Binding 13

I frowned up at him.

That was a good line.

It was a believable line.

Why wasn’t he taking it?

"Yes," I strangled out, flustered by his directness. "Because that's what happened."

He arched a brow. "You're honestly trying to tell me that you gave yourself a black eye?"

I shrugged noncommittedly. "It happens."

"Not usually," he bit out. "You must have been ru

Self-preservation roared to life inside of me; my three little brothers' faces the driving force behind my next words. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm not trying to say anything here, Sha

"I am telling you the truth," I snapped, voice breaking. "Stop pushing me." Tears prickled my eyes and I quickly batted them away. "God!"

I felt terrible for lying to him especially, but I couldn’t exactly turn around and say 'oh yeah, when my dad's full of drink, he likes to beat the shit out of me and throw me around like a ragdoll.'

It was at that exact moment that the skies decided to open above us, delivering an onslaught of pelting March rain, and soaking us both.

Thankful for the downpour, I spun around and hurried back to the car.

"Don’t do that," Joh

I shook my head and yanked the door open.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Joh

He reached out to touch my face but quickly diverted his movements, cupping the back of his neck instead.

"Okay?"

Nodding, I released a ragged breath. "Okay."

Joh

"I should probably just wait in the car," I mumbled, hardly able to look him in the eyes. "I don’t want to be intruding – unlike my idiot brother who apparently has no qualms about walking into stranger's houses and eating their food."

"Firstly, I'm not a stranger to you, and you're not intruding on me," Joh

"Are you sure?" I croaked out.

He nodded slowly. "Absolutely."

"Um, okay," I whispered uncertainly. "If you're sure that you're sure?"

"I'm sure that I'm sure," Joh

Joh

He placed his hands on my shoulders and walked me into the house.

"See?" he coaxed when we were both inside with the huge door closed behind us. "That wasn’t so bad, was it?"

I shook my head.

Joh

"You laughing at me, Sha

I shook my head again.

He smiled one of the big, double-dimpled smiles that caused my heart to spazz out before gesturing for me to follow him down the long entrance hall and into a spacious foyer with two huge archways on either side of the room, leading god knows where.

Careful to keep my lips mashed together – and not let my mouth fall open like I wanted to – I took in the enormous staircase that took center stage, with its intricate wooden balusters with the little lion heads carved on top.

My gaze trailed upwards to the top of the staircase where both sides of the landing was clearly visible through the wooden banister rails that eventually joined the wall on either side.

"It's an old house," Joh

"She's right," I breathed, doing a full 360 turn so I could take in the ridiculously tall ceilings and crystal chandeliers. "I think you could fit my entire house in this hall."

"Joh

"Are you hungry?" Joh

I shook my head, my arms moving to wrap around my body almost protectively, as I trailed after him. "I'm okay."

The moment Joh

"Hey – it's little Sha

"It's raining," I mumbled, biting back a shiver as the dampness from my clothes began to seep into my skin.

"You cooked one egg, Gibs, under my supervision," Joey, who was sitting on a stool at the center island, piped up. "You're no Darina Allen."

"Thank fuck for that, Lynchy." With the frying pan in his hand, Gibsie walked over to where my brother was sitting and slapped an egg onto his plate. "I like my man parts."

Reaching across the counter, Joey retrieved the tea-cozy covered teapot and poured two cups of tea before swinging the pot in our direction. "Shan, Kavs, tea?"

Gibs?

Lynchy?

Kavs?

This was typical Joey – sparking up a friendship as easily as he could snap his fingers.

A sudden jolt of jealousy burned inside of me, the unfairness of how easy life was for my brother making me feel hard done by.

That tinge of jealously was quickly doused out by the huge tsunami of guilt that enveloped me.

Joey didn’t have anything easy.

He made the best of every situation.

He was just trying to survive like the rest of us.

"Can I get you a towel or something?" Joh

"Holy shit," Joey barked then, startling me. "What in the name of Jesus happened to you?"

Setting the teapot down, he stood up and stalked towards me.

Leaning closer, Joey took a whiff of me and then quickly backed away.

"Jesus Christ, Sha

Wow, tactful, big brother, thanks a lot…

"No!" I balked and then tried to sniff myself inconspicuously. "I don’t smell."

"You don’t smell?" Joey shot back mockingly. "You're so ripe my eyes are watering."

God, Joey!

"My dogs mauled her," Joh

"Huh," my brother bit out. "Fu