by Cara E Holt
After we have all eaten and had our fill of the delicious cakes. Happy birthday music comes on over the speakers in the restaurant. I blush smiling as my entire family and a trio of waitresses sing happy birthday to me. My cake is amazing. It is as Olly had let slip, a Game of Thrones cake. It is the iron throne with a girl that very much looks like me, sitting on it and a dragon at her feet.
Olly dances up and down in his seat with excitement and sings as loud as he can. I lean over to blow my candles out and stop when I see his eager face.
“You going to help me?” I ask him.
Olly does not need asking twice. He leans in beside me and blows as hard as he can until they have all extinguished.
“Present time!” Abi announces as she produces a bag from under the table and holds it out to me.
I am spoiled beyond words. Abi has bought me a collection of my favourite skin care products. Dom and Izzy give me a Fitbit. Lottie’s present is a spa day for three at a local luxurious health club. I am overwhelmed with their generosity.
“My turn,” Grayson announces.
I can’t help the excitement I feel about Grayson’s presents. He has really surprised me today with all the lovely things he had planned. Having a tattoo and arranging the plaque for my mother’s ashes is more than enough of a present.
He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a black box, and everyone falls silent. It’s too big to be ring, but it is clearly jewellery.
“Open it,” he urges me with a half-smile.
I reach out and take it from him and pop open the lid. Inside is a delicate silver chain, and the pendant is a small jigsaw piece.
“It’s gorgeous,” I tell him, looking up at him with a big smile on my face.
“Read the back.”
I lift the chain from inside and turn the pendant over. ‘His and mine are the same.’ Is engraved into the back of the jigsaw piece.
I look up at him knowing full well what this refers to, and he smiles and lifts a thicker silver chain from under his school shirt that has a connecting jigsaw piece and I know then that his piece has the beginning of the quote engraved on it.
I throw my arms around his neck, still clutching the necklace in my hand. “I love it.” I whisper in his ear before dropping a quick kiss on his lips. Grayson takes the necklace from me and I turn in my seat so that he can put it on me.
“It looks lovely,” Sophie says, and I see her squeeze my dad’s hand. My dad is looking from me to Grayson with a deep look on his face.
“Thank you, all of you. You have made what was going to be a tough day so perfect. “
“Can we eat the cake now?” Olly chirps up, breaking the tender moment, and everyone laughs.
“No more cake today, Olly. You’re going to be in a sugar coma if you have any more,” Sophie tells him, and he pouts his bottom lip.
I nudge him with my arm. “We’ll have more cake tomorrow buddy.”
He nods and his sulky pout diminishes as he fights a smile. “Okay, Evy.”
WE ARRIVE HOME AT JUST before four and all pile into the house. Lottie went straight home after the afternoon tea as she had to pick her brother up from after-school club.
“We’re going to hang in the den,” Dom tells his mum.
Sophie nods as she makes her way into the kitchen and places my cake down on the worktop. “I’ll order takeaway in later tonight. Your choice, Everly.”
I grin. “Chinese, of course.”
Sophie nods, smiling. I really don’t know why she asks as she knows Chinese is my favourite. “I’ll order about seven-thirty.”
We pile into the den and Dom sets up the x-box so we can all play Mario. Izzy sits down next to me and reaches for the pendant around my neck. She turns it and reads the inscription on the back.
“What does it mean?” She asks me.
I shrug, trying to look casual. “It’s a quote from a book. Grayson’s pendant says the beginning of it and mine the end.”
“What quote?” She asks. She is clearly not going to drop the matter.
“Whatever our souls are, his and mine are the same,” I tell her and I flush slightly when I look at Grayson who eats me up with his eyes.
“Fuck, Grayson.” Izzy exclaims. “Who knew you could do romance?”
Grayson grins cockily. “There’s nothing I can’t do, Iz. When I do romance, I go all out.”
I sigh. They didn’t know the half of it. At college Grayson is the main man, strong, fierce, and no one messes with him, but when he is with me, he is loving, caring and so considerate it makes me putty in his hands.
“No pressure Dom.” Izzy says, arching a brow, “But Grayson has set the bar for eighteenth birthdays.”
Dom chuckles in response, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Babe, you know I can do the full romance thing.”
“Would you get a tattoo for her though?” I ask and both their heads flip round to me.
“You got a tattoo?” Dom asks Grayson, completely forgetting about the game.
Grayson nods, not looking at all embarrassed or uncomfortable. “I did.”
Izzy sits up on her knees, still looking shocked. “Well, show us then!” she demands.
Grayson sighs as if he doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. He lifts his top up revealing those pristine abs that I love to explore with my hands and my mouth and he shows them the tattoo.
“Wow.” Izzy says. She leans in to take a closer look. “What is it?”
“Private, is what it is.” Grayson tells her with a teasing smirk. “What it means is between me and my girl.”
I smile like a smitten schoolgirl. It does something to me when he calls me his girl. I kind of love it when he speaks about me in a possessive way. I’m sure my inner feminist will not be happy at that admission, but I don’t care.
Izzy stares at Dom, and he laughs, shaking his head. “I’m not getting a tattoo for you, baby. That is like a whole other level.”
“Yeah, like permanent.” Izzy says, and she waggles her eyebrows at me. ”Next, he’ll be putting a ring on her finger.”
I squirm in my seat, going red.
“You bet you I will.” Grayson replies, dead serious. “One day.”
I gulp and swallow and everyone goes quiet. Izzy gawps at him for a minute and then grins at me.
Grayson looks up then, to find everyone is staring at him, as if he hasn’t just said that he intends to propose to me one day.
“What?” he asks, looking from one of us to the other. “Izz close your mouth, you’ll catch a fly,” he teases. “I’m not afraid to say it. One day I’m going to marry the shit out of Manchester.”
He looks at me with a lazy smile and winks. “I’m bored with this game, lets stick a movie on.” he suggests, changing the subject and pulling Dom and Izzy from their open-mouthed staring.
Sophie shouts us, just as the movie ends to tell that the Chinese has arrived and we all pile upstairs and congregate around the large kitchen island.
My dad pulls himself from his emails and joins us. He places a hand on Grayson’s shoulder. “Can I have a quick word, son?”
Grayson looks across at me in a silent question, and I shake my head. What on earth was this about?
“Sure,” he says, clearing his throat, and he follows my dad into the lounge.
“What is that all about?” Dom asks his mum.
Sophie just smiles as she plates out the food. “Nothing bad. Don’t worry.”
Dom chuckles. “He’s not giving him the contraception talk, is he? Because I think they passed that stage a long time ago!”
“Dom!” I hiss, mortified, and smack him on the back of the head.
“Ow,” he moans, batting my hands away from him. “Just keeping it real, sis.”
We all start to eat and Grayson and my dad come back in. I relax when I see they are laughing together over something. Grayson takes a seat beside me and I give him a look that asks him what that was about. He leans in and kisses my cheek.
“It was nothing. I’ll tell you later.”
I sigh in relief and now I feel like I can stomach some food. It has been ten months since I relapsed with my anorexia. I’m not going to say things have been easy, they haven’t. I do however feel like I am beating this thing. I don’t really think about what I am eating now. I have regained my curves and Grayson makes no bones about telling me how much he loves my new curvier shape. I am now a healthy size 8-10. I am still attending the support groups every other week. I had my last appointment with the private consultant that my dad and Sophie had paid for last month, and he had been really pleased with my progress and we’d agreed I would now see him in three months’ time.
We finish our food and as it’s still quite early, we go back to the den and have a game of pool together. Grayson gets a call as we are playing and he looks at the screen of his phone and frowns. “It’s my dad. I’d better take this.”
He walks over to the other side of the den and I watch his tense demeanour as he speaks to his father. Grayson paces as he talks to his dad and he makes a fist with his other hand, a sure sign with him that whatever his dad has to say it is pissing him off.
When he comes back over, he is tense. He comes up behind me and nuzzles my neck.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, nothing I can’t handle,” he replies flatly. “Just my dad being his usual self.”
I turn in his arms so I can face him. “You going to tell me what my dad wanted earlier?”
Grayson snickers, smiling. “Oh, that.”
Dom’s ears perk up and he stops midway through taking his shot. “Was it the safe sex talk?”
Grayson laughs, shaking his head. “No, not really. He just said he could see that we were serious about each other and he doesn’t want us to rush into anything. You know the ‘you’re both young and have your whole lives ahead of you’ talk.”
“Ah that one, yeah, I remember Mum giving me a similar talk,” Dom replies laughing.
“He then said that he recognised Ev is now an adult and that he isn’t stupid enough to think that we aren’t sexually active, so I can sleep in your room now when I stay over.”
I blink. “Say what?”
Grayson grins at my shocked face. “You heard me. Your dad just gave me permission to sleep in your room. No more sneaking around, Manchester.”
“What the fuck!” Dom exclaims. “How come you two get to share a room? Izzy and I have been together two years and we haven’t been given that pass?”
I waggle my eyebrows. “I’m older than you Dom. You’ll have to wait until your eighteenth.”
“This is bullshit. I’m going talking to Mum.” He puts his queue down and takes off upstairs.
Izzy laughs at his retreating form. “Oh dear, someone’s not happy.”
It feels odd later that night when we all pass my dad and Sophie and head upstairs. I can’t help the blush that creeps across my face as I meet my dad’s eyes and tell him goodnight. Dom had put his case to his mum and my dad but he had been told that he has to wait until he is eighteen and that Izzy will stay in Abi’s room tonight.
“Have a good night.” Grayson teases as we leave Dom at his bedroom door. “I know I will.”
“Hardy- Har. Fuck off G.”
I slap Grayson’s arm playfully as we enter my room, and he closes the door behind us. “That was mean.”
Grayson shrugs as he pulls me flush against him. “It was funny though.” His hands snake under my top, making contact with the skin on my stomach, sending shivers through my body. “Now birthday girl, time for me to worship this body.”
The next morning I wake up with Grayson asleep at the side of me. I lie still, watching him with a smile on my face. It is nice knowing he doesn’t have to sneak off early so my dad doesn’t catch him in here. I prop my head up on my hand and just watch him sleeping until my alarm goes off.
“Morning,” I greet.
He stretches out, yawning, and grabs me by the waist and rolls me underneath him.
“Good Morning, Manchester.” He leans into my neck and I hear him intake a breath and inhale my scent.
“Back to reality today,” I groan. We were both in our last year of college now and shit was getting serious. A-level exams were looming and we need to make decisions about the future.
“We’ll celebrate again at the weekend.” He rubs his stubble along my jaw and I wriggle to get away. “That reminds me. I have to go away next weekend. My dad has summoned me to attend some social event. It’s a business, networking thing.”
“Sounds dull.”
He nods, sighing. “You’ve no idea. My dad’s after landing a contract with a big player in the business, so he wants us to put on a family front.” He stands from my bed and pads towards my en-suite as naked as the day he was born. “You joining me?” He stops and asks.
I don’t need asking twice. I leap out of bed and chase behind him. I have a feeling it might be a longer shower than my usual one.
Chapter 2
I NOTICE IZZY SEEMS distracted in the morning at breakfast. She smiles as she climbs in the back of the car with me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“You okay?” I ask her, concerned.
She nods. “Course. Just tired.”
There is something bothering her, but she clearly isn’t ready to talk about it. I’ll leave her be for now and hope that eventually she will talk to me.
We park up at college and Izzy kisses Dom on the cheek and tells him she needs to head to the library to pick up some books for an assignment. She catches my gaze and puts her head down before rushing off. There was definitely something wrong.
“Did you hear a word I just said?” Grayson asks me, waving his hand in front of my face. I reach out and grab his hand.
“Sorry, I was miles away. What were you saying?”
Grayson smiles and shakes his head. “I was saying I’ll book us a booth at Louie’s for Friday night.”
“Sounds good.”
Even though I have wanted my eighteenth to be a quiet affair, our friends have been bugging me to celebrate.
We head to the common room and I drop a quick kiss on Grayson’s lips before I head over to sit with Lottie and the guys. I’d been determined to still spend time with my small group of friends when Grayson and I got together.
“Hey guys.” I throw myself down on the sofa beside Harvey.
“So, how does it feel?” Harvey asks me, waiting expectantly.
I look at him blankly. “How does what feel?”
He tuts. “Becoming an adult. Are you suddenly bestowed with wisdom and maturity?”
I smirk. “I was already bestowed with both those things. I am wise beyond my years.”
I look over at Lottie, who is chewing on a fingernail as she taps the keypad of her phone, deep in concentration. Whoever she is texting must reply, as her phone pings and a big smile lights up her face.
“Who are you texting?” I ask her, pulling her attention from the screen.
She shrugs. “No one special.”
I study her, not convinced. “No one special doesn’t put a smile on your face like that.”
She pockets her phone and sighs. “It’s just someone from work. They want to swap a shift.”
Lottie has recently started working at a local coffee shop in the village. She doesn’t need to work, but she says it will look good on her CV for when she applies for jobs after university.
“Bitch alert,” Imogen warns.
I look up to see Paige waltz in the room like she owns the place. She makes a beeline for Grayson and the boys. Although Grayson has been with me for nine months now, she still flirts relentlessly with him at every available opportunity.
At first it used to wind me up, but now I just sit back and watch. You see, it always plays out the same way. She will place herself in his way and try to engage him in conversation and Grayson will just look through her, looking irritated and move away from her. The biggest sense of satisfaction I get is
the look of frustration on her face when he ignores her.
“She doesn’t give up, does she?” Hannah laughs, as we all watch the scene play out.
Paige steps into the centre of the guys and walks up to Grayson, she places a hand on his chest and says something to him. Grayson rolls his eyes and looks down at her before taking her hand and removing it from his person. Whatever he says to her, it must cut her deep as her arms wave around as she speaks before she stomps off out of the room.
“That never gets old.” Lottie grins. “Paige, once again taken down a peg or two by your boyfriend.”
I smile in agreement. Grayson’s eyes lock briefly with mine. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say ‘what can I do?’
My first class is English, so I make my way over to Grayson so we can walk over together.
“Here she is!” Owen hollers. “The birthday girl. Hey, Grayson, you’re dating an older woman now. Everly is a cougar.”
“Hardy-har,” I deadpan, giving Owen a jab in the ribs as I pass him.
Grayson holds his arm out and I slide myself in under his shoulder. “What did she want this time?”
Grayson shakes his head, frowning. “She’s going to the fundraiser next weekend that I’m attending with my dad.”
“You’re kidding?” I blanch.
“I wish I was,” he replies, looking as equally unhappy about this news as I feel.
“Just be careful around her, Grayson. I don’t trust her one bit,” I tell him. Paige was vindictive and I would put nothing past her.
Grayson drops a quick kiss on my lips. “You don’t have to worry. I never let my guard down when she is around.”
I groan. “Remind me to stay away from instagram next weekend. No doubt she’ll post as many photos of the two of you on there, as she can.”
Grayson scoffs. “She can post however many photo’s she likes, still doesn’t change the fact that there is only room for one girl in my life.”
“What about Emily?” I tease, tugging gently on his tie.
Grayson leans into my ear. “Tug on that tie again, and I’ll use it later to tie you up and have you at my mercy.”
