Page 21 of Strip for Me

“Did you restore this car?” I ask him, and he nods.

“It’s a hobby. I find broken, classical cars and restore them. Remind me to show you the garage sometime,” he says.

“It’s beautiful,” I tell him as I run my hand over the polished headboard, and he looks at me for a second before looking back at the road.

“Sometimes the most beautiful things in the world come to us broken and in pieces. It’s up to us to decide if we want to put them back together to see the real beauty or let them fall apart,” he tells me, his words seem like he isn’t just talking about a car.

I want to reply, but my phone starts ringing in my jeans, and I pull it out. I smile widely when I see Liz’s name.

“Hello,” I say to Liz.

“Hey, Hun, how are you?” she asks me straight away.

“All good, did you get my text?” I ask her as she never replied to me.

“Yes, sorry I didn’t reply. I forgot to ask, what’s your new address?” she asks me, and I hear a male voice in the background. I can’t hear what he says, but it sounds familiar. I just can’t hear enough to know why it does.

“I can text you it in a sec, but do you want to meet up?” I reply as I hear her moving around.

“Okay, send me the address, and, yes, it would be nice to see you,” she tells me, but her tone is off. In fact, she sounds distant to me.

“Everything alright, Liz?” I ask her, and she quickly replies.

“Yes, I’m just busy with work and that. Don’t forget to send me the address. Love you,” she says and puts the phone down.

“Everything okay?” Todd asks.

“Yeah, I think so,” I say, and he nods before he looks back at the road. I quickly text Liz my new address, but she doesn’t reply. I don’t think on it anymore as Todd pulls into a quiet street. The houses are small and look old. They are all attached, with grey-stone bricks that match the grey-stone roads. Todd parks in front of the one with a white door and gets out. I get out and shut the door. Todd waits for me and then opens the front door, without knocking.

“Hello, sis, hello, little devils,” Todd shouts when he walks in, and I follow, shutting the door behind me. The corridor is smallwith two doors on either side and the stairs straight in front with what looks like a cupboard under the stairs.

“Uncle T!” a little boy shouts excitedly as he runs down the stairs and jumps into Todd’s arms.

“What did I tell you about jumping off the stairs?” Todd says as he balances the boy on his shoulder. The boy looks about five with a mess of dark-brown hair and a cute face.

“Not to?” the boy asks, and Todd laughs. It surprises me because his laugh is deep and sexy. I end up having to clear my throat to distract myself, and it gets the boy’s attention.

“Did you bring a girl?” he asks in a whisper.

“This is Ellie, Ellie this is my nephew, Harry,” Todd says, turning to look at me and letting the boy slide to the floor.

“Uncle T!” another little voice says before a little girl comes running into the room. The girl looks the same age as Harry, with matching, dark, curly hair that flows around her shoulders.

“Hey, Daisy,” Todd says as he picks her up, and she wraps her little arms around his neck as she hugs him. It’s clear they are twins when I look between them.

“Will you make pancakes? The ones with the heart shapes?” she asks quickly.

“Maybe we should let uncle Todd and his friend into the house first before we demand he makes pancakes, Daisy,” a woman says coming into the room. I can see the resemblance to Todd straight away, in fact they look very alike. She has dyed-blonde hair that’s up in a messy bun and has a tight, smart dress on. It’s their faces that are similar, and they have the same eyes.

“Ellie, this is my twin sister, Jude. Jude this is–”

“Ellie, I got that,” she interrupts him and walks over to me. She offers me her hand, and I smile.

“Nice to meet you, Jude,” I say, and she smiles.

“You too, Ellie,” she says and lets go. Harry runs over and takes my hand.

“I want to show Ellie my toys,” he says to his mum as he pulls my hand.

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