I scratch my cheek. “I’ll give you money for the morning after pill. Just in case.”

Cora swallows, sparing me another quick glance. “Are you…?”

“Am I what?” My eyebrows go up. “Clean?”

She nods.

Normally, this question wouldn’t offend me—it’s a responsible question to ask your sexual partner, albeit, a little late. But this is Cora. She knows I was with her sister for the last fifteen years. Plus, I got tested after our captivity and everything came back clean, so I know that fuckhead didn’t give her anything. “Of course I’m clean. Do you think I cheated on Mandy?”

A shrug.

A fucking shrug.

“Wow. I never thought you actually believed that shit.” I spin away from her, trying to hide the hurt creeping onto my face. “I was faithful throughout our entire relationship, Cora. Even when we separated for those few months back in college. I’ve literally only had sex with one person my whole life… until you.”

I turn back to see tears quietly tracking down her cheeks as she keeps her gaze fixed in front of her. “My tests came back normal, too. Shockingly. They sent me home with antibiotics just in case, but…” Cora ducks her head as she lets out a breath. “This is such a mess.”

She pushes her hair back, revealing multiple pink splotches along her neck, along with a colorful bruise from where my mouth had been. I swallow. “Yeah.”

“I’m a horrible human being. Mandy will never forgive me for this.”

A wave of guilt pinches my gut as reality starts seeping in. One week after breaking off a fifteen year commitment to Mandy, I sleep with her sister. There’s not a single explanation we could come up with that would make this sound even remotely acceptable.

Then again, there’s not a single explanation that would adequately describe our relationship either. Our dynamic. Our history. Our connection. None of it’s normal; none of it’s relatable—all of it’s confusing as fuck.

I take a seat beside her, and Cora’s breath catches when my bare arm grazes hers. “Corabelle, I’m sorry for not being stronger. I hate that you’re feeling like this, and I hate that it’s my fault. I just… I’m fucking crazy about you.” She tips her head to me, her eyes swelling. “I can’t turn it off. And I can’t stop caring about you just because the circumstances aren’t ideal.”

“It’s more than ‘not ideal’, Dean. It’s wrong. It’s beyond the realm of appropriate.”

“But it’s real, and it’s intense, and it’s swallowing us whole.”

“Is it, though?” Cora inhales a shuddering breath. “Is it real?”

“What?” I frown, thrown by the question. “Of course it is.”

She looks away, fisting the hem of her tank top between sweaty palms. “Maybe this was simply born out of trauma and survival. We think we still need each other even though we made it out. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if we didn’t go through what we went through.”