“Casey, stop it!” Molloy’s achingly familiar voice echoed through my head, causing every hair on my body to stand on end.
“Stop it right now,” she ordered, dragging her friend away from me. “Don’t do this.”
“He deserves it.”
“You don’t know anything about it, now stop.”
“I know he hurt you.”
“Casey! I mean it. Let’s go.”
Struck fucking dumb at the sight of Molloy in a skin-tight, backless, red dress, I could do nothing but watch as she completely ignored me, focusing on her friend instead.
“But he hurt you,” Casey continued to slur, pointing her finger in my direction. “You’re so sad, and eating all that chocolate, and it’s all his fault.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Molloy bit out, wrapping an arm around Casey’s waist and pulling her towards the door, never once looking at me the entire time. “Come on,” she continued to say, coaxing her bitchy gal pal away. “I’ll get us a spin home.”
“Molloy?”
“Not right now, Joe.”
My heart bucked wildly in protest. “Molloy.”
“No,” she choked out, before hurrying out of the kitchen with Casey draped around her. “I can’t do this right now, okay?”
No, it wasn’t okay.
It wasn’t fucking okay at all.
My legs were moving after her before my brain had a chance to catch up.
“Patrick Feely is outside with the car,” her neighbor told her, as she looped an arm around Casey and helped Molloy cart her outside to a nearby running car. “He’ll make sure that you guys get home safely. He’s one of the good guys, Aoif. You can trust him.”
“Thanks, Katie,” I heard Molloy reply, as she opened the back door and maneuvered Casey inside. “Sorry about this.”
“It’s totally fine, girlie,” Katie replied, giving her a side hug. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t want to go home,” Casey slurred, slumping into the back seat. “I’m having fun.”
“Yeah,” Molloy growled. “Ruining my life.”
“Don’t be mad at me,” her friend whined. “I’m trying to mind you.”
“I can mind myself, Case.”
“But he made you so sad.”
“Just scoot over and let me in. We can talk about this later.“
“Molloy,” I interjected, grabbing ahold of the door when she moved to climb in beside her friend. “Don’t leave yet.”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
“I’m playing by your rules here, Joe,” she croaked out, still averting her gaze from me. “You do your thing and I do mine, remember?”
“Yeah,” Casey slurred from her perch on the backseat. “Leave her alone, asshole.”
“Casey, it’s grand, stop,” Molloy muttered, cheeks flushed. “Just leave it, okay?”
“Don’t leave,” I repeated, ignoring the evil eyes her friend was giving me. “Don’t go, Aoife.”
“I have to,” she replied quietly. “She’s drunk and I need to make sure she gets home.”
“I’ll take her home, Aoif,” Katie offered up, and I instantly knew which one of her friends was my favorite. “If you want to stay and, uh, talk things out or whatever, then I’d be happy to go with Patrick and drop her home.”
“Thanks, Katie, but that’s putting you out.”
“I don’t mind,” Katie was quick to counter. “I think you should stay and talk to him.” She offered me a smile – albeit a warning one. “Nicely.”
“Hey.” I held my hands up, letting her know that I was fully prepared to comply with her wishes.
“No…” Casey whined. “Don’t do it, Aoif, he’ll only feed you more bullshit.”
“Shush, you!” Katie snapped, quickly climbing into the backseat alongside Casey before swiftly closing the car door.
Moments later, the car pulled away from the path, leaving us standing in a thick, strained silence.
“So, you were just going to leave without speaking to me?”
“I don’t want to argue with you, Joe,” she whispered, arms moving to wrap around her waist protectively. “I’m too tired.”
“I don’t want that, either.”
She nodded stiffly and continued to stare down at her stiletto clad feet.
“Are you going to look at me?”
“Not right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because it hurts too much.”
My heart constricted in my chest. “Baby.”
She swiftly changed the subject by asking, “So, what are you doing at a Tommen party, Joey Lynch?”
“Believe it or not, I was invited.”
“By who?”
“Hugh Biggs,” I replied before quickly turning the tables. “What are you doing at a Tommen party, Aoife Molloy?”
“I was invited.”
“By who?”
“Katie Wilmot.”
I thought about it for a moment before awareness dawned on me. “Wait, your next-door neighbor, Katie, is with Hugh Biggs?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “You already knew that.”
I had a vague recollection of Molloy telling me about her friend having a boyfriend on the rugby team at Tommen, but I’d been too strung out to pay much heed to the conversation at the time. “No, no, no, you told me her name was Katie Horgan.” That, I did remember.
“She’s Katie Horgan-Wilmot,” Molloy replied. “Her parents aren’t married, remember? Her mam’s Horgan and her dad’s Wilmot. She has a double-barreled last name, but she mostly goes by her dad’s name.”
“So, Katie is with Hugh.”
“Yeah, they’ve been together for a while now.”
“Well shit.” My thoughts reverted back to the conversation I had with Lizzie, and a pang of sympathy hit me in the chest, before I abruptly stripped all memory of that conversation from my mind.
Not my monkeys, not my circus.
“Why’s she at Tommen again?” I asked, searching my mind and coming up empty. “She’s from Rosewood. Her folks aren’t exactly flush with cash.” Without trying to sound like too much of a dick, I asked, “Shouldn’t she be at BCS with us?”
“You know why she’s at Tommen, Joe,” she muttered, kicking at a stone with her foot. “I’ve told you all about it before, remember?”
Yeah, but I was on another planet and couldn’t hear you.
“Oh, yeah,” I lied, disgusted by just how many ways I’d let this girl down. “I remember.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“I’ve had one drink the whole night.”
“Wow,” she said softly. “That must be a personal best for you.”
Ouch. “I deserve that.”
“I didn’t say that to hurt you,” she squeezed out, shaking her head.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you had.”
“Yeah.”
Another strained silence settled between us, and it made me feel uneasy.