Ella had more tact and subtlety than the others liked to give her credit for, and it was ten past six before the knock on the door finally came. It had been the best couple of hours of Jayden’s life (well, nearly), to be allowed to just curl up with Darren in bed again and hold him. They had stripped to their underwear and twisted up together and talked in whispers, like they were still teenagers trying not to let on to Mum that they were there, and it had been wonderful, just to curl up on the sheets with him and hug him. Not even have s*x with him (and knowing Darren, that’d happen sooner rather than later and Jayden wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, you know?) but just hold him and trace all those new muscles from boxing, trace the white and pink map of his scars exposed to his finger
