Binding 13

No, I definitely didn’t, but that didn’t stop me from saying, "You said your stiches haven't healed?"

He gave me a wary look but didn’t respond.

"Can you show me?" I asked. "I'm good with stiches."

I've had enough of them.

"Sha

"I know," I replied. "But I've seen a million sports injuries on legs and knees, so maybe I can tell you what the problem is?" Shrugging, I added, "It's probably just taking longer to heal because you're on your feet all the time."

"My leg's not the problem, Sha

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just presumed because I saw you limping," I replied. "Is it your thigh?"

"No," he deadpa

My cheeks switched from mildly warm to hot as a furnace in the time it took me to register that Joh

My mouth formed an O as vivid images of severed boy parts entered my mind.

"Yeah," Joh

"Well, I-I…" Rambling, I shook my head and tried again, "I don’t know how to help you with that."

"Relax, I wasn’t going to let you examine it," he tossed back defensively.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, thoroughly mortified. "I didn’t…uh, realize where it was."

"And by the way," he added, eyes narrowed, "It's my groin I had surgery on – not my cock – so I'd appreciate you having the facts right before you go ru

What?

"Ru

"I know what girls are like for gossiping," he bit out, jaw flexing. "Fuck, what am I doing?"

I gaped at him. "Gossiping?"

Was he serious?

"Look, just forget I told you any of that," he huffed. "It's getting late."

Reaching between us, he closed a large hand over the gearstick and shifted into gear.

"Where am I taking you?"

I blew out a breath. "I have no idea."

He turned to look at me. "What?"

I squirmed in my seat. "What?"

"Your address, Sha

"Oh." God. "Sorry. Um, Elk terrace in Ballylaggin."

With a clipped nod, Joh

Flicking on the indicator, Joh

Leaning back in my seat, I raised a hand and grabbed the Jesus handle and focused on counting the cars passing us in a bid to distract myself from obsessing over the speedometer on his dashboard.

I could feel the tension emanating from him, his earlier friendliness replaced with stony silence, our conversation obviously the catalyst behind the shift in his mood.

The silence enveloping us right now was thick and uncomfortable, and I was irrationally disappointed by this.

I was more than disappointed.

I was reeling.

For the first time in forever, I had been enjoying myself.

I had loosened up, bantering back and forth without the fear of, well, backlash.

And then he dragged the rug right out from beneath me.

I hadn't seen it coming and I was regretting ever coming out of that bathroom stall.

When Joh

A few moments later, he settled on a song, track number five, and the car filled with a familiar guitar intro, providing a temporary distraction from my troubling thoughts.

Joh

I loved this song and considered it my anthem.

Like seriously, I drowned myself in the lyrics daily.

If music healed the broken hearted then the lyrics of this song soothed my soul.

It was on a mix CD Joey's girlfriend made him for Christmas. He obviously wasn’t keen on the CD Aoife had made him because I had swiped it from his bedroom last month during a random sister snoop-fest/spot-check and Joey had yet to discover it was missing.

It was currently in my portable discman where I listened to it on repeat every night before bed.

Concentrating on the lyrics of the song I already knew off by heart, I attempted to get a handle on my nerves, but the punk rock beat only seemed to encourage the crazy in my designated driver because the minute we slipped onto the main road, Joh

When the speedometer tipped over 120kmpr, I closed my eyes and stopped breathing.

Covering my face with my hands, I peeked between my fingers, groaning when the flash of headlights of cars in the opposite lanes whizzed past us.

"What's the matter?" Reaching over, he turned down the volume on the stereo. "Sha

"You're going too fast," I strangled out.

"Relax, we're going the limit," he replied, but he slowed the car. "And I'm a good driver. You're safe with me."

"Okay," I muttered, still feeling like we were going way faster than 100 kilometers an hour. "But I'd feel better if you slowed down."

Exhaling heavily, Joh

"Happy now?" he asked, tapping the dashboard.

Leaning over, I checked the speedometer.

80 kilometers.

"Yes," I breathed, my coiled-up muscles relaxing ever so slightly. "Thanks."

Sagging back in my seat, I allowed my gaze to drift over him.

He was staring at the road ahead, one hand resting on the gearstick, the other elbow leaning against the door.

Like he sensed me watching him, Joh

I smiled weakly.

He stared heatedly back at me, unsmiling.

My smile faded.

With a low, frustrated growl, he turned his attention back to the road.

Shaking his head, he muttered something unintelligible under his breath, hand tightening around the wheel.

Feeling dismissed, I clasped my hands on my lap and stared out the windscreen, not daring to cast another glance at him.

We didn’t speak for the remainder of the drive, with only the songs coming from the stereo breaching the thick silence.

"Listen," Joh

Appreciate my discretion?

He was embarrassed about having an injured groin?

He should try having a useless father whose only talents were gambling his dole money and impregnating his mother, while whoring himself around to anyone stupid enough to have him.

Frustrated, I turned to him and said, "Who would I tell, Joh

"Your friends," he countered and then in a much quieter voice muttered, "my friends."

"Well, I'm not going to tell anyone," I bit out, a