Redeeming 6 (Boys of Tommen, #4)

by Chloe Walsh

“You call and I come running,”

“Every time.”

“My entire sex life—past, present, and future—starts and ends with you.”

“Because, you see this face?”

“Your face right here is the only face I’ve been seeing since I was twelve. Because no matter how off my head I’ve been over the years, no matter how far from reality I’ve let my mind wander, I have never lost sight of this face.”

“The only face,”

“The only girl.”

“Fut...

“You said ‘future...

“...

“I said our f...

“You want one of...

“Don’t...

“With me?”

“Who else, Molloy?”

“You want a future with me, Joe?”

“I know that I don’t want one without you, Molloy,”

“So that narrows shit down, d...

You are our daughter, and you have a home with us now and always.”

“And you have my unconditional support.”

“I love him, Mam,”

“I do. I love him so much that it blinds me.”

“Being with him feels messy, and

raw, and complicated as hell, but it also feels exciting, and addictive, and so incredibly right.”

“There’s no one else for me, Mam. I know it. I can fee...

“Don’t ever leave me, okay?”

“I might be on the verge of becoming a mam, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop needing mine.”

“I’m here when I don’t want to be, when I would rather be anywhere else on this planet—and that includes a coffin—but I’m here because you called. Because you need me. Because they need me. Even though being inside this house makes me want to peel my skin off. I’m fucking here. If that doesn’t tell you everything

“I want you to love yourself enough to stop destroying yourself.”

“Loving your son is effortless,”

“It’s getting him to love himself that’s the hard part.”

“But you’re so much more than a pretty face. You are warm, Aoife. That poor boy never stood a chance with you, did he? Not when everything he’s never been given flows from you like a waterfall.”

“But my god, does warmth shine out from beneath that mischievous exterior of yours. It’s infectious.”

I had six years of friendship racked up with Molloy. I knew the girl inside and out, and she knew me.

She had never been someone to pass away the time with until something better came along. She was the time, the better, the goal, the whole nine yards. Any future I had ever dared to imagine for myself never veered from having her slap-bang in the center of it.

“I wouldn’t want you to be anyone other than who you are right now,”

“I just want you healthy.”

“I fucking love the bones of ya.”

“You’re worth believing in, Joe. You are so incredibly worth it all.”

“I’ve loved your daughter for six years,”

“I can easily love her for another eighteen.”

While Joey was no angel, he was loyal and accountable, and a better man than anyone in this room gave him credit for. I felt better just being in his presence. That’s the kind of person he was.

“You’ve got a beautiful mind, Joey Lynch, and a wonderful heart. You can beat this. You just have to want to. It’s half the battle. You can still fix this. You have time. You can get better. Just try, Joe. That’s all you have to do. Just try, baby. I love you so much. Watching you self-destruct like this is killing me.”

“I only want you.”

“And I only wa...

“But I need you healthy. I won’t let you destroy yourself. We have a baby on the way, Joey. I won’t le...

“I won’t let you go.”

“Don’t run, Molloy. I know I don’t deserve you, but please just…don’t run.” “Never.” “Please just…please keep loving me.” “Always, Joe,” she breathed against my lips. “Always.” “Because I feel like I’m all alone here, baby.”

want to be good enough for you.”

“For both of you.”