Binding 13

I tried again and failed miserably.

"Is there a spring to lower this?"

I knew I was small, but this was just ridiculous.

The leather seat of the stool was grazing my ribcage.

"Huh?" Joh

"The stool," I replied, red-faced. "I can't reach."

He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and smirked when he noticed my predicament.

"There was," he explained, walking over to me. He placed a box of Cheerios and a pint of milk on the island. "But Gibsie has a habit of breaking everything he touches."

Without a hint of warning, Joh

"He likes to pretend he's a rocket taking off," he added, unaware of how affected I was by his touch.

Strolling over to another cupboard, he retrieved two bowls and then pulled open a drawer and grabbed two spoons.

"Fucker broke all six stools within a week of my Ma buying them." He set the spoons and bowls down on the island and smirked at me. "They're all stuck on full height."

I arched a brow. "Are you mocking me?"

Joh

"Cheerios work."

Joh

His arm brushed against mine as he poured cereals into both of our bowls and I shivered again.

"Are you cold?" he asked, turning to look at me.

I shook my head. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" he asked, pouring milk once again into both of our bowls.

I nodded. "Are you sure your parents won't mind that I'm here?"

He frowned. "Why would they mind?"

"I don’t know," I hurried to say.

"It's okay," he reassured me. "They won't mind."

"Yeah, okay." Unable to take the heat of his stare, I dropped my gaze to my bowl. "I suppose they're used to you having girls over."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, tone a little sharp.

"Nothing." Flushing, I snatched up my spoon and shoveled a spoonful of Cheerios into my mouth.

"Sha

I shrugged helplessly.

"I don’t bring girls here."

"You don’t?"

"No," he confirmed. "I don’t."

"What about Bella?" the words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to take them back.

"What about Bella?" he asked with a frown.

"Don’t you have, like, a thing with her?"

Joh

"I'm sorry." I scooped up a spoon of cereal, chewed, and then swallowed before adding, "You two were going out for a long time so I just presumed she would have been at your house."

Joh

I frowned. "Were you not?"

He shrugged and turned his attention back to his bowl. "No."

"Oh, okay," I mumbled, thoroughly confused.

"We weren't together like that, Sha

"Then how was it?" I asked. "You and her?"

I knew I should stop rooting for information, but I couldn’t help myself.

I had to know.

Joh

I nodded.

"It was physical," he admitted, looking uncomfortable. "It was just sex, Sha

"Just sex," I repeated, my words were barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah," he replied. "And before you say it, I know how that sounds. But it's the truth, and it was the same for her. So, don’t go thinking I'm the bad guy and that she wanted anything more from me either, because she absolutely didn’t."

"And you know that for sure?"

"Yeah, I do," he shot back a little defensively now. "She wasn’t interested in me as a person. She was happy with what I could do on a pitch and under her skirt. It was purely physical. And when I couldn’t give her what she wanted, she moved on to my teammate."

"That's pretty terrible," I whispered, cheeks burning.

"Yeah, well, sometimes things aren’t all rose tinted," he grumbled. "Sometimes fucking is just fucking."

"You can stop talking about it now," I whispered, pushing my bowl away.

"You're right," he groaned, dropping his spoon back into his bowl. "You don’t need to be listening to this. You're only fifteen, for Christ's sake." He shook his head. "The fuck am I thinking talking about this kind of shite with you?"

"I'm sixteen," I informed him. "And I'm not a child."

Joh

"No, I'm not," I corrected. "I'm sixteen."

Joh

"Since today," I replied.

Joh

I shrugged.

"Why didn’t you say anything?"

"I don't know." I shrugged again. "Slipped my mind?"

"Sha

"Because it isn’t a big deal," I hurried to dismiss. "It’s just another day."

A bad day.

A terrible day.

Brightened only because I'm with you…

"No, Sha

"Joh

"I wish I'd known earlier," he grumbled. "I would have bought you a present."

"I don’t need a present," I strangled out, heart fluttering. "Don’t be silly."

Joh

"And a toasted sandwich," I offered weakly.

Joh

"Shouldn’t they be ready by now?" I asked.

"Shite!"

Shoving his stool back, Joh

"Not quite cremated," he a

"It's fine," I assured him as I jumped down from the stool. "I like them crispy."

Lifting both of our bowls, I moved to the sink to clean up.

"Don’t even think about it," Joh

"Think about what?" I asked, confused.

"You're not cleaning a bleeding thing on your birthday," he stated, holding a plate in each hand.

"I don’t mind –"

"And your face." He shook his head. "And your Ma. Christ, it's your birthday –"

"You said we could forget it," I strangled out, feeling my voice tremble, as panic set in.

I did not want to think about it.

I knew what was coming when I left this house.

And I wanted to forget.

For a couple of more hours, I wanted to pretend that hell wasn’t waiting for me on the other side of his front door.

Joh

It went against my nature to leave a mess behind me, but I complied with Joh

Without thinking about it, I moved straight for it, groaning in relief when the heat wafted against my bare legs and hands.

Joh