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“I don’t want fifty more girls,” I replied, twisting back to find her still watching me. “I just want that girl.”
“Does it matter?” I countered, needing to regain some ground I had lost to this powerhouse of a girl. “We both know that you’ll be calling me ‘baby’ by the end of the day.”
“Is that your way of telling me that you don’t have a boyfriend?” “No, it’s my way of telling you that I will have a boyfriend once you ask me.”
My brows rose up. “Did you just mark me with your bag?” “I sure did,” she replied, smiling sweetly up at me before turning on her heel and sauntering off in the direction of the school. “Now, let’s go, baby.”
And with those words, my mother cut me deeper and more viciously than my father ever had. Ever could.
“And just so you know, Joe…” She leaned in close and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You’re my favorite friend, with my favorite everything.”
“I’m not afraid of loving a boy,” I told her honestly. “I’m afraid of losing myself in one.”
“Loyal, kind, forgiving, fearless, nurturer, protector.” He smiled up at me. “Joseph acted… He took on a role.… He was the father of the lost.”
“My Joseph. My brave, brave boy. Terrible burdens. A cursed cross to carry. But always rising from the ashes. Always getting back up. Always the…protector.”
“Any relationship that is held together because it’s comfortable isn’t a relationship worth having.”
“What?” She grinned shamelessly. “I always check the product before I make any purchases.” “And?” She blew out a shaky breath and nodded. “Oh, I’ve been sold on you for a long time now, Joey Lynch.”
Being with her made me want to keep a clear head because I wanted to remember her. I wanted to be in the moment with her and not just float through it. Because she was Molloy. My friend. Maybe even my best friend.
“But don’t ever think that I don’t have feelings,” he said, and then pressed a kiss to my mouth. “Because the only time that I allow myself to feel anything is when I’m with you.”
“I remember looking at this small scrap of a lad standing in the garage, down on his luck and with the weight of the world on his shoulders. That small boy asked me for a chance that day,” he added, voice thick with emotion. “I took a chance on that boy, and I’m glad that I did because the man that small boy turned into is a man who I am damn proud of.”
“Because I love your brother, and your brother loves you. Keeping you safe is important to him, which makes it important to me.”
“Don’t hate me, Molloy,” Joey mumbled, falling into the passenger seat the moment I let him go to open the car door. “You’re all I have to wake up for in the morning.”
“The first day of first year,” he explained quietly. “The first time I laid eyes on you, and the first time I understood what it meant to have my heart beating for someone outside of my family.”
Without her, I had nothing. Without her, I was nothing.
“Listen, I want you to know something,” he said quietly, clenching my hip with his hand. “I want you to know that you’ve been the best part of my day every day since I was twelve years old.”
