Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)

by Chloe Walsh

"Did I –did you see my…" He nodded. Oh god!

And then I kissed him.

"I thought you liked me," I strangled out. "Jesus Christ," Johnny groaned, dropping his head in his hands. "Of course, I like you." He tugged on his hair and sighed. "I think it's pretty fucking clear that I'm mad about you." Exhaling a pained groan, he added, "But I'll be eighteen in May, Shannon."

"Slut!" Bella called out, loudly enough to garner everyone's attention. I groaned internally. "That's right," she hissed when my step faltered. "I'm talking about you, slut!" "Don’t," I begged when I felt him stiffen beside me. "Johnny, please don’t do anythi–" Johnny didn’t give me a chance to finish before he swung around and stormed over to where Bella was standing. "You're one to fucking talk!"

So much for not bulldozing.

You, most of all. "Shake it off baby?" My brows shot up. "Excuse me?" "Shake it off baby." Shannon stared back at me all innocent and cute. "Do you like it?"

She was still sitting cross-legged and facing me, but she was leaning forward, working hard on a sum, which caused the string top she was wearing to droop, giving me a glorious view of her braless tits. Sweet Jesus Christ. I loved tits. And tits that belonged to this girl were even more appealing. They were small and perky with rosy-tipped, pebbled nipples. She was just so fucking beautiful. I was instantly hard.

Don’t worry, baby, I thought to myself, I'm flustered too.

Masochistic or not, if I turned back and looked at those midnight blue eyes again, I was going to drown in them.

I needed to be really fucking careful with my next move, because once I decided that she was the girl for me, that would be that.

I'm yours, please be gentle with me because I'm here to stay.

"Dublin scumbags," Gibsie grumbled then. "Making life awkward for everyone." "Hello, asshole?" I balked. "I'm a Dublin scumbag!" "Not you," he replied, looking sheepish. "Whatever, ya culchie, muck-savage from the mountains," I grumbled as I scribbled down the answer to question B. "You know that's not socially acceptable," Gibsie shot back. "Calling me a culchie." "So's calling me a Jackeen," I countered. "Yet, you do it daily." "You are a Jackeen," he argued. I rolled my eyes. "And you are a smelly fucking culchie from the back ass of nowhere." "Fuck you, city boy." "Fuck you right back, country boy." "Capital Dick." "Rebel Wank-stain."

"Loverboy."

"She's always been your Shannon."

Swinging around, I spotted Claire, the viper, and Kate all standing alongside us, but no Shannon.

"Binding thirteen," Gibsie snickered as he tore off way too fucking fast for comfort. "Little Shannon blew that shit clean out of the water."

"I will ruin you," I repeated, voice deathly cold. "Your reputation. Your status. Your friends. Your future relationships. Everything. If you fuck with Shannon Lynch again, I will take everything from you."

Johnny turned to look at me, a small smile pulling at his lips. "Are you sure you weren't being crafty and trying to get me back for the ball?"

Johnny had a pinched expression when he said, "A Maroon 5 song." "Oh?" I looked up at him. "Which one?" He shifted in discomfort. "She Will Be Loved."

"No, baby, I don’t mind."

"I reckon I can make those pretty cheeks of yours turn pink."

Shannon like the river. Will you please be my friend? Two hand drawn boxes were sketched below the writing. One box had a yes over it, and the other had a no. The yes box had a smiley face. The no box had a sad face. At the bottom of the page were the words: Signed by alongside a slightly crooked line with his signature scrawled across it. Beneath the line with Johnny's name was an empty line for my name and he had dated the note January 10th 2005, my first day at Tommen. A side note stating: PS: Shannon promises not to sue Johnny when he's signed for the pros for any injuries he may or may not have caused her on the date mentioned above. This is a valid disclaimer, I shit you not, took up the last few lines of the page.

I would taste them again. I was starving for her and everything she was. Every part of her. Inside and out.

Finally, after several phone calls to the board, an embarrassing and very public bringing out of the rule book, and countless screaming matches between Coach Mulcahy and Royce's head coach, the teams took to the pitch at half past six – with Johnny sauntering onto the field in his number 13 jersey, wearing a shit-eating smirk on his face.

"This stops, Johnny!" Gibsie hissed in my ear as he helped me out of the shower and onto the fold-up bed I'd spent the previous hour being poked, prodded, and stitched up on by the emergency doctor on the scene. "Can you keep your goddamn voice down?" I hissed, glancing at the door that separated us from the rest of the team. "I don’t want anyone knowing." "Too fucking late for that," Gibsie snapped. "You left a trail of blood from the clubhouse to the pitch." "Jesus," I strangled out, shaking.

"You had surgery, son," my father explained. "Fuck," I croaked out. "Is my dick still there?" "It's still there," Dad chuckled softly. "And my balls?" "Also there," he mused. "All in working order." I exhaled a ragged breath. "Thank Jesus."

"She makes my heart go, like, whoa." "Is that right?" he mused. "So bad, Da," I sighed. "Boom, boom, fucking boom." I shook my head. "All the time."

"Boom, fucking boom, boom."

"Not too much longer to wait." I sighed. "Thank fuck, 'cause I'm in love." "You're in love?" I nodded happily. "And she's a river." "Well that's…lovely, pet," Mam coaxed, sounding confused. "Good boy."

"Hi, Johnny." "Boom, boom, fucking boom, Da," I groaned, slapping a hand against my chest. "I'm done for."

"Show me what?" I asked nervously. "My dick," Johnny announced, twisting to face me. "You wanna see?" He smiled lazily up at me. "It's all better now." Gibsie threw his head back and howled laughing. Mr. Kavanagh joined him.

My head is hiiiigh as balls, baby."

"I love you, Shannon like the River," he slurred. My heart stopped. Did he just? No. No, of course he didn’t. "I fucking love you," Johnny said again.

"Gibs?" "Yeah, lad?" "My sperm chord didn’t snap." Johnny sighed happily. "No ball explosions." Gibsie snickered. "Good to know, Cap." "See, Ma," Johnny said in a groggy slur. "She'll have my babies – " He twisted his head from side to side until he found my face. And then he smiled. "You'll have my babies, won't you?" "I…" I cleared my throat and exhaled a ragged breath. "I…" "Shannon, I am so sorry," Mrs. Kavanagh strangled out. "Say it," Johnny groaned, clutching my hand. "Tell me you'll have my babies." "Johnny –" "Just tell me you will," he begged loudly. "Just say it, Shannon! Please! I can't take it." "Sure?" I croaked out, feeling faint. "Whatever you want, Johnny." "Gibs," Johnny called out happily. "Did you hear that, lad?" "I sure did, Bulldozer." "Didn’t I do good, Da?" he continued to rave. "See? I found her!" "You did a great job," Mr. Kavanagh coaxed.

"I'll go," I promised Mrs. Kavanagh. "I just need to –" my words broke off when Johnny wrapped his arms around my waist and clung to me. "You are a lizard," I muttered in despair, feeling his mother's eyes on my face.

"Johnny, I love you." "Thank fuck," he groaned, exhaling loudly.

"Morning, Stud," he said with a smirk. "Da," I choked out, tears streaming down my cheeks. The minute Dad saw my expression, his smirk fell.

"They are furious with you," Dad replied, not mincing his words. "Which is to be expected when the number one ranked center in the country almost ends his career before his eighteenth birthday."