Page 141 of The Bittersweet Bond

Her mother’s eyes narrowed slightly, skeptical. She was a woman who rarely missed a thing. Crossing her arms, she let her gaze drift around the room again.

“Why are there playing cards all over the floor?”

“Playing cards?” Evin let out an overly loud laugh and quickly scooped them up as if defusing a bomb. “Oh, that! I… was just playing for a bit. You know. For relaxation… and stuff.”

“Aha.” Her mother arched a brow, lips twitching slightly. “You play Uno alone to relax?”

“Yup.” Evin went to set the deck on the table, but her hands trembled slightly, causing the cards to slip apart again.

By now, her mother was fully in detective mode. She took another step into the living room, sniffed the air briefly, then glanced toward the kitchen door—just as a faint noise sounded.

The unmistakable clink of a can.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed further. “Do I hear someone in the kitchen?”

“Oh… uh, maybe the dishwasher?” Evin was pretty sure she was about to hyperventilate.

Before her mother could reply, the kitchen door swung open.

And there stood Bas.

Grinning broadly, a cookie in one hand and two cans of Coke in the other.

“Hey, Mrs. Hayes,” he said casually, as if he had just wandered in from the backyard.

For a fraction of a second, Evin’s mother simply stared. Her eyes moved slowly from Bas to Evin, then back again.

“Sebastian?” Her voice was neutral, but the underlying tone was impossible to miss.

“That’s me,” Bas replied smoothly, not dropping his grin for a second. “I… just dropped off some school papers Evin forgot. And then we got talking, and I figured I’d grab us something to drink from the kitchen…” He lifted the Coke cans as proof.

Evin held her breath.

Her mother remained silent for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the slightly disheveled living room once more. Her attention lingered just a little too long on the scattered playing cards and Bas’ slightly tousled appearance.

“Uno, huh,” she finally said, the ghost of a smile playing at her lips. “You two play… intense Uno.”

Bas beamed. “Would you like to watch me absolutely destroy your daughter in Uno?” he asked, taking another deliberately slow bite of his cookie.

“Hm.” Her mother shook her head slightly, an amused chuckle slipping into her voice. “This is all too reminiscent of my teenage years.”

Evin groaned. “Mom!”

Her mother simply raised her hands in surrender and took a step back. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave you to your game.” She turned halfway toward the stairs but paused, glancing back at Bas.

“You make sure Evin’s in bed by ten. School tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bas responded with the most innocent grin Evin had ever seen on him.

As her mother’s footsteps creaked up the stairs, Evin collapsed onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. “That was probably the most humiliating moment of my life.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Bas grinned, plopping down beside her and raising his Coke. “I think we handled it pretty well. Good thing your mom didn’t show up ten minutes later.”

__________

The sky was painted in soft shades of orange as Evin and Bas strolled down the sidewalk toward his car. She had her arms loosely crossed over her chest, a crooked smile tugging at her lips as she glanced at him.

“Your mom is pretty… laid-back,” Bas remarked, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.

---