Page 43 of Past

"Are you going to untie me now?" I ask with a chuckle. The handcuffs aren’t hurting me while he lies on my chest, still inside me.

"No secrets, Allie. You’re my girlfriend, and we have a lot against us already. You should have told me you were coming tonight,"he replies.

"I won't keep anything from you again. I am sorry for scaring you, but don’t fight me on coming with you next time. I need to be there for you, I will never be the stay at home girl, and if you can’t deal with that . . ." I say the last part as a whisper.

"Okay, I always knew I wouldn’t be able to stop you from doing anything you want, but I will be keeping the handcuffs, just in case," he interrupts and grins down at me. He leans up to undo my hands and slips out of me.

"Staying here tonight?" Elliot asks as he comes back from the bathroom a little later with a washcloth.

"Yeah," I say, looking around at Elliot's surprisingly clean room.Why is his room always tidy? I have the urge to just mess it up to annoy him.

I clean up with Elliot's help and dress in one of his shirts and boxers.

"Did you eat?" he asks.

"No," I say.

"Come on, I can order something from that twenty-four-hour pizza place and see if Harley wants any help."

I nod, following Elliot down the stairs and thinking it’s sweet when he takes my hand. Izzy opens the door, followed by Blake, as we get to the bottom.

"Hey, bestie," I say with a grin.

"Hey, you two." She laughs, coming over to give me a hug, and then looks at Elliot.

"You okay? Blake said the fight went well," she asks. I didn’t realise Blake was there, but it doesn’t surprise me.

"Yeah, we're ordering some pizzas. You in?" he asks them both.

"Yeah, I will grab us some drinks," Izzy says, taking Blake's hand as they walk away.

Elliot and I find Harley in the living room, feeding a sleepy-looking Jake his bottle.

"Hey, you want pizza?" Elliot asks, taking a seat.

"Yeah." Harley yawns.

"Here, let me," I say, taking Jake from Harley and rocking him in my arms. I’m lucky it doesn't take long before he is sleeping. I keep him on my shoulder, snoozing, as I take a seat by Elliot, who pulls my feet onto his lap as he talks.

"Aww, he is so cute," Izzy says, coming into the room with Blake holding cans of Coke and some beers, which they put on the table.

"Poor man misses his dad and mum. It’s unfortunate that he has had three teeth come in this week. I may have to apologise to his parents about his new fun game of biting everything," Harley comments, taking a beer.

"They’re back tonight, so he will be happy. Why is it your fault he is biting?" Izzy asks.

“I took him to one of those baby classes they told me to take him to. Anyway, I was a little distracted because baby classes have a lot of single mums, and they wouldn’t leave me alone. While I was distracted, a little girl Jake’s age bit his arm. He bit her back as I got to him, and they both cried. Since then, he has been biting everything,” Harley says with a slight shiver, while we all chuckle.

“Totally not your fault, bro,” Izzy says, and then her phone rings, which she answers while walking out of the room.

"Ready for the exams?" Blake asks me.

"Yeah, I think so. They’re a little difficult, and my heart just hasn’t been in it," I say, thinking of my business class I share with Emilia. We will be working on it together, but she actually likes the class, when all I want to do is teach dance. I love all the kids, and I’m teaching them a dance to do a show at the end of the year.

"Oh my god, that was Tilly. Her mum got a job as a teacher at the school, and she starts in July. That means she is moving here with her family in ten months’ time when her dad’s contract ends," Izzy says while jumping up and down. She then jumps in Blake's lap, giving him a big kiss.

"That's amazing, beauty. I know you miss her," he says, leaning back.

"I can't wait to see her. She was my best friend for years when I was younger, and she stuck by me when my mum died. Her family is cool, too. She has an older brother and two younger ones. They are coming, too," she says, and I notice how Blake tenses a little.

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