All Chapters of The Bound Collection: Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

I didn't hear from Dan the next day, nor the following. I'd almost given up hope I would until Monday morning between my Musical Theory class and Composition when my phone vibrated in my desk drawer. "Hello?" I answered the cell as I gathered my things to go to the lecture hall."Lissa?" "This is she.""Hey. It's Dan."I hadn't recognized the phone number since I didn't have his name in my contacts. "Hi. I didn't expect to hear from you." My tone wasn't ugly, more detached, even though I was secretly thrilled to have him on the other line. I'd been manhandled too many times in the past-I wouldn't welcome it again. My defenses were up, my inner-security back on high alert."I'm sorry. I had hoped we could go out Saturday night. When I got home, I crashed. I didn't even change clothes. I woke up mid-day on Saturday and had the worst allergy attack I've had in years. Brett ended up taking me to the ER that night for allergy shots. They knocked me out most of yesterday, and I was a

I signed the release papers with instructions to get plenty of fluids and rest. I'd left Matt a message that the hospital would release me at lunch but hadn't heard back from him-not that I was surprised. He and my parents had only come by the hospital once and not together. I thought it had been to make sure I hadn't slit my wrists, but the reality was, it appeared they'd hoped I had. None of the three stayed long. They came in to tell me how grief-stricken they were, as if I wasn't myself, and left as quickly as they'd come. My mother and father couldn't bear to look me in the eye, but Matt had. Matt had driven nails painfully into my psyche as he spewed hate. I accepted each word knowing what I'd hear from people who never loved me would be far worse. Everything that happened was my fault. I expected nothing less. There was nothing anyone could say I hadn't already said to myself. No words could be more demeaning than those echoing in my head whether I was asleep or awake. It had be

In the years since Joshua passed away, I had spent the vast majority of my time alone. After the trial, my family quickly became a thing of the past. Matt held on for a while, but he couldn't deal with the aftermath either, and my friends weren't able to cope. I'd managed to hold on to my job the remainder of that year and through the next, but after I was convicted, the school had not renewed my contract due to the negative publicity it brought. I'd worked odd jobs trying to get back into teaching, but my image was shot in Texas. There wasn't a soul around who didn't recognize my face or know my story. I did what I had to do to get by, but after a year without success, I started applying to colleges and universities outside of Texas.It was an adjustment having someone around regularly, but Dan was religious in his pursuit. Relentless. I tried to keep him at arm's length, for his safety more than my own, but there was never a day he didn't call or send sweet text messages. If I gave

The police station had been godawful, but nothing compared to what I would face when I got home. I had talked to three different detectives who all had the same questions asked in a slightly different way, but my story never changed. I'd been exhausted. I had lived on three to four hours of sleep for months, and my body demanded rest. I had done the responsible thing. I pulled over when I realized I was too tired to drive. It was the afternoon on a busy interstate in Texas. The rest area was buzzing with people, taking a quick nap should not have resulted in anything catastrophic. Despite the number of times I recounted what I knew, another officer came in and repeated the same steps as though they were trying to get me to falter, but there was nothing to mistake. I didn't remember anything between locking the doors and waking up in the hospital. I'd sobbed with each officer, begged them to believe it had been an accident-but each one left the room with pained expressions. After six

We left Brett and Annie several hours later. "Come home with me." Dan didn't pose a question, he made a statement. We had yet to spend the night together. Today had been the first time we'd had sex, and he wanted to take it further. I knew by agreeing, our relationship was going from casual dating to commitment in twenty-four hours. Sex, meeting the best friends, spending the night-it was all a recipe for a serious relationship. My mind struggled to acquiesce, but my heart wanted to go. Nothing had ever felt so right, not even with Matt, but I wondered if my heart were leading me down a primrose path I wouldn't recover from. I hadn't been honest with Dan. He didn't know the skeletons in my closet, but he hadn't revealed any to me either. The desire to throw caution to the wind was strong."I didn't bring any clothes with me." "You don't need any." His heated gaze melted my remaining resistance. He didn't wait for my response. He turned his truck toward his house and took my ha