Considering she hadn’t looked in my direction in weeks, I should be thrilled to hear those words coming out of her mouth.
But in my current state, it was hard to focus on anything other than the glorious visual of her scantily clad body.
If it weren’t for the fact that I was seriously concerned for my dick, I would have reveled in this moment.
Stop looking, asshole.
Looking makes it worse.
Shaking my head, I unlocked my phone and quickly tapped out a text.
Lynchy: What did you give me?
Holland: ???
Lynchy: What the FUCK did you do to me?
Holland: Nothing, asshole, what’s wrong with ya?
Lynchy: I can’t get my dick to go the fuck down!
Holland: Ah shit. Wrong bag, kid. My bad.
Lynchy: Your bad? What does shit mean? What did I take?
Holland: Blow with a twist. Wasn’t meant for ya. I’ve an aul fella in his 50’s who comes up weekly for it.
Lynchy: What. The. Fuck. Is. The. Twist?
Holland: Sildenafil.
Lynchy: Which is…
Holland: A cheap version of Viagra. Crushed and mixed with snow, it’ll blow the head off ya. Literally.
Lynchy: Jesus Christ, asshole. I have a match later!
Holland: Relax, you’ll be grand in a couple of hours. Ride the wave and enjoy it, lad.
Holland: Might wanna skip that match, though.
Holland: Find yourself some nice wet pussy to bury that cock inside.
“Oh fuck,” I choked out, clenching my eyes shut, as my frantic brain tried to absorb what the hell was happening to me.
“What?” Molloy demanded, wide-eyed. “What is it?”
Unable to voice an answer, I tossed my phone on her lap and slung an arm over my face.
“You mixed erectile dysfunction medication with cocaine?” she screeched. “Are you insane!”
“I didn’t fucking know, did I?”
“No wonder your dick is trying to levitate off the bed. It’s been set on ready-steady-fuck-mode, Joe!” Shaking her head, she re-read the messages on my phone before tossing my phone on the mattress. “Well, I can tell you one thing right now, and it’s that this area right here—“ she paused to point at her pussy, before quickly adding, “is off-limits to that leaning tower of penis!”
“Did I ask you to get me off?”
“No, but I can clearly see that you want me to,” she argued, pointing to the head of my cock. “No wonder you’re in pain, carting that thing around. I’m in pain thinking about—“
“Molloy.”
“Okay, okay.” Grimacing, she held her hands up. “Not helping. Got it.”
“Can I…” Blowing out a pained breath, and feeling totally fucking degraded about what I was about to ask, I forced the words, “Use your shower,” out of my mouth?”
Her brows furrowed. “My shower?”
I gave her a meaningful look.
“Oh,” she replied, eyes widening. “My shower. Yeah, of course. No problem.” Nodding, she quickly clambered off the bed and yanked my jocks and school trousers the rest of the way off my legs. “Can you stand?”
“Yes,” I bit out. “Can you not kneel in front of me like that. Please.”
“Oh, shit, sorry.” Springing away from me, Molloy pottered over to her dresser, attempting to give me privacy, while she turned back to look every three seconds.
“I am sorry about this,” I muttered, climbing to my feet.
“Meh.” She shrugged, as she fingered through a stack of cd cases on her dresser. “It’s been an interesting Valentine’s Day.”
“Yeah, I bet.” Standing bollocks naked in her bedroom, I hobbled towards her door, with every inch of me on full view. “Molloy.”
“Yeah?”
“The door.” Resting my head against the timber, I repressed the urge to roar, and bit out, “You have the key.”
“Ah crap.” Stepping around me, she reached inside her bra and withdrew a key. “Do you want soap?” she asked, with her ass way too close for comfort. “Or a magazine—“
“Just open the door.”
“Got it.”
CALLING A TRUCE
FEBRUARY 14TH 2002
AOIFE
Fifty-eight minutes.
That’s how long the shower motor hummed above me.
That’s how long it took for Joey to tame the beast.
Another ten minutes passed before he finally emerged from the bathroom.
Re-dressed in his school uniform, with his blond hair cocking up in forty different directions, and his cheeks noticeably flushed, he stepped into the kitchen, towel in hand. “Thanks.”
“Better?” I asked, unable to suppress the laugh that escaped me, as I flipped a piece of French toast in the pan. “Feeling relieved?”
“Funny,” Joey growled, but the reluctant smile on his face assured me that he wasn’t mad.
“Did it go down?”
“Eventually,” he admitted, with a wolfish smile. “I thought I was going to have to go to A&E for a while there.”
“Imagine if you had,” I snorted, switching off the hob and plating up the French toast. “We would have needed to hitch a trailer onto the taxi to cart that stallion between your legs.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”
“No, probably not,” I agreed, still laughing. “Here.” I handed him a plate stacked with my homemade goodness. “You need to replenish your life force.”
“You cooked all by yourself.” His brows rose in surprise. “I’m impressed.”
“I have a pretty decent home economics partner who taught me a thing or two,” I replied, moving to the table with my own plate. “He’s an asshole, but he knows his way around the kitchen.”
“So, this home economics partner,” Joey said, following me over to the table. “Is he your friend?”
My heart flipped in my chest. “He was.”
“Was?”
Nodding, I sank down on my chair and took a bite or toast. “He used to be my best friend.”
“What changed?”
“We had a fight.”
“Is that right?”
“Uh-huh. He broke my heart.”
Pain flicked in Joey’s eyes. “Molloy.”
“Joke.”
Relief flooded his features when he swallowed my lie. “Well, I hear this partner of yours feels shit about the fight the two of you had.”
“Does he now?”
“Yeah.” Joey nodded. “He misses his friend.”
My heart flipped. “He should miss her. She’s amazing.”
He smirked. “He wants her back.”
“She never left.” I swallowed deeply. “She just needed a time out.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Because if she did leave, he wouldn’t like it.”
“He wouldn’t?”
“No.” His green eyes locked on mine from across the table. “He wouldn’t.”
Exhaling a shaky breath, I reached across the table and laid my hand, palm up. “Nice moves.”
He stared at my hand for a long beat before slowly placing his hand on top of mine. “Nice everything.”
FOURTH YEAR
I’LL BE WITH YOU