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“You don’t love me, Joey.” Eyelids fluttering, she leaned into my touch and sniffled. “You don’t know how to love anyone.” “Maybe I do it badly,” I choked out, as my heart splintered apart. “But I do love you.”
“They’re always like this. Like two weird little unicorn magnets drawn to each other.”
Our eyes met, green on green, and he winked at me from across the room. And just like that, I was ruined.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Joe,” I growled, feeling a combination of drunk and dizzy. “You don’t own me.” “Well, that’s bad fucking luck on my account, because you sure as shit own me!” Drunk or not, his words hit me like a wrecking ball to the chest. Feeling the air whoosh from my lungs, I glared up at him, feeling a torrent of emotions crashing through me. “Why would you say that to me?” “Because it’s the truth.”
“Since when?” “Since I was twelve.”
“It’s time to pick your poison, Joey Lynch.”
“It’s you,” he repeated gruffly, fingers tightening on my waist. “I pick you. Every single time.”
“I’ll love you the right way this time,” he whispered, and his breath fanned my cheek. “If you’ll show me how.”
“I’m not your mother or your sister. I’m not another girl who needs something from you. I’m the girl who wholeheartedly wants you. I’m the girl who wholeheartedly loves you. The hurler. The mechanic. The boy. The protector. The asshole. The lover. The addict.”
“Bye, stud.” “Bye, queen.”
“Ask him for a few tickets,” Tony mouthed, nudging my arm. “I can’t do that,” I mouthed back, glaring at him. “Do it.” “No.” “Ask him.” “No.” “Do it for your boss.” “No.” “Fine. Do it for your future father-in-law.”
“Aoife.” “Because every time I look at you, all I can see is—” “Him,”
“I’m not him,” I choked out, needing her to hear me, to fucking believe me. “I’m not, Aoife, I swear.”
“I am nothing like that man.”
“I. Believe. In. You,” she repeated slowly. “I’m not expecting perfection from you, Joe.
“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.”
“I’ve loved your daughter for six years,” Joey finally broke his silence by saying. “I can easily love her for another eighteen.”
“Upstairs?” Dad muttered. “Really, Trish?” “What are they going to do, Tony?” Mam sighed. “Get pregnant again? They have to get this one out to put another one in.” “Jesus, don’t give them any notions.”
“Hey, kid, so this is your great-grandmother, the witch, and these are your great-uncles, the scumbags.” “And this is your grandfather, the rapist, alcoholic bastard himself.” Groaning, Joey stopped pacing to bang his forehead against the wardrobe door. “Poor kid is fucked and she isn’t even here yet.”
“You protected my son’s future, and now I’m here to protect yours,” he finally said, folding his arms across his chest. “Sounds like a fair trade if you ask me.”
“You’ve been traveling down a very long road, love. Maybe it’s time to rest those feet and let someone else carry the load for you?” She implored me with her eyes to listen. “Let me help you. Let me save you, Joey.”
