Page 43 of Strip for Me

“Please, Ellie, just five minutes.” Liz says, and I watch as she starts crying.

“Say what you want to, I’m not going anywhere else to talk to you, and you have five minutes,” I say. She nods, wiping her eyes a little. Her damn makeup must be waterproof as nothing runs with her tears.

“I met Drew before you did, Ellie,” she says, saying something I did not expect to hear.

“Bullshit. I met him at a party before university,” I say, thinking back to it. Drew walked straight up to me when I walked into the house party alone. Liz was ill with a cold, and didn’t come with me, but I promised another friend that I would go. Drew spent the whole night with me, and I fell for him that night. When I look back, I know it was lust, not love. What I felt for Drew is nothing in comparison to what I feel for my guys now. Each one of them, I know I’m in love with. I might not have told them all, but I know it.

“Yes, I remember, but we had a one-night stand before that, at a party. When you said you liked this new guy, I had no idea who he was. You married him after two months, Ellie, how was I meant to tell you?” she accuses me, her blue eyes filled with anger.

“I don’t know, Liz, any of the times I sat telling you I loved Drew?” I snap, and she lowers her eyes. I told her everything about him, what he was like in bed and the sweet things he used to do for me. All that time, she never said a word. She lied to me the whole time.

“I’m not proud of what I did Ellie. I know you will never forgive me, but I fell in love with him,” she says gently, her eyes resting on my bump before sliding up to meet my own.

“When?” I ask, not bothering to agree with her statement. When her eyes meet mine, I know she’s realised that I can’t have her in my life. I can’t trust her or forgive her.

“About a year ago was the first time,” she admits. Holy ducks, it doesn’t surprise me like it should.

“You’re such a bitch,” Annie snaps, and I don’t disagree with her.

“He was sleeping with the secretary then, too. You know that you mean nothing to him,” I tell her. Her eyes narrow in anger, and she wraps her arms around her stomach.

“That’s not true. I’m pregnant with his baby,” she says, and I freeze. Annie slides her hand into mine, and Jude moves closer.She’s pregnant. If I didn’t feel sorry for her before, which I did, I feel bad for her now. He has really fooled her, like he did me for years.

“Then, I really feel sorry for you. Liz, he is texting me all the time, and he came to our house the other day. He threatened me, and said he wants me back,” I tell her, and she shakes her head. I knew telling her wouldn’t make her believe me, I can see it in her eyes, she loves him too much.

“You’re lying. Can’t you just be happy for me? You never loved him, and I always did. I’m giving him the family he wanted all those years, and I know he loves me,” she says, her tone is desperate for me to believe her.

“Liz, look–” I start out, and she cuts me off.

“No! I don’t know why I bothered trying to be friends with you. It was always Ellie this and Ellie that. You only care about yourself!” she says. It was never like that. I was her friend, the one that cooked her meals when the latest boyfriend broke up with her. The one that was there when her mum got cancer and died. I was there holding her hand at the funeral and helped look after her dad in the weeks following when he wouldn’t get out of bed. I was always there for her, and she knows that. Somewhere, under all this hate for me, she knows it.

“That’s not true, and if you say one more word, you little bitch, I will personally drag you by your hair away from Ellie.I don’t care if you’re pregnant or not, sweetheart,” Jude says, shocking me a little, but I give her a little nod when she looks at me.

“Fine, I’m leaving. I wouldn’t want to be friends with a woman who sleeps with four strippers anyway,” she says loudly before turning and walking away. I glance around at the four people near us that look at me in horror and decide I don’t care what they think. It’s nothing to do with them anyway. Jude turns to look at me with a questioning gaze.Shit, she doesn’t know.

“I love them all. I’m sorry if that’s not what you want for your brother, or you don’t like it but–” I blurt out.

“Come here,” Jude interrupts and hugs me. I’m in shock for a while but return her hug.

“Group, slash, sister hug,” Annie says and wraps her arms around us as I laugh a little. We pull away, and I wipe my eyes. Holy ducks, I’m glad I met Todd’s sisters.

“Look, I already guessed to be honest. When Todd introduced you, I knew you two were more than friends. Then, how he spoke about you on our phone calls, yeah I guessed, Ellie,” Jude says with a little smile.

“Yeah, Jude isn’t going to judge you, I mean, she had a thing for two guys in high school,” Annie blurts out.

“That was once,” she rolls her eyes, and I laugh. I’m glad she isn’t annoyed that Annie told me, and it makes me like her a lot more when she doesn’t seem bothered. Her only reaction is the blush on her cheeks.

“Hot guys?” I ask with a wink.

“Oh yeah, Marcus and Eli were the hottest men for miles. Well, when we were teenagers,” Annie says, and Jude nods, her cheeks still bright-red.

“Marcus? As in the butterfly farm owner?” I ask, remembering the massive, giant of a man with brown hair.He was very hot.

“Yes, that’s him. He moved back recently. Eli is in the army, and I haven’t seen either of them in years,” Jude says, tucking her dark hair behind her ears.

“You’re single now, what’s stopping you?” Annie says with a chuckle.

“I have kids, and don’t have the body I used to,” Jude says. I narrow my eyes at her in response. Jude is stunning, with her dark hair and curvy body.

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