bed, and the words of my grandmother come to my mind saying that true love takes work, and if it’s too easy to get it’s not worth getting. I think about those wise words and her memory, and I actually smile.  
    I wake up the next morning to the sound of two men talking. My door’s closed so I can’t see, but I can tell the two deep voices belong to men. Suddenly, I start hearing only one male voice, and I can tell it’s Jaylen’s. He’s talking in a calm but in a firm, dominant voice. I can’t make out his sentences, but I catch a few words, and it sounds like he’s talking about me. But why?  
    I force myself to roll over until I’m leaning halfway off the mattress. I use my hands to crawl until my legs land on the floor. The soreness I felt from Chris’s fists is present but is getting better and becoming less noticeable. As soon as I think about Chris, my mind goes to the two phone calls last night. Why did he call me? What if he just decided to show up here and is here right now? I have to find out.
    Once I get to my feet, I open the door and peek to see who’s here. I see Jaylen’s back, and I can tell the other man is in the kitchen, but Jaylen’s blocking my view. I can’t see Angela, but I know she’s probably around somewhere. Then I see something that catches my eye. It goes by fast, but I see the strand of hair tied in a braid belonging to the man Jaylen was talking to and know immediately it isn’t Chris. I swing the door all the way open. Jaylen turns around and smiles. There is Malcolm standing at the entrance of the kitchen. He smiles briefly, showing his pearly whites, and says, “Good morning, princess. You can come out. Ang’s gone.”
    I come out of the room smiling hard, and all fears of Chris showing up are out the window. I give Malcolm a hug, then I stand next to Jaylen, who also gives me a hug. He squeezes my side and it hurts, but I keep smiling. “Where did she go? And why did you come back? You’re early,” I tell Malcolm.
    Malcolm is half an inch taller than Jaylen and has long hair that he keeps in braids. He has a charming smile and wit about him that attracts more girls than he can handle. Malcolm walks a few steps to the kitchen table and sits in the chair. “I had to check on some stuff at the garage, and I know Jaylen’s been wanting me to do some stuff for him at the office so, yeah, here I am.” I nod. Malcolm still works at the mechanic shop even though he manages Jaylen’s bar. He considers the mechanic shop his side hustle, and I don’t blame him for getting that paper. He also doesn’t have to be at the bar as much as Jaylen, and they kind of split the day-to-day work and the office work between the two of them. “How you been?” he asks.
    I shrug. “Been better.”
    Jaylen leans against the wall. He’s only wearing blue jeans, and his abs are showing, making it hard for me to keep focused on Malcolm’s comments. I don’t know when, but throughout the conversation I find myself taking peeks at Jaylen’s abs as if I were still in school and he was the jock.  
    Malcolm nods. “I heard what happened with you and Chris.” I wait to speak because I’m not sure how much information he really knows. Jaylen could have filled him in, but if Malcolm or Jaylen had any hint whatsoever that Chris laid his hands on me, Chris would be dead by tomorrow. “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m all right,” I say, shaking my head. “No big deal.”
    “Yeah, okay.” Malcolm rolls his eyes before looking over at Jaylen as if to confirm what I said. I don’t know what it is about Malcolm, but ever since I was five years old, I could never get anything past him.  
    “Jay, you