“Yeah.” Nodding, I smiled. “That’s me.”
Joey roughly cleared his throat before adding, “Aoife is my girlfriend.”
“Your girlfriend,” his mother repeated with a small shake of her head. “I didn’t know that you were in a relationship with anyone.”
“Yeah.” Joey shrugged his stance defensive. “Well, now you know.”
“Now I know,” his mother said, eyeing me carefully. “This is your girlfriend.”
“For his sins,” I joked, but she didn’t laugh.
Ah crap.
Quickly sobering my features, I added, “It really is lovely to see you again, Mrs. Lynch. I’ve heard a lot about you.” God, I was such a bullshitter. “Joey speaks very highly of you.”
“It would be nice if I could say the same,” she said, before adding quietly, “But Joey doesn’t speak about you at all.”
“Mam,” Joey said in a warning tone.
A small tremor rolled through his body, and I gave his hand a gentle squeeze, desperate to give him reassurance.
That this was okay.
That I could exist in both of his worlds.
That I wouldn’t run.
My act of support was awarded with a smile, as his green eyes locked on mine, searching my face for something he would never find.
He was looking for my trepidation.
It didn’t exist.
“When did you both meet?” she asked then, dragging my attention back to her.
“First year,” I told her. “We’ve been in the same class ever since.”
Her eyes widened. “So, this… relationship has been going on for a long time?”
“Well, we’ve been friends for—“ I began to say, but Joey quickly interrupted when he said, “you could say that.”
“And is it serious?” She looked at her son. “Are you serious about her?”
“You could say that,” was all he replied, but it caused my heart to hammer with pure unadulterated joy.
He wasn’t denying how he felt.
He didn’t play it down or brush it under the rug.
‘You could say that’ was all but a declaration of love when it came to this boy.
“Mam!” a voice screamed from somewhere above us then. “He’s blocked the fucking toilet again.”
Startled, Mrs. Lynch literally jerked before releasing a small shudder. “Tadhg, mind your language, will you?” she called back. “We have company.”
“Like I give a crap,” came the voice again. “That dope of a son you call Oliver doesn’t seem to understand that he doesn’t need to use an entire toilet roll to wipe his hole.“
“Tadhg!” Mrs. Lynch shouted, but it was a pitiful attempt, sounding more like a defeated sigh, as she reached for her cigarettes. “I told you to mind your language.”
“Ollie plugged the toilet,” Tadhg shouted again. “And I need to take a—“
“I like to make sure I’m clean,” a younger male voice called out. “It’s high-gleam-ick.”
“It’s hygienic, not high-gleam-ick!” Tadhg screeched. “And you’ll be far from high-gleam-ick when I take a shit on your—“
“Jesus Christ, I’ll sort it,” Joey barked. Releasing my hand, he shook his head and moved for the hallway. “Anything to shut the pair of you up.”
“Sound, Joe,” I heard Tadhg call back.
“See,” I heard Ollie cheer. “Told you Joey would fix it.”
“I’ll be right down,” he called over his shoulder, while he bounded up the stairs. “Just give me two minutes to sort these spanners out.”
“You’re going to need more than two minutes,” Tadhg called back. “Ollie might be small, but he sent a man-sized salmon up the river. It’s blocked solid.”
“Fuck my life,” I heard Joey groan, as he disappeared up the staircase.
“Take your time,” I laughed. “I’ll wait.”
When he was gone, I remained by the fridge, feeling a little unsure of his mother and a lot unwelcome.
If I thought Joey was closed off, it was nothing compared to the woman in front of me.
“He doesn’t do much of that, you know,” Mrs. Lynch said, flicking her cigarette ash into the already overflowing ashtray in front of her. “At least not these days.”
“Much of what?” I replied evenly, unsure of what to make of the broken woman in front of me.
I wanted to hate her so bad for allowing Joey to suffer for as long as he had. Instead, all I felt in this moment was pity.
“Smile,” she clarified. “He doesn’t smile often.”
“He’s smiling a lot more lately,” I told her. “More than he used to, at least.”
Offering me a weary smile of her own, she exhaled softly. “You must mean a great deal to my son.”
“I hope so.”
“You must.” With a small shrug of her frail shoulders, Mrs. Lynch took a deep drag from her cigarette. “He’s never brought a girl home before now.”
That statement should have thrilled me, knowing that I was the only girl that Joey had brought home, but to be honest, why would he want to bring anyone here?
Certainly not to meet the parents, that was for damn sure.
“Yeah, well, he means a lot of me, too,” I told her.
She arched a brow. “A lot?”
“An awful lot,” I clarified, unwilling to be ashamed of how I felt. “I’m in love with your son, Mrs. Lynch.”
“I thought you might be.” Something that looked a lot like sadness flickered in her blue eyes then. “I could see it written all over your face when you walked into the room with him.” She blew out a shaky breath before asking, “Are you being safe?”
I just stared at her, unsure of what to say.
“Is he protecting you?” she pushed.
“I’m on the pill,” I heard myself admit. “But we’re not sleeping together.”
She didn’t look like she believed me. “Be safe,” she replied. “Protect yourself if he won’t.”
“He always keeps me safe, Mrs. Lynch,” I told her, needing her to know how epic her second born was. “Your son is an amazing person.”
“My son is a loose cannon,” she corrected sadly. “Just like his father was at that age.”
“Yeah, that’s not even close to being true,” I shot back heatedly, her words irking me. “Joey is nothing like your husband.”
Surprise filled her eyes.
“Yeah,” I bit out, staring right back at her. “I have eyes. I know what happens in this house.”
“You don’t know anything,” she whispered.
“I know a lot more than you think,” I shot back. “So don’t you dare tar Joey with the same brush as him.”
“I understand the need to defend him,” she whispered sadly. “I understand the temptation. I was your age once. I understand all about the temptation that comes with loving a boy like my son. He’s handsome, and talented, headstrong and protective, wild and reckless. But just remember that protectiveness can switch to possessiveness in the blink of an eye. Headstrong can switch to commanding, and, well, recklessness can lead to more than just addiction.” She sucked on her cigarette before exhaling a cloud of smoke and asking, “You do know that don’t you?”