by G. Bailey
“It’s why you were so angry all the time; I always thought you just were like that.”
“Yes, I was angry with the world. I was a kid, and I didn’t cope with it well. I’m not a kid now, Allie, and I have you. I’m happier than I’ve ever been because of you. So don’t cry for me, I finally have a future, and it’s you I have to thank,” he says and kisses my forehead.
"Let's get dressed. I will go to Izzy’s room and ask for some clothes for you, unless you want to wear the dress from last night." He chuckles with a mischievous grin.
"I don't think I can, considering you ripped it off me last night after the wedding." I laugh while Elliot looks proud.
"You sure letting everyone know about us is a safe idea?" I ask.
"Angel, if they didn't hear you last night, they sure did this morning." He smirks when I shake my head.
I follow Elliot into his room and sit on his large bed, watching him as he puts on jeans and a blue shirt. I glance around the room; it’s neat and mainly blue in colour. There’s a pile of papers on a desk in the corner with his laptop. There is a picture of him with all his brothers on the windowsill, but nothing else.
"Back in a sec," he says, shutting the door behind him. I lie back on the bed, feeling around on the bedside table for my phone before remembering I put it in the drawer last night. I open the drawer and pull my phone out when I see a picture underneath it. It’s one taken of me and Elliot just before prom. I remember how Harley made us take a picture, and Elliot surprised me by pulling me into his arms. This picture is of me looking up at him; even then, my feelings were all over my face. I smile thinking of how he kept this picture of us. My smile fades when I remember he still chased after Lily after this picture and danced with her all night.
Would he choose her over me again? He says he has always wanted me, but he was with her so long. I shake my head. I’m being stupid. If Elliot wanted Lily, he could have had her that night at Blake's party. He chose me then. I check the time, seeing I have three hours until my dance class. My phone beeps with a message, and I quickly put the picture back.
Tristan: you okay?
I smile at him checking up on me. He has been watching me since the restaurant, and I like that we don't have any secrets now. I've missed being close to my brother like we were growing up. We didn’t have a choice when Mum was AWOL, and Dad was working. Dad’s working now has a different meaning; I now dread knowing what kind of work he is doing. He isn't a car dealer like he told me; that is for damn sure.
"Hey, wake up, twin! I'm off on my honeymoon, and I wanted to thank you for that speech, it was–" Sebastian cuts off as he sees me on Elliot's bed in just a towel. Maisy comes in behind Sebastian with a shocked face.
"Don't you knock?" I shout as I pull the bedding around me. Sebastian turns around and is jumping up and down, his fist pumping the air.
"Why are you so happy?" I ask with a frown, while Maisy is laughing so loud, she is holding herself up by the door.
"This is the best weekend ever. First, I get to marry the hottest woman alive, and now, I get cakes for a month. A whole month of the best cakes ever, and I win the fucking bet. My poor car is safe from her crazy driving." Sebastian grins as he turns around to answer, while I groan, falling back on the bed.
"Sebastian, we have to go or we will miss our flight," Maisy says.
"Right, you can start cooking for me in a week." He grins at me.
Maisy comes over to me after shaking her head at Sebastian with a smile. She is practically glowing with happiness, which makes me smile. They didn’t have an easy ride getting to where they are now, and it’s nice to see them so happy. Even if I have to make the bastard cakes for a month, and there is no way he isn’t going to get me to do ridiculously large cakes.
"I’ll call you Thursday to see how Jake has been for you on your day of having him. Please don't forget to check in on Harley, even if he says he can look after Jake on his own," Maisy says, clearly worrying for no reason. Jake loves Harley and acts like an angel around him.
"I can't believe he offered. Harley is mad to want to look after a teething baby on his own, but I understand. Jake is cute, like his father," Sebastian says with a grin, and I laugh.
“Like his mother, you mean,” I say, and he smirks at me, looking way too much like his twin.
"Go on and have an amazing week of sex and sun in Greece," I say, and Maisy goes to hug me but thinks twice about it when I only have a bed sheet on. She takes my free hand and squeezes it instead.
"We will," Sebastian says.
"So? You and Elliot? I want to know everything when I'm back, Alliecat." She winks, walking to the door.
"Bye, Allie," Sebastian shouts as he smacks Maisy’s bum while she walks out.
"Sebby," she shouts, and he laughs. I hear him chatting with Elliot in the hallway as they left the door open, clearly not caring if anyone sees me in here, but I'm glad they know about us. Elliot trusts all of his family, and I do, too.
"I am sorry about them," Elliot says, coming into the room and shutting the door.
"I'm used to you all by now." I laugh while Elliot smirks.
"Here." He hands me a bundle with jeans, a white top, and a hoodie. I pull them on with my underwear from last night before winking at Elliot.
"I need food, and I remember how good you are at cooking," I say, taking his hand, and he pulls me to his chest.
“I guess I could sort you out some food before I drag you back to bed.”
He kisses me, and we walk out of his room together. I see Luke as we pass his room, and he winks at me before Elliot pulls me along. The corridors in this house are filled with really nice artwork, and the modern painted wall and old wooden floors give it a cosy feel.
“How many rooms does this place have?” I ask Elliot as we walk down the stairs.
“Don’t know, around seven bedrooms. There are four floors, but the top is only a study for Harley. The basement has our gym and swimming pool. Despite all the room, you don’t get much time alone,” he tells me.
“You have a pool?” I ask.
“You can join me in it later; the door to the basement has a lock. We can–”
“Oh, skinny dipping! I’ve always wanted to do that!” I interrupt him loudly as we walk into the kitchen. Izzy and Blake hide their laughs.
Harley doesn’t as he says dryly, “I guess I won’t be using the pool until its cleaned next week.”
I just wink at him and sit next to where Izzy and Blake are sitting, eating cereal, while Harley is giving Jake fruit at his high chair.
"Morning," I say as I look over at Blake.
"Not so loud." Blake groans and pulls his hoodie hood over his head while Izzy chuckles.
"He may be a little hung-over." She giggles as I slide onto the seat next to her instead of Mr. Grumps.
Elliot hands me an orange juice from the fridge and starts making bacon, while I ignore everyone to watch him.
"You’re drooling," Izzy whispers to me, making me jump while she laughs. I wipe my chin even though I know she was joking. A girl has to check when she is staring at someone as hot as Elliot, it’s worse now that I know what he looks like under his clothes.
"So, you two finally worked out that you are crazy for each other," Harley points out with a smirk while wiping a messy-faced Jake, who giggles.
"Yeah, we did," Elliot answers for me, making me blush.
"The sex is not bad either," I say and then eat a strawberry from the selection of fruit Harley got out for Jake.
"We heard," Harley deadpans, but I see the little smile while Elliot glares at me.
"Not bad?"
"Yes. It. Was. Not. Bad." I wink when he comes over and kisses me. The kiss is passionate and deep, making me inwardly moan while holding onto his shirt.
"Guys, there’re children here," Harley shouts, and Elliot pulls away, leaving me dazed.
"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Jake’s a baby, he won't remember," Elliot says, going back
to his cooking.
"His parents are just as bad," Blake points out, with his head lying on his arms on the table.
"Let's go back to bed, babe." Izzy sighs, running her hand through Blake's blond hair.
"Sure." He yawns, taking her hand, and they wave goodbye.
I walk over, waving Harley away as I pick up Jake and blow a kiss on his tummy, making him laugh.
"There's my little heartbreaker,” I say as he wraps his little arms around my neck.
"Heartbreaker?" Harley questions, eating an apple.
"Yeah, he is so good-looking now that I know he will break a lot of hearts when he is older." I wink, which causes Harley to laugh. I cuddle Jake for a bit, and he makes a lot of ‘gah, gah’ noises. I’m sure it won’t be long until he starts talking. Hopefully, his first word is ‘Auntie Allie,’ or just ‘Allie.’
"I'm taking him to play with his toys for a bit." Harley takes Jake from me and walks out.
"Here you go." Elliot slides a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of me.
"Thanks," I say, taking a bite and moaning while I notice Elliot is staring at me.
"This is so tasty. Honestly, you've got me forever if you cook for me," I joke with a smile.
"Then I will never stop cooking for you, angel," Elliot says seriously, making my heart skip a beat before he goes back to cooking.
69
Elliot
"So, where are we going?" Allie asks, sitting next to me in my truck. I chose the truck for a reason and, fuck, even if I didn't, it was fun to watch Allie get in, refusing my help. It took her around five minutes before I lifted her by her bum and put her in. She glared at me until I gave her the rose I had picked out earlier for her. This girl has sent me to the damn flower shop twice in one month. Harley thinks it’s hilarious.
"Bowling and then a surprise," I say with a smirk.
"You might want to rethink that, I’m awesome at bowling." She winks at me.
I take her hand in mine while I say, "So am I, but this is our third date. The one I had planned for us before–" I stop, not needing to finish that sentence.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to date me if you took me bowling before we had sex. Please remember how good I am in bed when I kick your ass.” She winks at me, and I look back at the road with a chuckle. I'm a little competitive, but hearing Allie and how she thinks she can beat me is just turning me on. I hate to lose. There's no way she can beat me.
“You can’t beat me.” I put my hand on her knee as she laughs.
"We will see. Blake and Tristan refuse to go with me anymore. Izzy doesn't care if I beat her, but the boys seem to have trouble losing," she mutters, clearly annoyed with them.
I laugh and kiss her hand before letting go to drive. We chat a little before I pull up at the bowling place. We rent our shoes and choose a lane. I order us some glasses of Coke as we decide to eat after a game.
"Ladies first." I smirk, and my jaw drops as she bends over, throwing the ball and knocking down every single, fucking, pin. That has to be first time luck, there is no fucking way she can do that again.
"This should be fun." She laughs as I tickle her before rolling my own ball.
Half an hour later, I'm not sure how, but I've lost by quite a bit. Allie just looks way too pleased with herself.
"Don't say anything, angel," I say, grinding my jaw.
"I won't." She winks, and I pull her to me, giving her a deep kiss.
"That's one way to keep you quiet," I whisper in her ear, and I enjoy feeling her shiver.
She clears her throat, making me chuckle. "Let's get some food, and I promise not to brag about beating you," she says, but I know she will. I nod, keeping my arm around her waist as we sit in the eating area. We both order a hamburger and some chips.
"I love the chips here." She sighs around one.
My phone rings, and as I'm about to answer, I frown seeing who it is. I told Luke about tonight, so I have no idea why he would call and it worries me.
"Hey, Luke."
"Hey, listen. Arthur called and the fight tomorrow is going to be a double, so I'm with you. I thought you should know he called. It's weird even for him," Luke mutters.
"Thanks, I'll speak to you later about this, and get in the gym," I tell him. We usually spend days before the fight preparing in the gym, working out as much as possible, and I don’t like that he has dropped Luke into this.
"Cool, will do. Have fun," Luke says, and I end the call.
"What was that about?" Allie asks.
Thankfully, the food comes so I have time to think about if I want to tell her I'm fighting tomorrow. I don't want to lie to her, so I'm not left with much choice.
"Well, I have a fight tomorrow; your dad just made it a double. So Luke is fighting with me," I tell her.
She doesn't say anything, she just goes pale before looking up at me from across the table.
"You don't have a choice, do you?" she asks, and I shake my head at her, taking her hand in mine.
"I want to help, but I can’t. My dad would kill you," she says shakily.
"He would try," I reply, my words taking on a more threatening tone.
"I'm sorry," she says, looking away from me.
I get up from my chair, not caring who sees, and turn her chin so she is looking at me.
"None of this is your fault. I was stupid when I was younger, blaming you when I knew it had nothing to do with you. I don't want to hear you say sorry to me again," I tell her, my tone not leaving her any chance to argue.
I kiss her gently before releasing her chin and sitting back down, all while she stares at me in shock.
"Okay," she says with a small smile.
We eat in a comfortable silence before getting in my truck.
"So? Where are we going now?" she asks.
“I’m taking you somewhere I’ve never taken anyone before. I haven’t even told anyone about this place,” I say, being vague because I want to surprise her.
"Thank you for trusting me," she says, smiling at me and trusting me completely.
I kiss her hand before driving again. It takes an hour before we arrive at the start of the woods, and Allie frowns at me. I drive up the empty road, thankful for the large truck when we go over the massive bumps.
"The woods? This seems like the start of a horror movie to me." She grins, she isn’t really scared. I can see that.
"Do you trust me?" I ask her.
"Yes," she says firmly, keeping eye contact with me.
"Well, get your fine, little ass out of the car," I say, handing her a big coat I packed along with a hat. She smiles sweetly, making me wonder how much trouble I'm in with this girl if a smile alone makes me happy. I put my own coat on while getting out of the truck and grabbing the rucksack with the stuff inside. I switch on the big flashlight I've brought with me as I wait for Allie. I lock the door and put my keys in my rucksack.
I take Allie’s hand as she comes to me, and we walk slowly together into the woods. It takes about ten minutes before we get to the entrance of the cave.
"A cave?" Allie questions.
I chuckle, walking into the cave with her, and then I stop her near the entrance to the room I want. "Close your eyes," I whisper to her.
"Fine,” she mutters stubbornly, which I like.
I move away from her and switch on the fairy lights I have placed around the room, plugged into the portable battery box I bought. I quickly lay down the blanket and pillows from my rucksack. I go back to see her standing there, and I can't help but kiss her. She gasps into my mouth, and I pull away before it can go any further.
I walk, with her hand in mine, into the room, and then I whisper, after moving to stand behind her, "Open your eyes."
I hear her gasp as she looks around at the cave. The walls seem to shine but it’s the opening above the cave that is the reason we are here. It's amazing, with a clear view of all the stars making the cave seem magical. I lead her to the middle of the room, and we both sit down
.
"Elliot, this place . . . it’s so beautiful." She sighs, leaning back into me and looking up.
"Let's lie down," I say, and we do, with her head lying on my shoulder.
"You can see all the stars here. How did you find it?"
"Sometimes I liked to get away when I was younger. This cave is only about an hour’s walk from the house, and we own the land it’s on. I found it one day, and then I used to come here all the time. I like looking at the stars. No matter how bad things were at home, I knew the stars would be waiting for me here," I say, trying to shake away my reason for looking for an escape in the first place.
"I used to cook. My mum left and Dad was never around. We had a nanny, but she was never around and would make us horrible microwave meals. So I decided, at six, I was going to learn. Cooking eventually became something I did to relax and it became an escape from life, sometimes. Tristan is only ten months younger than me, and he tried to help look after me even when it wasn’t his job. It was hard to always be alone."
I take this in. I guess I never really thought what it was like for her. I can never say I was alone, sure my mother wasn’t around, and our father didn’t give a shit, but I always had my brothers. They were always there for me, Harley watching over me, Seb making me laugh when I needed it, and Luke reminding me what it’s like to be innocent and free. I needed that when the days were bad, and they were fucking bad at times.
"Where is your mum?" I ask her.
"Somewhere in Paris, I think. She doesn't care and won't see us. Tristan saw her last when he was fourteen, she came for a day, but he said she left before I came back from my day out. I've wondered if it was something to do with my dad, did he scare her? I don’t know," she says in a whisper, it still echoes around the cave like all of our words do.
I look at Allie; she is so strong and beautiful. I could lie here all night with her. Just being with her gives me a peace I didn’t know I could ever have. Allie challenges me with every word out of her mouth, but at the same time, she can calm me. She may not know it, but I do. Allie has me, she always did, and she always will.