Page 22 of Strip for Me

“I don’t think–” Jude gets out, but I interrupt this time.

“It’s alright,” I say, and she smiles.

“I have to go to work, now. So, be good for Uncle Todd and Ellie,” she tells them. They both give her cheeky grins before Harry pulls on my hand again.

“Be careful with Ellie, Harry. She has a baby in her stomach,” Todd says, as Harry pulls me towards the stairs.

“Okay,” he shouts back and gives me a cheeky grin.

“I’m coming, too!” I hear Daisy shout behind me as I let Harry pull me up the stairs. For a little boy, he is damn strong.

“No, Ellie is all mine!” Harry shouts.

“Guys, you can share Ellie!” Jude shouts, and I hear her laugh at the same time I hear Todd’s deep laugh.

The upstairs is two bedrooms and a bathroom in the middle, the left room is where Harry takes me, and it’s full of toys. The room has a bunkbed and two small wardrobes. There is a large, wooden toy box at the end of the bed, and toys are scattered all over the floor. The walls are a neutral cream colour and the floor has a cream-carpeted floor.

“This is my room, want to play cars?” he asks me.

“No, this is my room, too, and she is a girl, she wants to play Barbies with me,” Daisy says in a sarcastic tone,that makes me chuckle as she sounds older than she is. Who knew five-year-olds could be sarcastic?

“How about you two play toys, while I make pancakes with Ellie? Then we can all eat and watch a movie?” Todd says coming into the room.

“Yay, pancakes, and we have to watch Despicable Me!” Daisy says jumping up and down. Holy ducks, where does she get the energy from?

“Okay!” Harry shouts and lets me go. Clearly food and a movie is the way to bribe these kids. Todd nods his head in the direction of the stairs. I follow him out and down the stairs. To the left of the stairs is a large kitchen with brown cabinets and wooden floors. I watch as Todd starts opening cupboards to find things.

“So, you make heart-shaped pancakes for five-year olds?” I ask him because I’m in shock. This is not what I expected from him. When Andre told me that he was a gentle giant sometimes, I think he was right.

“I also make smiley faces,” Todd tells me, and I chuckle. I move closer and lean against one of the wooden counters.

“They love you,” I say referring to the twins.

“I’m the only male figure in their life, other than my friends, sometimes. It’s been difficult for them and Jude,” he says as he moves around the kitchen. It’s clear he does this a lot as he knows where everything is in the kitchen, from the electric whisk to the saucepans.

“Where is their dad? If you don’t mind me asking,” I say, and he pours all the ingredients into a bowl before he answers.

“He walked out on them. He was a piece of shit anyway,” he shrugs as he roughly chucks ingredients into the bowl. He doesn’t even measure the milk or flour, he just knows how much to put in.

“I’m sorry, and he is missing out, they seem like lovely kids,” I say, and he shakes his head.

“Nothing to be sorry for because he didn’t deserve them,” Todd says.

“I noticed you have an American accent, but your sister doesn’t,” I say, and he tenses a little, but he does turn to answer me.

“I lived with my father in Texas until I was sixteen. I moved back in with my mother and my three sisters because my fatherwas travelling a lot. I struggled to support them all until Eric met me and offered me a job.”

“Why did you have to support your sisters?” I ask.

“My mother died a month after I moved to England, a car accident. My dad had a new wife, and didn’t want me or Jude to live with him. My sisters have different dads, but for different reasons they weren’t around all the time, and none of them wanted to live with their dads. I wasn’t going to force them out of their home after they lost mum. Anyway, my uncle got custody of us but he basically just left me to look after them. He walked out the moment I turned eighteen,” he tells me, and I don’t reply as he turns on the electric whisk. I don’t know why I do it, but I walk over and wrap my arms around his waist as I rest my head on his back. He tightens up, but I don’t move for a second as he turns the whisk off.

“El, you shouldn’t be near me,” Todd says as his hands cover mine on his stomach and hold them tight. His words contradict his actions, but I don’t say a word. As I press my forehead into his back, I realise how nice he smells. It must be his aftershave.

“Thanks for telling me that and bringing me here, Todd,” I say against his back, my words seem loud in the quiet kitchen. I let go and step back as Todd turns around. I don’t move as he wraps an arm around my waist and presses his forehead to mine.

“You’re Andre’s girl,” he says, our mouths too close, and I don’t respond to him. Am I?

“I’m no one’s girl,” I say, the words seem true to me because Andre has never said he wants a relationship with me. Kaiden hasn’t said a word to me since the kiss that I can’t stop thinking about, and that was two days ago.

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