Page 81 of Finally Loved

Alba beamed up at him, feeling simultaneously like she’d finally achieved the best part of adulthood and like she was twelve years old all over again. “So, do you want to meet her?”

“Do you even have to ask? Can’t have Elena stealing all the fun, can we?”

“Not at all. I want my girlfriend back.”

He shot her an amused look. “Being in love suits you.”

Alba blushed and led him over to Neve and her mom, not hesitating for a moment to wrap her arm around Neve’s waist.

And it went like that for much of the rest of the day.

Given their slight holdups, they only had about an hour alone with her parents and siblings before everyone else started arriving. However, despite the already overwhelming day, Neve handled the influx of new people well. Even those who Alba didn’t have much regular contact with and who were almost insultingly surprised that Alba had a girlfriend. Neve might have handled them even better than Alba did. For the most part,though, everyone was delighted for them and, before long, the barbeque was going in the backyard that opened directly onto the beach, and Neve had slotted in like she was always supposed to be there.

Alba perched herself on a wall around a flower bed and pulled Neve to stand between her legs. Neve’s arm rested on Alba’s shoulder as she played with Alba’s hair. Alba sighed contentedly. This really was everything she’d ever been waiting for.

Her mind flickered to Zainab and whether she and Kai were still enjoying their time together. She was excited for both of them to be blissfully happy at the same time. Happiness was always better shared, after all.

“Alba,” called an excitable voice from back towards the house.

Alba twisted, keeping hold of Neve, but knew who she’d find before her eyes landed on bright red sunglasses and newly dyed, turquoise hair. “Handel, good to see you,” Alba called back.

Neve curiously followed her gaze. She’d heard all about Handel from Alba—and from Zainab, who had a slightly less flattering take on the girl who, upon their first meeting, became so obsessed with Zainab that she wouldn’t leave her alone, even to go to the bathroom, and kept up a constant stream of conversation, even through a closed door.

Handel jumped the final foot between them, landing directly in front of Alba and Neve, beaming. “Alba, hey. How are you? Have you been here long? I have to introduce you to my boyfriend. It’s pretty new. I think I told you, but you’re going to love him. I know you are. His name is Peter. Wait, is this your girlfriend? You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend! She’s pretty. Exactly your type, obviously. But an actual girlfriend. That you’ve brought here to meet everyone! That’s so fun. Did you bring Zainab, too? I haven’t seen her in ages. I just got myhair dyed. I’m sure she’ll love the color. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her in a similar shade before.”

Neve blinked, looking from Handel to Alba as she tried to digest the sudden influx of information.

Alba laughed and hugged her closer. “Neve, this is my cousin Hanna. Also known as Handel’s Water Music.” She beamed, looking up at Neve proudly. “Handel, this is my girlfriend Neve.”

“Oh, you’re Neve! It’s really nice to meet you.” Handel shook Neve’s hand a little too vigorously for someone not trying to break another person’s hand. “You’re really pretty. Did you know that? Have you met Zainab yet? She’s really pretty too. Like, she could easily be a model. Don’t you think so? I think my boyfriend could be a model, too, but don’t tell him I said that. He gets shy about it.”

Alba cleared her throat, cutting off the train of comments. “And is he here with you, Handel?”

“Oh.” She froze, eyes wide over the top of her sunglasses, like a comic book character, before she started looking frantically around. “Where is he? Peter? Peter, where are you?”

The crowd parted and a tall, thin, incredibly nervous-looking guy walked towards them. Even amongst Alba’s tall family, he was slightly hunched, trying to blend in.

Alba smiled. Sometimes, couples surprised you.

“There you are,” Handel said delightedly, wrapping herself around his arm when he reached them. “This is my cousin Alba, and this is her girlfriend Neve. I’m pretty sure she’s been obsessed with Neve for a minute now, but the last time I asked, she said they were just friends, but today she tells me they’re girlfriends, can you believe that? I can’t believe I wasn’t the first person she called when that happened.”

Neve giggled slightly, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Alba’s head, and Alba didn’t care if it was too much in public, she pulled Neve even closer into her, kissing for a long moment.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Peter said when Alba and Neve looked back at him. He looked a little embarrassed. Alba could only imagine Handel’s more outgoing personality led to a lot of situations like that.

Scott hadn’t needed to worry about Neve being ready for this family, but Alba was suddenly worried about whether Peter was.

“How come you only just got here?” Alba asked once the pleasantries had passed. She knew they had, otherwise she’d have heard from Handel much sooner.

Handel waved a hand in her direction. “Oh, we came with the Longs and it was a whole thing. Too many people, not enough car space. We had to divide ourselves up into more cars in the end.”

“Sounds painful,” Neve muttered, getting a laugh from Alba.

“No, it was completely painless in the end. Well, assuming you’re not counting emotional or mental pain,” Peter said.

Neve smiled and nodded politely, clearly feeling a little awkward about making a joke he hadn’t understood.

Alba looked around the crowd for any sign of the Longs. “I hadn’t actually realized it was more than the family this weekend.”

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