Page 8 of Fall

A waitress dressed all in black, with ample cleavage hanging out of her tight top, comes over, eying up both Luke and Blake, but Blake doesn’t seem to notice her as he talks to Izzy. That’s a sign of a good man right there.

"Can I get you all anything?" she asks with her eyes eating up Luke, and he leans back on the sofa, his arms wide.

"Shots all around, tequila and a beer for me, gorgeous," Luke says, making her giggle. She might as well lie naked on the table for him at this rate.

“What do you want?” Luke asks, and Izzy replies before I can say anything.

“Tilly is a classic Vodka and Coke girl.” Which would usually be true, but not tonight.

"I’ll have a vodka and Coke," I say to the waitress, and she takes down all our orders before leaving to make them.

I quickly get up to follow her, but Izzy asks before I can walk away, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I don't want ice so I'm just going to check she doesn't put any in," I say, making up another lie and wanting to kick myself for it.

She is going to hate me when I can finally tell her, and I feel like the lies I’ve told since I’ve come here are just adding up. I never used to lie, and now look at me, I even lie to myself every morning by saying it’s going to be okay when that can’t be true.

"Right," Izzy says, with a look that makes me wonder what she is thinking and hoping she can’t see straight through me like she always used to be able to.

"Be right back," I say before walking over to the bar. I call the girl over, who smiles at me.

"Did you want something else? Elliot said all of your drinks are on the house," she says, looking behind me to my table. At Luke, I’m guessing.

"No, I just remembered I have to drive somewhere tomorrow so no vodka in the coke," I tell her, and she gets out her notepad, writing it down.

"Okay, sugar cups." She winks at me as I flush red. My hand travels to my stomach without thought, and I look back at the table to see Izzy staring at me. I try to avoid her gaze as I walk back to the table, noticing Elliot has joined us.

"Hey, Elliot, right? Nice to see you again, and I promise not break any of your stuff this time," I say.

Elliot nods at me with a slight laugh.

“It’s cool, I didn’t need the stuff in those boxes,” he says, but I’m sure he is just saying that to make me feel better.

"Where’s Harley?" Elliot asks Luke, who shrugs as he replies.

"Downstairs at the bar, he is in a weird-ass mood this week."

"Is Allie going to be here soon?" Izzy asks Elliot, whose hard face softens under her name. I know Allie and Elliot are dating, and they are madly in love. Izzy told me they went through a lot and that Elliot is a different man since he has been with Allie. Apparently, they are perfect for each other.

"Yeah, soon. I'm going to get her. I just needed to chat with some staff."

"Go on, then, I want to see my bestie." She grins. I heard so much about this Allie from Izzy that I'm looking forward to meeting her.

"All right, you’re such a demanding pain in the ass." Elliot chuckles before leaving. It’s not long before the drinks arrive, and I quickly take my Coke off the tray for the waitress.

"So . . . shots to finally meeting the famous Tilly. Seriously, Izzy has told us everything about you but don’t worry, most of it is good.” Luke hands me a shot and winks.

Shit, how am I going to get out of this?

"To Tilly," he says, pouring his shot back while I pretend to drink mine and then I stand, pouring it into my coke before anyone sees.

“Thanks for this.” I lift the empty shot and put it on the table before walking over to the window overlooking the dance floor.

I pretend to watch the people dancing on the floor for a while, but my thoughts are swimming with worries about my future and what I’m going to do now. This wasn’t how I planned my life. This wasn’t what I planned at all, but what can I do? I can’t get out of this one no matter how much I may want to.

I look over to see Harley at the bar, just as he downs another drink. I don’t know why I’m pretending a guy like him would look twice at me. The moment he knows, he is going to walk away. I wouldn’t even want to put the responsibility of me on his shoulders, he is clearly a good guy.

"I'm going to dance," I say suddenly, deciding I just need to relax and stop staring at a man I can’t have.

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