Taming 7 (Boys of Tommen, #5)

by Chloe Walsh

“Evening,” a familiar voice filled the air as Joey appeared in the doorway, clad in oil-stained overalls. “Evening.” “Lynchy.” “Hi, Joe.” Ignoring the rest of us, Joey strode through the open-plan kitchen/living area, not stopping until he reached his girlfriend, who was sitting cross-legged on the rug, neatly folding stacks of their son’s tiny clothes. “Hey, stud,” Aoife said, craning her head up to smile at the lad towering above her. “Queen.” Crouching down, he tipped her chin up and kissed her once. “You good?”

“You mean the same uncle who tried to pay my son’s mother to abort him?” Joey replied flatly, making a beeline for his son. “No, Shannon, I won’t reconsider.” “Shite,” Johnny muttered, handing AJ over to his father. “I don’t blame you, lad.” “Not helping, Johnny,” Aoife and Shannon groaned in unison. “What? You don’t step on another fella like that. Brother or not.” Shrugging unapologetically, Johnny turned to his girlfriend. “I’m sorry, Shan. I know Darren’s your family, baby, and you want to keep the peace. I get it. I do, and you know I’ve got your back no matter what, and I’ve always supported women’s rights to choose for themselves. But if the shoe was on the other foot and he had tried to get you to abort my kid behind my back?” Johnny shook his head. “I don’t know if I could handle it as calmly as your brother here.” “See,” Joey bit out, as he cradled his son in his arms. “He gets it.”

“And before you lose the run of yourself organizing photographers and limousines for your entire friendship group, you might want to think about who you’re going to go with first.” She winked at Sadhbh before adding, “Or is it just a given that you’re going to go with Gerard?” “Uh … duh?” I stared blankly at her. “Who else would I go with?” “Another boy, perhaps?” The memory of Jamie’s giant tongue filled my mind, and I scrunched my nose up. “Ew.” They both grinned in unison.

“Oh my God,” I cried out, beyond confused. “I never know where I stand with you.” “In front,” came his quick response. “On top. Number one. Fucking always, Claire.”

“Who’s playing?” he demanded. “I fucking love you, Claire Biggs.” “How can you say that?” “Because it’s the truth!” Gerard roared, turning a dark shade of purple as his outrage clearly grew. “I didn’t choose any of this, okay? I was born and there you were, and I had these feelings. And they grew, Claire,” he roared, stalked towards me. “Holy shit, did they grow!” Looking more furious than I’d seen him in years, he hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me roughly against him. “Like neon fucking lit-up boomerang feelings that keep coming back no matter how hard I push them away!” “Oh yeah?” My heart decided to accelerate

“So—” he killed the engine and turned to look at me “—that was new.” “Yep.” Nodding, I tucked my damp curls behind my ear. “Super new.” My response drew a smile from his lips. “This is a bit weird, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to come over?” we both ended up asking the other at the same time before chuckling nervously and saying, “Yes.” Again, at the same time. Clearing my throat, I unfastened my seatbelt and pushed the car door open. “Well, I’m going to go home now,” I declared in a far calmer tone than I felt. “Would you like to join me?”

“I think I can survive without seeing the clown,” I breathed, heart racing violently. “If you can?” “Oh, I can definitely survive without seeing the clown,” Gerard agreed, hands grazing my hips, as he looked down at me, gray eyes full of heat. “Don’t think I can survive without you, though.”

“Oh my god,” I croaked out, collapsing on the bed beneath him in a flurry of entwined limbs and tangled hearts. “You’re ridiculously good at that.” “What?” he asked, tone breathless, as he craned his head back to look at me.

“I’ve been practicing for you.” “Don’t push it,” I warned, slapping at his chest. “Duly noted,” he replied with a solemn nod. “In fact, don’t say anything at all right now,” I added, tilting my chin up to meet his. “Shutting up, Claire-Bear,” he promised moments before his lips returned to mine.

“See, that’s the thing, Claire,” he urged in a pained tone. “I don’t want to be your mistake or your regret.” He pulled up on his elbows, gray eyes burning with sincerity and heat. “I can’t fucking bear the thought of it.”

“Please don’t let me break this,” he begged, gray eyes locked on mine. “I can’t lose you, Claire.” “You won’t.” Leaning in close, I touched my forehead to his and whispered, “You couldn’t lose me if you tried, Gerard Gibson.” A tremor racked through his big body. “That’s really good to hear, Claire Biggs.” “I’m so with you.” I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and then pulled back to take his measure. “Are you with me?” “Yeah,” he replied gruffly, gray eyes locked on mine. “I’m with you.”

“I need you to stay.” “And I need to stay,” he agreed, pushing me deeper into the mattress. “So, don’t stop needing me.” “Never,” I vowed. “You’re my best friend.” “I know.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re supposed to say it back.” He smirked. “But what about Cap?” Snatching up his hand, I placed it on my chest and said, “Does Cap let you touch his boobs?” “Okay.” Nodding vigorously, he pressed a kiss to my neck. “You’re my number one best friend.” I closed my eyes and smiled. “That’s better.”

“Oh my God, Shan!” Springing to my feet, I took in the sight of my bestie’s costume and whistled out an impressed breath. Dressed in a long, floating white dress with angel wings attached, she looked every inch of Claire Danes’ Juliet. “You look so beautiful.”

“I’m a barrister,” he explained, dressed in a designer suit, with sunglasses perched on his nose. He even had his hair slicked back like one of those corporate lawyers in the movies. “Like my dad.” The entire room went silent,

“He sure is good,” Lizzie sniped. “A good-for-nothing traitor bastard!” “Back off,” Johnny warned, quickly cutting her off. “I get that you’re one of Shannon’s best friends, and I’m trying to respect that relationship, really I am, but don’t walk over a line here, because he’s my best friend, and I won’t hesitate to take his side.”

“You’d really take my side?” I asked, ignoring the sound of the door slamming. “I’m already on your side, Gibs.” Well, shit.

“Yeah.” The moment her forehead touched mine, my heart gunned in my chest, hammering so hard and violently that I honestly thought it might explode. “I know the feeling.” “Claire.” “Hm?” “Look at me.” When she did, I felt blindsided by the feelings that her brown eyes evoked from me. “Hi.” “Hi.” Reaching up, I trailed my thumb over her bottom lip before swapping it for my mouth. Her lips were soft, warm, welcome and soothed something deep inside of me. Something that no amount of time or therapy could fix or reach.

“Come on, guys,” Shannon sighed. “Let’s not do this today, huh?” “Do what?” Lizzie clapped back. “Be irritated by his presence, because I’m sorry, Shan, but no can do. The fact that he’s above ground breathing is enough to put me in a bad mood.” “Fuck you,” Gerard growled, shoving his chair back and standing up.

Smiling to myself, I skipped down the corridor in the direction of the girls’ bathroom, stopping to call out, “Get a room,” to the ridiculously attractive couple eating the faces off each other in the stairwell on my way. “Mind your business,” Aoife called back, not bothering to release her hold on Joey. “As you were, Stud.”

“Beth, this is guy talk so close your ears,” I warned, as I plucked at a blade of grass. “So, I finally kissed Claire. And she kissed me back, so I guess that means the joke’s on you and Pete for always teasing Mam and Sinead about us ending up together.” I smiled sadly at the memory. “Because I want to end up with her, Dad.” I sighed heavily. “I really love her, Dad, and I want to tell her, but I’m so fucking scared of her walking away from me.”

“I mean it’s yours,” he ground out hoarsely. “Whatever you want from me. It’s yours, Claire.” “You really mean that?” “I really mean it,” he vowed, looking just as petrified as I felt. “I want to be your boyfriend and I want you to be my girlfriend.” “You do?” I squeezed out, trembling. He nodded. “Absolutely.”

“We can put the brakes on until you’re ready.” “We can?” “Yeah, Claire-Bear, we can.” This time, when he reached for my hand, it felt distinctively different than all the other times. It felt more important. It felt like I was being seen and my feelings were being validated. It felt like forever. “You waited for me,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Now it’s my turn to wait for you.”

“I asked your sister to be my girlfriend,” I announced, deciding to get it out of the way right away. “I think it’s fairly obvious by now that I’m in love with her, Hugh.” Clearing my throat, I scratched my jaw before adding, “I’m serious about this, okay? I’m serious about her.”

“Omigod!” Claire yelped when I crashed into her in the landing, all blonde curls and flushed cheeks. “What are you … ” On my best behavior, I smiled warmly before stepping aside for her towel-clad body to scamper back to her bedroom. “As you were, Claire-Bear.” “You’re up early.” “I’m a man on a mission.” “Oh.” Cheeks still flushed, she lingered in her bedroom doorway, eyeing me uncertainly. “Hey, are you driving to school this morning?” She licked her lips and flicked a wrist in the direction of her brother’s closed bedroom door. “Because I don’t know if Hugh’s going … ” “I’ll be across the road when you’re ready,” I cut in and told her. “I’ll be waiting patiently, Claire-Bear.” “Okay.” A small smile tipped her lips upwards, letting me know that she had caught on to the hidden meaning behind my words. “I promise not to keep you waiting too long.”

“Or what?” “Or I’m going to tell.” “Tell?” He tossed the word out like it was something laughable. “Christ, what age are you?” “I’m seventeen now,” I bit out. “But I was seven when you raped me.” “Don’t—” “I was seven years old when you first raped me!” I said louder, refusing to be silenced a second longer by my fear of this man. “I was eleven years old when you finally stopped!”

I didn’t join him and the rest of our teammates celebrating. Because I was too distracted by the blonde being wrestled off the pitch. I shielded my eyes from the watery sun to get a better look at the girl in the Tommen uniform being carted away. “Claire?” “Gerard!” she called out, arms flailing, as she wrestled to break free of the Coach, who was attempting to restrain her. “Omigod, hi! Nice try!”

“Hey, ten!” I snapped, quickly closing the space between us. “Back the fuck up from my girl.” “See? I told you he was real. That’s Gerard,” Claire declared smugly, pointing a finger in my direction. “My boyfriend.”

“Holy fuck,” I strangled out, feeling my chest heave when my heart decided to piledrive into my ribcage. “You really mean that?” “That’s what I needed to tell you!” Nodding eagerly, Claire shoved passed number ten and barreled towards me. “I’m super sorry for interrupting your game, but it couldn’t wait.” “I don’t give a fuck about the game,” I called back, catching her mid-air when she threw herself at me. “You called me your boyfriend.”

“I’m in,” I heard myself tell her and never in my life had I spoken more truth than I had in those two words. “I’m in, Claire Biggs.” “Good.” She smiled. “Me, too.” And then she kissed me right there in the middle of the field, with the whole school watching. Holy fuck did she kiss me.

I had a boyfriend. Yep, me. Better again, that boyfriend was Gerard.

Gerard didn’t bother to look in his direction, keeping his entire focus locked on me instead. “I love you, Claire.” Inhaling a deep breath, he studied my face for a long moment, thumb grazing my chin, before exhaling. “I really love you, girlfriend.”

“When were you thinking about it, uh, happening?” “Um, I was thinking sort of now.” “Now?” Gerard looked a little panicked. “Like ‘right now in the car’ right now?”

“Really,” he replied with a small nod. “What are you scared of?” “Of it hurting.” “Same.” “You are?” Frowning, I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, shivering when the heat emanating from his skin penetrated mine. “But it doesn’t hurt boys, right?” Something flashed in his gray eyes then, a rare glimpse of vulnerability that was quickly replaced with his usual warmth. “I love you,” he said, hands moving to settle on my waist.

“I love you.” He tipped my chin up, gray eyes searching every inch of my face before locking on my eyes. “I always have.” And then he kissed me.

“You’re shaking all over.” “Well, yeah,” he croaked out, leaning in close to brush his lips against mine, “that’s what happens when you’re nervous.”

“Are you okay?” I whispered, cupping his neck with my hand. He looked like he was in physical pain, as he clenched his eyes shut and moved inside me. “Gerard?” “Yeah.” Nodding, he kept his eyes closed. “Keep talking.” “Talking?” “Your voice …” he released a pained groan and buried his face in the curve of my neck, hips still thrusting. “I need to hear your voice.” “Why?” “Because I need to know it’s you touching me.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” she teased. “I bet you’ve heard that a hundred times before.” “Nope.” “But you … ” She frowned in confusion. “You’ve clearly done that before.” “Nope.” “Wait.” Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “You’re a virgin, too?” I hesitated before asking, “What’s your definition of a virgin?” “For you, it would mean that you’ve never put your ladder in another girl’s tree,” she replied innocently. “Then yes.” I shrugged. “Or at least I was until half an hour ago.” “Omigod!” She bolted onto her feet and the move caused her to take the blanket that was covering both of us with her. “I can’t believe this!” “Is that a bad thing?” “Gerard, it’s an amazing thing.”

“Oh my God.” My eyes widened in horror. “He could touch your appendix with that thing.” “I know!” Aoife nodded gleefully, looking like the cat that caught the cream. “I’m a lucky girl.” “And now I’m going to go cry,” Shannon groaned, hurrying off with her hands over her ears.

“Morning, family,” I called out in a lyrical voice when I pirouetted into the sixth-year common room, stopping underneath a rogue piece of hanging mistletoe to smack a loud kiss to Patrick’s cheek. “Morning,” everyone chorused back at me. He laughed, wiping my lip-gloss from his cheek. “What was that for, Baby Biggs?” “Check where you’re standing, pretty boy.” As soon as Patrick looked up and noticed the mistletoe, he took three safe steps to the left – and out of danger.

“I’m going to France!” she practically screamed, and then she barreled towards me, waving around a pair of tickets. “For three nights, Claire!” “Omigod,” I screamed, joining her on the bouncing, as I studied the tickets in her hands. “Whoa, you’re not just going to France, Shan,” I squealed with excitement. “You’re going to Paris!” “That’s still France,” Lizzie said in a lifeless tone, shoving past me on her way to the kitchen area. “Read a fucking map sometime.”

“Don’t get the hump, Gibs,” Johnny said when he strode into the room a moment later. “It’s my girlfriend’s Christmas present, lad. I couldn’t exactly bring you along, could I?” “Ah, I don’t fucking see why not?” Gerard huffed, moving to my side. “Heads up, Claire-Bear, these two inconsiderate bastards are jetting off to Oui, Paris without us.”

because unlike mister limitless cashflow over there—” he paused to jab a thumb in Johnny’s direction before continuing “—your stud muffin can only afford to take you to see Santa.” “Aww!” Swooning, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’re taking me to see Santa?” “Ho, ho, ho, Claire-Bear.” Waggling his brows, Gerard hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “And if you’re really good, then maybe we can … ” “Oh my God!” Releasing a furious scream, Lizzie threw the glass she was holding, causing it to smash to pieces the moment it connected with the wall. “Can you both shut the fuck up!” You could have heard a pin drop. The entire room went deathly quiet.

“Shan, I love you, baby, but I’m not the audience for her narrative.” And that was that. Our leader had taken sides. The line was drawn in the sand and after months of trying to keep the peace and appease his girlfriend, Johnny Kavanagh had taken his rightful place beside his teammate.

“You need to stop talking,” Johnny warned, taking a defensive stance in front of Gerard. “And back off.” “You started this, not him,” I threw out there before Lizzie could change the narrative. “You shouted, you threw the cup, and you brought it up.” “Why are you always siding with him?” she screamed. “I’m supposed to be one of your best friends.” “And I’m supposed to be one of yours,” I shouted back at her. “But you’ve spent the past two months dictating how I should live, and then talking down to me like a child for making decisions that don’t fit your perfect narrative.” “You know what happened.” “I know it didn’t have anything to do with Gerard.”

one direction,

every day, I woke up and lied to the one person I wasn’t to keep secrets from. It was bearable when our relationship was platonic, but the shift that had come over me since we became more was like night and day. I felt so tired all the time, like I was carrying this massive weight around that was becoming more unbearable with every day that passed. It wasn’t until the morning of the winter ball that I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t carry this weight another day. It was too much. It was too crippling.

“I feel great,” she replied sleepily, shifting closer until our bodies were once again melded together. “Last night was super fun.” Super. I smiled when she used the word. It was so fucking adorable.

“Now you’re really not fucking helping,” I huffed. “I’ve a good mind to hang up on you.” “That wouldn’t be such a terrible thing, lad, considering I need to take a shower and get ready for this bleeding dance.” “Don’t you dare hang up on me in my need,” I warned, pointing a finger at the phone, even though he couldn’t see me. “I’m warning ya, Cap. I’ll cry.”

Tossing my phone on my nightstand, I reached a hand under my mattress to retrieve the familiar folded-up piece of paper, and then, like the masochist I was, I unfolded the page and reread Caoimhe Young’s suicide note. The real one. The one she left just for me.