Hailey's POV
Poor sweet Ian, he has no idea what he's in for with my sisters. They ask too many personal questions while relentlessly embarrassing you. They never give anyone new a time to talk, and they get so handsy. I would have happily stayed in the kitchen if Juan hadn't shown up. Of course, Papi invited him. I walked us upstairs, knowing full well that all four would be in Helena's room with some kind of hidden liquor.
"Ian, meet my sisters," I told him as I opened the door. "On the bed there is Helena, not to be confused with her twin, Hilda. Now, Hilda has bangs and Helena doesn't." I started with the two troublesome ones- the youngest of us all at 17. "Then over here by the wall is Haydee, the middle child. She likes to be called DeeDee." She was shamelessly checking Ian out, giving me a nod of approval. "And finally, there's Hortensia, the oldest of us all. Notice how all our names start with H. That way, they had to call all our names before they got to the right one." I laughed, thinking of how flustered Mami gets when she's mad and can't call the right child.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm- "
"Hailey's hot boyfriend," DeeDee interrupted him.
"DeeDee!" Hortensia scolded her as always. "Please don't mind her. She's not trained. What was your name?"
"Ian," he answered with a polite smile. So far, so good.
"Come sit and tell us all about how you convinced our Hailey here to give you a chance. I mean,- what has it been?- two years since you've dated someone?" Hortensia was in a mood today as she asked me such an embarrassing question.
"No, closer to three," I admitted, taking a spot beside DeeDee as she had the bottle of rum. I hate rum, so that's gotta tell you something if I'm taking a few chugs of it.
"That bad, huh?" DeeDee asked me under her breath.
"That bad," I confirmed.
"Oh, uh, if I'm being honest, we went dancing with a group of friends, and I guess I must have wooed her with my moves." He winked at me, referring to the night I came up with this little facade of ours.
"Oooh, he showed you his moves?" Helena wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"Not like that, Babosa {dopey}," I threw a nearby stuffed animal at her head, which she skillfully dodged.
"Lame, I never hear any of the juicy stuff," Hilda complained, throwing the stuffed animal back at me as it had landed beside her. The twins were never more than five feet apart.
"Since we're already on the topic, have you slept with our sister?" DeeDee asked, earning an elbow to the side.
"Better yet, has she told you about how she refuses to fall in love?" Hortensia added with a roll of her eyes.
"Ha, probably not," Helena answered for Ian.
"Are you kidding? He's here for Sunday dinner. It's gotta be serious," Hilda argued.
"So what? Juan is here too," she shrugged.
"Juan is here?" Hortensia sat up straighter at the news. Honestly, Papi should set those two up. She's more interested than I am.
"Someone has a crush," the twins sang.
"Shut up! I do not."
"Anyway, Ian, tell us about yourself. What do you like to do?"
"Where do you work?"
"How many girlfriends have you had?"
"Are you and my sister exclusive?"
They continued berating him with question after question. Ian tried to answer them, but he never really got a chance as they continued speaking over him. He was getting flustered, and I could see him starting to boil over in some way. His eyes locked with mine, and without a word, he stood up, strode to me, picked me up off the floor, and carried me out, cradled in his arms.
"Where are we going?" I asked, extremely intrigued by this turn of events. "You know now they are even more curious."
"Good, they obviously didn't want to hear my answers, so I gave them things to assume," he explained, setting me down before we reached the stairs.
"That's one way to deal with them, but now what? I don't want to go back into the kitchen, and you don't want to go back to my sisters." I pointed out that we couldn't just stand in this hall until dinner was ready.
"Show me your old room," he suggested with a playful smirk that seemed to be coming out more and more here lately.
"Okay, but please know that my dad made me buy the bedsheets."
"Oh, now I really have to see it."
With a small laugh escaping me, I led us to my room down the hall, opening the door to see that same frilly pink cover still sitting over my bed. I jumped on it as if I could hide it with my body.
"This is amazing!" Ian laughed as he stepped in, intently scanning the remnants of my past. He picked up my soccer trophies and read them thoroughly, arching a brow as if he were impressed. Then he inspected my gymnastic medals, turning them in his hand. He meticulously looked over the pictures of me with my soccer team and then at the ones of me in my leotards. "You were quite the athlete."
"Had to make up for those lacking cooking skills," I joked, watching him take in teenage me.
When he was satisfied looking around, he hopped on the bed beside me. I bent my knees, kicking off my boots and allowing my feet to rest on the edge of the bed. This was actually the first time I had a guy in this room, on this bed. Papi would never allow a boy in my room when I was in high school.
"Truth or dare?" I asked him, not giving him a choice of playing or not.
"Truth." He chose as I predicted, allowing me to ask him the question that's been festering in my mind.
"Do you believe you will ever be in love again? Like, can you see yourself falling in love with someone who isn't Liv?" I watched as he pursed his lip, thinking over his answer. I wonder what exactly his mind is picturing right now.
"To be honest, I am not sure. I would hope so, though. I certainly don't want to be alone for the rest of my life," he answered rather easily. Am I the only one who overthinks anything involving love?
"I hope you do, too, Ian. You deserve to be happy." He turned on his side, staring at me as I turned my head to meet his eyes.
"You do too," he said, rubbing my cheek lightly with the side of his forefinger.
"Oof, you're killing me," I complained, really wanting to feel his lips against mine. "By the way, I pick dare," I told him, not waiting for him to ask.
"Okay, I dare you to do something you weren't allowed to do in this room when you were younger."
"Bad influence, Ian, over here. Okay, easy," I said, taking my chances as I straddled him, seeing his eyes fill with lust as I leaned over him. My chest pressed against his as I brought my face so close to his that I could feel his breath hit my lips. "I wasn't allowed to have a boy in my room, let alone kiss one," I explained, as I let my lips tickle his with each word.
He finished closing the space between us, pressing his lips hard against my own. His hands held my face firmly as he kissed me deeply, more passionately than he had before. It left me wanting more and more until it felt like I would never want to let go.
"Nena!" My dad's voice yelled for me, causing me to quickly hop off Ian. I felt like a teenager caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do. With a lot of haste, I put my shoes back on and opened the door to find Papi just down the hall.
"Sí, Papi?"
"Come set the table. Dinner is ready."
"Ahorita voy, I'm coming. I promise. Give me like two minutes, and then I'll be right there."
"Ya. Hurry up though," he said before turning back down the stairs. I let out a breath of relief as I turned to Ian.
"Let's go eat."
I seriously hope Papi doesn't ask him too many questions.
We headed down the stairs, and Ian helped me set the table like the sweet guy he is. Juan was still here, talking to Papi, but I could feel his eyes on me anytime I entered the kitchen. It gave me the chills in a not-so-good way. Tinita brought out the food along with Papi and Juan, and we all sat squished like sardines on the benches at the table. We prayed before we ate our meal, as Papi always does.
Of course, it didn't take long for the questions to start. Ian was great and answered them all politely, even strategically avoiding the more personal ones. I was feeling quite proud of him. So, when it came time to clear the table and help clean up, I didn't worry too much about leaving him on his own. Hopefully, things keep going this smoothly.