Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2)

by Chloe Walsh

I felt so sad, like I had been robbed. Maybe in another life things could have been different. I could have been happy.

“I think I need you for keeps…” “What’s wrong with her?” I heard someone demand then, someone who sounded an awful lot like Joey’s girlfriend, Aoife. “Why is she bleeding out of her mouth?”

“Don’t look so scared. I won’t hurt you…” “Shannon! Shannon! Jesus Christ, do something!” “Tell me who put their hands on you and I’ll make it better…” “Look what you’ve done!” I heard my mother scream. “I’ll look after you…” “Call an ambulance.” “You’re safe with me…” “She’s dying. He killed my sister. And you’re doing nothing!” “I w...

“Just keep kissing me…” “Shannon, can you hear me?” “I love you, Shannon like the river…”

Do you hear me? I’m here, I’m in, I care, and I’m not going the fuck away.”

“Hi, Johnny,” she whispered, tumbling off the door step as she clung to me. “You came back.” “Hi, Shannon.” My crutches fell to the ground as I wrapped my arms around her body, holding her in place. “I promised I would,”

“You love his sister, and I love his sister’s best friend,” Gibsie replied, scrubbing Joey down with a sponge. “It’s safe to say that pussy got us into this, Kav.”

“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?” “Really,” he confirmed.

“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.” Exhaling shakily, he added, “And that scares the shit out of me worse than the thought of not making the U20s. You scare me more than anyone I’ve ever come up against on a pitch.”

“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.”

“No, no, just let me get this out before I lose my nerve, okay?” he hurried to say, sounding flustered.

“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. You don’t give a shite about rugby. It never fazed you and that threw me because I’m not used to that. I’m not used to having someone want me for…well, for me—but you did. And you took the time to notice me. To see things that no one else was seeing, things I didn’t want to acknowledge to myself.” He ran a hand through his hair and slumped,

“And I was scared, Shannon. I was so fucking afraid of how I felt for you. I still am. You scare the absolute shite out of me—for reasons I’m still not entirely sure of, because in all honesty I don’t know what the fuck is happening here. My head is in pieces and I’m so far out of my comfort zone that I feel like I’m balancing on thin ice, but I know that there’s no other person I would willingly put myself out there for like I have with you.” He shrugged helplessly. “Like I’m doing right now.”

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…”

“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....

“I just…I want to make you happy.” “You,” I whispered. “All of you.” “I’m already yours,”

“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.”

“No, she’s overbearing,” I shot back. “You’re just plain whipped for going along with her.” “She’s my wife,” he mused. “Your mother can whip me in whatever way she wants—” “Just stop!” I choked out, horrified. “You know full well what I’m talking about,”

“Boom, boom, fucking boom, buddy!”

“Take your fucking sperm off my ass right this instant!” “No,” I choked out through fits of laughter. “You came on my fucking ass!” he roared. “Your cum is touching my body.”

“I love you,” he whispered. “And I want you—badly. But I just… I don’t want to do anything to fuck this up,”

“I can’t mess this up, Shan. I need this.” Exhaling a

ragged breath, he pressed his forehead to mine. “I meant it when I said I need you for keeps.” “You remember saying that...

“I’m going to keep you,”

“If that’s okay?” “That’s definitely okay,” I breathed, pressing my hand to his cheek. “I want you to keep me.”

muffled response and it caused me to laugh. “Think it’s funny?” he teased, lifting his head up to grin at me. “I’ll be taking you with me.”

“I’m just saying that it would be easier for you if—” “Well, I don’t want easy. I want you,”

“Just the way you are.”

“Every part and every piece.” I grimaced. “Even the broken parts?” He winked. “Especially the broken parts.”

Hi, baby,’” she began to read, only to stop and clutch her chest. “Oh sweet Jesus, he called her baby!” Flopping back down on the bed, she added, “And he gave her two kisses at the end.” She sighed in contentment. “I think I just had an orgasm.”

“Yeah, that is so—but that’s not the point.” Flustered, I shook my head and pointed at him. “You don’t say that she’s sexy.” I narrowed my eyes. “You keep your beady little eyes off her.”

“Well, it’s the truth.” He laughed. “And I’m not blind, lad.” “You look at her?” I demanded, appalled. “At my Shannon?” “Your Shannon,” he snickered. “Yeah, I do, and it’s not just me. We all look at her—and apparently looking at her is all you do, too.” “Are you fucking with me right now?” I demanded, furious. “Nope.”

Like I’d never known anything other than Shannon. She was my first love, and she was scary as fuck to me.

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

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

“You look good in my bed.” Clamping his hands on my thighs, he dragged my body closer, groaning loudly when we connected. “On your back,”

he added, hovering above me, “with me between your legs,” before sealing his lips to mine.

“Je veux lécher la chatte de ma copine.” I frowned. “What?” Johnny grinned devilishly. “I said, je veux être à l’intérieur de toi.”

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

“I love you, Shannon like the river,” he whispered, and the heat of his breath on my flesh caused a shiver of pleasure to roll through me. “And I’m coming home to you.” He was breathing hard, his heart racing almost violently in his chest as he drew in short breaths. “I promise.”

Shannon, I love you, and I’ll be home soon… Shannon, I love you… I’ll be home soon…