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“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.”
Being at the end of Joey Lynch’s wrath wasn’t a good feeling.
“Call the Gards and you’re down a quarter of the rugby team,” Hughie interjected calmly.
“Okay, the party’s over,” Gibsie announced as he stepped in and dragged Joey off Cormac, giving me the side eye in the process as if to say WTF.
“What girl?” Gibsie replied calmly. “I didn’t see a girl, did you, lads?” “Never saw any girl,” Johnny agreed. “But I did see Cormac hit Joey first.”
The sound of whistling grew closer and all six of us turned our heads just as Ronan McGarry, one of the boys from my year, turned the corner of the hallway. When his eyes landed on all of us sitting outside the principal’s office, he did a double take. “What are you all doing out—” “Keep walking, prickface,” Johnny warned, bristling beside me. “And keep your bleeding mouth shut.”
“They’re not shouting,” I choked out. “Why aren’t they shouting?” “I don’t know, baby,” he growled. “But I’m coming.”
“Am I in trouble for taking them? Because their ma told me to—” My words broke off and I dragged in several deep breaths before continuing, “She told me to go, Da,” I hissed, shuddering at the memory of Mrs. Lynch’s haunted eyes looking into mine. “She said, ‘Take them’!”
Holding her tightly, I slowly rocked her in my arms,
Shh, little darling…’” “You’re s-singing.” Sniffling, she clung to my chest. “‘Here Comes the Sun.’” I was singing. I was doing whatever I could to make this better for her. “That’s m-my Granda Murphy’s s-song,” she hiccupped. “You remember me t-telling you t-that?”
I continued to rock her in my arms and softly whisper the words of the song in her ear, while I waited for the doctor I knew had been called.
Someone had come into the house and hurt me. Poked me with something sharp. At least, that’s what it felt like. The person stabbing me told me that it was okay, that I was such a brave girl, and this would make me feel better. I didn’t listen to that voice. Instead, I concentrated on the deep timbre of his voice as he sang the words of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” in my ear over and over.
“I’ll find him,” Johnny whispered. “I’ll bring him back for you.” “You…promise?” I croaked out, feeling a thick wave of exhaustion sweep through me. “I promise” were the last words I heard Johnny say before I stopped clinging on and let the darkness take me away.
They were looking for a next of kin, someone to help him and take him away from the area, but all the Lynchs had was an eightysomething-year-old great-grandmother—and us.
“No.” He shook his head and I watched as a tear trickled down his cheek. “It was my job to keep her safe.”
When my eyes landed on the silver Ford Focus parking up outside, and the familiar blond head climbing out, I felt my body give out beneath me. “I’ve got you, Johnny,” Gibsie said, wrapping his arms around me just before I collapsed in a heap. “I’m right here, lad,” he whispered, lowering us both to the ground. “Let it out.” So I did.
we were the same age and I couldn’t understand why he cared so much about his little sister. I couldn’t fucking stand Claire when we were small, but Joey? He kept Shannon with him everywhere he went. Now I know why.”
“Last I saw, she was with Joey,” I mumbled. “They were holed up in one of the spare bedrooms together. They don’t leave each other’s side.” I shook my head. “They’re like magnets.”
before turning my back on the tree house and mouthing, “You better run, bitch,” to Gibsie who was already legging it in the direction of the house.
“Onny oof,” Sean barked. “Onny shite oof.” “Johnny!” Mam gasped. “You did not teach the baby to curse.” “Ah, shite,” I groaned.
S: You’ve got this, Johnny Kavanagh. Go show them what you’re made of and shine. I’m proud of you. I love you. (A crazy fucking amount.) xx
“There would be four more coffins up here if you hadn’t done what you did,” Darren replied, gesturing to our brothers and me. “We want you, and she would want you, too.”
“Gussie,” Joey said shakily, pointing to Gibsie, who was sitting in the third row with our friends. “I need a favor, lad.” “Say no more, buddy.” Gibsie rose from his pew and walked straight up to Joey. “Gussie’s here,” he said, patting him on the shoulder.
“Johnny got the call up!” Gibsie blurted out, throwing me right under the bus. “Johnny got the call up. Johnny got the call up. Focus on that!”
“Johnny got called up for the senior team, too,” Gibsie said, driving over me with his double-decker bus once again in his pathetic attempt to cover his tracks. “U20s and senior.” Keep fucking mowing me down, why don’t you… “He got two call-ups!”
Sean was obsessed with Johnny. Seriously, he followed him around everywhere, watching his every move. In the beginning, I was worried because I didn’t want Johnny to feel uncomfortable. I felt bad enough that we were in his personal space without my baby brother clinging to him like a monkey, but Johnny didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. In fact, he always made time for Sean. Every evening when he got home from the gym or training, he would sit on the couch with Sean and listen patiently as he babbled on about his day. Most of what Sean said made zero sense, but Johnny always listened to
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“Shannon and I were having a chat about sex, weren’t we, love?” Johnny coughed so loudly that I was sure he’d swallowed his food down the wrong pipe.
“Jesus, you’re supposed to be peppy on your birth… Oh for the love of god! Would you put that oversized beast away!”
so I know exactly what kind of shit you’re taking, you lucky bastard,” he called back. “Hey, Little Shannon.”
Ollie stalked out of my room only to pause in the doorway and run back to my bed. “Oh—and happy birthday,” he said, giving me a quick hug. “I love you.”
“That kid is slick,” Gibsie said in a tone laced with admiration for the young hustler. “Little Lynch has more of Joey the hurler in him than I thought.”
“Say it one more time and I’ll beat the crap out of you,” Gibsie snarled, glaring at Hughie. “You think I’m messing? Keep upsetting her and see what fucking happens—”
Gesturing behind him to where Claire had hurried off, he added, “Think very carefully about your next move, because if you’re coming, then you’re going to be happy. You’re going to smile, and you’re going to have a good bastard time. You’re going to eat the cake, you’re going to sing all the happy fucking birthdays, and you’re going to thank that girl for spending the last bloody month organizing this trip for your unworthy asses!”
“Bye, Johnny,” Ollie said then, pushing Tadhg aside to hug my legs. “Don’t let the airplane crash and explode with you in it, okay?” Jesus Christ… “Yeah, okay.” I patted his back. “I’ll be sure to tell the pilot to not kill me.”
“But don’t forget that you’ll always be my 13.” She sniffled and wiped my cheek with her fingers. “My binding 13.” I choked out a pained laugh, thinking about that stupid bet. “You heard about that?” “Yeah.” Half sobbing, half laughing, Shannon smiled and nodded. “I won.” “Hands down.” I kissed her puffy lips. “Undisputed.” “Now, I’m keeping 13,” she told me. “So come home to me when you’re done, okay?” “I will.”
I’m still here, though, because I made you a promise that I would shine…or sparkle, or whatever the hell it was that you asked me to do.
“No,” Ollie answered for me. “He’s Johnny. He’s not scared of anything—and
“My Thor?” Claire demanded. “I guess he’s taking that promise he made to Johnny about watching out for Shan seriously.” Lizzie shrugged. “He’s out there goading the life out of the pair of them.”
“I’d like to thank my girlfriend for her unconditional love and support. It’s been a roller coaster of a ride getting back from injury, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be here today without her fierce encouragement.” Clutching his medal in his hand, he looked into the camera and gave the medal a little shake before saying, “Shannon, I love you, and I’ll be home soon.”
“She can take me wherever she wants,” I shot back, trailing after my girlfriend. “You’re whipped, Cap,” he called after me. “In the worst kind of way.”
