With none of the grace or consideration his friend had shown for the shocks of my car, Gibsie threw himself into the backseat, sprawling out on top of his friend’s lap.
“Fuck!”
“Shit, man, did I get your dick? I’ll get ice for your balls when we get home.”
“Get. Off. Me.”
“Christ, this is the tightest hole I’ve been inside for months.”
“I hope there’s no more of ye,” Joey muttered, climbing back into the driver’s seat and pulling off. “The car’s weighing down in the back.”
“Sorry,” Johnny replied, clearly embarrassed.
“It’s his fault; the fat bastard,” Gibsie declared and then turned his attention back to his buddy and asked, “Hey, is your dick okay, man? I’m really sorry about that. I hope I didn’t squash your balls.”
“Go fuck yourself, Gerard.”
“I was being sincere, Jonathan. For that, you can get your own ice tonight…hold up! You traitor! You went to the chipper!”
“Yeah, I did, and it was fucking delicious, and I have no regrets.”
“What did you have?”
“A few cheeseburgers and a curry-chips.”
“How did it taste?”
“Better than sex.”
Joey snorted and muttered, “Clearly, he doesn’t have a clue about sex, if he’s willing to trade pussy for a burger,” under his breath.
“Be nice,” I scolded, slapping his shoulder.
“I wouldn’t trade you for all the steak in Ireland.”
I grinned. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Winking, Joey turned his attention back to road.
“We’re supposed to be on a diet,” Gibsie accused, dragging my attention back to their banter. “Did you get me something?”
“Yeah, I got you a burger.”
“Thanks, Johnny.”
“And then I got hungry, so I ate it.”
“You’re a monster!”
“You two are so weird,” I laughed, shaking my head, as I turned back to my boyfriend. “Aren’t they funny, Joe?”
“They’re something alright,” he muttered, shaking his head, letting me know that he was entirely unimpressed with his future-bro-in-law’s antics.
“Hey.” Gibsie sprang forward between the seats to gape at us. “Who the fuck are you guys?” he asked, though the expression on his face assured me that he knew exactly who we were.
‘Not a word about the weed,’ he mouthed, begging me with his eyes to keep schtum. ‘He’s the captain I tried to drug. He’ll kill me!’
“Johnny’s friends with my boyfriend’s sister,” I threw him a lifeline by offering.
“Sister?” Now, Gibsie really did frown in confusion. “What sister?”
“Shannon,” Johnny chimed in.
Gibsie’s eyes widened to saucers. “Shannon?” He gaped at the back of Joey’s head and mouthed, ‘oh, Jesus, that’s his sister? Cap’s obsessed with his sister!’
Snickering, I nodded.
“Yes, Shannon,” Johnny bit out.
‘Oh shit,’ Gibsie mouthed before turning back to his buddy.
They fell into a blatantly obvious double-meaning conversation then, where the only people in the car that they were fooling were themselves.
“Oh, yeah,” I leaned close and whispered in Joey’s ear. “That big gorilla of a boy definitely wants in your baby sister.”
“Jesus Christ, do you want me to crash the car?” Joey choked out with a shudder. “That is a hideous thing to say to me, baby!”
“It’s true, though,” I mused. “Maybe they’ve already done the deed.”
“Molloy.”
“She’s so tiny, and he’s so big –”
“Aoife!”
MY SISTER NEEDS A FRIEND
JOEY
Manipulated into driving miles out of the way on the insinuation that I might get my dick wet afterwards, had me driving through an impressive ten-foot cast-iron gate, and up a mile-long private country lane that led to a house straight out of the films.
Seriously, in any other circumstances, I would be shot on target for trespassing on a property like this.
In fact, I half expected to see a guard of some sort jump out of the bushes with a shot gun.
I had to steel my features when I pulled up outside what I could only describe as a stately fucking mansion.
This was where Kavanagh lived?
I looked to Molloy who was gaping at the house not unlike the way I was.
“And I thought his friend’s house was a palace,” she mumbled, face pressed against the window. “Holy crap, Joe.”
“I know, Molloy.”
These people owned acres of land and grounds.
They were sprawled out everywhere.
Christ.
After helping Kav deposit his ward onto the couch in a living room that looked like it could have been a ballroom before it had had been renovated, I stopped at the front door, unable to walk away until I addressed the elephant in the room.
“Listen.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I turned to face him. “About Shannon.”
Kav seemed to straighten, as he stood in the entryway of his impressive as fuck house and inclined his chin for me to get this conversation over with. “What about Shannon?”
He didn’t back down or shy away.
Instead, he just braced himself for what I had to say.
“She’s fragile,” I heard myself tell him. “Vulnerable.”
“Yeah. I already guessed that.”
“What I’m trying to say here is that I appreciate you looking out for my sister. She’s had a hard few years, and Tommen seems like a good fit for her.”
He gave me a clipped nod. “It is.”
Reluctantly impressed, I gave him a hard look, taking his measure to see if he would slip or falter.
Blue eyes stared back at me, unyielding, and unwilling to bend an inch.
Well, shit.
This fucker was going to stand his ground.
Not wanting to meddle in whatever my sister had going on with this lad, but needing to let him know that I wasn’t going to sit back and let him fuck her over, either, I said, “So, I guess I’m hoping that you continue keeping an eye out for her at school. You know, make sure that no one is giving her any hassle.”
He nodded once. “That’s no problem.”
“She seems to be settling in at Tommen, and she keeps telling me that the kids are nice to her, but I’m at BCS so I’ve no way to tell if she’s okay or not.” I shook my head and sighed. “And she never tells anyone what’s going on in that head of hers until it’s too late.”
“Too late?”
“Bitchy girl shit.” I hated the feeling that I was baring my neck to this lad, but I didn’t have any other hand to play. He was the one at school with my sister. He was the one with the ability to do what I couldn’t. He was the one going around handling her bullies. He had the upper hand in this situation. “My sister has had a target on her back since she was in nappies.”
“Jesus Christ.” Raw, unrestrained emotion flashed in his eyes then, and in his voice, letting me know that he wasn’t quite the robot he had been programed to be. “That’s pretty messed up.”