Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2)

by Chloe Walsh

“Listen, I texted your dad,” he told me. “He’s on the way, Johnny, lad. He’ll help us.” “Good,” I replied, tone clipped, as I tried to catch my breath and process this. “I’m going to need him to take my case when I go down for murder.” “Think he’ll represent me, too?” Gibsie asked. Shrugging, he added, “When you’re embarking on hell, it’s always good to have a buddy.”

their friendship>>

“You didn’t have to do that,” I whispered, mortified. “Buy me food, I mean.” Johnny stared at me for a long moment before blowing out a breath. “Yeah, we’re not doing this anymore.” “Huh?” I stared at him, wide-eyed and petrified. “Wh-what do you mean?” “I’m going to buy you dinner, Shannon.” Closing the space between us, he lowered himself down on the couch and turned to face me. “Sometimes we’ll eat here and sometimes we’ll go out, but it’s going to be a regular occurrence, so don’t overthink it, okay?”

“That’s how you make me feel,” she whispered, blue eyes burning their way right down to my soul. “Better. Alive. Free. Safe. Important. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in days, and that’s only because you’re here—because I’m with you.”

I could hardly breathe, my lungs were screaming in protest, but I knew I would rather die than go up for air. I felt like I was starving for him and the emotions driving me forward were overwhelming.

The strength of him, his smell, his touch, the sound of his breathing… I devoured every second of this moment and locked it away in a treasure time capsule in the back of my mind, keeping it safe with all the others and praying I would have more to add to it.

“I don’t just like you. I fucking—” Shaking his head, Johnny rubbed his jaw before looking back at me. “Shannon, I love you.”

“I’m in love with you. I think I’ve been that way for a while now—a long fucking while, if we’re being totally honest.”

“No, I mean a girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you,” he countered gruffly. “And beautiful. Jesus Christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. I’ve never seen anything like you in my life.”

“It’s like you see me—and I see you. Christ, I think you saw through me that very first day on the pitch at school, because I sure as hell haven’t been the same since, Shannon.

I’m sticking around because I need you.” My heart beat so fast I feared it would burst. “You need me?” “You think it’s the other way around, but it’s not,” he told me. “I need you, too, because you calm something inside of me. You make me feel good. Like I don’t have to…” His voice trailed off for a moment as he clearly pondered what he was trying to say. “You make me feel like I’m enough as I am,” he finally admitted. “Like if this is the furthest I go, if I don’t make the squad, then it’s okay.”

“You’re such a good person, Johnny Kavanagh, and you don’t even know it. You don’t see how little rugby has to do with how special you are. But I do. I see it, and I know.”

i love johnny

“You don’t have any more of her children hiding in my house, do you?” I shifted around awkwardly. “Ah, maybe one or two.” Mam laughed. I didn’t. “Thanks for the bed, Kavanagh,” a familiar voice called out from down the hallway, choosing the worst possible time to wake from his stoned slumber. “Can I borrow a hoodie?”

LMAO.

“I’m going to do a lot of things for you, Shannon.” Taking the phone from my hand, Johnny reached into my jumper and slid the phone into my shirt pocket. His fingers grazed my chest and I shivered. “And I’m going to buy you a lot of stuff.” He took a step back, never taking his eyes off me, and shrugged unapologetically. “Fair warning.”

“Hey there,” Gibsie purred, winking at the three seriously attractive women standing next to Coach. “I just want to let you lovely ladies know that I’m seventeen, I’m single, and I’m one hundred percent willing to be a guinea pig for any hands-on demonstration—

“She doesn’t want to go with you!” Claire screamed at the top of her lungs. “She said no!” Stunned, I looked back at my friend, wondering why she had suddenly raised her voice. Darren hadn’t hurt me—not physically, at least. But when I spotted Johnny, Gibsie, Hughie, and Feely all watching us with thunderous expressions on their faces, I quickly realized why. She was calling for reinforcements. Oh god… “Don’t do it,” Gibsie was shouting. “Don’t fucking do it, Cap—” “Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Johnny demanded as he shoved past his friends, limp forgotten. “Get your fucking hands off her!” he roared. “Now.”

johnny the man that you are

“It’s all I have,” I added as I began to braid my hair into submission. “So don’t judge—” “I have something that grows,” a familiar male voice piped up. “It’s growing right now.”

GIBSIE BRO.

He nodded slowly as a small smile crept across his face. “Boom.” I blew out a shaky breath. “Boom.”

they're so adorable

“Okay.” Pulling onto the main road, I dropped my hand to the gear stick and shifted into third and then fourth before finally settling on fifth as the speedometer rose right along with my sense of freedom.

don't panic but johnny's driving stick.

Rain was dripping from her coat, her school skirt was drenched through and clinging to her bare legs, and I swear I had never seen anything so fucking beautiful. Freedom suited her.

“Fuck me, suck me, self-destruct with me,” I mused, reading the playlist name on the screen. “Sounds very…” “Gibsie?” Johnny offered with a shake of his head. “Yeah, that’ll be him alright.”

HAHAHAHAHHA

“I’m here for Johnny the boy,” I told him, cupping his face with my trembling hands. “Not Johnny the rugby player.” Exhaling a shaky breath, I leaned closer and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before pulling back to look in his eyes. “I’ll stay for both, but I’m only in love with one.”

shannon is such a sweetheart

“I’m on your team,” he added huskily. “Do you get that? I’m totally with you, Shannon Lynch. One call, that’s all you need to make, and I’ll come. I won’t let you down, and I won’t leave you alone in this. I promise.”

“It’s just weird for me because I’ve never had someone in my corner before.” Shivering, I added, “Not someone like you.” “I’m not in your corner, Shannon,” Johnny replied in a gruff tone. “I’m standing right beside you.”

JOHNNY. 🥹

“If you keep it up—if you force them apart—he will lose his shit. Draw a battle line with that fucker and he will go to war with you.”

atta boy

“Maybe it was put in the dictionary to describe you,” Lizzie offered dryly. “As in ‘Gerard Gibson is stupider than any person I have ever met.’” “That’s it—” Shoving his chair back, Gibsie jerked to his feet. “I’m calling Father McCarthy to intervene on your behalf. You need an exorcism and Jesus.”

“I’m in love with you, Shannon. I’m completely fucking hooked on you, so when you’re hurt, it affects me. It hurts me. I can’t pretend that it doesn’t.”

“I already told you, I need you for keeps,” I replied gruffly. “There’s no expiration date between us.”

“Now put your foot on the clutch and I’ll change the gears for you.” “Don’t let me die,” she begged, as I slipped the car into first. “I won’t,” I promised. “Don’t close your eyes, baby.” Reaching over, I pulled her hand away from her face. “Look straight ahead.” “I am, Johnny,” she wailed. “I am going to die!” “No, Shan, you’re going to live.” I laughed. “Now slowly release the clutch and tap down nice and gently on the accelerator—” “I broke it!” she wailed when the car stalled. “I’m so sorry.” “You didn’t break anything,” I replied, slipping the car out of gear and leaning over to turn the key in the ignition. “We’ll start over.”

“You are a pretty boy.” “Nope—” Shaking his head, he tossed me onto my back and then dove on top of me. “No, I’m not having that.” Slipping his hands under my shirt, he tickled my ribs. “Take it back!” “Ahhhh, stop!” I screamed through fits of laughter as I squirmed beneath him. “I can’t. I’m ticklish!” “I know!” He laughed, continuing to torture me. “Now take it back, or I’m going in for the kill.” “I take it back!” I squealed, twisting and turning. “You’re not pretty—ahhhhh, Johnny, I can’t—you’re sexy! You’re sexy, okay? Ah, ah, mercy. I scream mercy!”

awww

When Johnny told you that he would be there, he would be there. He was never late, and he never canceled.

🥹🥹🥹

“It’s my business if she comes home pregnant—” “No,” Johnny snapped, interrupting him. “It’s my business if that happens. Not yours or any other member of your fucked-up family’s. It’s mine.”

he's a family man

Like always, my attention was riveted on the boy in the number 13 jersey.

me too Shannon

“She’s my sister, not his girlfriend,” Hughie roared back. “Don’t insult her intelligence.” “Yet,” Gibsie offered with a snicker.

“Let’s go before you get yourself in more trouble.” “You know I can’t help it, lad.” Gibsie laughed as he climbed to his feet and headed off the pitch with Feely. “Trouble follows me.”

yes it does Gibsie

think your dad was just giving it to your mam in the kitchen.” Eyes wide with excitement, he added, “They were getting dressed when we walked inside.” “Oh, Jesus.” Groaning, Johnny tossed the controller away and twisted around in what looked like physical pain. Covering his face with his hands, he hissed, “Fuck my life.” “Oh my god! Your dad is so hot, Johnny,” Claire gushed, charging into the room after Gibsie. She was freshly changed in what looked like boy’s clothes, but at least the mud was gone and her hair was back to its blond glory. “Did you see him, Shan? What a babe!” “Let me die, baby,” Johnny choked out, dropping his head in my lap. “Seriously, just kill me now.”

HAHAHAHAHAAHA

“What do you want to do?” “I want to go back in time and not see my da boning my ma on the bleeding counter,” Johnny said, lifting himself up on his elbows to glare at his friend. “But since I haven’t perfected the art of time traveling, I’m going to go with bleaching my eyeballs instead. Sound like fun?”

poor baby

“Yeah.” Sighing heavily, Johnny released my face and stood up. “It’ll probably be safer if I drive.” Reaching for my hand, he pulled me to my feet. “At least we’ll get there in one piece.” “I haven’t killed you yet, have I?” Gibsie huffed. Johnny arched a brow. “‘Yet’ being the appropriate word, lad.”

Gibsie and I are the same

Gibsie didn’t even blink in response as he stood, still as a statue, in the display window of Debenhams department store in Mahon Point shopping center, with his hands on his hips in a Superman pose, his jeans around his ankles, and a scantily clad mannequin’s faceless head positioned against his dick.

he’s so out of pocket

“I’m your daughter’s boyfriend,” he continued, shoving my father against the car once more before swinging his fist and connecting with my father’s jaw. “And I’ve been dying to meet you.”

HECK YEAH!!

“Don’t fucking look at her!” Johnny roared, hitting my father again. “You keep your goddamn eyes off her!”

“And then I’ll come for you, and when I do, God himself won’t save you.”

BROOOOO

“I love you, Johnny Kavanagh,” I choked out, clenching my eyes shut as I grabbed his arm and held it to my chest. “Most in the world.” “I love you back, Shannon Lynch,” he said quietly in my ear and I felt the connection I had to him in the deepest part of my soul. “Most in the world.”

“For keeps?” I breathed. He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”

Fuck addictive, I was obsessed with my girlfriend. I was in so deep with her that I could hardly breathe and still I jumped in deeper, pushed down further, wanted more and took it, doing whatever I could to just be with her.

“Hey,” Gibsie interjected then, winking at Tadhg. “Don’t you be eating all that cake, fatty. I want some.” Tadhg snorted. “You look like you’ve had enough cake for a month.” “I’ll have you know that it takes hours in the gym to look as good as I do,” Gibsie shot back, joining them at the opposite side of the counter, taking the stool next to my father. “Yeah,” Tadhg snickered between bites of his cake also using his hands and not the fork beside him. “Hours with your head in the fridge.”

J: Yeah, so, strange thing happened today… Joey the hurler: Why are you texting me? J: Because I took your brothers and they’re at my house. Joey the hurler: Why? J: I don’t know. Joey the hurler: Do you plan on giving them back? J: I guess. Joey the hurler: You’re really fucked up, Kavanagh. J: I know. Joey the hurler: I’m on my way.

“I told you when we slept together, we would sleep together,” he said gruffly. “And I know I made a balls of the first part.” With a vulnerable look in his eyes, Johnny shrugged and gestured to my tiny bed. “But do you think you can fit me in for the second part?” Oh God. This boy. My heart.

“Hey, Shan?” he called over his shoulder. “Yeah?” Smirking, he said, “Je veux lécher la chatte de ma copine.” I frowned. “What?” Johnny grinned devilishly. “I said, je veux être à l’intérieur de toi.”

JONATHAN.

“Go away and find some water to drown in, Gibs,” Cormac shot back, glaring at Gibsie. “Like the rest of your—” “Back the fuck off!” both Johnny and Hughie roared in unison.

umm…

“I’d do anything for you, Shannon like the river,” Johnny replied gruffly, pulling me in to his side. “Anything.”

my man my man my man