Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)

by Chloe Walsh

Why, I had no bleeding clue, but there was a voice inside my head screaming at me to protect her. I wanted to. I just didn’t know what I needed to protect her from.

Or

who.

Well!!!!!

I was completely fucking clueless, armed and ready to go to war for a girl I didn’t know, against an enemy no one would tell me about. Jesus, I was so fucked in the head from her. It was getting out of hand. She was disrupting my perfectly content way of life, and I didn’t fucking know how to cope with it. The girl fucked with my head and made me weak and swayable. It wasn’t right, and she had no business coming into my life at this pivotal point. She was like a tornado I never saw coming. The one problem I didn’t foresee when making my plans. The one person who could fracture all my hard work. And the most nerve-racking thing about it all was that I liked it. I liked the fact that she was turning my life on its axis and encouraging never-seen-before notions and feelings inside of me, and then I hated that I liked it. I was thoroughly addicted to every single thing about the g...

“You were right, Gibs,” I groaned. “I’m so screwed

“It’s her, man. You were right. I am completely fucked in the head, and I need you to stop me from doing something stupid with that girl.”

I exhaled a heavy sigh. “I like her.” “Okaaay,” he drawled. “Tell me what the problem is.” “That’s my problem,” I bit out. “I like her, Gibs. I think I really like her, man. Like really as in a lot. A lot more than fucking like. Christ!” He shrugged a shoulder. “Still not seeing the problem here, lad.” “I. Don’t. Want. To. Like. Her.” I spelled it out for him, fresh out of patience now. “Because she’s fifteen and you’re seventeen?”

Claire was amazing at sports, the best girl on the court, and the lads treated her with the respect she deserved by passing the ball off to her whenever she managed to get free. So far, she had scored twice.

She was wearing the same black jersey, white shorts, and yellow bib that I was, but unlike me, her training clothes actually fit her body. Her long blond curly ponytail swished from side to side as she moved. Her cheeks were red, her eyes alight with excitement. She was disgustingly stunning.

My baby :(

“Mr. Sex on Legs himself.”

“Operation Binding Thirteen,

“Operation Bind what?” I croaked out. “Binding Thirteen,”

He had gorgeous hair. He had a gorgeous smell, too. One I couldn’t stop myself from inhaling as he stood far too close to me for comfort. Lynx deodorant, freshly cut grass, and boy all rolled into one. Who was I kidding; he had a gorgeous everything.

He shook his head, dropped his bag on the ground, and then reached forward, swiping my schoolbag off my shoulders—both shoulders, and with minimal effort. Shocked, I watched as he tossed my bag on the ground alongside his before lowering the zipper on his designer-looking jacket and shrugging it off. “Wh-what are you doing?” I strangled out, teeth chattering from the cold. “What do you think I’m doing?” he countered as he reached behind me and placed the hood of his jacket on my head and wrapped it around my shoulders. “You’re getting soaked out here.” “But you won’t have a jacket,” I blurted out. “But you will,” he shot back. “Now, are you going to put your arms in the sleeves, or am I going to have to do it for you?” When I failed to assist him—quite frankly I was too stunned to do anything other than gape at him—Johnny grabbed both ends of the jacket and zipped it up to my chin, leaving my hands trapped at my sides, the empty sleeves swaying beside me. He pulled the hood forward, covering my hair from the rain, and then reached down and grabbed both of our bags.

“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

With blond hair and brown eyes, Mrs. Kavanagh didn’t look much like her son, but he had definitely inherited her bone structure and full lips.

NEED IMMEDIATELY

dripped from his rain-flattened hair onto his forehead. “Keep your shoes on your feet.” Winking, he tossed my shoe onto my lap before turning back around and reaching for his safety belt.

deranged stalker,

joe goldberg ijbol

How was I supposed to handle this? How was I supposed to handle her

“Come on, it’s okay,” I coaxed, retracing my steps. “I’ll look after you.” And then I took her hand in mine and led her up the staircase, knowing this was a terrible fucking idea, but resigned to doing it anyway. I was so completely fucked.

“Sorry about that. I don’t bring girls up here.” He frowned for a moment before adding, “Except you.”

“I don’t mind,” I replied. “I’ll do whatever you want to do.” “Fuck.” Johnny clenched his eyes shut and groaned. “Oh god, are you okay?” I hurried to ask, well aware he was in pain. “All good,” he assured me in a tight tone. “Are you sure?” I asked, uncertain again. His blue eyes were wild and full of uncertainty when he said, “I’m kind of out of my comfort zone here, Shannon.” “Do you want me to go?” He shook his head. “Are you sure?” He nodded slowly. “I want you to stay.” “Okay,” I breathed. Inhaling a steadying breath, I wrapped my arms around my middle and walked over to his enormous desk where mountains of schoolbooks lay unopen.

“See this one?” he asked as he stood behind me with his arm stretched around my body so I could see. Breathe, Shannon, just breathe…

“Yeah.” Johnny eyed me curiously, “Do you?” I nodded. “I’m awesome.” He cocked a brow. “Is that so?” “Uh-huh.” I was terrible at most things in life, but I kicked ass at GTA. “Joey has Vice City and San Andreas and I’ve cleared both games.” His brows shot up. “In a week.” His mouth fell open. “No.” “Oh yeah.” I nodded, smiling proudly. “I’m the best.” Johnny tilted his head to one side, giving me a curious smile. “Do you want to play a game?” I smirked. “If you want.” He grinned. “You think you’re that good?” “I know I am,” I replied, and for once in my life, I had the confidence to say that. It didn’t say much about me as a person when all I excelled at in life was kicking ass on GTA, but it was better than nothing. “Well, little girl, you better put your money where your mouth is,” Johnny shot back with a smirk. “Because I’m the best.” I snorted. “It’s on, little boy.” Johnny shook his head, clearly amused with my smack talk, and then hurried over to set up the game.

Shannon naked on my bed. With me naked on top of her. Preferably in her. If my fucked-up dick held out.

Kissing Boys in Bedrooms

YESSSSS

looked into his eyes, feeling my heart squeeze so tight it was hard to breathe. In one stare, I felt like I had collided with him. It was instant and shocking. My feelings exploded inside of me, absorbing the boy and all he was like a sponge that was desperate for water. I was desperate for him. All of him. Every piece and part. Raging hormones, encouraged by my frazzled emotions, overrode my common sense right then, causing me to do something completely out of character. Releasing an unsteady breath, I reached up, grabbed Johnny’s neck, and pulled his face down to mine. And then I kissed him.

OMG IT FEDLS LIKE A REWARD

And then she blew my carefully constructed world apart by putting her mouth on mine.

“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.”

“Then he’s insane,” she grumbled. “If I had a penis or liked girls, I would want you.” “Thanks,” I half sobbed, half laughed. “If I had a penis or liked girls, I’d want you, too.”

“Did you see—” “Yes,” I snapped and then groaned loudly. “Fuck.” “And?” “Perfect.” “Fuck.” “Yep.”

“Well, I was wrong,” he chimed. “You can’t do it. It’ll never work. Give up now.” “Yes, it will,” I hissed. “It has to.” “Why does it have to work?” he asked. “Because I need her—” I shook my head and expelled another frustrated breath. “Because I want to keep her in my life.”

Bulldozer,”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a Beatles fan,” Shannon mused, stopping on an old number. “‘Here Comes the Sun’?” she questioned, brow arched. “You like this one?” “It’s my favorite one of theirs,” I told her, palms sweating under her scrutiny. “Me too,” she said softly. “My great-granda Murphy used to sing this to me when I was little.” I glanced over at her. “Yeah?” Shannon nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, whenever I got scared or nervous, he would always sit me on his lap and sing those lyrics in my ear.” She sighed contently. “And it always worked.” For some unknown reason, I made a mental note of that piece of information and stored it away for future reference.

ever heard of them.” “They have this new song out called ‘Wicked Twisted Road,’” she explained. “Are you sure you haven’t heard it?” My heart stopped in my chest. That song from the pub. The one that fucked with my head. Jesus… “You should,” Shannon continued to say. “Listen to it, I mean.” Her cheeks turned pink when she said, “It reminds me of you.”

AWWW

“I’ll do that,” was all I came up with. “Well, thanks for saving me,” she whispered. Her eyes darted from my eyes to my mouth several times before she leaned over and pressed her lips to my cheek. “Again.” It was the smallest, briefest, least sexy peck, but it had come from her lips and that changed everything. Just like last night had changed everything. It deepened everything I had been desperately trying to deny. The signs I had been hiding from. They shot up like neon posters on the sides of buildings. I was so fucking thrown off-kilter by this girl. Stunned, I could do nothing but stare at her and mutter the words, “You’re welcome.” With glowing red cheeks, Shannon pushed the car door open and moved to climb out. “Wait!” I regrettably called out, snaking a hand out and catching her wrist. Shannon looked at me with wide eyes. Let her go, asshole. Let the girl go. You can’t do right by her. “Here—” Reaching into the glove compartment, I pulled out a leather case and quickly flicked through a bunch of mix CDs, stopping when I found the one I wanted, “Listen to track nine.” I practically shoved the CD into her hand and shrugged. “Reminds me of you.” “Oh, okay,” she replied, holding the CD carefully. “I will.” “Good.”

I would do pretty much anything for you.

Because of her. Because when she jumped, I flew clean off the ledge after her.

“You’ll school me?” She giggled and, Christ, it was a lovely sound. Shannon didn’t do enough laughing.

I loved tits.

mr too

Don’t worry, baby, I thought to myself. I’m flustered too. “I really appreciate you helping me,” she added, closing

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

“Thank god. And for what it’s worth, I would have lost my shit, too,” he told me. “If some bitch talked about Claire like that, I would have blown ten head gaskets.”

fav couple

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

“‘Fuck Her Gently’?”

“It was ‘Fuck Her Gently’ by Tenacious D.”

“A Maroon 5 song.” “Oh?” I looked up at him. “Which one?” He shifted in discomfort. “‘She Will Be Loved.’” Oh. Oh wow.

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.

Twelve eggs. Tadhg, Ollie, and Sean were going to be thrilled.

I love you, I almost blurted out, holding the three terrifying words back just in time.