Page 53 of Past

"Man, it's busy," Blake says, turning off the car.

"My brothers are popular. Well, they used to be with the ladies," Izzy says.

I don't reply because I don't like to think of Elliot's past with girls. I know after his breakup with his ex-girlfriend, Lily, he slept around a bit.

"Come on," Izzy shouts, noticing me walking a little behind them.

Izzy stops to grab my hand, and we all walk into the house together. I can't see much between the number of people in the kitchen and the hallways. I say hello to a few friends from school as we go past. I do manage to grab an unopened bottle of wine off the side and find a glass. Unluckily for me, I lose Blake and Izzy somewhere. I'm guessing they are in the large lounge, where the music is blasting from. I push past a few people in the hallway before I make it into the lounge. I can't see anyone I know, but just as I'm about to leave, a hand touches my arm and makes me look into the grinning face of Gage.

"Hey, gorgeous, wow that dress." He whistles a hello and steps closer to me.

"Hey, Gage, have you seen Elliot?" I ask him.

"No. Anyway, how have you been? I've not seen you in a while," he asks, placing a hand on my upper arm, which makes me a little uncomfortable.

"I've been good, you?" I say, moving away from him a little, but he doesn't notice.

“Better now that I don’t have that bug. I’m glad you’re better, I did try to see you, but your boyfriend wasn’t keen on that idea.” He grins, and I smile.

“That’s Elliot,” I reply, looking around the room.

"Hey, angel," a voice whispers in my ear, and an arm snakes around my waist, pulling me back into a hard chest I know very well.

"Hey, cookie." I grin when he kisses my neck.

"It's my birthday, can we lose the nickname as a present for me?" he whispers in my ear.

"Nope," I say loud enough for him to hear me.

It’s only then that I notice Gage has gone, so I turn to look at the handsome, birthday boy. Elliot's black hair is slightly styled but still has that messy, sexy look because it’s growing out. He is wearing a tight, black shirt, which shows off his muscular build, and has black jeans with his usual boots. Holy cow, he looks sexy.

"Wow, Allie, I thought you looked good from behind, but fuck me," Elliot says more to himself as his eyes look over every part of the dress, turning me on insanely.

I take a sip of my drink before Elliot takes it from me, putting it down on the desk near us and pulling me into a smouldering kiss. Elliot lifts me enough that I can run my fingers through his soft hair, which causes him to gently bite my lower lip.

"I want to show you your birthday present," I say, pulling away from him a little.

“I liked the presents you have already given me, including the wake-up call this morning.” He looks down at me, confused. I turned up in his room at ten in the morning, dressed in a lacy, black bra and crotch-less panties. Elliot thought they were a great invention, just as much as I did. I had to blindfold Elliot so he wouldn’t see the tattoo, and I kept the covers over me until he went to the bathroom. It was so much work to make sure he didn’t touch the tattoo by accident.

"Can we go to your room?" I say.

"I like the sound of this." Elliot instantly grins, taking my hand and leading me through the people who try to stop him to talk.

I don't see many people I know, but they all say ‘hello’ or ‘happy birthday’ to Elliot. We finally make our way upstairs. As we walk past Sebastian's door, it opens to a messy-haired Maisy, who smiles.

"Alliecat." She throws herself at me in a big hug.

"Maisybear, I missed you," I say, remembering that between dance class and dating Elliot, it's been two weeks since I've been able to see her. I know she is busy with interviews for university and Jake. Jake is getting so big now and loves to say ‘daddy’ all the time.

"Me, too. Can you come to mine next week?" she asks and sorts out her dress out as Sebastian walks out of the room with a grin, which matches his twin’s.

"Allie, Elliot, now where were you guys sneaking off to?" Sebastian winks.

"To have sex like you guys clearly did," I say bluntly, and Maisy goes red. I sigh, thinking I must have said something a little rude, again.

"At least, you’re honest." Sebastian laughs, putting an arm around Maisy, who laughs too.

"Where's Jake?" I ask, picturing the cute little boy who looks so much like his mum.

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