^“What are you doing in here?” I ask Ellie when she walks in the garage. Her hair is up in a bun, and she has a small, blue dress on that shows off her amazing body. Ellie looks content, considering all the problems her parents and ex-husband have been causing her recently. I know she’s stressed, but she doesn’t let it show, and it makes me wonder how strong she is. She just seems to accept that it’s difficult for them to understand how we all feel for each other. Ellie smiles as she comes over, sliding her hand across the Bentley in here. This car has taken me ages to get right, as it had so many problems, but there is no way I’m giving up on it.

It’s a real beauty, like someone else in this room.

“I wanted to see you,” she says, like she needs an explanation for finding me. She doesn’t.

“Well, you are always welcome,” I say, and she grins. I wipe my hands on a rag before walking over to her. She smiles up at me as I place my hand behind her neck and pull her into a deep kiss.

“Ellie,” I say moving away. Ellie tastes so nice, like everything sweet and amazing at the same time.

“Todd,” she replies, her tone breathless. The first time we were together is stuck in my mind, on repeat. It was amazing being with her like that, loving her like that.

“I saw this when I first moved in,” she says, picking up my sketch book.

“I draw the cars when I’ve finished them. I’m not good, but I like to do it,” I say as she opens the book. I watch her nervously as she looks through the images.

“They’re really good, Todd, and there’s so many. I didn’t realise you had done this many cars up,” she says, looking around the garage. I only have the one at the moment, but there’s a local auction coming up in York, and I’m going to pick something up to fix there.

“I like to do it,” I say, and she nods, putting the book back down.

“Todd, can you dance for me?” she says and blushes when I look down at her. I’m surprised she asked, but there is no one else I would love to dance for.

“Come here,” I say and lift her onto the car bonnet. She giggles and holds onto her bump, which is getting bigger by the day. I can’t wait to meet our little girl. I know I’m not her dad, but I won’t walk away from her. That’s never going to happen. I’ve always wanted children, and I will protect her the best I can.

“Stay there,” I say, thinking of a sexy song to play while I do this dance for her. There are so many I could choose from. I flick through my iPhone and choose “Pour it Up” by Rihanna and plug it into the wireless speakers we have. I wait until the music gets to the bit I need and then start moving. Most dances are easy to move your hips to and make it look attractive. It’s not exactly hard to do, and I move my body, knowing how I want it to be and her eyes widen. I lock my eyes with hers, knowing this is only about her and slowly lift my white shirt up. When I pull it off over my head, I throw it at her, and she catches it with a giggle. Stripping was always a way to pay the bills for me. Now, I just do it because I wouldn’t know what to do without it. I don’t want to strip forever, and I make a fortune selling the cars I do up now. The last few years of this are paying off now because I have clients who will pay for the cars I do up because of my track record.

I move closer as I undo the buttons on my jeans and Ellie shocks me, as she slides off the car and stops in front of me.

Ellie starts kissing me, the kiss is fast and hot, and I don’t stop her, instead sliding my hands over her chest. She lowers herself to her knees and pulls my jeans down with my boxers. I’m so hard that I can’t move when she kisses the tip of my dick and then sucks the end into her hot mouth.

“Fuckkk,” I hiss out as she takes all of me into her mouth. My hand goes into her soft hair, and she starts moving her head. Shit she is good at this.

“El, you’re–“ I start to say, and she sucks me harder, stopping any more words. Every suck is pulling me closer to the edge. When I’m close, I try to pull out as I come, and she grabs my ass to hold me in place as I finish in her mouth.

I pull her up to me when she leans back, and I kiss her, loving the feeling of her tasting like me.

“El,” I say, and she sighs.

“I needed that. I needed time with you,” she says and kisses me again. “Todd, I love you.”

I lean back, so I can see her. “I love you, too,” I say, knowing it’s true. I loved Ellie the first time I met her. I loved her more when she met my niece and nephew and watched films all day with us. I fell even more when she gave up our first date to come to my sister’s house to look after her kids. She didn’t need to do any of it, but she did. She did it for me.

Ellie is it for me.

“Can you come tomorrow to see my parents with me?” she asks as I pull my boxers up.

“They finally want to meet us all?” I ask, and she laughs.

“They do, and I want to introduce you all as my boyfriends,” she says.

“Well, at least they know about us all and what we do for work. The awkward conversation is done with,” I chuckle. Kaiden told me what she said and how brave she was. It only makes me respect her more and know that this is going to work between us all.

“Yeah, they know. They didn’t say much on the phone, other than asking me to bring you all and that they wanted to talk. I hope it’s a good conversation with only six weeks left until the baby comes. I want them to meet our daughter,” she says, and I love how she calls her baby all of ours.

“Why don’t I take you back to the house and cook you something?” I offer.

“What did you have in mind?” she asks me.

“I was thinking brownies, and you can lick the spoon,” I say, and she laughs. She has had a craving for chocolate recently.

“I love the idea and oh–“ she stops talking, her hands going to her stomach.

I reach over and place my hands near hers, feeling the bump moving and knowing that is our little girl kicking up a storm.

“Our little girl,” I say, and I can’t believe it. I know there’s a baby, but it’s different to actually see one and not just a bump. I remember my sister being pregnant, and I was right outside in the waiting room when the twins were born. They were so small, and I helped a lot with nappies, and night feeds when their father went to the pub. My sister just couldn’t cope on her own, and I liked to help her. They woke up a lot in the night, but I’d stay three nights a week and slept on the sofa. It wasn’t the easiest time, but we made it work.

We walk into the house, and there’s a knock at the front door. Ellie lets me open it, and standing on the doorstep is a blonde woman. It’s clear she has been crying, and the woman looks a mess.

“Liz?” Ellie asks, and I look at the woman in anger. So, this is Ellie’s best friend who betrayed her and hurt her so much. Ellie steps in front of me and goes to close the door. I don’t fucking blame her.

“I need to tell you something, and please, please don’t shut the door,” she says, and Ellie holds the door open slightly. She doesn’t open it further, but she looks so angry as she stares at Liz.

“What is it?” Ellie finally asks, and her tone is anything but kind. I don’t expect her to be at all.

“Drew has kicked me out. You were right. He doesn’t care that I’m pregnant or that the baby is his. All he went on about was you,” she says. I wrap an arm around Ellie’s waist, and she looks up at me for a second. I’m sure we are thinking the same thing; I don’t like that Drew has gotten rid of Liz. Why would he do that now?

“I want to say ‘I told you so’, but I feel it’s an understatement,” Ellie says, her voice very soft.

“I know you won’t forgive me, but I wanted, no needed, to say sorry. I’m so sorry,” Liz says, and she walks away. Ellie doesn’t move for a long time as she watches her friend get into her car and drive away.

“El, you okay?” I ask, and she wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest. She doesn’t reply, and I know she doesn’t need to. I’m just here for her as she says goodbye to that part of her life.