We climb on board and find our reserved seats and wave at Courtney as the train pulls out of the station.
“What a weekend,” I say with a sigh.
“Yeah,” says Izzy with a tight smile. Looking a million miles away again.
“Okay. Out with it,” I command.
She blinks and looks at me. “Out with what?”
“Something’s wrong. You’ve not been yourself for a couple of weeks now. Are you pregnant or something?”
She frowns and shakes her head. “No, of course not.”
“Well then, what is it?” I reach across the small table in-between us and squeeze her hands in mine. “You know you can tell me anything, Izzy.”
Izzy looks around the train carriage and then leans in over the table and I lean in closer.
“I found a lump,” she tells me. Her face is stricken with worry.
“A lump,” I repeat. “Where?”
“On my left breast,” she whispers. “I’m scared, Everly. What if its cancer?”
I gulp. Cancer has already destroyed my life once. It is a fucker, silent and deadly, and it had taken my mum from me far too soon.
“You have been to the doctors, right?” I ask.
She chews on her lip and shakes her head. “No, I’m too scared. I mean, what if it is cancer, Ev?”
I squeeze her hands in mine. “Then you’ll fight it and you’ll fucking beat it, but ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.”
She nods, and she wipes away a tear. “Will you come with me?”
“You don’t even need to ask. I’m with you all the way,“ I tell her firmly. “You ring first thing tomorrow and get an emergency appointment.”
Izzy nods and wipes her eyes. She already seems lighter from sharing this with me.
“It could be nothing. A cyst, or just fatty breast tissue. You have to remain positive.”
Izzy nods her head and braves a smile. “You’re right.”
I smile back at her, but inside, I’m terrified. I’ve already watched one person lose their fight with cancer. I’m not ready to watch someone else I’ve grown to care about go through it. I’ve already lost the two most important people in my life and I am done with people leaving me.
Chapter 4
WE’D ARRANGED FOR DOM to pick us up from the station and he’s parked outside waiting for us when we head out of the station.
Izzy runs to him, and he swings her up into his arms, and they lock lips. I divert my eyes and give them a private moment. I shove our cases in the boot and I climb in the back seat. I knock on the window and fake a yawn when they still haven’t come up for air a minute later. Dom gives me the finger, giving his girlfriend one last kiss before he releases her and they both climb into the car.
“So, how was it?” He asks us both.
I nod. “It was good. Strange and a mix of feelings, but I think it did me good.”
Dom meets my eyes through his mirror and smiles. “That’s good.”
“How was your weekend?” Izzy asks him, tucking her feet under her and turning slightly in her seat.
“Boring,” he replies. “You were both away. Grayson was gone, and even Owen bailed on me and went fishing.”
Izzy splutters out a laugh. “Did you say fishing and my twin in the same sentence?”
Dom looks at her, puzzled. “Yeah, so?”
Izzy shakes her head. “My brother hates fishing.”
Dom scrunches his brows. “Well, that’s where he said he was going. You think he was lying?”
Izzy nods resolutely. “Without doubt,” she says, tapping her chin, “which means my brother is hiding something.”
Dom shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe he’s got a girl somewhere.”
Izzy wags her finger. “Now you mention it, he has been very upbeat and chirpy lately. Even in a morning and that is so not my brother.”
Dom chuckles. “He’s getting some then no doubt.”
Izzy folds her arms and looks deep in thought. “But, who?”
I stay silent because it’s only a hunch at the moment, but I have a sneaky feeling I know just who is occupying Owen’s time and it’s a situation that could explode if I’m right.
I’M LYING ON MY BED reading when I hear the door go and I hear his voice. I bound up off the bed and down the stairs and jump into his arms.
“Hey baby,” he chuckles as he wraps his arms around me tightly.
I lean back and press my lips to his.
“Eurgh, I’m going to be sick,” my little brother shouts, covering his eyes with his hands.
Grayson chuckles as he kisses me. “Bedroom.” He whispers in my ear.
The feel of him against me has me desperate to touch him. We walk casually up the stairs but as soon as my door closes he pushes me up against it and I climb him like a tree, wrapping my legs tightly round his waist.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he confesses, as he rains kisses down my neck.
“Mm-hmm,” I reply, totally distracted by the feel of his mouth on my skin.
“No foreplay tonight, Manchester. I need inside you right now.”
I nod against his lips and he lifts me slightly and tugs my joggers over my bottom and down off one leg and then the other. His hands are quickly lifting my top over my head as I frantically pull at the zipper of his jeans and push them down. He adjusts me and then he pushes inside me in one quick thrust and I moan in sheer pleasure.
“Gods. I wish I could walk around with your cock inside me all day.”
Grayson grins a wicked smile. “I’d happily stay inside you all day, every day Manchester if I could.” He thrusts harder and faster and I grip his arse with my hands, wanting him deeper, closer. I can never get enough.
“Faster,” I demand, and he gives it me harder. I think I see stars. His lips find mine and his tongue plunges into my mouth, owning me and loving me.
Grayson kisses me to drown out my moans as I ride out my orgasm.
“Fuck, I’m close,”
