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We were all shackled to this house like a great oak to its roots. There was no escaping this.
“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.”
“You made it bearable,” I whispered.
“Well, you asked me earlier if there was a chance I’d ever forgive you?” Swallowing, I clutched the edge of the mattress, looked my mother dead in the eyes and whispered, “Drive him away and the answer will be never again.”
“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,”
“Damn straight you are,” he said, tone encouraging. “Little fighter.”
“Where the fuck were you when I was sixteen, Kavanagh?”
“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?”
“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.”
“Until one day I looked up from my life and there you were. All blue eyes and full of secrets.” He cleared his throat several times before saying, “And I’ve never felt more connected.”
Somebody is going to die in this house. Sooner or later…
“I’m not in your corner, Shannon,” Johnny replied in a gruff tone. “I’m standing right beside you.” Oh god.
“It just means that I’m going to get upset when you’re upset, and that when someone hurts you, I’m going to want to cause some serious harm to them in return. I’m all in, Shannon. Scars and all. Fucked-up father and all. One hundred and fifty percent.”
“You say the best things, Johnny Kavanagh.”
“Two tickets for The Wedding Date please, and a container for her to store my balls in.” Sighing wearily, he gestured over his shoulder to me. “And that poor bastard behind me will have the same.”
“For keeps?” I breathed. He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”
“So, I’m your first first?” I asked sleepily. “You’re my everything.”
“Je veux lécher la chatte de ma copine.” I frowned. “What?” Johnny grinned devilishly. “I said, je veux être à l’intérieur de toi.”
“What about me?” he roared back in my face, green eyes filled with tears. A huge sob tore through him and his voice cracked. “What about me, Shannon?”
“I’ve got you, Johnny,” Gibsie said, wrapping his arms around me just before I collapsed in a heap. “I’m right here, lad,”
“Why would you do that to him, Lizzie?” Claire began to scream. And then she did something I never expected her to do. She slapped Lizzie across the face. “He’s afraid of water, you heartless bitch,” Claire continued to scream. “And you know he is.”
“He’ll go for a drive with her, she’ll do whatever she does that brings him back down, and then he’ll bounce back again.”
“But don’t forget that you’ll always be my 13.” She sniffled and wiped my cheek with her fingers. “My binding 13.”
“Now, I’m keeping 13,” she told me. “So come home to me when you’re done, okay?”