Alec laughs abruptly. "Oh, babe, it hasnothingto do with my level of attraction to you. You're fucking stunning. The most beautiful woman I've ever known. And you're going to remember exactly none of this, so I'm going to tell you something, okay?"
"Mmhm." I slump my shoulders and huff.
Alec carefully tucks my hair behind my ear and my eyes flutter at his touch. "I'm pretty sure I have loved you from the moment I saw you walk across campus, Cora. And every single second with you has only proven to me what I felt that very day. I kick myself for not having the courage to say something sooner but I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you want me to go, not unless you tell me to. So, do I want to have sex with you? No. I want to make love to you, baby, because you deserve a gentle love, and that's not going to happen tonight. Not with you like this. I want you to want me in the morning when your head isn't being controlled by alcohol. I want to do this right. I want—no, I need—you to understand you deserve so much more than what life has dealt you so far. I'm going to prove that to you, okay?"
"Okay," I reply, only I blink and can't remember what I'm agreeing to. My body spins and I don't know if it's in my head or I'm actually moving or not. "Fuck."
Alec rises from his spot in front of me. "Come on, let's get you in bed." He grabs my hands and helps me up, everything going fuzzy and spinning all at the same time.
I arrive at a bedroom and break off from him, unbuttoning my bottoms and yanking them down.
Alec shields his eyes like I might be radioactive and turns his back to me. "Here, put these on." Without looking, he tosses me a pair of sweatpants, and I almost fall sliding my feet into them.
I collapse onto the bed and Alec pulls back the covers to tuck me in.He goes to walk away but I grab his hand.
"Will you stay? Please." I don't tell him that even though I'm drunk, I don't want to be alone.
"I'll get you some water and Tylenol and be right back."
"Okay." I close my eyes and wait for him to make good on his promise and return.
And although I'm not sure how long it is, he does. Alec slides into bed beside me but keeps his distance.
I roll over and scoot toward him, my head finding the crook of his arm and my leg crossing over his.
He doesn't protest and I'm grateful for it.
"This is nice," I mumble into him.
"Yeah, it is." He rubs my shoulder and holds me close, and I wonder if he knows how safe I feel here with him.
I want to tell him; I just can't seem to find the words.
"Hey, Cora?"
"Huh?"
"Is everything okay at work?"
"Yeah, I think so. Why?"
"I mean, your boss was giving you a hard time. Is he still?"
"Oh." I recall the memory of the box cutter blade slicing into him. "No, I killed him."
Alec chuckles. "That's good." He pauses and adds, "I thought maybe that's who texted you earlier. I didn't mean to look, but I was checking your screen, and you don't have message previews shut off on your lock screen."
"That's Ricardo. He's a dick."
Alec shuffles. "RicardoRicardo?"
"I only know one Ricardo. How many do you know?" I laugh at the idea of everyone's name being Ricardo. What a weird world that would be.
"Cora, what aren't you telling me?"
"Um, a lot, really," I mutter, unable to withhold information in my current state. Everything I've held back until this point feels like it's boiling over the edge of my tongue. "Ricardo bought me from my dad."
Alec sits up and catches me as I fall off him. "Cora, what are you talking about?"
