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We spoke to several different people, but I wasn't sure if any of them was the person who told Alec about Kyle and me. He took photos with a few other people and one larger group before the dinner party was over.
We were among the first to leave.
Alec had to deal with paparazzi a bit in Galveston and a lot when he traveled, but so far, he had been able to escape them when he came to see me on the mainland. He could usually get by without being hounded by paparazzi, but people would pull out their phones and start to video us if they caught on to who he was.
It was for this reason that he wore a jacket with a hood when we got back to League City and went for a walk at the marina.
No one even spared us a glance.
We walked slowly side-by-side, having a conversation about some of the things we had seen and heard at the party. Alec didn't bring up Kyle or the kiss or any of that. I could tell it was on his mind, though. I could feel the underlying tension radiating off of Alec since it had happened.
I honestly didn't know if it was good or bad tension. Part of me thought that he might think less of me now that he knew just how inexperienced I was. I had to imagine if I didn't seem naïve before, I sure seemed it now. But I also thought maybe he liked it that I hadn't been with anyone else. I honestly couldn’t read him fully. He seemed to be in a complex mood.
"I know we don't usually talk aboutusand stuff," I said as we walked on the dock. "But I just want to make sure you're okay with hearing that news about me earlier."
We walked several paces before Alec stopped walking and turned to look at me. "Grace, I’m over here thinking of nothing else. Did I understand correctly that you haven't been with anyone else?"
"I've dated guys."
"Have you been kissed?"
"No."
"By anyone?"
"No. No one but you."
"That thing that happened tonight at the party—that thing you did, kissing me there, that little one, I mean. Have you given someone a kiss like that?"
"What are you asking?" I said, buying time because I didn't want to answer.
"A peck," he said. "Has another guy pecked you on the mouth? Has another guy's lips ever touched your lips, even for a second?"
"I can honestly say no," I said.
Alec jumped, and in the next instant, he took off without warning and ran at full speed down the dock, past ten or twelve boats. He skidded to a stop and came back to me. He ran at a full sprint and then again came to stop a few feet in front of me. He smiled as his chest rose and fell dramatically, catching his breath.
I laughed. "What are you doing?"
"I'm pumped right now, Grace. Hang on. Are you serious? Are you telling me the truth?"
"Why would I lie about that?" I asked. "If anything, it makes me seem, I don't know, inexperienced or naïve."
"It's not that you're inexperienced. I love that. You're just so precious and pure that I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you. As it stands, I want to just… crush you in my arms. I want to take you into them and just ughhh." Alec made a face and a groaning noise as he hugged himself. He was still catching his breath as we continued walking slowly down the dock. "I'm so sorry, Grace, that I hurt you bad enough to—"
"Don't say you're sorry," I said, cutting him off. "Please don't say that."
"I have to. I need to. You didn't kiss anyone for ten years because of me," he said. "I'm sorry. I need to tell you that. I'm so very sorry that I hurt you, Grace."
"We were kids," I said. "And it's not like I wasagainstfinding someone and saying they're the one. You didn't make me swear off men, it's just that… " I trailed off and smiled, thinking about what I was about to say. It was the truth, but I didn't realize what it sounded like until it almost came out of my mouth.
"It's just that what?" he said, hanging onto my every word.
"It's just that, nothing. It's just that, uhhhh. It's just that none of them compare to you, Alec."
He stopped walking and turned, stepping in front of me and causing me to stop walking. Unexpectedly, he sank to his knees, kneeling in front of me.
"What are you doing?"
