Releasing 10 (Boys of Tommen, #6)

by Chloe Walsh

Her tone was teasing now. “You better not have forgotten the name of the best band in the world.” “Fleetwood Mac,”

Shannon looked at me for a long time before whispering, “You’re different, Lizzie Young.” “I am?” She nodded and smiled. “You’re special.” “Is that bad?” “No.” She shook her head, still smiling. “You remind me of Joe.” “Your brother?”

“Yep.” She nodded again. “And that’s a very good thing.”

“I don’t think I like you, Lizzie Young.” He looked out the window when he whispered, “I know I do.” *

“Let’s just have cat babies instead.”

“Don’t sit on his lap,” I whispered back. “How come?” I don’t know. “Just don’t, okay?” “Okay.” “I mean it.” I held my pinky finger up to her. “Promise me.” “I promise,” she replied hooking her finger around mine before proceeding to curl up in a ball on my lap. Normally, I would kill my sister for hugging me, but not tonight. Instead, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and kept her close.

draped over me, allowing my heavy eyelids to close. Mark didn’t fix me this time. Hugh did. And he didn’t have to hurt me to do it…

Because her son was my sun.

“I just want Hugh,” I strangled out, voice shaking almost as much as my body. “Just…just Hugh, okay?”

trusted her to know what to do if my mood shifted unexpectedly. I felt bad for Caoimhe, I really did, and I knew the past three weeks had been hard on her, but the truth was I’d never felt better.

on making trouble for me every chance you get.” “I don’t like you,” I replied simply. “I can’t stand you, truth be told. The way you look, the way you speak, the way you think, the way you drive, the way you conduct yourself. Everything about you disgusts me.”

lifelong ban from number nine

“I’ll be here.” I kissed her again. “Always.” “No matter what?” “Yeah, Liz.” I kissed her softly. “No matter what.”

Maybe one day, a girl would walk into his world and bring him to his knees, like Liz did to me, but until that day came, it was easier to say nothing.

Freudian Slips

Going to Liz when she needed me wasn’t something I had to wrestle with. There was no decision to make. All the pain and hurt could wait. I could put the betrayal and resentment on ice. Because, at the end of the day, I still wanted to be near her, still wanted to hold her hand, still wanted to kiss her lips. Every inch of me still longed for every inch of her, and I couldn’t turn my feelings off. What I felt for her wasn’t expendable, and it hadn’t shown up overnight. My love for her had had nine years to deepen and grow, and the roots went deep. It wasn’t something that could be rooted out and tossed away. She was imbedded in the foundations of who I was as a person. She was ingrained in every fundamental life choice I had made from the age of seven. Getting over her wouldn’t happen overnight. If it took an equal measure of time to unlove a person, then I had nine years of misery to contend with. I was sixteen now, so that meant I would be twenty-five before she finally left my system. Fuck, it wasn’t even close to being fair. Because I didn’t choose this. I didn’t want us to end.

I never thought it through until it was too late. I was under some false assumption that I could somehow live without the boy that breathed air into my lungs when nothing had ever been more impossible.

“I know you need to stay away from me,” she breathed, body racking with tremors. “And I know why you can’t be my friend anymore, but I just want you to know that I am so grateful to have had you in my life.” A pained sob escaped her when she said, “I’ll never have a greater friend, Hugh Biggs, or a greater