“Damn right, I won’t,” she says, lifting to straddle me and yawning. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Yeah. Want to move into my bedroom and nap with me?”
“Sure.”
“I think I’ll give myself the day off.”
She traces the bruise underneath my eyes. “Does this hurt?”
“No.”
She presses on it, inspecting it closer.
“Does now, oww,” I say, playfully slapping her hand. She giggles and it’s music. It’s relief. It’s a thousand other feelings only she’s made me capable of. Maybe she is the fucking answer. Maybe I got it right all along. “You know buzzed or not, I remember every second, and every word I said.”
“I know.”
“I’ll have to ask you proper,” I brush her sides with my fingers. “I just have to wait for the right time.”
“No kids until after I hang up my flats, okay?”
“Yeah, no rush. I want to kind of earn my way out of poverty first.”
“You know that doesn’t matter to me.”
“I know.”
“Do you feel like everything’s changed?” She asks, brushing the hair at the back of my neck.
I nod. “You?”
“I’m not afraid anymore. But Lance, we are going to have to talk about it at some point.”
“We will. I swear, I just don’t want to think that way. I just don’t want to believe… You,” my heart aches at the thought of them hurting her. “I just don’t understand it.” I brush my lips against hers.
“We don’t have to understand them. That’s part of breaking the cycle.”
“You’re right.” I glance down at her necklace while she studies me.
“What are you thinking?”
“You know how last night you said your instructor’s words changed your life?”
“Yeah.”
“You did the same thing for me.”
“I did?”
“I couldn’t handle another day without seeing you. And it became clear when I heard your voice so clearly before I jumped on that plane.”
“What did I say?”
“What if this moment, right here, is the one that changes your life?”
“You make me seem like a hero,” she says, smoothing my bottom lip with her thumb.
I gaze back down at her and tell her the truth.