Page 31 of Piece By Piece

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I reply, confused by the lack of light in those beautiful honey eyes. She looks happy enough, but something just isn’t right about her eyes.

“What?”

“How are you?” I ask instead of reacting to her question. Her eyebrows move up on her forehead and she swallows loudly.

“What are you talking about? I’m good,” she insists. “I thought both of us were more than good a second ago, but I clearly did something wrong if you’re changing the topic this way.”

“You did nothing wrong, Aliena. Other than maybe embarrassing me slightly by nearly making me come in my pants. No, I just came to my senses and realized that I promised you a kiss, not to rub myself against you until I came.” God, that even sounds disgusting.

Aliena smiles. “That’s not what you did. Actually, I rubbed myself against you to make you come.”

“You know you don’t have to do that, though. Right?” I ask.

“Yes, of course,” she tells me, blinking two times too much as she does. No, I feel like something’s still wrong. I lean in to gently kiss her, then caress her cheek with my thumb. That does the trick and she melts against me like butter.

I rest my forehead against hers, keeping my eyes closed. “You know what else I find infuriating about you?”

That has a surprised laugh bubbling out of the girl. “No, humor me.”

“You are so beautiful, it’s hard to believe you’re real at times.”

She pulls away at that, looking at me with furrowed brows. “What are you doing?” she asks.

“Talking to you,” I simply say.

“Why?” She seems so genuinely confused and it sits very wrong with me. My reply was simple enough. How can it be so hard for her to believe that, yes, I’d choose to talk to her over a quick orgasm? It makes me all the gladder that I didn’t let it come to that.

“Because you’re my friend,” I tell her due to a lack of a better description.

“Am I?” she challenges me.

“A friend I am dangerously attracted to and have been treating unfairly. What do you say we try to start over,” I propose, feeling uncharacteristically nervous about her reply.

To my surprise, she says, “No.”

“No?” I repeat like an imbecile.

“I don’t want to try over and erase our history. I like the way we met, and I like knowing that Rosie was very important to you like she was to me. You’re my only tie to her. It’s more than that, though. I don’t hold a grudge for how you’ve been treating me, all I need to know is if you can treat me differently from now on.”

This is the first time she ever brought Rosie up to me and it’s enough to stun me for a second. Thinking about myangel of a grandmother still hurts. Sure, she might not have been the best mother to my father, but she was always great to me. We were close. It’s been a few months since she passed, and this is the first time I hear her name since the funeral.

It’s not hard to believe that Aliena cared about my grandmother. She looked after her nearly every day for over a year, after all. It has just never occurred to me that she made such a strong link between the woman and me.

“Yes, I can do better,” I finally confirm. I can hardly remember why I first acted like a jerk when Lily first brought her along. I think she was right with her assessment that it scared me to have her know such a different, personal side of me. I didn’t like that someone with that kind of knowledge was suddenly at the parties I throw for my peers, who all know me so differently. People whoneedto see me differently because it keeps me protected and well-respected.

To have them doubt my credibility, worse, my relationship with my father would be to give up the illusion of power I now have at the university.

I was an idiot and I panicked, and she paid the price for it in the months to follow.

“Good, then we’re friends,” she confirms. We shake on it, both ignoring that it’s no solution for the jealousy issues we both have.

Chapter 17

Sebastian

Last July

I spent three hours with my Grandma and Aliena at the nursing home. It’s funny how quickly the time passed. We were playing Cribbage and messing around and suddenly, it was time for dinner. When Grandma asked me to stay, looking as hopeful as a puppy, I couldn’t possibly deny her.

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