Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)

by Chloe Walsh

Johnny glanced down at my feet and then behind me. Releasing a heavy sigh, he hooked an arm around my waist, pulled me to his side, hoisted me clean off the ground, and walked us over to the SUV. He yanked the back door open with one hand and deposited me in the back seat with the other before jogging back to the footpath to retrieve our discarded bags. “I’m soaking wet,” I warned, feeling embarrassed at the thought of ruining the expensive upholstery of the car. “Seriously, Johnny,” I added with a shiver when he returned to the door with our bags. “I’m soaked right through my clothes.” His lips twitched for the briefest moment, and then he shook his head as if waving off an unwelcome thought that had come to him. “Ma, this is my, ah… This is Shannon,” he acknowledged, looking clearly uncomfortable. He cast a nervous glance at me and then turned back to his mother, clearing his throat twice before adding, “She’s my, uh… She’s new.” He shoved me further into the back seat of his mother’s SUV and then tossed both bags in alongside me. “I told her we’d drop her home.” “Hello, Shannon,” his mother said, turning in her seat to flash me a megawatt smile. “Shannon, this is my ma,” he announced gruffly. “I’ll, ah, go and find your shoe.”