"Yeah." My voice was gruff, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "I, uh, already guessed that."
Joey nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.
I kept my mouth shut, waiting for him to continue.
"What I'm trying to say here is that I appreciate you looking out for my sister," he finally said. "She's had a hard few years and Tommen seems like a good fit for her. So, I guess I'm hoping that you continue keeping an eye out for her at school –you know, making sure no one is giving her any hassle."
My brows shot up. "Ah, yeah, sure. That's no problem."
He nodded again, his words coming out faster now. "She seems to be settling in at Tommen, and she keeps telling me the kids are nice to her, but I'm at BCS so I've no way to tell if she's okay or not, and she never tells anyone what's going on in that head of hers until it's too late."
I frowned. "Too late?"
"Bitchy girl shit," he explained. "My sister has had a target on her back since she was in nappies."
"That's pretty messed up," I muttered, already knowing all of this, but having the good sense to not tell her brother that.
"Kids are cruel," he agreed.
"They sure are," I muttered.
He stared at me for a long time before saying, "Are you going to tell me about it?"
Oh, Jesus.
What?
The fuck did he want me to tell him?
I racked my brain and came up with nothing PG so I kept my mouth shut.
"Ciara Maloney's boyfriend," Joey filled in, giving me an odd look. "Some fella from Tommen beat the shit out of him in town yesterday."
"Oh?" I arched a brow and folded my arms across my chest. "Is that so?"
Joey smirked. "Yeah, it is."
"Well, I hope he fucked him up," I slurred, feeling my body thrum with anger at the memory of those nasty fucking girls. "Heard his girlfriend's a bitch."
"I heard he was in a bad way," Joey replied. "Broken nose. A few stiches."
"How awful," I drawled.
Joey stared at me for another long pause before shaking his head. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate that my sister has someone looking out for her. When I can't."
He turned to leave only to spin back around.
"Friend." His word held a bite to it. "My sister needs a friend, Kavanagh," he clarified. "She doesn’t need to be getting her hopes up on a guy who’ll be gone come the summer."
I heard his warning loud and clear.
My fucked-up brain might not heed the warning, but I definitely heard it.
Without another word, Joey turned around and walked away, leaving me standing in the doorway, staring after him with only two things on my mind.
The first: finding an icepack for my balls.
The second: fantasizing about all the terribly inappropriate things I longed to do with his sister.
32
Days off and demon brothers
Shannon
"I think you need to buy that girl a ring, Joe," I announced as I read and then reread the note Aoife had left on my brother's bedside locker on Sunday morning. "She's a keeper."
"Yeah," Joey muttered, scratching his jaw. "She must really love me."
"Uh, you think?" I rolled my eyes. "She adores you."
"But I don’t get why she would do this for me."
"Me either," I teased. "Especially when you look so much like Shrek."
"Cheeky fucker," he chuckled, play-shoving me. "Give me a look at that note again."
I held it out for him – the same note he had already read at least a dozen times – and then padded over to the kitchen table with my mug of tea.
Taking a seat, I watched my brother read the note again, brows scrunched in confusion.
"Why did she do this, Shan?" Shaking his head, he walked from cupboard door to cupboard door, opening and closing them. "She must've gotten up at the crack of dawn to do this." He opened the fridge, revealing a heaving stack of groceries slotted inside. "It must've cost her a fortune."
Joey was right.
Aoife had to have gotten up early to do this, considering it was only eleven o clock.
He was also right about it costing her a fortune.
I had found the shopping receipt in the bin for €143.67.
"Says here, she'll be back around one o clock with the boys," he added, rereading the note he'd been brooding over since he woke up. "They're going to the playground first, and then the pitch for a kick about after that."
"Did you see this?" I asked as I thumbed through seven neatly stacked envelopes, labeled by day of the week.
Shaking one of the little brown envelope's in my hand, I smiled when I heard the sound of coins clanging.
"Your girlfriend allotted your money into daily budget packets."
Joey gaped at me. "What?"
"Yep," I giggled, placing Tuesday's envelope back down on the pile.
"No fucking way," he muttered as he stalked over to where I was and picked up a handful of the tiny, rectangular envelopes.
"And she put little hearts on them for you," I snickered. "It's so cute."
"Is it normal to be mad at a person because they love you?" my brother asked, eyeing the envelopes with confusion. He turned his green eyes on me and asked, "Is this normal?"
"Why are you asking me?" I shrugged uncomfortably. "I have no experience with this sort of thing."
"Oh, would you look at this," he said with a sigh, pointing to the €20 note lodged beneath Aoife's car keys and the sticky note alongside it saying: Joey and Shannon's breakfast fund.
In capital letters beneath that were the words: Feed your sister, babe. She's too skinny.
"My girlfriend left me pocket money." Joey's tone was laced with sarcasm. "Jesus Christ, Shan."
"Don’t be mad at her," I told him. "She's trying to help us."
"I know." He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled heavily. "And I'm not mad. I just don’t know how to handle it."
"Maybe just by saying thank you?" I offered. "And I love you, too? Or flowers? Those are good too."
Joey smirked. "You're full of ideas, aren’t you?"
I smiled back at him and then sighed, forcing myself to address the elephant in the room – or the lack of. "Do you think Mam will be home soon?"
The light in my brother's eyes dimmed out.
"I really don’t give a fuck what she does, Shan," he replied tightly. "So long as that prick stays away from this house."
He will come back, Joey.
You know this.
Stop lying to yourself.
"Yeah." I chewed on my nail, contemplating his reply for a moment before saying, "What are we going to do if Mam doesn’t come back, Joe?"
That was where my worries rested.
With my mother.
Because she had never left us overnight like this before.
"We'll manage, Shan," Joey replied, Adam's apple bobbing. "Like we always do."
"And school?" I whispered.
"Nanny will be home from Beara tonight," Joey stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "She'll sort the boys the same as she always does with school and all that stuff." He scrubbed a hand over his face before adding, "All we have to do is keep the house, pay the bills, pack them a lunch in the mornings, and be here at night when Nanny drops them off."
"I was supposed to go on the school trip after Easter, but if she's not home I'll cancel –"
"No," he barked. "You won't."
"Joey." I sighed. "If Mam isn’t back by then, you can't take care of the boys on your own."
"I won't be," he countered. "I've already told you Nanny will help – Aoife, too. There's no way you're missing that trip. You need out of this shithole, Shan. More than any of us."
"Are you sure?" I squeezed out.
He nodded.
Inhaling a steadying breath, I said, "I know I don’t say this often, but I want you to know that I love you and I'm so bloody grateful that you're my big brother."
Joey pulled a face. "Are you going soft on me, baby sister?"
"No." I blushed. "I just want you to know that you're important to us. And we appreciate everything you do for us."
Don’t leave us.
Please don’t ever leave me.
"Well, right back atcha, kid," he replied, looking a little awkward.
"You'll make a great dad someday," I decided to tease and make him even more uncomfortable.
Joey snorted. "Yeah, that's never fucking happening."