Right so I know this is a pretty quick update but I have an article due for next week so most of my time will be spent on that the next few days. I should have the next part up by thursday, but I hope you like this chapter...cheers to Becki who as has made my day with her lovely reviews and a special thank you to Pishta Hampster who was -in a rather unexpected way- the inspiration for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it! I'm craving for some reviewage so bring it on! xxxx
"So we're agreed that Mr. Ellis and Mr. Dunham will usher the British museum trip along with myself and Miss. Ross,"
Most of the teachers turned to look at Pete and Benjamin with slightly disbelieving eyes. God forbid they actually got put in charge of their own class for once.
"Any problems gentlemen?" the head mistress Mrs. Walsh asked, raising a barely there eyebrow, her sharp blue eyes daring either of them to say something.
"Nah," Pete shook his head. "Sounds alright to me,"
"Count me in," Benjamin added, raising his cup of coffee and taking a long sip. "Ay," he whispered leaning in so that only Pete could hear him. "Miss Ross, she's fit, isn't she?"
Glancing over at the pretty if slightly plain looking brunette in the corner of the room, Pete smirked.
"I've seen you do a lot worse, mate," he quipped, both of them laughing lightly but loud enough to gain the attention of the rest of the room.
"Right well," Mrs. Walsh glared at them both. "As you two seemed to have more pressing matters to discuss, I think we'll wrap it up," she leant down and picked up her bag. "Have a nice lunch,"
"Phew," Benjamin laughed, nudging the bloke next to him who taught geography. "Ding, dong the witch is dead, eh?"
Pete chuckled and took another sip of coffee while the rest of the room seemed unimpressed. Wincing slightly, Benjamin turned to face him and sighed.
"How do you feel about a cheeky pub lunch?" he asked. "Save ourselves from being sucked into eternal damnation,"
"Count me the fuck in," Pete nodded, reaching for his jacket and following the Scotsman out of the staffroom, down the long corridor towards the playground.
"Heads up, Mr. Dunham!"
Pete caught the football just before it smacked him in the head and laughed, dropping it down onto his foot and balancing it skilfully before flicking it up onto the back of his neck.
"Ay, Ay boys," he nodded towards what seemed to be a collective of his and Benjamin's boys. "What's the score?"
All the boys yelled out different numbers, setting off a string of arguments around them and making Benjamin and Pete laugh.
"Yeah, well whatever happens, remember we've got P.E after lunch so don't go getting to tired, eh?" he called, kicking the ball back over them and carrying on through the playground towards the staff car park.
"So do you fancy going?" Benjamin asked him, gesturing for Pete to follow him over to his slightly battered Audi and unlocked the doors.
"Somewhere that stocks beer," Pete shook his head.
"Drinking in the afternoon?" Benjamin narrowed his eyes. "Oh shit, what's happened?"
"Nothing, mate," Pete climbed into the car and waited for his mate to do the same. "I just need to get out of here for a bit,"
"Right then," Benjamin nodded. "Two mid-afternoon beers coming up,"
"So," Benjamin raised his eyebrows as he took a seat opposite Pete in a quieter corner of the bar near the old stone fire place. Smiling at two women who had walked in and were looking in their direction, he nudged Pete's hand with his beer glass and nodded towards them. "Oi, what'd you reckon?"
Glancing over at them, Pete shook his head. Neither of them had a patch on Allie, but then no one ever had since he'd met her; the boys used to rip the piss out of him, making out that he was whipped and maybe he was, but it was like after he fist laid eyes on Allie, all other women stopped existing. He'd never, ever wanted anyone else in all the time he was with her.
"I reckon that I'm engaged." He chuckled. "And if I'm really honest mate, we're two blokes sitting having lunch, they probably reckon we're gay boys,"
"Bollocks," Benjamin took a long, soothing sip of his beer. "Probably doesn't help that we were holding hands on the way in, does it?"
Pete laughed heartily and shook his head; he'd met Benjamin on his second day at the school, Benjamin having been there six months before he was. They'd bonded more or less instantly, partly due to the fact that they were both young and constantly under the scrutiny of the other staff. It was nice having a mate who wasn't involved in the GSE, even though Benjamin had come to the Abbey with the boys a few times, bravely putting up with the endless array of shit he got just for being Scottish.
"So are you going to tell me what's been putting you in a shitty mood the last two days or do I have to start guessing?" his icy blue eyes met Pete's brighter ones and the blonde man sighed, shaking his head and staring down into the depths of his beer.
"It's Allie," Pete mumbled, frowning slightly when Benjamin laughed.
"Allie as in your stunning, sweet, funny fiancé?" Benjamin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I mean, if there was ever a reason to be pissing miserable, that would top my list." Reaching across the table, he smacked Pete on the shoulder. "What happened?"
"We had a pretty big fight," he explained. "You know about the Manchester game over the weekend, yeah?"
"I saw it on the news," the dark haired man winced slightly, remembering the violent images and suddenly understood how Allie might have reacted.
"I was such a prick to her, mate," Pete shook his head. "I just panic, you know? There's nothing worse than knowing you've disappointed someone you care about that much,"
"So, what's the problem?" Benjamin frowned. "It's not like this is the first barney you two have had over this type of thing, is it?"
"Nah," Pete shook his head. "But this felt different…I don't know."
"Doesn't help that your little American friend has a thing for her, either, does it?" Benjamin said it so casually that Pete nearly choked on his beer.
"How the fuck…" he shook his head.
"Dave is an awful drunk," he explained, grinning. "He'd sell me his fucking soul if I gave him enough Stella,"
Rolling his eyes, Pete picked up his knife and fork and started playing with them, suddenly feeling quite restless; he hadn't let himself think about the Matt thing for a while, but it was still very much an issue. His best mate had a thing for his fiancé…shit like this wasn't supposed to happen in real life.
"So the question is, what are you planning on doing about it?" Benjamin asked him, smiling gratefully at the waitress who placed one of the two colossal chicken and bacon baguettes she was holding in front of him before handing the other plate to Pete.
"Fuck if I know," Pete mumbled through a huge bite of his sandwich. "Every time I call her it goes straight to voicemail,"
"Have you tried just going to see her?" he asked, shoving a couple of chips into his mouth. This definitely beat stealing the other teachers' biscuits in the staffroom.
"Sloane Square is a long trip to make just to get a door slammed in your face," Pete snorted.
"Just grovel, Pete," Benjamin told him, nodding. "Book a table at the ponciest restaurant you can find, tell her she looks beautiful, send her some flowers and you're looking at getting some within an hour at the most."
"It's not about that, mate," Pete shook his head and then caught the stern look Benjamin was giving him. "Alright, it's a little bit about that, but…ah, fuck, I don't know."
"Trust me, Dunham," Benjamin winked at him over his pint glass. "These things have a way of sorting themselves out."
Stepping into the flat as quietly as she could, Allie scanned the living room and frowned when there didn't seem to be anyone in. Pete normally came home for lunch on a Tuesday so she'd swung by in the hope of catching him, knowing fully well that after two days of consecutive silence, one of them had to start talking.
Looking back on it, she had to admit that calling him a twat and then storming out of the flat hadn't been as productive as she had initially thought. If she's bit her tongue and stayed then chances were they wouldn't be in this mess.
But then that seemed to be all she ever did with Pete was bite her Sodding tongue and what he didn't seem to realise was that…
Allie sighed and laughed lightly; she was actually managing to have an argument with Pete without him even being in the room. Surely that deserved some kind of award. Hearing a faint noise from the bathroom, she stood up straight and prepared herself for the awkwardness that would fill the room. Ok, what did she want to say to him? Should she yell at him first? Should she be the one saying sorry? Maybe she should just run over and hug him…right now she was set on the latter.
Towelling off his wet hair, Matt jumped when he looked up and saw Allie staring at him, a mixture of confusion and disappointment on her face, which to give her credit, she tried to cover up as quickly as she could with a smile.
"Matt," she shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I thought you were Pete,"
"Oh, uh," the American stammered more than aware that he was stood in front of her in nothing but a towel. Noticing that she didn't really seem to care, his brain struggled to determine whether that was a good or a bad thing. "He hasn't come home yet," glancing at the clock he frowned. "It's still school time, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Allie nodded. "But he normally comes home on a Tuesday." Shaking her head, she laughed quietly. "But not today apparently," she whispered.
"Are you ok?" Matt asked her, bringing her attention back from the odd looking mark on the ceiling. "I mean, we haven't seen you since Sunday, I know Pete's been worried,"
"Yeah, it looks like it," she snorted, gesturing to the empty beer bottles strewn about the living room table. Catching the fear in Matt's eyes, Allie sighed and walked over to the sofa, flopping down on it. "Sorry," she smiled sadly at him. "I didn't mean to snap at you, you haven't done anything wrong,"
"No," Matt shook his head. "You were right about me being an ass for just leaving you at the station that day. I just…" he sighed. "You don't know what its like to try and fit in with these guys,"
"Why is it so important to you?" she whispered. "You're an amazing guy, Matt. You're better than this bullshit,"
His chest tightened at her words and he couldn't help himself from whispering them back.
"So are you," he told her, wincing when he realised that he probably shouldn't have said that. He was basically asking her why she was with Pete when she could do better.
"What?" she asked him, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"I just meant that," he stuttered. "I meant that you and Pete are better than this…you know, the whole fighting thing. You're stronger than that,"
Proud of himself for thinking on his feet like that, Matt took a deep breath and sat down beside her, careful not to let any of the water dripping off of his skin on the sofa.
"I know I was a bitch," she laughed bitterly. "I should have at least heard him out instead of flying off the handle, but Christ, Matt I'm marrying the guy and I should be able to rely on him,"
"He loves you," Matt told her simply, wondering why it almost physically hurt to say it. "I've never met anyone who loves someone the way he loves you,"
Turning to face him, Allie felt tears sting her eyes and laughed lightly.
"What if it's not enough?" she asked him. "Loving me isn't going to put him in any less danger when he goes off with the boys," she sniffed. "God help me Matt, I love all of them so, so much but sometimes I just…" sighing, she reached out and gently traced the cut on his forehead. The sensation of her fingers running across his skin like that made Matt almost forget to breathe and he fought the urge to close his eyes.
"That looks pretty nasty," she told him. "D'you want me to clean it for you?"
"What?" he whispered, his voice coming out hoarse. "Uh, no, it's okay. Thanks though,"
She nodded and pulled her hand away and Matt cursed himself for not saying yes; it was torture to have her touching him, but at the same time it was a feeling he'd never get enough of.
"I better go find him," Allie smiled and nudged him with her shoulder. "Don't tell the bastard, but I've missed him the past two days,"
Looking at the sadness still marring her perfect face, Matt cleared his throat.
"Remember the day after we met and you took me around London?" he asked her, watching the small smile spread over her face.
"Yeah," she laughed lightly. "I remember kicking your arse in that funfair,"
"Yeah, well that aside," Matt rolled his eyes. "I asked you were ok with all the GSE stuff," he nudged her gently. "Do you remember what you said?"
"I said," Allie sighed deeply and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I said that I loved him and I would never make him chose, because when you love someone as much as I love Pete, you don't want anything about them to change." She rolled her eyes. "Even the bad stuff,"
"Well," Matt smiled. "There you go,"
"Oh what the fuck did I know?" she cried, standing up and walking over to the small window in the living room which overlooked the park across the road. "I was just being naïve, Matt. Thinking that it didn't matter," she turned back to face him and his heart ripped when he saw tears in her eyes. "It does matter. I don't want anything to happen to him…the idea of losing him," she shook her head. "I can't even think about it,"
"Does Pete know that this is how you feel?" he asked her.
"I don't want to pressure him," she shook her head. "It's not fair, Matt. I know how much this means to him, you know when he was growing up, the GSE was more or less all he knew and I can't just ask him to give that up."
Why not? Matt screamed at her in his head. Do you realise that I'd happily give off breathing if you asked me to?
"I should go talk to him, shouldn't I?" she wrinkled her nose and pushed herself away from the window, making her way over to the green eyed American and smiling broadly at him. "I don't think I tell you enough," she placed her hand against his face and Matt nearly stopped breathing. "But you're an amazing friend, Matt. I don't know what I'd do without you."
At those words, Matt prayed she couldn't see the hurt on his face. He felt as though she'd sucker punched him in the stomach. Of course he was her mate…she loved Pete, she'd never leave him for someone like Matt Buckner.
"Come here," she laughed, pulling him in for a tight hug, the feel of her fingers on his bare skin forcing his heart to beat faster. Burying his face in her shoulder, he inhaled the smell of her hair before pulling away so that their faces were close to each others. Looking into the emerald depths of her eyes, Matt didn't think he'd ever hated anyone as much as he hated Pete Dunham in that one moment.
"Thanks," she leant in and kissed his cheek quickly. "You know for letting me rant," she laughed. "I owe you one,"
Bending down to pick up her bag, she smiled at him one last time before jogging over to the front door, knowing that Pete only had about 20 minutes of his lunch left so she'd have to drive pretty fast. Watching as the door shut behind her, Matt stood in silence for a moment before spinning around and slamming his fist so hard against the mantle that the mirror above it shook, threatening to fall.
Sliding down the wall, he dropped his head into his hands and tried to determine how exactly he could make himself fall out of love with Allie Harding.
Allie sat on the cold, stone stairwell, her eyes dancing over the colourful artwork strewn about the walls of St. Marks Junior School. Reaching out, she ran her finger along the bright red boarder of the 'Know Your Monarchs' display, smiling faintly as she recalled how she had had to stay here all night with Pete while he made the damn thing. There was only so much glitter glue and tissue paper a person could deal with at 1 in the morning and so they'd just ended up sat there pissing themselves at some of the work the boys had handed in.
Allie's personal favourite had been an essay entitled '20 reasons why I think Henry VII wasn't wrong for beheading his wife.'
Allie hadn't spoken to Pete since Sunday night when he and Matt had come from back from Manchester and give that it was now Tuesday, she figured that as they were older than 12, one of them would have to break the silence sooner or later.
"Shit, what am I doing here?" she muttered to herself, dropping her hand from the display and shaking her head.
"Oh crap, you know they say talking to yourself is the first sign of dementia, don't you?"
Grinning, Allie closed her eyes for a moment, not needing to open them to know that Benjamin was now perched beside her. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she caught the huge grin on his face and started laughing. There was something about Benjamin that she had always liked, a certain charm which no one could dislike.
"What are you doing roaming the halls?" she raised an eyebrow. "Is this what my taxes are paying for?"
"I've got a free period," he nudged her with his shoulder. "What's your excuse for lurking around here?" he narrowed his eyes and then nodded as though realising something. "Oh, I knew this day would come," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Allie, I know you've always wanted me and this whole marrying Pete thing is just a ploy to get to me, but…" he winced. "I just, I can't do that to him,"
Allie laughed and shook her head, slapping his leg playfully.
"Don't lash out at me," Benjamin shook his head. "I didn't say we couldn't have sex behind his back, I just said that I can't let you dump him for me,"
"Well," she smiled. "If that's the way you think it has to be,"
"Unfortunately, it is," he sighed. "We're both far too good looking, it wouldn't work anyway,"
Feeling pretty pleased with himself as she giggled and shook her head, Benjamin nudged her again.
"So I'm guessing you're here because of the fight,"
Allie's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock, feeling slightly humiliated that he knew she was here to grovel.
"Pete's been walking around like a right grumpy old bastard the past couple of days," he shrugged. "I pretty much forced it out of him down the pub today,"
"What'd he say?" Allie asked quietly, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.
"He rambled on for ages," he rubbed his chin. "But the gist of it was that you shouted, he was a total wanker, you shouted some more and that someone called Matt is a twat for going after you and not telling him." Benjamin smiled at her. "Sound about right?"
"Yeah," she breathed. "That's pretty much the whole thing,"
Taking a deep breath, Allie turned so that her back was facing the wall and she could look at Benjamin fully. The man was gorgeous, his dark hair and light blue eyes the colour of icy water boring into hers, he had nothing on Pete in her opinion, but then she was biased.
"Is he really pissed?" she asked, knowing that Benjamin would tell her the truth. "I mean, how badly have I screwed up?"
"You?" he laughed, the light Scottish lilt in his voice somehow soothing. "Sweetheart, I get the impression that he's the one who fucked up here," catching her look, he held up his hands. "His words, not mine,"
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a scrunched up paper bag and held it out to her. Peering in, Allie laughed when she saw it was full of sweets.
"Some people might find a grown man carrying bags of sweets around in his pocket a tad bit creepy," Allie giggled, gunning straight for the strawberry laces.
"I confiscated them from one of the boys," Benjamin grinned, shoving a massive handful of fizzy cola bottles in his mouth. "And they say this job lacks benefits,"
Standing up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him.
"Come on," he kissed the top of her head and led her down the hallway. "How does some generic staffroom coffee sound?"
Allie appeared reluctant so he sighed and shook his head.
"Pete's teaching a class," he explained. "So you've still got time to plan out what you're going to say to him. In the meantime, we can polish these sweets off and then see about finding some cookies,"
"I take it you're still working on that theory of yours that food tastes better when its stolen?" she raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that he and Pete never put in for the food in the staffroom but ate it anyway.
"I'm telling you, its fact," he shrugged, pushing the door open for her.
Instantly, she spotted Pete sat in the corner of the large room, a pile of work next to him, the radio playing faintly in the background as he jotted something down.
"You lying bastard," Allie whispered to Benjamin who merely grinned back at her.
"You love it," he winked, shoving her through the door and shutting it behind her, the loud noise breaking Pete out of his reverie. His head snapped up and for a brief moment he thought he might have fallen asleep or something…why else would Allie be stood in the staffroom right now, staring at him as though she would have sold her soul for the ground to swallow her in that instant.
Quickly averting her eyes back down to the bag of sweets in her hand, Allie took a huge deep breath; why was she so nervous? Walking over to where he was sat, she perched tentatively against the small kitchen counter and glanced around.
"Did you get those from Ben?"
Allie almost jumped, a part of her hoping that they would stay silent for a little while longer so she could get her head together.
"What?" she frowned and then noticed he was looking at the sweets. "Oh, yeah, he gave them to me,"
"You should never take sweets from a Scotsman," Pete told her, getting up and moving to stand in front of her, catching the smile pulling at her lips.
"Bastard ate all the cola bottles," he grumbled, fishing a flying saucer out of the bad and shoving into his mouth, wincing at the sourness of the sherbet.
Another moment of silence passed between them and Allie continued to stare at the wilting spider plants on the bookshelf in front of her, tracing the lines with her eyes…
"Do you remember the first fight we ever had?" Pete asked her suddenly, reaching back into the bag and locating another flying saucer. "Right back when we first got together?"
"Yeah," Allie snorted. "I remember,"
It was kind of hard to forget; Pete had tried to dump her after having a conversation with Bovver in which he had tried to persuade him that dating Allie would ultimately be the downfall of the GSE.
"I gave you the chance to walk away that night," he told her. "We weren't really involved at that point, you could have left,"
Sighing angrily, Allie thrust the bag of sweets at him and pushed herself away from the counter, turning to face him and shaking her head in disbelief.
"The reason I didn't walk away that night was because I was already involved," she spat. "We both were. And what's going on with us right now has nothing to do with that fight, last time I checked, our problems were a little bigger than Bov sticking his fucking nose in."
"Problems?" Pete scoffed. "I forget to call you once and we've suddenly got problems?"
"It's not a case of picking up a phone, Pete," Allie shot back. "The point is, you didn't stop to think about me, not for a second. And then we have a fight and it's Matt who comes after me?" she laughed. "That was just…the icing on the cake,"
"I can't read your pissing mind," Pete told her.
"I'm not asking you to," she shook her head. "I'm just…" she sighed and rubbed her temples. This was getting them nowhere; in fact they were right back at square one again. Tears started stinging her eyes and she blurted out the words before she could stop herself.
"You're going to die,"
Pete's eyes widened and he fought to swallow the mouthful of sherbet he'd been chewing. Okay…of all the things he'd been expecting her to throw at him, that really hadn't been high up on the list.
"What?" he choked out.
"How many times have I had to look after you after a fight?" she asked, her green eyes wide. "How many times have I washed your blood out of my clothes or lain awake at night wondering where the hell you are?" a tear slipped out and she ignored it. "One night I'm going to get a phone call saying that you've been killed," shaking her head, she laughed lightly through her tears. "And what the hell happens to me then, Pete? What do I do?"
"Allie," he shook his head and chucked the bag of sweets onto the counter, reaching for her. "Baby, that's not going to happen,"
Dodging out of his reach, she shook her head firmly, tears glistening on her eyelashes.
"You don't know that," she cried. "You can't promise me that. Look…look what happened to Steve," she shook her head. "The reason he packed all of this in was because someone got killed,"
"That's not going to happen to me," Pete explained, trying to calm her down.
"I'm scared," she told him honestly. "I am so fucking petrified that I'm going to get married at 24 and be widowed by 25," she laughed. "I shouldn't have to think about that kind of stuff. What if we have kids one day?"
Allie watched as something flickered in Pete's eyes and she knew she's struck a chord. He loved kids and the idea of having a family with her…fuck, he couldn't think of anything he wanted more.
"What happens to them if you get hurt?" she felt her breath hitch and her heart rate speed up. Oh God, this hurt. "Pete, I can't…" she looked down at her ring for a long moment and shook her head. "Do you realise that we've been engaged for almost three months and not once have we sat down and talked about when we're going to get married?" smiling sadly, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes and Pete felt his heart start to hurt. "Did you even mean to give me this? Was it just to shut me up or something?"
Pete followed her gaze down to her engagement ring as she twisted it so it hung loosely on her finger. Oh, shit…
"Allie," he grabbed her almost roughly and forced her to look at him. "Don't even fucking think about leaving me, because it's not going to happen, alright?"
"What?" she looked up at him in horror. Where the hell had that come from?
"What?" he frowned. "I said you can't leave me,"
"Leave you?" Allie raised her eyebrows. "Fuck me, how did you graduate with honours from University?"
"What?" Pete shook his head, completely lost.
"I'm not leaving you, you idiot," she shook her head. "I just want to you get it into your thick skull that…"
That the GSE is complete and utter bollocks and if I had my way it wouldn't exist and we'd be a normal couple who argued over what to order for dinner not over how soon you're going to die.
"Being the Major doesn't make you invincible," she shook her head. "It makes you more vulnerable than anyone else and I don't think you get that,"
"I know that," he nodded. "But you have to know that I didn't give you that just to shut you up," he shook his head vehemently. "Allie, I asked you to marry me because I want to spend the rest of my life with you,"
"Then do it," she pleaded. "I'm not asking you to give anything up, I promised you that I would never give you an ultimatum and I meant it, but…" Allie took a deep breath and met his eyes full on. "I just need to know that we're ok."
"We are," Pete promised her gently, reaching up to wipe some of her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "Look, I'm sorry for being a twat." He laughed. "I thought you'd be used to it by now,"
"You're not a twat," Allie shook her head, wishing she had a tissue or something to clean up her face. She probably looked like a complete mess. "And even if you are, I still love you,"
"You sure?" he narrowed his eyes at her jokingly. "Something tells me Benjamin wants to get in. I've known the bloke longer than you and I'm telling you that this," he gestured to the bag of sweets. "It's like his fucking calling card,"
Shaking her head, Allie stood up on her tip toes and brushed her lips over his, closing her eyes tightly when he responded immediately, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.
She knew in her heart in that one moment that they would be ok; it didn't mean she was any less concerned about him but she knew how much he loved her. If she was honest, she knew that if she asked him to give up the GSE right now, he'd do it without even thinking, but who was she do to that? It was a part of who he was and she had to accept that whether she liked it or not.
"Oi," Pete whispered, tilting her chin up and meeting her eyes with concern. She seemed lost in her own little world. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," she nodded, smiling as she ran a hand down his face. "I'll be alright,"
Pete kissed her again, needing her to know how sorry he was, needing her to know how much he loved her. He was shit with words most of the time, never really understanding the point in just saying 'I love you' over and over again. What the fuck did that prove? That he'd watched too much TV?
"Come on," he grinned, pulling away from her and taking her hand. "I've got P.E next; you can cheer us on,"
"Oh really?" Allie giggled, following him out through the door and frowning when it hit something.
"Bollocks!" Benjamin glared at Pete. "Fucking hell brother, you almost took my eye out,"
"What were you doing behind the door, you tart?" Pete laughed.
"Your lady took my sweets," he pointed at Allie and smirked. "But after the little stunt I pulled on you, I guess you deserve to keep 'em,"
"Such a gentleman," Allie winked at him.
"Right come on," Pete grinned. "We better sneak you out of here now before I get bollocked again for having you here during work hours,"
Smiling as Pete and Benjamin started joking with each other, Allie felt Pete's grip tighten on her hand before slipping down to wrap around her waist. Thinking about what she had said to Matt earlier when he had asked her about the GSE, she wondered whether as much as she hated it, would Pete be the same man without it? Did she really want him to change just because it would suit her more? Shuddering at the thought, Allie Harding made the decision right then and there that she would never, ever ask Pete to change.
Even if it meant she would constantly having that nagging voice in the back of her head telling her how dangerous it was. The only risk she had of losing him was if she pushed him away and as far as she was concerned, that was never going to happen.