“What’s it to you?”
I shrugged. “Call me curious.”
“You know what happened to the curious kitty,” he replied coolly, giving me his best mind-your-own-business glower.
“Don’t even bother with those scare tactics,” I countered, feeling a flash of heat below my navel. “I’m not my friend. I don’t scare easily.”
“Good for you,” Joey muttered. Taking one final drag from his smoke, he exhaled a cloudy puff of sickly-sweet smelling smoke before tossing the butt away. Shoving his hands into his front pocket, he retreated a few steps. “Don’t tell your father about tonight.”
“Fine,” I agreed, jumping down from the wall, partially because my ass was numb from the cold concrete, but mostly because I wanted to stop him from leaving. “What are you going to do for me in return?”
Pausing, he turned back to face me. “What do you want?”
Your attention, I thought to myself, as I closed the space between us, only stopping when I was standing right in front of him.
He was a lot taller than me now that I had lost my wall advantage.
“I’m not sure yet.”
Tilting his head to one side, Joey stared down at me for the longest time.
Mistrust, wariness, and reluctant curiosity were all emotions evident on his face when he asked, “What are you doing, Molloy?”
I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure.
On the one hand, I had a boyfriend, who, aside from suffering from the rare case of loose lips, treated me well enough. But on the other hand, I found myself drawn to this boy much more than was good for me.
I had felt it, the weird invisible pull, the very first day he walked into my world, and it hadn’t let up since.
“My friend thinks you’re dangerous,” I told him with a smile. “She thinks I need to steer clear of you.” Tilting my head to one side, I added, “She’s thinks that messing around with boys like you will get a girl like me hurt.”
“Wise friend,” he replied coolly. “You should listen to her.”
“That’s the thing about me, Joe,” I pushed back and said, “I don’t like being told what to do.”
I watched him watch me, his gaze trailing down my body.
When his eyes locked on mine, I swear I saw something shift inside of him. “Then I guess we have something in common after all.”
“Yeah,” I blew out a shaky breath. “I guess we do.”
With a dark look etched on his beautifully bruised face, he took a step towards me, and I desperately attempted to feign nonchalance as a shiver racked through me. “But that still doesn’t make us friends.”
“I get it,” I replied, breath hitching in my throat, as I continued to poke the bear. “It’s too hard for you to be friends with someone when you want them as badly as you want me.”
“Is that so?” Smirking, he took another step closer and I found myself backing up with every step he took, until my back hit against my garden wall. Resting a hand on the wall next to me, he leaned in close. “You think I like you, Molloy?”
“I know you do,” I breathed, heart galloping recklessly in my chest.
Reaching down with his free hand, he tucked a tendril of hair behind my ear and whispered, “You think I want you?”
The air left my lungs in an audible whoosh, and I knew that I was standing in the face of danger.
This boy possessed all of the terrible traits that mothers warned their daughters about.
Trouble.
It should have been his middle name.
Every bad, wrong, and dirty teenage boy characteristic wrapped up in a perfect, fucked-up package.
Physically, he trumped me in every way.
Taller.
Stronger.
Darker.
Meaner…
Still, I wanted him to come closer.
“Go inside, Molloy,” he said in a softer tone now, as his green eyes searched and found in mine something that had put the fire out for him. “You don’t belong out here in the dark with someone like me.”
“Yes, I do,” I was quick to blurt, before quickly adding, “I live on this street, remember?”
“Aoife!” My father’s voice echoed from our front doorway. “What are you doing outside at this time of night? The Gards are crawling all over the terrace, pet.”
“Jesus.” Jerking away from my body like I had scalded him, Joey shoved his hands into his pocket and muttered a string of curse words under his breath, as he shook his head and blew out a ragged breath.
My father’s confused gaze flicked to Joey, and he blinked for a moment before a look of resignation settled on his face.
“Joey,” he acknowledged with a heavy sigh. “I hope you weren’t in that crowd I saw the Gards taking away. You’re a good lad, and you know I’m fond of ya, but those lads are bad news. I’m not comfortable having someone who knocks around with that kind talking to my—“
“He wasn’t with them,” I answered before Joey could. “He was dropping Katie home,” I quickly added, feeling the lie roll surprisingly easy off my tongue. “They went to the cinema together, isn’t that right, Joey?”
“Uh, yeah.” Joey nodded slowly, his green eyes wary and locked on mine. “That’s right.”
“Yourself and young Katie?” My dad frowned at Joey. “You kept that one quiet.”
Joey shrugged. “It’s ah, early days?”
“Ah, mighty stuff. Good lad yourself,” Dad called back with a cheerful grin before turning around to go back into the house. “Aoife, don’t be long outside now, ya hear? Only the bad types are out at this time of night.”
“Yeah, Dad, I’ll be two minutes,” I called back and then sagged in relief when the door closed behind him.
"You lied for me." Joey’s tone was cold and full of unspoken accusation. "You covered for me."
"Yeah." My heart hammered against my chest bone, as if it was trying to beat its way out of my body and join forces with his. "I did."
"Why?" His green eyes were laced with a mixture of heat, annoyance, and reluctant curiosity. "What do you want from me?"
"I'm not sure yet." My gaze locked on the recently healed cut on his bottom lip. "I guess you'll just have to owe me for now."
"For now?" Breathing hard, he stepped closer until there wasn’t an inch of space between our bodies. "I don’t like owing people."
"Well, that's too bad," I replied, snaking my tongue out to wet my lips. "Because you're not in control of this situation."
He tilted his head to one side and a ghost of a smile teased his full lips. "And you are?"
“Answers,” I blurted out then, feeling the heat of his stare entirely too much to handle. “I want answers.”
“If it’s answers to homework, then you’re barking up the wrong tree,” he drawled lazily. “In case it skipped your attention, Molloy, I’m far from a scholar.”
“That’s a lie.” Nothing to do with Joey Lynch skipped my attention, which was how I knew that he was far more intelligent than he led the teachers at school to believe.