Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)

by Chloe Walsh

"Fuck my coat," I strangled out as I broke into a run towards the bus stop, desperate to put some much-needed distance between me and my family. "Fuck my life!"

I expected two things to happen in this moment: either Johnny sent me packing or he agreed to go somewhere quiet to speak with me. When Johnny tipped his chin up and uttered the word, "Leave," I realized I had been right about scenario number one. My adrenalin and bravery abandoned me in a rush and my shoulders sagged. Nodding, I turned to leave, feeling thoroughly deflated, only to have a warm hand wrap around my wrist and pull me back to his side. "Not you," Johnny whispered in my ear, settling me in front of him. "Them." His blue-eyed gaze darted to the two older boys watching us with curious expressions, and in a tone that left no room for discussion, he said, "Go."

Problem was, I left it with Shannon Lynch.

"You sure that's all it is?" Gibsie asked, sinking down on one of the beanbags by the TV – "his" beanbag. "If you don’t want your mother knowing, I can drive you to the hospital to get it checked out –"

And instead of wearing Tommen's black and white, I was wearing green and white. Shannon had on a matching Irish jersey, with my name and number on the back, and she was cheering for me in the stands.

We didn’t talk. We fucked.

Oh god, no. Why did he do that? Why did he follow me? He wasn’t supposed to talk to me. That was the plan.

With wide eyes, I watched as Johnny unzipped the black coat he was wearing and draped it over my shoulders. "Come on," he said in a coaxing tone as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, tucked me into his side, and led me out of school. "I'll take care of you."

I nodded uncertainly. "Yeah, Shannon." My voice was thick. "I want you to come with me."

"What?" Panic flashed across his face. "Fuck, no! It was a joke." He leaned forward in his seat. "I didn’t mean…I wasn’t calling you fat…You're the tiniest thing I've ever…Shite, you're so small I could –" "Relax," I snickered. "I'm not offended." Johnny stared at me for a long beat and then released a heavy breath.

I was trying to mask my fury, but I swear to god I was close to killing someone. Genuinely. Truly. Abso-fucking-lutely. Shannon was petrified of these girls. Her body was shaking.

My dinner, prick, I wanted to roar.

He took a safe step back and held his hands up. I rolled my eyes. Fucking coward. I'd lost count of the number of brawls Gibs had jumped into on my behalf down through the years, and vice versa.

"Yes, and thanks so much for paying," she said and I watched as her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. "I really appreciate it." Was she serious? Was she really thanking me for that? Christ, this girl was unlike any of the others. "That's no problem, Shannon," I replied, eyeing her with burning curiosity. "It was just a couple of bottles of coke and a bowl of soup."

Get your ass away from this girl before you do something stupid like lose your heart as well as your head, my brain hissed as I tore out of the carpark, nerves shot to hell. Too late, asshole, my heart taunted.

I wanted to cry – I wouldn’t, but I fucking wanted to.

"Christ, I love you," he told her, voice low and gruff.

This girl is different, my stupid fucking brain chanted. This one is for keeps.

Straight to your house because I wanna fuck your sister,

"You're stealing my Center," Gibsie roared in the window as he leaned over the hood of the car. "Give him back." His eyes darted from Joey to me, recognition sparking. "Hey, Cap." He grinned, head lolling to one side. "How's it going? I've been looking everywhere for you."

I sighed heavily and tried to come up with something believable. "Because I fucked her –" "You what?" Joey roared, slamming on the brakes. The sudden jolt of the car stopping caused Gibsie and me to lunge forwards. Turning around, Joey glared at me. "You better be messing around right now, Kavanagh, because I swear to Christ I will –" "Over!" I hurried to explain, dragging myself back onto the seat. "I fucked her over on her first day. Embarrassed her on the pitch when I knocked her out." But I want to fuck her... I want in your sister so bad you wouldn’t believe it... The things I imagine doing to her would shock you… I waited for the homicidal look in his eyes to fade before continuing. "I figured I owed the girl, so I just kept an eye out on things – made sure she was settling in okay. It's not easy starting a new school." Shrugging, I added, "Didn’t want her getting any unnecessary shite."

He stared at me for a long time before saying, "Are you going to tell me about it?" Oh, Jesus. What? The fuck did he want me to tell him? I racked my brain and came up with nothing PG so I kept my mouth shut. "Ciara Maloney's boyfriend," Joey filled in, giving me an odd look. "Some fella from Tommen beat the shit out of him in town yesterday." "Oh?" I arched a brow and folded my arms across my chest. "Is that so?" Joey smirked. "Yeah, it is." "Well, I hope he fucked him up," I slurred, feeling my body thrum with anger at the memory of those nasty fucking girls. "Heard his girlfriend's a bitch." "I heard he was in a bad way," Joey replied. "Broken nose. A few stitches." "How awful," I drawled.

The first: finding an icepack for my balls. The second: fantasizing about all the terribly inappropriate things I longed to do with his sister.

"That's the one." Joey nodded, then released a low chuckle. "Bloody eejit threw himself on top of the car, demanding I give him back his center." Laughing, he added, "He looked serious, too. Like he genuinely thought I was kidnapping Kavanagh."

"Did I ever tell you about the time your girl saved me from Brian?"

"I love how you don’t even deny she's yours anymore, lad."

There had been at least nine occasions over the last eighteen months when he had arrived at my house with the Inspector Gadget lookalike cat.

"Faster than a whore at a brothel, good sir," Gibsie called back over his shoulder. "Egg?" "Lad," Joey mused, sauntering over to where Gibsie was ducking and dodging splatters of grease. "Are you old enough to use the cooker without your mammy?"

"What the fuck is that?" he demanded, voice deathly quiet, as his blue eyes blazed with fire. "What?" I squeezed out, panic-stricken. Tipping my chin up, he brushed my hair off my shoulder and released a low growl. "That," he growled, trailing his thumb over my cheekbone. "And that," he added, skimming the curve of my eye. The contact was so gentle that it caused me to jump from nerves rather than pain.

"You laughing at me, Shannon like the river?" he teased, noticing my smile.

Gibs? Lynchy? Kav? This was typical Joey – sparking up a friendship as easily as he could snap his fingers.

Gibsie chuckled. "I like you." He looked over my head and said, "I like her," before returning his attention to me. "But not the smell." He pegged his nose with his fingers and added, "Your brother's right – you need to change."

"I can't and I won't. If she trusts you enough, she'll tell you. If she doesn't, she doesn’t. Either way, it's not my call."

"You like her." He arched another brow at me and tilted his head to one side. "Maybe even more than like her."

"We'll go hard and have both."

"Christ, if I even thought about pulling that sexist shite on my Ma, she'd cut my balls off."

"Keep that pathetic, shit-talk up and I won't want to be your friend, you big vagina," Gibsie snorted. "What if she doesn’t want to be my friend," he mocked and then snorted, "Go home and find your balls – remember who the fuck you are – and while you're at it, have a pull on your dick, too. Even if you pass out from the pain, having an orgasm has to be worth it." "So, you'll help me?" I asked, choosing to ignore his last jibe. "Have an orgasm?" Gibsie shot back with a shake of his head. "I love you, lad. But not enough to get you off." "Fuck off," I grumbled.

"Binding Thirteen,"

"What in the name of Jesus is that young fella of mine doing now?"

Mrs. Kavanagh's face turned a deathly shade of white when she hissed, "I am going to castrate that little shit –" "Oh my god, no!" I squealed.

"I'm sorry," I squeezed out, clasping my hands together anxiously. "Your mam thought I was your…that we were…that you got me…with your pregnant balls…ugh –" Clearing my throat, I whispered, "I'm sorry."

"My pregnant balls?"

"No, my pregnant and yo...

She was mine and I didn’t want to share.

"Sit your ass down, little Lynch, so I can beat you,"

"You're a little demon."

She was fucking perfect.

Now I was trying to figure how to get myself out of a situation that only had one appealing result. Shannon naked on my bed. With me naked on top of her. Preferably in her. If my fucked-up dick held out. Stop it, asshole. Stop those thoughts!

"Second, I haven't been a virgin since first year.

"Like what you see?" he teased, arching his brow.