Page 48 of Secret

"She still hasn't sorted that thing out?" Harley chuckles.

"No, despite my warning, she says its fine." I frown.

"Your mum is almost as fucking stubborn as you." Seb grins.

"Hey, baby," a voice purrs from my side as the seats are taken on both sides of me. I look over to see Ivy, my ex, smiling at me, and I flinch. I look over to my other side and see Elena, a regular of Seb's, chatting away to him. He looks bored.

"What are you doing here?" I ask calmly. I look over at Izzy, who is playing with her glass of coke and not looking my way. But I can see how tense she is.Fuck.

"Seb invited me. He said you haven't been on a date in a while, and, well, I couldn't pass on seeing you." She slides her hand up my arm, and I move away.

"This isn't a date," I say loudly, and I look away to see Elliot frowning at me. He clearly thinks I’ve bloody lost it. Izzy stands up quickly from the table, not looking once in my direction as she goes over to get food. I can’t help myself when I stand and I follow her, not caring how it looks.I whisper to her when I’m standing behind her in the small queue, "I'm so fucking sorry. I had no idea she was invited. I’ll make an excuse and leave." I don’t want to leave her at all, but I also don’t want her upset.

She tilts her head a little so she can look at me, picking up a plate before answering. "She came to annoy me. She spent all the time that you weren't here going on about the two of you, but don't leave. I can deal with it, I think," she whispers the end bit more to herself than to me.

"I don't want you to have to deal with it," I say, feeling worried. I can't stand the idea of her being annoyed all night because I’m an idiot who dated a girl like Ivy.

She piles lemon chicken onto her plate, and I pick the crispy beef with rice.

Luke comes over, looking between us with a worried face, but he hides it quickly.

"Only having the lemon chicken, sis? You can eat anything you want," he jokes, waving his hand at the food.

Her face lights up with a big grin, which makes her more fucking stunning than usual. "I plan to have at least two plates of this stuff, it’s awesome. Tilly used to buy me it sometimes."

I laugh with Luke, and she nods at me before going to sit down. I'm about to follow her when Luke grabs my arm."You’d best not hurt her." A threat is laced into his words when he says them darkly. I go to say something, but he stops me. "Don't bother. I know, and don’t say anything to Izzy. You should tell them, but that's all I'm saying. I can see you love her, and that's enough for me.” He stops to add more food to his massive plate while I am gob-smacked.

“It’s enough that you are an unlucky dude with your ex here." He chuckles, and I'm still gaping at him. How long has he fucking known, and why didn't he say anything to us? Well, I expected him to hit me like I know I deserve.

"Don't look so shocked, dude." He pats me on the shoulder then starts piling his plate with even more food. I head back to the table in shock and sit down.

"So, Blake, why aren't you fucking half the town like usual?" Ivy asks as she dramatically flicks her fake, red hair over her shoulder. I choose to ignore her and eat my food.

"Come on, Blake, you were never the silent type." She winks, and I glare at her. Izzy shifts uncomfortably in her seat. I want to throttle Seb right now.

"Look, I didn't know you would be here, and honestly, I don't want you here. Please speak to anyone else but me, Ivy," I say coldly, and there is an uncomfortable silence around the table.

"Don't be that way, baby. I miss you," she purrs and moves over to me.

"Did you not hear what he fucking said? He doesn't want you, so why don't you go home and find new toys to play with?" Izzy shouts over the silent table, and I hide a laugh. Seb couldn't keep it in and snorts in laughter.

"Stay out of it, you bitch. That whole innocent vibe doesn't work on me. You'll be a whore like your brothers soon enough." She glares at Izzy as her whole face goes as red as her hair.

"I suggest you leave before I make you." Harley stands up, and I notice all the brothers are giving dark stares to Ivy.

"She isn't a whore. She doesn't sleep withall of our friends like someone I know. Now leave," I say, causing Ivy to slap me before grabbing her bag and her coat before storming out. Elena kisses Seb on the cheek and runs after her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know she would be that crazy," Seb mutters, still laughing at Izzy, and I glare at him.

"If I want to bring a date, I will. I’ve never needed help in that department, Seb,” I say, and Izzy downs her drink. I look at her to see she is playing with her food, but I can't pick up on her mood.

"So, thanks for sticking up for me," I say to Izzy, who looks up with a smile.

"It wasn't too much?" She blushes, and I grin.

"Not at all." I wink, and Elliot glares at me, so I start eating. The rest of the meal goes smoothly, and Izzy ends up eating two plates of lemon chicken like she said she would. Everyone laughs when she says she wants to come back just for the chicken. I smirk at her as we leave, knowing she will follow me back to my house. The boys don't like her excuse to go to Allie's, but they don’t stop her.

Luke smiles as Izzy explains how she has to see Allie tonight to get her homework, and how she can’t get it in the morning. I decide not to tell Izzy that Luke knows because she will freak out, and at the end of the day, we will be telling them very soon anyway.If I have my way, I would be telling them all now.

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