Piece by Piece

Chapter 71

Sebastian

To say the looks on our friends' faces when Aliena and I walked into the private room hand in hand the following weekend are hilarious would be an understatement. Lily, gaped, instantly asking, "When did this happen and why the hell did I not know?"

Andrew was a little more subtle, his gaze jumping between Aly and me before he blew out a breath and took a long sip of his drink.

Mattheo simply smirked cockily, the bastard. "Look who finally came around. I must say, I was almost losing hope in you, Seb. After you ruined my knee, I was sure you'd man up and bag her. Now, here we are, months later."

Aliena stumbles a step, her head whipping around to look at me. "Pardon me, you did what to his knee?"

"Oh, ups, you never mentioned that?" Mattheo drawls, feigning innocence. Dumbass doesn't realize he's making his knee look horribly kickable again. "You remember how I couldn't dance with you on your birthday, Amo? Yeah, you have that one to thank."

Before she can snap at me, I say, "He was the reason you got hurt. He should have made sure you got home safely that night." That, at least, placates her a little. She smiles and shrugs.

"We are all just accepting that? I thought you guys couldn't stand each other!" Lily protests.

"Your head is always in the clouds, my love. You're the only one who thought that," Andrew tells her. She glares at him before bringing her attention back to the girl holding my hand.

"You've been holding out on me! I always give you the dirty deets about my love life. You two have been screwing around behind my back and I don't know a thing about it?"

Aliena laughs while Andrew has the courtesy to blush at the revelation that his sex life isn't as private as he might've hoped. Before anyone can change the subject, Andrew seems to realize something that makes him jerk in his seat.

"Whoa, you want to know how Sebastian is in bed?" His gaze swivels to Aliena. "No." Is all he tells her. I refrain from telling him she doesn't listen to orders. He'll realize that she does whatever she wants eventually.

"I'm still curious as to how it happened, though. And how you hid it from us," Lily persists.

"Well, circumstances kind of made me move in with him and one thing led to another," Aliena provides with a shrug.

"You live here?" her best friend exclaims. Now, even the guys look surprised.

"Since last December," Aliena admits, looking a little sheepish now as her friend's face turns red.

Lily takes a deep breath and finally says, "You and I will have a sleepover soon. At my place, apparently. Then, I will make you talk, you hear me?"

The whole crew laughs and as we settle into the couches, the conversation eventually moves on from Aliena's and my new relationship status.

When eventually, the others start heading downstairs to dance, I notice Aliena eying me.

"Yes, Sweetheart?" I ask, arching a brow.

"Well, aren't you going to ask me to dance?" she retorts with that attitude I love so much.

I bow my head in apology and get to my feet, holding out a hand to her. "Would you do me the honor and dance with me, milady?" I tease her. She swats at my hand, smiling cheekily.

"You're an idiot," she declares, walking past me. For a second, I just stand there and enjoy the view. When she finally looks at me over her shoulder and says, "Well, don't let me wait now." My feet follow her.

"Sorry, Sweetheart, just wanted to take in the sight," I say, moving her along with a hand on the small of her back.

"Oh, yeah? And, was everything to your liking?"

"Fuck, yes. My girlfriend looks devastating tonight," I whisper in her ear.

-

"I'm nervous," Aliena repeats for the hundredth time since I told her my mom was about to turn up at the apartment with the rest of the cleaning crew and demands to finally meet the girl that stole her boy's heart. Her words, not mine.

I've been managing to hold her off for a few days since telling her that I had a girlfriend. Now, her patience seems to have run out.

"She'll love you, don't worry," I tell her.

Right on cue, the elevator dings and opens to reveal a crew of ladies, all shorter than five feet five. I greet them with a smile as always but they don't stop by to chat, merely sending curious glances toward the girl clinging onto my arm before they rush off to the second floor.

My mother is the last in line, her face lighting up as she spies us ready to welcome her. "My boy, hello," she exclaims happily, pulling me into a bone crushing hug. Then, letting go, she moves on to study Aliena.

With my girlfriend's face in her hands, she gushes over how pretty she is in that thick Spanish accent of hers. Aliena, for her part, holds dutifully still, even as a vicious blush takes over her face.

I finally take pity in her and interrupt, "Mom, enough. You are embarrassing her."

Noticing I'm right, she lets go of the girl's face and resorts to hugging her. "Sorry, darling. I'm just very excited. Sebastian has never introduced me to a girl before, and I've been dying to meet you for half a year now."

At that, my girl arches a questioning brow at me. I brush her off. She doesn't need to know I told my mom about her after our first meeting.

After a few minutes of chatting, my mom excuses herself to go help the others clean, but not before inviting us for dinner at my parents' place tomorrow night. As soon as she's out of earshot, Aliena slumps against my side. "Oh, god. I've never experienced something more stressful. Do you think I made a good impression?" She groans before I can answer. "I was too quiet, wasn't I?"

Chuckling, I squash her against my chest and press a kiss to her forehead. Who would have thought I'd ever see Aliena Hart this shy?

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Just the bonus chapter left now...👀

Have a greattt day<33