Binding 13

Bolting into my room with my presents in tow, I placed them carefully on my dresser before tearing off my pajamas.

Pulling on a jumper and tracksuit pants, I ripped open the box that contained my new bottle of perfume, squirted myself all over, and then raced after Joey.

Shoving my feet into my ru

The minute I climbed into the passenger seat, the smell of alcohol assaulted my senses.

"Jesus, Joey," I coughed as I rolled down the window. "It smells like a brewery in here."

"I know," Joey replied as he started the engine and pulled away from the curb. "You can blame your friends from Tommen for that."

"My friends?" I shook my head and stared at his side profile. "What are you talking about?"

"Joh

"Oh."

Wait.

What?

"You dropped Joh

"Last night when we were picking up our takeaway," Joey explained as he pulled out of the estate and onto the main road. "He was thrown down against a wall outside the chipper in town. He was in a bad way."

"He was?"

Oh god.

Concern filled my chest.

"What was wrong with him?"

"He was drunk off his tits," Joey grumbled. "His friend was worse."

"His friend?" I asked, careful to mask the emotion in my voice. "His…girlfriend?"

"Nah, some big, blond fucker," Joey corrected and I mentally sagged in relief. "I think his name was Gussie or Gillie or something like that."

"Gibsie," I confirmed quietly, thinking about how those two were joined at the hip at school.

"That's the one." Joey nodded, then released a low chuckle. "Bloody eejit threw himself on top of the car, demanding I give him back his center." Laughing, he added, "He looked serious, too. Like he genuinely thought I was kidnapping Kavanagh."

My brows furrowed. "Why did Gibsie call Joh

"Joh

Oh, yeah, I knew that.

I remembered his jersey.

"So, you dropped them both home?" I asked, feeling warm. "To Joh

"Yep," my brother confirmed. "Had to help Kavanagh carry that Gibsie fella into the house. He was legless, Shan. A right bloody mess. We left him in the living room."

"You were inside Joh

My brain was reeling, trying to digest everything my brother was telling me.

He was with Joh

He was at his house.

He was inside his house.

I wanted to ask him if he asked about me, but I managed to keep that question from spilling from my lips.

"Yeah, Shan, and Jesus Christ, by the looks of their property, his family must be minted." Joey blew out a breath. "Never seen anything so fancy in my life –"

The sound of a phone ringing cut through the air, distracting us both.

We both patted our pockets.

"Not mine," Joey stated.

"Mine either," I muttered, looking on the dashboard and then on the floor at my feet.

The ringing cut out and then restarted a few seconds later, vibrating loudly.

"Check the backseat," Joey instructed as he pulled over on the side of the road and threw on his hazard lights.

Unclipping my belt, I crawled between the seats and dropped into the backseat, my eyes searching the seats for the noise.

"Anything?" Joey asked, pulling back into traffic.

"No."

Dropping down between the seats I peeked under the driver's seat.

"Oh, wait, it's here!" I exclaimed, eyes locking on the sleek looking phone lighting up and vibrating against the floor. "I see it."

The ringing cut out again and I snaked a hand out, retrieving the phone.

Shuffling back onto the seat, I quickly fastened my seatbelt, eyes glued to the phone.

"Is this Aoife's?" I gazed down at the expensive looking device. "Did she get a new phone for Christmas?"

"No," Joey replied. "Her folks got her hair straighteners for Christmas."

The phone began to ring again, screen lighting up with the name King Clit flashing across it

"Ew, Joe," I groaned. "That's disgusting."

"What?"

"Whoever's calling this number is listed as King Clit."

My brother threw his head back and laughed.

"That's not fu

"It's yer man – the Gibsie fella. I heard Joh

The phone lit up again, vibrating in my hands and ringing loudly.

"Well, answer it," my brother instructed, tone impatient. "He's probably looking for it."

"I don’t want to." Shoving my hand between the seats, I tried to thrust the phone at my brother. "You answer it."

"How the fuck am I supposed to answer it?" Joey hissed, batting my hand away. "I'm driving, Sha

"No," I refused, shaking my head. "They'll think we stole it."

"No, they won't think we stole it," Joey shot back tetchily. The ringing stopped and Joey let out a growl. "When it rings again, answer the fucking thing!"

Like clockwork, the phone rang five seconds later.

Trembling, I pressed the accept button and put the phone to my ear.

"Uh, hello?"

"Well, shit, I wasn’t expecting anyone to pick up," the voice at the other end replied. "You have my buddy's phone."

"Yeah, I know." Closing my eyes, I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead and exhaled heavily. "He left it in my brother's car last night."

"Last night's a bit hazy," Gibsie drawled down the line. "So, you might need to refresh my memory by letting me know who your brother is?"

"Joey Lynch?" I squeezed out, trying not to hyperventilate in front of my brother. "He and his girlfriend Aoife dropped you guys home from town last night. The phone was under his seat." Squirming uncomfortably, I threw in a quick disclaimer by saying, "I just found it like two minutes ago."

"Nope," Gibsie replied after a long pause. "I have no recollection of that happening."

"Well, it clearly did," I shot back, flustered. "Considering your friend's phone is in my brother's car."

"Little Sha

"Uh, yeah." I flamed red. "It's me."

"Is your brother with you now?" he asked.

"Yeah, but he's driving, so he won't use the phone."

"Does he remember where he dropped us last night?"

"Hold on, I'll ask –" Pausing, I covered the handset and looked to Joey. "They want to know if you remember where the house is."

Joey nodded and I returned to the call.

"Yeah, he remembers."

"Can you put me on loud speaker?"

"I’ll try." Clicking a few buttons, I held the phone up to Joey's ear. "Okay, you're on loudspeaker now."

"Hey man, how's it going?" Gibsie's voice came out much louder now, though he was noticeably hoarse.

"Better than you by the sound of it," my brother quipped. "What do you need?"

"Could you drop Kav's phone over?" he asked. "I'm sorry to put you out, man, but he's losing his shit here. He's weird as fuck when it comes to his personal information."

"What's in it for me?" Joey shot back, not missing a beat.