Page 95 of Elijah

Amy

aged 22

“Where’s Eli?” Sam asked, pulling a can of lager from the pile on the kitchen table.

“I put him in Alex’s spare room,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “He’s totally wasted.”

“That’s what playing beer pong and working through lunch does for you.”

“Yeah, I know, but he wanted to get as much done as he could so he could finish early.” I picked at the Wotsits in a bowl – Alex’s idea of party food. “His boss is a shit.”

“I know.” Sam joined me in eating the snacks, pausing to peer into the lounge where a huge cheer had gone up. “I keep telling him to start his own business. I could get him a couple of jobs to start him off.”

“You think?”

I was desperate for Elijah to start his own gardening business. He was good enough and hardworking enough, plus it was our dream to work together; me designing the insides of people’s houses and Eli transforming their gardens.

“Yep, defo. I’ll start asking a few of my clients. In fact, Danbury Industries have quite a bit of land around their factory and John Danbury is always saying he wants to do something with it.”

“God Sam, that would be fantastic,” I gasped, the possibility thrilling me. “Do you do a lot of work with them?”

Sam nodded and stuffed some more Wotsits into his mouth. “Yep, loads. We supply all their temps, so leave it with me.”

I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks Sam. You’re a good big brother.”

He grinned and wiped a hand down his face. “Don’t spoil my street cred, Ames. I have the reputation of a tosser to keep up. Plus, Maisie West is in there and I’m hoping that she’ll let me walk her home later, I don’t want her to get the wrong idea that I’m a nice bloke.”

“Ugh, just don’t make it our home,” I groaned, poking him in the stomach. “I don’t want to have to hear you both at it all night.”

Sam wiggled his eyebrows and looked back toward the lounge.

“She’s actually not that sort of girl,” he sighed. “Maybe Hannah Brown is better for me? I’ve always fancied her.”

“Yes, but if you like Maisie, you should go for it,” I replied, glancing at the blonde girl he was talking about. “She seems nice.”

Sam smiled. “Yeah, she is.”

As I watched Sam watch Maisie, we fell silent for a few seconds until a couple of people I didn’t know shoved past us to grab a bottle of wine.

“Rude much,” I muttered as they left us,

“I think they’re mates of Lauren Proctor.”

I shuddered at the mention of her name. “Can’t believe Alex invited her.”

“I don’t think he did. He invited Poppy James and Lauren and those two girls came with her.”

“Bitch,” I snarled. “I hate her. She was all over Elijah as soon as we got here.”

Sam shook his head. “You have nothing to worry about, Ames. He’s not interested in her.”

“Not sure he’s interested in me either.”

Sam’s gaze shot to me. “Hey?”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” I sighed. “It’s just me being stupid.”

“It is you being stupid, because if you’re referring to the fact you’re not at it every bloody night, don’t sweat it.”