I listened to what he was telling me, and had a feeling that, in Gibsie’s own fucked up way, he was trying to let me know that I could trust his friend not to hurt my sister, and that no harm would come to Shannon when she was with Johnny.
“And this is the same fella you thought you could get to smoke a joint,” I joked, tone laced with amusement. “This serious-thinking, predictable, non-spontaneous giant of a lad is the one you and Biggs thought ye could loosen up?”
“I said that Kav was a serious-thinker,” Gibsie chuckled, holding his hands. “Me? I’m spontaneous as fuck, lad.”
“You’re a strange one,” I said, and then had to, once again, ward him off with the spatula. “Would ya step back?”
“Why?”
“I don’t fucking like people breathing down my neck.”
“I wasn’t breathing down your neck,” he replied. “I was admiring your cooking skills.”
“Well, admire from a distance,” I warned. “At least three feet would be preferable.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Are you heading back into Ballylaggin town after eating?”
“I live in town,” I deadpanned. “So, that’s the plan.”
“Could I bum a lift?”
“Where to?”
“Biddies. I left my car there last night.”
“Yeah, grand.”
“Good man yourself,” he replied, hovering again. “And that bacon smells fucking excellent.” He leaned in over my shoulder to sniff the pan. “Jesus, I’m starving.”
“You’re doing it again,” I bit out, roughly shrugging him off. “Don’t fucking touch me, lad. I won’t tell you again.”
“What?” he huffed out defensively. “I can’t help it if I’m friendly.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“Not what?”
“Friendly.”
“Ah, I don’t know about that,” he laughed. “Given a bit of time to get to know each other, I think we could be the best of friends.”
“That will never happen,” I warned, glaring at him. “You’re a mad, posh bastard, with a personality that, quite frankly, unsettles the fuck out of me.” Switching off the stove, I grabbed two plates, laden down with food, walked over to the nearby island, and set them down. “Meanwhile, I’m a short-tempered asshole, with neither the patience nor the temperament to handle a person such as yourself in my life.”
“Well, I think you’re wrong,” Gibsie replied, handing me a fork, and taking up position on the stool next to mine. “I think we could love each other.”
I gaped at him. “You’re a freak.”
“Oh, relax,” he chuckled. “I meant like brothers.”
“I already have four,” I said flatly. “Don’t need anymore.”
"See,” he chuckled, tearing a rasher in half and stuffing it into his mouth. “You’re already opening up to me about your family. We’re bonding.”
"We aren't bonding," I argued, stabbing my fried egg with my fork. "We will never bond."
Thankfully, Kav returned to the kitchen then, and what do you know, he had my little sister in tow.
“Hey, it’s little Shannon. Did Johnny manage to coax you inside or was it the smell of my fucking amazing cooking that drew you in?” Gibsie joked.
“It’s raining,” Shannon mumbled, sidling exceptionally close to a fella she considered to only be a friend.
As I bantered back and forth with the strange one, I watched as Kavanagh fussed over my sister, and I had to admit that he was the first person I had ever seen put a genuine smile on her face.
They looked fucking ridiculous together, with her barely reaching his chest bone in height. They were worlds apart and polar opposites, but the way they were looking at each other assured me that neither one of them gave one iota of a shit for the small details.
Yeah, I could smell the sexual tension from here. It was almost as bad as the god-awful wet dog smell coming from her.
Apparently, she’d been knocked on her ass outside by his dogs.
Deciding to fuck with them a little further, I asked lover boy if he had a change of clothes she could borrow, and to watch a lad, who pummeled grown men into the ground on a weekly basis, turn bright red like that was fucking hilarious.
“Johnny, she can take a shower here, can’t she?” Gibsie, who was equally amused by what was unfolding before us, decided to ask.
“What?” Shannon squeaked, wide-eyed and red-faced.
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Kav replied, clearing his throat several times before adding, “If she wants.”
“Good idea,” I joined in by adding. “Wash that wet dog smell off ya before we have to drive home in small confines.”
“I don’t smell.”
“You stink,” we replied in unison.
“Fuck off the pair of ye, and leave her alone,” lover boy came to the rescue and warned. “She doesn’t smell bad at all.”
“You don’t smell it because you’re immune,” Gibsie explained. “He lets the mutt sleep on his bed every night.”
Johnny narrowed his eyes, outraged. “Call my dog a mutt again and you’ll be wearing that frying pan.”
Gibsie held his hands up and laughed. “My sincerest apologies, lad. I never meant to insult your precious pooch.”
“I am so sorry about this,” Shannon choked out, looking up at Kav like he hung the moon. “I don’t have to shower in your house—"
“Ah, yeah you fucking do,” I interrupted, earning a snicker of encouragement from Gibsie. “I meant it when I said you’re not getting into Aoife’s car like that. I could run a drag off ya with the state you’re in.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Kav muttered, catching ahold of my sister’s hand, before the pair of them disappeared down the hallway.
“Ah, that was brilliant,” Gibsie sighed in contentment. “He’s probably up there shitting pebbles because this wasn’t part of his concrete plan.”
A reluctant smile breached my lips and I shook my head, concentrating on clearing my plate. “So, what’s the story with you and your buddy’s sister?”
“Who?” he asked. “Claire?”
I nodded.
“She’s my intended,” he came right out and said, without a hint of embarrassment.
“The fuck?”
“It’s true,” he urged, eyes wide and full of sincerity. “We’re betrothed.”
“Since when?”
“Since she was four and I was six, and I promised her that I would marry her.”
“So, in other words, you signed your life away on a child’s promise?”
“What can I say?” He shrugged before adding, “I’m a man of my word.”
I gave him a curious look. “Explain.”
“Hugh and I were in first class over at St. Paul’s, an all-boys school, so Claire was sent to the mixed school across town.”
“Sacred Heart Primary School,” I filled in with a nod. “The same one myself and Shannon went to.”