Even though she tries not to, Allie lets her eyes rake over my body one last time before scurrying off to put my shirt in the dryer, and I begin helping Bella clean up the floor from where the sink went rogue.
“Any chance you can only come over here shirtless from now on?” Bella asks with shameless guile.
I burst out laughing while Allie groans from the back. At least the tension seems to be broken. Bella takes the towels when we’re done, and I head back toward the living room that is just across from the kitchen.
Settling in on the sofa shirtless makes me feel a little too cozy in their small home, but I don’t have much of a choice. Allie resumes her seat beside Angel, and she works hard not to look over at me, just like I work hard not to look at her.
Angel snuggles up to me without hesitation, and I wrap my arms around her and hold her to me while enduring their show.
After a while, Angel’s breaths become even, and she starts snoring adorably.
“Are those coming from her?” Bella whispers from the chair across from us.
Allie nods, grinning as she looks over at us. Her eyes lock with mine, showing me a new depth of something I wish I wasn’t too scared to explore. But I don’t want to lose this.
“She never sleeps hard enough to snore unless you’re around, apparently,” Bella says, her eyes landing on Angel as I slowly stand up with her cradled to me.
That means more to me than she realizes.
Very carefully, I tuck Angel into bed, and she grips my hand when I kiss her forehead. After gently withdrawing my hand, I back away from Sleeping Beauty.
Both women are standing in the doorway when I turn around, and I smirk while tucking my hands into my pockets, feeling a little on display.
They both clear their throats and flee the room, and I snicker to myself while following. Bella abandons us, heading back to her room, and Allie sits down on the sofa where I join her.
“Your shirt is taking a while to dry,” Allie says nervously. “Sorry. The dryer is a little outdated.”
I shrug, playing it cool. Honestly, I feel like a fucking teenager hanging out in the living room while the girl’s parents listen from their room.
“Since my shirt isn’t ready, let’s kill the time with you telling me about you. I don’t know a lot. You know a ton about me. I think it’s only fair.”
She grabs a bottle of wine that Bella deserted on the coffee table, and pours us two glasses before settling back on the sofa and propping her feet up.
“Long story short, my dad left when I was little, and my mom raised me until she couldn’t take it anymore. I was ten when the Johnsons took me in. It was a loveless, cold house, but I was luckier than most kids my age. I didn’t have to bounce around to several houses or endure physical abuse. There were others who came and went, but they would be too rowdy, and the Johnsons would have them extracted.
“I was always perfect because I was scared of what else was out there. The other kids always had horror stories. I never missed school. If I was sick, I suffered in silence, never letting myself be a burden. And if I was hungry, I kept my mouth shut until they were ready to serve food. It gave me the longest placement of any kid to ever travel through there.”
Holy shit. I wasn’t expecting that, and I can’t believe she just told me.
“Allie, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
She shrugs, not looking up from her glass of wine, as though she needs it for strength to continue.
“Bella was my saving grace. We met sophomore year in high school, and I started spending the night with her all the time. Her family was nice, for the most part—well, compared to what I knew. It showed me that there’s more out there. That week in Cancun was the closest I ever got to being a normal teenager.”
And I stole it from her by making her an instant mother. Fuck.
“Sorry. I guess meeting me was—”
“Don’t,” she interrupts, smiling over at me. “Angel was honestly the best thing to ever happen to me. Why do you think I named her that? My life could have gone wrong in a lot of ways, because I was about to break free and go into the real world. I had spent a lifetime being perfect, and rebelling seemed so much easier.
“I quit drinking when I… um… well, when something was missing on the next month. And when it was confirmed that I was pregnant, I took better care of myself than anyone else ever had. Bella’s parents rented a house for us that was near them, and we stayed there together through college. I had government grants and various scholarships, so I managed to escape without student loans. Her parents didn’t feel comfortable helping with Angel, because they didn’t condone my behavior. They thought I was a bad influence on Bella.