Of course, her husband decided this was the perfect time to roll down the car window and shout, “Marie, wrap it the fuck up, will ya? I’ve places to be.”
Fear flooded the woman, and I watched as she visibly recoiled before resigning with a slumped shrug.
“I’m sorry for what he tried to do to you,” she whispered. “So sorry.”
“Did ya hear me, woman?” he barked. “I said get your hole over here, or you’ll be walking back to the house.”
His attention flicked to me then and recognition pinged in his eyes.
Feeling like my skin was crawling from just having his gaze on me, but refusing to back down, I narrowed my eyes and returned his glowering stare with one of my own, along with a perfectly polished middle finger.
It was at that exact moment that Joey decided to appear from behind the PE hall, with what I could only assume was the end of a joint pursed between his lips.
Taking one final drag of his smoke, he tossed the butt on the ground and exhaled an impressive cloud of smoke from his lungs as his bleary-eyed gaze landed on us.
Blinking in confusion, Joey looked from his mother, to me, and then to his father parked nearby.
The confusion in his eyes quickly morphed into fury.
“What the actual fuck!”
“Oh god, no,” his mother strangled out, sensing the potential danger of the situation. “No, Joey, no!“
“What did I tell ya about looking at her?”
“Joe, hold up. It’s okay.“
“What did I tell you about coming anywhere near her?”
“Joey, please.”
“Get out of the fucking car, old man!”
Moving entirely on instinct, I stepped around Marie, and ran straight at her son as he stormed towards their car.
“No.” Intercepting Joey before he reached his father, I placed my hands on his chest. “No.”
“Move.” His entire body was vibrating with tension, as he strained against my hands, attention locked on his father. “Get out of my way.”
“No,” I snapped, and then, before he had a chance to respond, I slid my hands up his chest, not stopping until I had a firm grip on his neck. “I said no,” I repeated, roughly dragging his face down to mine. “Put your eyes on me and your mouth on mine.”
“What?” He shook his head in frustration as rain pelted down on us. “No, Molloy, we can’t just fucking—"
Whatever he was about to say was swallowed up when my lips crashed against his.
With my mouth on his, and with one of my hands fisted in the front of his school shirt, I reached up with the other and guided one of his hands to my hip, before placing the other on my ass.
The tension emanating from him was slightly terrifying, but I knew that I was in no danger with this boy.
After a few unnerving moments of stoic rigidity, I felt the shift in him, as he reluctantly relinquished his tight-fisted hold on his anger, and reciprocated my affection.
The sound of an engine roaring to life and then tires squealing filled my ears, and I sagged in relief.
He was gone.
Falling into our kiss, his mouth moved against mine, as our lips parted, and our tongues dueled viciously.
Joey was hurt and he was letting me know just how much in a bruising, punishing kiss that catapulted my hormones into complete disarray.
Flexing his hand on my ass, he tightened his grip on my hip, dragging my body roughly against his, as he took from my body whatever he needed in this moment to stabilize and ground himself.
Needing him with an equal desperation, I pressed up on the tips of my toes, hooked my arms around his neck, and returned with my lips everything that he was offering me.
One moment, he was there, and the next, he was gone; jerking away from me like my kiss caused him some sort of physical pain.
“Don’t do that to me,” Joey warned, breathing hard, as he wiped residue lip-gloss from his mouth with his thumb, and glared at me. “Don’t fuck with my head like that.”
“What are you talking about?” I panted, completely thrown off kilter by his reaction. “I wasn’t trying to fuck with your head.”
“Kissing me,” he snapped, backing up a few steps. “Manipulating me with my feelings, Molloy. I’ve had enough of that to last a goddamn lifetime.”
“Are you serious?” I narrowed my eyes in response. “How is me kissing you a form of manipulation?”
“It’s manipulation when you use my feelings for you against me,” he shot back, unyielding. “You did it that night and you’re doing it again.”
“Are you blaming me for what happened?”
“No, I’m blaming me for that!” he roared, livid, dragging a hand through his hair. “I’m blaming me for caring too fucking much about what you want, and letting my feelings for you blindside me into not doing the right thing!”
“I told you that I want to forget about it.”
“And I told you that I’d do whatever you wanted me to do.” A vein ticked in his neck as he watched me watch him. “But that doesn’t mean that my silence isn’t eating me alive.”
“Joey, don’t let him do this to us.” I took a step towards him and reached for his hand. “Don’t let him win.”
“Don’t you get it, Molloy?” Joey pulled his hand free from mine and backed away. “He always wins.”
As I watched Joey retreat and withdraw from me, I realized that some pivotal piece of him had been snuffed out that night, and if I let him go now, I might not be able to reach him again.
“I love you,” I heard myself call out, and I watched as Joey’s shoulders tensed and his step faltered.
Moving on instinct, I closed the space between us, and snatched his hand up, unwilling to let him leave me twice. “I’m in love with you, and that’s something he can never take away from you.”
A shiver rolled through him. “Molloy.”
“He didn’t win, Joe.” Not stopping until I was flush against his chest, with my hands fisted in the front of his school shirt, I tugged hard on the fabric, reveling when he relented and lowered his face to mine. “You did.”
Releasing a pained groan when my lips crashed against his, he didn’t push me away this time; choosing to wrap his arms around me and pull me closer instead.
With our lips fused together, we step-stumbled to the side of the PE hall before slipping around back of the building.
My back hit the wall a moment later, followed by his big body crashing against me.
“I don’t know where I stand with you anymore,” he admitted against my lips, as he thrust his hips against me and let his arms fall to his sides. “Your mood swings drive me fucking crazy.”
“I know, stud,” I breathed, reaching between us to quickly undo his belt and pop the button on his grey school trousers. “I’m a mess.”
“Me too,” he croaked out, voice thick with need, as he watched me free his dick from the confinements of his black boxers. “I’m a fuck up, queen. I let you down again.”
“It’s okay,” I breathed, reaching under my skirt to quickly push my knickers down my legs and step out of them. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Your hair,” he said instead of answering me, studying me with eyes so dilated they were almost black. “It’s gone.”