Binding 13

"That's where you live?" Sha

His attention was riveted to the huge cast iron gates with the ugly ass eagles on either pillar.

"How far is it up that driveway to your house?" he asked.

"About a quarter of a mile."

"You'll never manage getting him to walk that far," he muttered. "I'll drive you up to the door."

"310587," I rolled out the code, which just so happened to be my date of birth. "Just key that into the pad over there and they'll open for you."

Joey keyed the code into the pad and waited for the gates to open inwards.

"Again, I appreciate this," I felt the need to mention. "I know it's out of your way."

"Just returning the favor," he replied, driving up the narrow laneway towards the house.

"This place is amazing," Aoife said with a dreamy sigh. "Look at all the trees and – oh my god! Look at the size of that house," she squeaked when the house came into view, lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.

Mam was paranoid as fuck about potential robbers thinking the house was empty so she had automatic sensors and timed lighting installed everywhere.

In the yard.

In the house.

On the lawn.

It was ridiculous but drunk me was grateful for the illumination.

Joey killed the engine and climbed out, adjusting his seat as far forward as it would go.

I was much steadier on my feet when I was getting out than I had been climbing in.

"Thanks again," I said before reaching into the back and hauling sleeping beauty himself out of the car. "I owe you one."

Wrapping an arm around Gibsie's waist who was still half-asleep, I dragged him to the front door, and wrestled to get my keys out.

Failing to get them out of my jeans pocket, I dropped him on his ass, and battled with my jeans for a long moment before finally retrieving my keys.

"Stop, will ya, I'm sensitive," Gibsie groaned before curling up, snoring resumed.

"Here," Joey a

Grateful for the intervention, I handed over my keys and turned my attention to my friend.

"Get up," I growled, nudging him with my foot. "We're home."

Fucker didn’t budge.

"Gibsie!" I barked.

Nothing but snores.

Goddammit.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, I reached down and grabbed his shoulders and tried to haul him off the ground.

Joey, who had the door open, came and helped me heave him up.

I was in no position to decline his help, so with each of us taking a side, we hauled his deadweight ass into the house.

"Drop him down in here," I instructed, gesturing to the living room.

"You sure?" Joey asked, flicking on the light. "That couch is white, man."

"It's leather," I muttered, too tired and sore to worry about my mother's three-piece suite. Shuffling over to the couch, we tossed Gibsie down "If he pukes, he'll be hosing it down by himself in the morning."

"Fair enough," Joey replied with a shrug before turning around and heading for the door.

I trailed after him, not really knowing what to say.

This night had gone from depressing to infuriating to downright confusing in a matter of hours.

"Listen," Joey said when he stepped outside onto the gravel. "About Sha

Here we go, I thought to myself.

I'd been waiting for this since I climbed into his piece of shit car.

Behave yourself, Kav, keep your mouth shut.

"What about Sha

"She's fragile," he came right out and said. "Vulnerable."

"Yeah." My voice was gruff, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "I, uh, already guessed that."

Joey nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

I kept my mouth shut, waiting for him to continue.

"What I'm trying to say here is that I appreciate you looking out for my sister," he finally said. "She's had a hard few years and Tommen seems like a good fit for her. So, I guess I'm hoping that you continue keeping an eye out for her at school –you know, making sure no one is giving her any hassle."

My brows shot up. "Ah, yeah, sure. That's no problem."

He nodded again, his words coming out faster now. "She seems to be settling in at Tommen, and she keeps telling me the kids are nice to her, but I'm at BCS so I've no way to tell if she's okay or not, and she never tells anyone what's going on in that head of hers until it's too late."

I frowned. "Too late?"

"Bitchy girl shit," he explained. "My sister has had a target on her back since she was in nappies."

"That's pretty messed up," I muttered, already knowing all of this, but having the good sense to not tell her brother that.

"Kids are cruel," he agreed.

"They sure are," I muttered.

He stared at me for a long time before saying, "Are you going to tell me about it?"

Oh, Jesus.

What?

The fuck did he want me to tell him?

I racked my brain and came up with nothing PG so I kept my mouth shut.

"Ciara Maloney's boyfriend," Joey filled in, giving me an odd look. "Some fella from Tommen beat the shit out of him in town yesterday."

"Oh?" I arched a brow and folded my arms across my chest. "Is that so?"

Joey smirked. "Yeah, it is."

"Well, I hope he fucked him up," I slurred, feeling my body thrum with anger at the memory of those nasty fucking girls. "Heard his girlfriend's a bitch."

"I heard he was in a bad way," Joey replied. "Broken nose. A few stiches."

"How awful," I drawled.

Joey stared at me for another long pause before shaking his head. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate that my sister has someone looking out for her. When I can't."

He turned to leave only to spin back around.

"Friend." His word held a bite to it. "My sister needs a friend, Kavanagh," he clarified. "She doesn’t need to be getting her hopes up on a guy who’ll be gone come the summer."

I heard his warning loud and clear.

My fucked-up brain might not heed the warning, but I definitely heard it.

Without another word, Joey turned around and walked away, leaving me standing in the doorway, staring after him with only two things on my mind.

The first: finding an icepack for my balls.

The second: fantasizing about all the terribly inappropriate things I longed to do with his sister.