Taming Alec (5 page)

I waited until Arie left my apartment before I let myself cry. I’d forced my tears away in the car as I listened to her apologize over and over for coming up with her stupid plan. When she hadn’t been apologizing, she had cussed Alec out and wished all kinds of STDs on him. She’d practically begged to come up to my apartment with me, but I’d refused. I just wanted to be alone.

I showered and changed into my pajamas without even realizing what I was doing. The next thing I knew, I was lying in bed with tears streaming down my face. I let out a muffled sob. I’d been so caught up in the moment that I’d let my guard down. I’d been stupid to think that there was something between Alec and me. He’d danced with me just to prove that he could, and I had been the one who took it too far. But
he’d
kissed
me.
It wasn’t as if I’d tackled him and forced my mouth on his. No, that had been all him.

He’d played me, and I’d fallen for it. We had been playing a game after all, but I was the one who had been fooled. I was an idiot to think I could trick someone like him. Arie had been right. I had no idea what I was doing when it came to men. I didn’t even know how to have a life. I was just some pathetic girl without a clue.

I had no idea why I couldn’t stop crying. It wasn’t like I actually cared for him. I barely knew him, and what I did know wasn’t that great. He was a womanizing asshole, and I was the moron who had given him the power to hurt me.

I groaned when I heard someone knocking on my door. The only person it could be was Arie. She was obviously ignoring my request to be alone. I stayed in bed. Maybe if I didn’t answer, she’d assume that I was already asleep, and she’d leave me be. She knocked one more time and then silence. After a couple of minutes, I sighed in relief as I wiped my tears away.

She must have left.

“You really shouldn’t leave your door unlocked like that. Any asshole can come into your apartment,” a man’s voice said.

I screamed in terror as I sat straight up. I turned on my bedside lamp, and then a better idea popped into my mind. I picked it up, still plugged in, as I prepared to launch it at whoever was in my bedroom.

“Whoa! Calm down. It’s just me.”

I raised the lamp higher over my head, and Alec came into view.

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” I shouted.

“I knocked, but you didn’t answer. I tried the door, and it was unlocked. Leaving your door like that isn’t smart, especially for a woman living on her own. You need to be more careful.”

“I didn’t realize I’d left it unlocked,” I grumbled. “That still doesn’t give you the right to come into my apartment. Leave. Now.”

Instead of leaving, he stepped closer. I almost screamed in aggravation. I could only imagine how bad I looked in my pajamas with wet hair and a puffy face from crying. I was shocked that he hadn’t run the second he’d seen me like that.

He cursed under his breath as he sat down on the end of my bed. “You’re crying.”

I wiped my eyes with my free hand. “No, I’m not.”

He sighed. “Yes, you are, and it’s my fault. I’m sorry that I made you cry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you tonight. I was trying to protect you.”

I snorted. “I don’t need protection, especially not from someone like you.”

“But you do. You’re a good girl, Rebecca. You don’t need to get mixed up with
someone like me
.”

“I’m so tired of everyone telling me I’m such a good girl!” I shouted. “And I had no intention of getting mixed up with you. We were dancing. That was it.
You
were the one that decided to kiss me. Don’t you dare blame me for something you did.”

“But you are a good girl. You’re so innocent that it comes off of you in waves. And you’re right—that kiss was my fault. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Obviously, you came to your senses.” I sighed. “Look, I’m over it. Can we just let it go?”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not?” I demanded. I couldn’t stand to talk about this any longer. I just wanted him to go away.

“Because it’s killing me to know that I hurt you. What I did was stupid. I knew what I was doing, but no matter how hard I fought it, I couldn’t stop myself. I never meant to hurt you, Rebecca. I’m so sorry for that, but it was for the best. Girls like you can’t survive guys like me.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

He frowned. “I’ve always been
that
guy—the one who fucks women with no strings attached and moves on. You’re not the kind of girl who could settle for that, and I led you on tonight.”

“I have no interest in having sex with you,” I lied. “I just wanted to dance. Look, I accept your apology. Can we
please
drop this whole subject? I’m over it.”

He stared at me for a minute. “Yeah, let’s just pretend that tonight didn’t happen. Friends?”

I almost laughed, but I caught myself at the last second. “Yeah, friends sounds good.”

Even as the words left my mouth, I knew being friends with him would be damn near impossible. I was attracted to him, and after tonight, it was ten times worse. It didn’t even matter that he’d been an ass to me.

“Good.” He paused. “I guess I’ll let you go back to bed.”

“Night,” I whispered.

He stood and walked to my door. “Good night, Rebecca. I’ll make sure to lock the door when I leave.”

Once he left, I turned my light back off and started crying all over again. I was starting to wonder if I would end up falling for Alec or hating him. At this point, it could go either way.

It’d been a week since
that
night, and I hadn’t heard a word from Alec. I hadn’t even seen him in passing. Part of me was relieved that I didn’t have to deal with him, but part of me missed him. It was stupid to miss someone I barely knew. I kept reminding myself that it was a good thing. Every time I thought of him, the night at his bar would pop into my head. It was better that I hadn’t seen him. It had saved me a lot of embarrassment. Still, I would find myself taking my time as I walked out to my car every morning, hoping that I’d see him. It was pathetic. I didn’t even know which car was his to see if he was home or not.

Trying to push him from my mind, I focused on work. It helped a lot of the time. I was slowly getting used to teaching on my own. My students seemed to like me. I had a few who would give me a hard time, but I was slowly wearing them down. Every time they smarted off, I would make sure to call on them several times during the rest of class. Since most of them didn’t want to be the center of attention, they would stop acting like brats.

Arie had called me almost every day since Friday night, trying to get me to go out for dinner or even a movie, but I’d refused every time. After my last disastrous attempt at having a life, I decided that I would be safer staying in at night. I knew she felt bad for what had happened, but I assured her that it wasn’t her fault and that I wasn’t upset with her. I didn’t think she believed me though.

A knock on my door pulled me back to the present. I put the papers I had been trying to grade on my coffee table. I’d ordered pizza, so I grabbed my purse and pulled out a few bills before opening the door. I froze when I saw Alec standing there with a pizza box in his hands.

I raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess. You own a pizza place, too.”

He grinned. “Nah, I saw the dude walking to your door. I thought I’d pay for it, so I had an excuse to talk to you.”

“You didn’t have to buy my dinner to talk to me. All you had to do was walk across the hall and knock on my door.”

“I wasn’t sure you’d answer. I knew if I had food, you’d have to.” He smirked at me.

Ah, there’s that smirk I love to hate.

“Good point. I’d never slam the door in food’s face,” I joked.

I held out my hands, and he gave me the pizza. We stood there awkwardly, neither of us sure what to say next.

“Do you want to come in?” I finally said.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He stepped into my apartment.

I closed the door before following him to the couch.

He sat down and picked up the stack of papers I’d been grading. “What’s this?”

“A one-page report on the Revolutionary War. I have to say, grading homework is probably my least favorite thing about teaching. I have to keep searching random phrases online to make sure they didn’t plagiarize. The little shits are smart.”

He chuckled. “When I was in school, I had dial-up. It would’ve taken me longer to copy something online than to write the paper myself.”

“Careful, you’re telling your age, old man.”

I put the pizza down on the table and opened the lid. I picked up a piece and gestured for Alec to do the same. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as I took a bite. He looked relaxed as he ate. I couldn’t help but notice the difference in his attitude now compared to when we’d first met.

“Why did you act like an asshole in the hallway that first day?” I asked him.

He frowned. “I already told you why. I know your type, Rebecca, and I saw the way you were looking at me. It was better to scare you off and be done with it.”

“So, you don’t normally act like that?” I asked.

He grinned. “No, I do.”

I sighed. “You’re so confusing. I hope you know that. If you’re normally an ass, why weren’t you being one that night? Why aren’t you being one now? The guy I met in the hallway would never have cared enough to break into my apartment to apologize.”

“I didn’t technically break in. I just opened the door,” he pointed out. “I don’t know why I’m being nice to you now. Maybe I’m just hoping that we’ll end up as friends.”

“Are you normally friends with chicks?”

He hesitated. “Not usually.”

“Then, what’s so different about me?”

He seemed thoughtful. “I don’t know.”

We were quiet for a while, both of us lost in our thoughts. I nibbled on my pizza as I tried to figure Alec out. He was a walking contradiction. He’d claimed to be an asshole, and I’d been a witness to more than one episode proving that, but there were times when I’d wondered if he was really as bad as he acted. An ass would never have apologized for what he’d done to me. He wouldn’t be sitting here with me now, eating pizza, like it was a normal thing for us to do on a Friday night.

“Why aren’t you working?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I had some personal shit to take care of, so I called off work yesterday and today. What are they going to do? Fire me?”

“What kind of personal stuff?” I asked, unable to stop myself. I knew next to nothing about Alec, and I was curious. I knew I shouldn’t try to get to know him better, but when he was around, I couldn’t seem to remember that I needed to distance myself.

He looked away but not before I saw the pain in his eyes.

“My dad has cancer, and he isn’t doing very good. I went to see him and get his affairs in order.”

If I hadn’t seen the pain in his eyes, I would have heard it in his voice. Without thinking, I reached out and took his hand in mine. He looked down at our joined hands and lightly squeezed mine.

“I’m so sorry, Alec. I didn’t mean to pry, especially with something so painful.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. It sucks, but it is what it is. My dad and I have never been close. He worked all the time when I was growing up. I was mostly raised by nannies.” He chuckled, but it was humorless. “My dad and I found out about his cancer almost a year ago. I think I’ve spent more time with him since then than I ever have before.”

“Is he receiving radiation or chemo?” I asked.

He shook his head. “It’s inoperable, and he’s refused any other treatments. I’m surprised he’s made it this long. It’s only a matter of time, probably weeks, until he goes.”

“My mom is a doctor. I could call her, and maybe she could look at his records and see if there’s anything else she might suggest,” I said, desperate to help him.

He squeezed my hand again. “There’s no point. He’s ready to go, Rebecca. I think he’s been ready since we lost my mom when I was little. I’m not going to spend the last few weeks of his life fighting with him over it. I respect his wishes.”

I closed my eyes, trying to hold back my tears. I felt so helpless. All I wanted to do was make things better for Alec, but there was nothing I could do.

“Hey, don’t cry. It’s okay, really. I’ve accepted it.”

“I can’t help it.” I sniffled.

He pulled me into his arms, shocking me. “You know, I hate it when you cry. Please stop, or I’ll do something drastic.”

“Like what? Hit on me?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. It might have worked if I wasn’t still sniffling.

“I could tickle you until you pee.”

“If you do, I’ll stab you with a pen,” I warned in a completely serious tone. I hated being tickled.

“I’ll take my chances.” He moved his hands to my ribs.

I opened my mouth to tell him not to even think about it, but it was too late. He started tickling me mercilessly. As he tickled under my arm, I scrambled to get away from him, but he was holding one hand around me to keep me from escaping.

“Please stop,” I gasped.

“Not a chance.” He tickled me everywhere he could reach.

I jerked hard, desperate to get away from him, but all I managed to do was fall over sideways on the couch, causing him to land on top of me. He continued to tickle me for a few seconds longer before finally taking mercy on my poor soul.