Binding 13

"That's okay," I replied as a small shiver ran through my body. "I don’t mind."

And I didn’t.

I felt oddly at ease listening to her speak.

Joh

"So, tell me how you and Joh

"Uh, no, I'm in third year," I replied, shifting in my seat.

"Really?" Mrs. Kavanagh's eyes widened. "I thought you were much older."

I beamed at the compliment – at least I was taking it as a compliment.

It wasn’t often someone mistook me for being older than what I was.

"I'm sixteen. I should be in fourth year," I explained, delighted with myself for coming across as older. "But I was held back in primary school."

"So was Joh

"In sixth class," I replied with a small nod. "He wasn’t happy."

"No," she laughed. "He certainly wasn’t." Smiling, she added, "You must know each other well if he gave you the 'my parents ruined my life when they moved me to the sticks' story."

"Not that well," I found myself explaining, "Honestly, Joh

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Kavanagh spluttered, eyes bulging.

"It was an accident," I quickly interjected. "He didn’t mean for it to happen. If anyone's at fault then I am. I shouldn’t have gone there. I distracted him. But he took good care of me afterwards." I blew out a breath before adding, "He was very kind."

"And when did this accident happen?"

"Back in January," I explained, my hand automatically moving to cup the back of my head. "The doctors at the hospital said everything's okay, and the bump's long gone now, but Joh

"Has he now?"

"I think he still feels responsible for it happening," I said with a shrug. "We both know he didn’t mean for it happen. Neither of us did. It was a complete accident. But it's all sorted now."

"And so he should feel responsible!" Mrs. Kavanagh's face turned a deathly shade of white when she hissed, "I am going to castrate that little shit –"

"Oh my god, no!" I squealed.

Thinking back over my words, I suddenly realized how badly that must have sounded to Mrs. Kavanagh and, desperate to wipe the look of terror off her face, I quickly clarified, "Out. Joh

Oh, dear god, let me die.

"Out," I emphasized for the dozenth time. "The bump was on my head."

"How did he hurt you?" his mother asked, looking troubled and yet massively relieved.

I sighed heavily. "With his balls."

"With his balls?" she repeated, looking horrified. "Joh

"Ball," I stressed, squirming in my seat. "Just the one ball –" I stopped speaking, knowing I was making a hash of things.

"Balls? Bumps? Knocking you up?" Mrs. Kavanagh expelled a heavy breath. "Sha

"I'm not pregnant or anything!" I blurted out, feeling the need to make that clear. "I have never been pregnant," I added for clarification. "Not by your son or anyone else."

"That's good to know," his mother replied, tone slightly less pitchy. "Now, tell me what happened."

"Oh, god…" I pressed my hands to my burning cheeks and inhaled a steadying breath before trying again, "I transferred to Tommen after Christmas break. It was my first day and I was late for a class so I cut across the pitch where they were having rugby practice. Joh

Mrs. Kavanagh watched me for a long, uncomfortable moment, obviously taking my measure.

I guessed that she realized that I was telling her the truth because her voice was laced with concern when she finally asked, "And you were alright?"

"Yeah." I nodded, relieved to have cleared the disastrous miscommunication up. "It was just a moderate concussion."

"Oh, Jesus," she gasped. "Sha

Reaching across the console, she snatched a designer looking handbag off the floor and clicked it open.

"Your hospital bills," she began to say, tone distracted as she rummaged in her bag. "Do you know how much they are – dammit, I've left my purse on the kitchen counter. I'll need your mother's phone number." She continued to rummage in her gorgeous, designer bag. "Why didn’t the school contact me?"

"What?" I gaped and shook my head. "No, no, Mrs. Kavanagh. It's fine. There was no bill. I have a medical card."

She watched me for several long beats before finally pulling her hand out of her handbag.

I was glad she did because I had a firm grip on the door handle and was two seconds away from bolting out of this jeep – shoe or no shoe.

"Well, I'm very sorry that happened to you, Sha

"There's no need," I blurted out, feeling my chest constrict with panic as the blood in my veins turned to ice. "My mother works all the time so she won't be home and my father isn’t…he won't…please don’t call…he isn’t –" My words choked on my tongue and I exhaled a ragged breath and strangled out the words, "It's not necessary."

Mrs. Kavanagh nibbled on her bottom lip uncertainly as she studied my face.

Her brown eyes were full of unspoken concern, her expression matching. "Sha

It was at this exact moment the front passenger door swung open, startling us both, and causing Mrs. Kavanagh to – thankfully – stop talking.

"Fuck, it's freezing out there!" Joh

"Says the genius ru

"You know I'm no quitter, Ma," Joh

Twisting in his seat to face me, he arched a brow and said, "Tip for next time we do this?" His tone was serious but his eyes danced with mischief, as water dripped from his rain-flattened hair onto his forehead. "Keep your shoes on your feet."

Winking, he tossed my shoe onto my lap before turning back around and reaching for his safety belt.

"Sorry," I mumbled, red-faced.

Picking the slimy shoe off my lap, I reluctantly slipped my foot inside, shuddering at the squelching sensation.

"Thanks for saving my shoe."

"Yeah, well, thank me by learning how to walk in them," Joh

I blushed beetroot red. "Um, yeah, okay."

"Christ, that's some amount of rain for March."