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Jesus, this girl was beautiful. I’d noticed it earlier of course. She had a striking look about her. But now, seeing her up close like this and being able to count the freckles on her face—eleven by the way—it was hitting home just how striking she was.
It mattered that she mattered when no one ever mattered to me before.
The minute I laid eyes on her, something had hit me hard in the chest. Something unfamiliar and disconcerting.
“Look at her, Johnny,” he groaned, ignoring my jab. “Look at how beautiful that girl is. Christ, it might be that sunshine hair, but I swear she glows.”
15% in and I'm already ready for Gibsie's book!
“I won’t—for now,” Gibs replied, eyes alight with mischief. “But I’ve a feeling that I’m going to marry her.”
And those fucking midnight blue eyes—which I didn’t think was a good enough word to describe the color. They should have been called soul blue because they were deep as fuck and sucked a person right in…
I wanted Shannon Lynch. And worse than wanting her, I really fucking liked her.
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a rugby-shaped head,” Gibsie grumbled. He looked to Johnny. “Do I?” “No, Gibs.” Johnny sighed. “Your head’s not shaped like a rugby ball.”
“What happened?” he demanded, glaring down at me. “Who the fuck made you cry?” “What?” I breathed, shaking my head. “I’m not crying.” “Your eyes are red and swollen,” he deadpanned. “You’ve been crying.” His eyes moved to my cheek. “The fuck happened to your face?”
The "who did this to you" trope is real strong in this book! Yasss
“You’re safe,” he whispered, cupping my cheek in his hand, eyes boring holes straight through my soul. “I promise.” That word. God. That one word broke me. It was all too much. My life. Those girls. My father. And in the middle of it all, I could only see him. This boy.
She was like a tornado I never saw coming.
“You think I’d let anyone hurt you?” Johnny finally asked, his eyes dark and intense and focused solely on my face. “You think I’d let anything bad happen to you, Shannon like the river?”
He was defending me. Not my brother. Not Claire. Not Lizzie. Not a teacher. No, this boy who made my heart jackknife in my chest at regular intervals and my common sense flatline, was standing in the middle of the school hallway, defending my honor.
Johnny Kavanaugh everybody...!
“But just so you know?” he added. “She’s always been your 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.”
Every time I won, the girl next to me smiled. Every time I handed her another Easter egg or stupid little award, she crept further out of that shell she was hiding in. That was worth the slagging I was going to reap from my team. She was worth it all.
“I can keep a secret, Johnny Kavanagh,” I whispered, stroking his cheek with my fingers. “And I promise I’ll keep yours.”
My heart 🥹🥹🥹
“You’re the only thing that distracts me, the only thing I can concentrate on, and I don’t even know you. I feel closer to you than my own teammates. I’m telling you things I wouldn’t tell my best friend. How fucked up is that?”
If feelings were objects, then I was teetering on the edge of a great precipice, and if girls were weapons, then Shannon Lynch was the greatest weapon of mass destruction my heart had ever been exposed to. Because I was fucked.
I knew she was too sweet and pure to be dragged into the limelight that came with my life. And I knew that she was too fucking broken for a guy like me to get tangled up with. But I already felt like I was drowning with her. That’s how consumed I was in this girl. That’s how much I loved her.
“I think I love that girl.” “Well, who’s this girl?” “She’s a river.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “I’m keeping her, Da.” “Okay, son,” he coaxed. “You keep the girl.” “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.”
“Hi, Johnny.” “Boom, boom, fucking boom, Da,” I groaned, slapping a hand against my chest. “I’m done for.”
