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“You really love her, don’t you?” “It’s not just about love. It’s about respect.” “And compatibility.” “And friendship.” “And loyalty.” “Exactly.”
“Wow,” Shannon murmured. “You’re very sweet under that prickly exterior, aren’t you?”
Yeah, well, this dickhead loves you. You can’t write things like that. Why not? Because I’m trying to be pissed at you. So? You’re always pissed at me, and I’m always loving you.
A cliché? Good at multiplying? I felt the air leave my lungs in a rush. “What. The. Fuck.”
Uh oh
“Oh, my fucking god.” My stomach heaved and I had to press a hand to my chest to steady myself. “He did that to you while you were pregnant with my baby?”
Pregnant. She was pregnant. With a baby. With my baby. Get the fuck up and take care of her. Stop thinking about yourself, you fucking pussy. Don’t even think about pretending that you don’t care. It’s yours and you care. She’s yours and you care. It does matter and you do care.
“You’re a spoilt, pampered little boy and Joey is a real man. You could try your whole life and never come close to being on his level!”
“Because you’re ungrateful,” Mam interjected, looking beyond hurt. “All of those fancy computer games lining the shelves in your bedroom were paid for with oil-stained hands. Every stitch of clothes on your body and every morsel of food you’ve put in your mouth since the day you were born came from those same hands. Your father’s hands. Your father the mechanic, who has spent most of his life busting his bollocks to give his children a better life than the one he had.”
TELL HIM TRISH
“By being thick enough to let that scumbag drug addict between your legs,” Kev snarled. “You do realize that the father of your grandchild is a fucking junkie, don’t ya, Mam?”
Go. To. Hell. Kevin.
“Aoife.” “You literally destroyed my entire world, Kevin.” I shook my head, not bothering to wipe the tears from my cheeks. Fresh ones would just take their place. “Why?” “I didn’t…” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, at least it’s out in the open now. If anything, I did you a favor.” “You told my father before I could,” I choked out, chest heaving. “You told Paul who told my baby’s father before I could.”
Literally die Kevin
The fuck were we going to do? We were still in school. She had her whole future in front of her. She was supposed to go out in the world and leave her neon-colored mark on it. Instead, I had saddled her with a baby. A baby! Jesus Christ.
I didn’t meet her on a whim, stick my dick in her after two or three weeks of messing around, and become a makeshift family overnight. I had six years of friendship racked up with Molloy. I knew the girl inside and out, and she knew me. We’d grown up together. Our lives were tangled up and entwined. 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.
“You’re being a tad dramatic.” “It’s called being sensible.” She rolled her eyes. “Since when do the words ‘Joey Lynch’ and ‘sensible’ go hand in hand?” “Since the words ‘Aoife Molloy’ and ‘pregnant’ joined forces,” I shot back, holding my school jumper out for her. “Sit your ass on the footpath.”
“You see, you’re not taking into account my feelings for you,” she said, stroking my cheeks with her thumbs. “And I know being loved is a foreign concept to you, but it doesn’t come with strings or conditions. It’s unconditional, Joe.”
“Enough,” my father barked, glowering across the table at Joey’s father. “I don’t know how things work in your house, Lynch, but you’re in my house now, and you will keep your tone in check.” Whoa. Go Dad.
doesn’t matter what any of you think. I don’t care if you agree with my decision or not. I’m sorry, Dad, but that includes you. Joey and I talked about it, and we’re keeping our baby.” “Are you sure?” Marie choked out, looking devastated. “Yes,” I narrowed my eyes and growled. “The only thing I’ve ever been surer of is your son.”
“Don’t raise your voice to my wife,” my father warned in a deathly cold tone of voice. “And her name is Trish, not woman.”
“I’ve loved your daughter for six years,” Joey finally broke his silence by saying. “I can easily love her for another eighteen.”
Best sentence in this whole book
“Darren raised me and Shannon. Not you, and not him. Darren raised us—until your husband literally drove him out of the fucking country. And then, all of the raising was left to me. So, don’t fucking sit there and pretend that I’m incapable of being a good father to my kid when that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for yours since I was twelve!”
Hell
“Poor kid is fucked and she isn’t even here yet.” “It might be a boy.” “Christ, I hope not.” My heart flipped. “You want a girl?” “I just don’t want anything remotely like me,”
This is so sad
“Now.” Smiling sweetly up at him, I leaned back on my elbows and wiggled my toes. “Blow.” Joey looked at me like I had grown an extra head. “You are fucking crazy if you think I’m blowing on your toes.” “Come on, Joe,” I whined, toes still wiggling. “I’m pregnant.”
“Don’t ever lose it, Molloy.” “Lose what?” “That spark of fire that makes you so incredibly you,” he replied, tightening his arm around me. “It doesn’t matter how your body changes, because I’m always going to keep coming back to you. Because I might enjoy touching all of this,” he explained, fingers trailing over my body until he reached my face and gently tapped my temple. “But I’m hooked on this.” “My mind?” I asked, tone incredulous. “Bullshit.” “It’s true,” he coaxed. “Nobody else can fuck with my head quite like you can, and that has nothing to do with your body, Molloy.”
“Keep that head up, Sexy Legs,” Alec called over his shoulder as he sauntered out of the canteen with Podge. “And keep those legs closed until my godchild is fully cooked.”
Cooked hahah
“Say it again.” The breath left my body in a dizzy rush when a familiar menacing voice filled my ears. My shoulders sagged and I honestly felt like I was about to collapse from the surge of relief that rocketed through my body. “Say it again, asshole,” Joey repeated, coming up to stand behind me.
Yessssss
“Ceart go leor, a mhúinteoir,” my boyfriend replied with a nonchalant shrug as he replied in As Gaeilge. “Bhí mé ag rá le mo leannán go bhfuil grá agam di.” My heart slammed wildly in my chest as I mentally translated his words. Fair enough, teacher. I was telling my sweetheart that I love her. “Dúirt mé léi freisin go bhfuil cuma álainn uirthi,” Joey continued to say, not missing a beat. I also told her that she looks beautiful. Shrugging, he added, “Agus go bhfuil mo chroí istigh inti.” And that my heart is inside her.
“Her hour of need?” I chimed in, shaking my head. “What in the hell kind of statement is that to make?” “Joey,” Mam snapped again. “Enough.” “She’s not riding into school on a donkey, looking for shelter,” I growled. “She’s looking for an education, not gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
HAha this made me laugh
If I had any doubts about Joey Lynch’s willingness to stand by me before this meeting, they were long gone now. Because, as I sat in the office, listening to my boyfriend go to war for me against our year head and principal, all I could think was Thank god he’s mine.
Haunted and beautiful, Joey sat across the table from me with his mother by his side, looking like he was seconds away from flipping the table.
“Uh, he’s the father, so can he stay with me?” “Sure, Dad can sit on the chair next to you.” Dad. Holy fuck.
“Uh-huh, and judging by the size of this little bean, you have your dates spot on. You’re at fourteen weeks and three days gestation, giving you an EDD of 20-09-2005. Congratulations, Mom and Dad.”
“Don’t give him my name,” he whispered, head still resting on the steering wheel. “Please, Aoife, just give him yours and break the cycle.”
Nooo Joey
“I’ll do right by you,” he vowed gruffly. “I swear I will.” “You don’t need to convince me, Joe.” I leaned in and pressed my lips to his before whispering, “I’ve been sold on you since I was twelve years old.”
love you, Aoife.” “Love you, too, Joe.”
“He asked me if I planned on marrying you.” “Oh my god,” she groaned dramatically. “What did you say?” “I told him that we already got married in secret, and that you got my name tattooed on your ass instead of a wedding ring.”
“She’s fine.” Molloy was quick to soothe. “I already told you, remember?” Nah. I didn’t remember shit. “I love you,” I slurred. “That’s all I remember.” “I love you, too,” she replied, voice thick with emotion. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“You could die, Joe!” “I don’t know if I want to live, Aoife.” “Don’t say that!” she warned, reaching her arm back through the bar to hook it around my neck. “Don’t you ever say that again, do you hear me?” “I’m only here for you,”
“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.”
I knew he was still in there, though. My Joey was still inside the person strung out next to me. And I loved him enough to keep fighting for him. Even when he’d given up on himself.
“I’m fine,” I bit out. “It’s all good.” When she didn’t respond, I gently tipped her chin upward, forcing her to look at me. “I love you.” “I used to think that was true,” she said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “But I’m beginning to think that you don’t know what love means.”
Noooo
The Calling’s “Wherever You Will Go.”
Milfs, Dilfs, and Drug Addicts
once again, amazing title choice
“Joe.” Pulling myself up on one elbow, I hooked an arm around his neck and drew him down to me. “It’s okay. Just be with me.” “I’m sorry,” he strangled out, pushing himself deep inside of me. “You’ll never know how much.”
Boyfriends, Brothers, and Battle-Ax Bitches
AND BEATING UP BELLA
To spare Joey a conversation he wasn’t ready for with his sister, I pulled on one of his hoodies from the back seat before shoving the door open and springing out—not an easy feat with a belly that was growing rounder by the day.
I cant believe i didnt know this
Clearly noting Joey’s withdrawal, Gibsie released him and took a few steps backwards, offering me a knowing wink as he went. If he only knew. If Joe only knew how much that boy had helped us.
Thank god for gibsie
Bella Wilkinson. Why the hell was that name so familiar? “I slept with someone.” “You lost your virginity? To who?” “A girl from Tommen.” “What’s her name?” “Bella Wilkinson.”
“Get off him, you dirty little scumbag,” Bella screamed, and then she did the unspeakable; she put her hands on my man. Oh hell to the no. As I witnessed the bitch slap Joey, I couldn’t see beyond the haze of red blinding me.
“Is this her, Shan? Did she do this to you?” “No, Aoife, please just leave it.”
Because she had the nerve to put hands on my man. “Who the hell are you?” Bella demanded, casting a menacing glare in my direction. Oh, you poor, sweet summer child. “Oh, I’m your worst nightmare, bitch,”
BADDIEEEEE
Six years. Six long-ass years I had watched Joey Lynch take beating after beating. Seeing Bella put hands on that boy had been the straw that broke the camel’s back in my mind.
