Page 80 of Finally Loved

Alba smiled, pecked another quick kiss to her lips, and put the car in drive. “Best news ever. I mean, everyone would have assumed we were together anyway, but now I get to be insufferably proud by announcing it.”

Neve buried her face in her hands. “I really hope they like me.”

“They’re going to love you.” She glanced over, took Neve’s hand, and brought it to her lips to kiss. “What’s not to love?”

Chapter 22

Alba beamed as her mom pulled Neve into a hug. Neve looked tiny next to her five-foot-ten mother. If she hadn’t looked so delighted to be meeting Neve, the scene might have been mildly terrifying.

She stifled a laugh thinking about how much her mom would hate that thought. She wasn’tthattall after all, and definitely not much taller than Alba, but it was funnier that way.

“It’s so nice to meet you, honey,” her mom said, squeezing Neve tightly. “Alba’s been talking about you non-stop in her text messages.”

A few hours ago, Alba might have tried to deny that—or maybe she wouldn’t have. Now, though, she had absolutely no interest in denying it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elena,” Neve said, blushing a little. She was so cute Alba could barely stand it.

Alba’s mom scoffed. “Please, with the way my daughter’s looking at you, the pleasure is all mine. Do you know, she’s never brought a woman home before. I was starting to worry she was never going to find the one, but, the minute she started talking about you, I had a feeling she’d found something special.”

Neve shot Alba an unimaginably soft look that turned Alba’s insides molten. She’d usually be inclined to stop her mom revealing too much but, in this case, she found she didn’t really mind. All she wanted was for Neve to know just how much she meant to her, and, if that meant letting her mom talk about every embarrassing thing Alba had ever done, so be it.

Scott, Alba’s stepdad, sidled up beside her. “So, is this the Mrs, kiddo?”

Alba laughed. “Not yet.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Not yet, huh? It’s serious, then?”

Alba smiled, feeling herself blushing slightly. “Yeah. Pretty new still, I guess, but I think this is the one that sticks.”

He clapped a hand to her shoulder. “I’m happy for you, kiddo. Exactly the way I felt when I met your mom.”

“Yeah. I always used to think you were lying.”

He laughed his familiar, deep laugh. “But, it turns out, when you know, you know.”

“Turns out you do,” Alba agreed with a wry smile.

“Don’t worry. It’s not anI told you sothing. You can’t know until you do, and then you win at life.”

Alba looked from him to Neve, who was still chatting with her mom. Scott wasn’t wrong about that. Alba felt like she’d won every competition she’d ever been in—and all the ones she hadn’t even entered—now that she got to be with Neve. After the way they’d been acting lately, almost together but not quite, she’d had no idea how she’d have gone from that back to nothing if Neve had fallen for someone else.

She found she wasn’t even upset that Zainab had been right a million times over. Alba would buy Zainab whatever the hell she wanted as a victory prize for the rest of time because it was nothing compared to being with Neve.

The only thing Zainab had been wrong about was it ending poorly, and Alba would happily give her all the wins in exchange for that one not being true.

Scott laughed and nudged her. “You’ve got it bad, kiddo.”

“Yeah,” Alba agreed readily. “I really have.”

“And already introducing her to the whole family. You think she’s ready for them all?”

“Is anyone ever?”

He laughed. “Fair point.”

“I’m not going to leave her to fend for herself. That’s what matters.”

Scott wrapped his arm around her. “Proud of you, kiddo.”

---