Page 14 of Piece By Piece

Her innuendo isn’t lost on me but since I have no interest in taking her up onthatoffer, I just smile and say, “Get whatever you want. It’s on me.” She seems happy enough to hear that and gets to her feet, giggling when I give her ass a playful parting slap.

I make sure to look after her for a few seconds before allowing my eyes to wander where they actually want to be. I’m not surprised to see Aliena still watching me and the pleasure it brings me is unheard of. I bring my drink closer to my face and give her a small nod before taking a sip, never breaking eye contact.

That’s when the unsettling smile spreads over her face. For a short second, I’m scared she tempered with my drink. Then she throws an arm over Mattheo’s shoulder and falls into his lap, looking really fucking pleased with herself. Mattheo doesn’t miss a beat and places a hand on her thigh, thereby making me want to put a hand around his throat.

My hand clenches around my glass and I only realize that I’m staring a hole into my friend’s hand when Aliena laughs softly. Mattheo’s whispering something in her earbut her eyes are locked on me. I don’t doubt that laugh belonged to me too.

As if that wasn’t enough, Aliena takes the game a little further and shimmies back on my friend’s lap. His smile turns wicked, his hands find her slim waist, and I watch with simmering fury how he pulls her against him the rest of the way, bringing her back right against his chest and placing her ass perfectly on his groin, no doubt.

I see red, but of course, Aliena isn’t done playing now. No, she loves the reaction she’s getting from me, I know she does, and yet, I can’t bring myself to look away and put an end to this. Maybe I secretly get a kick out of it too. Of knowing that it’s me she’s doing this for, not Mattheo. That it’s me she’s focusing on and maybe, just maybe, it’s me she wished she was sitting on top of.

I’m crazy to think her eyes become lidded because she follows my stream of thought and is thinking of my touch. That’s when I realize Mattheo is peppering her neck with small kisses while she holds my gaze.

My hands ball into fists but I don’t look away. No, I won’t do it if she doesn’t. I won’t extract myself from the moment and let it belong to him when it’s still me she’s giving that look to. Her hands rise to her neck and she brushes her hair over her shoulder and tilts her head, giving Mattheo perfect access to deepen the kisses against her skin. Then, her fingers move into his hair and her eyes briefly flutter shut.

When she opens them again, I know it’s me she wants. The eyes she’s giving me, the way her body is gradually turning more toward me. Seductress is right. I can feel myself get turned on by the little show she’s putting on, but it’s enough for me to know I’m not the only one. No, she’sgetting restless too, I can see it in the way she keeps crossing and uncrossing her ankles, flexing her legs before relaxing them again.

Fuck, and now I’m looking at her long, smooth legs.

I’m saved from drooling all over her when my date of the night returns with her drink. She gets my attention by gently squeezing my shoulder and when I lean back in my seat, spreading my legs just a little wider, she quickly reclaims her place on my lap.

Not unlike how Aliena did it, she moves all the way back on my thighs. For just a second, I let my head lean back on the couch and just feel. Feel and imagine that maybe, it’s a woman dressed in black on my lap, rather than the raven-haired one in her silver skirt and halter top.

It’s a minor slip-up that lasts a mere beat of the pounding music but it’s enough to make me harder than I’ve gotten for anyone in a month. I open my eyes, look at Aliena, and then finally turn away to take another big sip of my drink. That’s it, we’re done. The spell’s broken.

I’m aware of Aliena getting to her feet, of Mattheo doing the same, and of them disappearing into the crowd outside the VIP section. Finally, I relax in my seat, knowing that things are back to what they always are now. The two of them are dancing out of sight and I’m people-watching with a nice girl in my lap, occasionally conversing with Andrew and Lily whenever they aren’t busy eating the other’s faces.

Chapter 9

Aliena

I felt like an idiot when I woke up at the hospital. I felt even more so when the doctor gave me a quick sum-up about how I was brought here because I passed out after I couldn’t handle all the adrenaline that flooded my body after the attack. Or something like that.

But what made me feel most like a fucking fool was the disappointment that flooded me when I opened my eyes and was met with the sight of Lily, and when it was her scent that invaded my nostrils as she hugged me tightly, not Sebastian’s. More than that, I started feeling guilty as soon as I identified the emotion.

There was my lovely best friend telling me how glad she is that I’m awake and well, and how she can’t believe that I was attacked, and I was feeling upset that Sebastian didn’t stick around rather than be grateful for what I had. It’s moments like that when I feel like the little selfish girl I used to be. I hate myself in such moments but maybe there are just traits about me that I cannot lose, no matter how hard I try.

“When Seb called me, I didn’t want to believe him. I was asleep when the phone went off and didn’t hear a wordfor the first two minutes he spoke. Then he said you were at the hospital, and I thought he was joking.

I woke Andrew and forced him to give me a ride. He wanted to stay and wait with me, but I sent him home again. Figured you didn’t want a bigger audience, right? I’m sure he won’t mind picking us up as soon as you’re ready to go, though,” she told me, practically rapping the words in a nervous beat.

Then she forced me to tell her what the hell happened to me and why I had called Sebastian instead of her. I did my best to catch her up, but my memories were jumbled and my thoughts scattered.

That’s when the doctor came in to brief me about my condition and basically tell me I was in perfect health other than my split lip. Of course, he gave me the whole lecture about how I should go to the police once I’m out of the hospital and that I should be careful, and something about having gotten lucky.

And lucky is what I felt when I went to the receptionist after being released to ask for the bill only to have her tell me it was already paid for. Since Lily swore it wasn’t her, it only leaves one person that could have covered it.

I was tempted to call Sebastian right then to thank him for getting me last night and for paying for the bill but then I remembered that we weren’t that kind of friends. I only called him twice since I met him and those were due to absolute necessity. I decided to just thank him when I saw him next, despite not fully being over his outburst earlier last night. Since I’m in no position to refuse his generosity, it’s all I can do to offer my gratitude.

I don’t feel so lucky now that I’ve been awaiting my turn at the police station for a damn hour. With nothing to entertain me other than some old gossip magazine I foundlying around. Andrew dropped me off here and then went home with Lily since she wanted to change out of her pajamas. Yeah, she didn’t think to do that before she rushed to me in the hospital as if I were dying or something.

I love my best friend.

Either way, they left me here an hour ago. Since I’m still phoneless after last night, I can’t even ask her when she’ll be back here. The silver lining is that Lily kept her old, still intact phone when she got her current one, so I don’t have to spend all my savings on a replacement. It looks like I’m actually getting an upgrade on that front, since my phone was ancient and had a broken screen.

The station door opens, and like I do every time when it does, I look up from the magazine and check who it is. This time, I’m relieved to finally see my friend and her boyfriend enter, already looking around the room in search of me. I stand up and wave them over, unable to contain my smile when Lily teasingly waves my new phone in front of her as she comes closer.

I hug her as soon as she’s within reach. Then I do the same with Andrew, and finally, I hug the shiny phone with its fluffy case to my chest. Yeah, the case will have to go but I’m still happy to have a phone again, no matter that I don’t have any of my stuff on it yet. Just the weight of it in my hand is reassuring. It’s scary how lost I felt without one.

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