More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
friend,” Gibsie replied, scrubbing Joey down with a sponge. “It’s safe to say that pussy got us into this, Kav.”
“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?”
“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 stopped breathing. “You love me?” He nodded slowly, blue eyes locked on mine. “Like, a crazy fucking amount.” “Really?”
“You are enough,”
“Just as you are right now.”
“Shannon Lynch?” I called out, ignoring the rest of her fucked-up family. “I love you back.” Sniffling, she lifted her chin from Joey’s chest and looked at me all red-eyed and blotchy. “S-still?” “Still.” I nodded in confirmation. “Like, a crazy fucking amount.”
I’m not going anywhere. And I meant it. I promise. X Just text me when you wake up, let me know you’re okay. X I miss you. X Can you call me? Can I call you? Are you free to talk? X
“Wait, wait, wait—” Breaking the kiss, Johnny stared down at me, breathing hard. “You’re my girlfriend now, right?”
“My girlfriend,” he repeated, looking nervous. “Are you?” “Uh, I–I…” “Because I’ve never done this before.” He glanced around the empty corridor before turning his attention back to me. “And I need to know where I stand with you.” “Oh.” I shrugged helplessly. “Neither have I.” “Shite, yeah, sorry.” He blew out another nervous breath, looking achingly vulnerable. “So, are you?” Was he asking me to confirm I was his girlfriend or was he asking me to be his girlfriend? Or was he asking me if I thought I was? Oh god, I didn’t know and my mind was reeling, my heart too cautious to make the
...more
“So this is what having a girlfriend’s going to be like?” he teased, but thankfully set his crutch down. “You bossing me around the place and telling me what to do?” “No.” I blushed. “I’m just saying that you were given a crutch for a good reason.”
“Joey likes you,” I croaked out. Johnny smirked. “Yeah?” I nodded. “And he doesn’t like anyone.”
“Good to know I have big brother’s approval.” Johnny chuckled. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot—” Shoving a hand into his pocket, he dragged out a pricey-looking mobile phone. Aside from being pink in color, it was identical to his black one. “Do you have my phone?” he asked, tapping on the screen of the pink one in his hands.
Johnny took his phone and slid it into his pocket, then placed the pink phone in my hand. I stared blankly at the device. “What’s this?” “It’s yours,” he replied. Slipping his schoolbag off his shoulder, he pulled a charger out of the front pocket and then proceeded to stuff it into my bag. “Wh-what are you doing?” “It’s yours,”
“I gave you fucking Cheerios,” he grumbled, looking annoyed with himself. “And a toasted sandwich,” I hurried to add. “Don’t remind me,” he groaned. “When did you buy it?”
“Too expensive.” “It’s yours,” he said. “So just put it in your pocket and don’t try and send me home with a pink phone.” Smirking, he added, “Gibs would never let me hear the end of it.” “But you didn’t have to do this for me—”
“I have nothing to give you in return.” “You can give me a call.” “A call?” He smirked. “And you can text me.” “Be serious,” I begged. “I am.” He stepped closer. “I am so fucking serious about you.” Oh
“Bye, Shannon,” he called over his shoulder as he battled with the staircase. “I’ll see ya at lunch, okay?” “Yeah.” I blew out a breath. “I’ll see you then.”
Lovely. Just fucking lovely. “Or a mouth?” a familiar voice sneered in my ear. Disgusted, I turned to glare at Bella. “What did you say to me?” She rolled her eyes. “It was a joke, Johnny.” “You think because you’re a girl it’s okay to say shite
“Enjoy your pity relationship,” she hissed in my ear as she roughly shoved her chair into my leg. “Cripple.” “Move along,” Coach warned. “Now, Bella.”
“You heard the man,” Gibsie sneered, leaning against the desk. “Move along, Devil Pussy.” “Fuck off, Gibsie,” she snarled as she stalked to the back of the class.
“Nah, I’m grand.” Sinking back down, I stretched my legs out and breathed easily for the first time since walking into class. “She’s just batshit.”
“Well, where are your condoms, Johnny?” “I’m not having sex, so I don’t need any.”
“Famous last words, lad.” “You look like a gobshite,” I stated. “Pack it away, will ya?”
“No.” “Take them.” “No.” “Yes.” “Did they adjust your medication?” “Not lately, now take them.” “Jesus, Gibs—” “Take the condoms or I’ll make a scene.” “Fine!” Grabbing two fistfuls of foil packets, I shoved them into my pockets and glared at him. “Happy now?”
“Fine, thank you, Gibs, for keeping my dick protected. Now, will you put those away?”
“You’d swear you never saw a pair of tits the way you’re carrying on.” “If you want to see a pair of tits, Gibs—” Pausing mid-rant, Hughie murmured, “Hey, babe,” to his girlfriend. Dragging Katie down on his lap, he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before turning his glare back on Gibsie. “You need only look in the mirror.”
“Him.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, Hughie drew her closer to his chest and pointed across the table at Gibsie. “That little fucker.”
“You’re an eejit,” I muttered wearily. “An eejit with great tits, apparently,”
A trickle of fear shot up my spine as I took in the sight of his muscular arms—his muscular everything. God, the boy really was all there.
“It’s like a Great Dane and a Chihuahua trying to mate, but they somehow make it work.”
Johnny’s arm came around me, cocooning me in a blanket of comfort that common sense told me was unsafe and temporary. “Just relax, okay?” he whispered, leaning so close to me that his lips brushed my ear. “You’re safe with me.”
“What’s going on?” I whispered, leaning my face toward his neck. The smell of his cologne wafted into my nose and I shivered. He always smelled so good. “Where’s he going?” I asked, pulling back so I could concentrate. With a heavy sigh, Johnny dropped a hand to my thigh and squeezed. “Trust me, Shan,” he said in a low tone, leaning close to my ear. “When it comes to Gibs, you’re really better off not knowing.”
“When did you do this to yourself?” I demanded, outraged. “During the Easter holidays,” he replied. “I told you I was bored.” I gasped. “So you went out and got your dick pierced?”
“Don’t you dare pull on your dick in front of me!” I warned him. “What the hell is wrong with you? I don’t want to see you hard!” “You wanted to know my plan,” he huffed, tucking himself back into his jocks. “So I showed you my frenum piercing.”
“Yeah, Shan?” “I love you.” I had no idea why I felt the need to tell him that, but the words seemed to clamber up my throat every time I laid eyes on him. The blue in his eyes blazed with heat. “I love you, too.”
“No, baby,” he choked out, throwing a hand up. “Because you’re not ready.” “But I said I’d do it if you wanted to,” I whispered.
just want you to want me in all the ways you wanted her,” I blurted out and then flamed in embarrassment. “No.” Johnny shook his head. “You don’t want that.” “But I really do,”
I have to kiss and cuddle you, or can I leave and wash the smell of you off my body? Because that’s how it was with her.”
“No, I don’t want that,” I admitted quietly. “I just want to be what you want.” “You are,” he urged, tone heated. “I don’t want what I had with Bella. I want what I have with you.”
“You promise?” “I fucking promise, Shannon!”
“That from the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.” Releasing a heavy sigh, he shrugged again, eyes locked on mine. “And I haven’t been the same since.”
“You make me happy,” he whispered. “I want to stick with that. I want to stick with you.”
“I like where we are, Shan.”
he dead?” I choked out, heart thudding violently. “Is that it?” I held the letter up. “Did he k—” My breath hitched in my throat and I had to force out the rest of it. “Kill himself?”
“He’s as fresh as a daisy, living it up in Brickley House.” “Brickley House?”
“That’s what you said,” I choked out, feeling close to collapsing. “You promised.” Darren flinched. “I know what I said—”
I continued to watch my brothers and mother with wariness, all the while wishing I could feel something inside. Everything was numb and cold, and my life felt frozen in time. There was nothing there. I was just empty. All my faith, my hope, my future…poof.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,
“I’m very invested in seeing this through to the end, Johnny.” I stared at him for a long beat before a shit-eating grin spread across my face.
“Holy shit.” He grinned, eyes alight with excitement. “For real?”
