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“In every way.”
Whoa.
“I love you.” He reached a hand between us and stroked AJ’s soft curls. “I’ve spent a third of my life loving you, Aoife Molloy, and I don’t plan on stopping.” Leaning in close, he pressed his brow to mine and exhaled a shaky breath. “I’ve made a lot of terrible decisions,” he admitted quietly. “But the worst, by far, was hurting you and pushing you away.”
“It’s okay, Joe,” I heard myself whisper, trembling now. “I forgive you.”
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he replied, voice thick and gruff. “But I will earn it. Because whatever comes our way, from here on out, I’ll be right beside you.” He nuzzled my nose with his before pressing a kiss to my lips. “Because in this version of forever, we get the happy ending, Molloy.”
EPILOGUE
King of My Heart
SHANNON
DECEMBER 22, 2005
“Shannon love,” Edel called over her shoulder from her perch at the stove, while she balanced Sean on her hip. “You wouldn’t pop next door and see if your brother needs a hand with the baby before school?”
“Mm-hmm.” Nodding, I took one final bite of my chocolate spread on toast, munching it down before hopping off the stool at the island. “Sure thing.”
“Good girl,” she called after me. “You’re my rock, love.”
Ignoring Tadhg and Ollie, who were battling it out in the kitchen doorway for dominion over a sliotar, while a frazzled-looking John tried to talk them down, I skipped out of the kitchen.
The minute I stepped outside, the arctic December morning air hit my face and I smiled, reveling in the sensation of the light dusting of snow as it fell from the sky. It wouldn’t stick, of course. At least not enough of it to make a snowman, but it sure was beautiful to look at.
Inhaling deeply, I took a moment to just breathe and take it all in.
The calmness. The tranquility. The contentment.
The Christmas spirit.
Today was our last day of school before winter break, and I couldn’t wait to spend two whole weeks at home with my family.
And Johnny.
Okay, so mostly Johnny.
It was closer to eighty/twenty in Johnny’s favor.
Maybe ninety…
With my shoulders relaxed and a smile etched on my face, I tiptoed around a couple of ice-filled puddles left over from yesterday’s heavy downpour and then broke into a run, desperate to get to the safety of the annex before Bonnie and Cupcake realized that I was outside. If they noticed me, then the perfectly ironed uniform I was donning would be toast.
Muddy toast.
“Joe?” I called out, hurrying inside without knocking when my foster mother’s yellow-tailed demons came into sight, all muddy-pawed and ready to inflict affection on me. That wasn’t to say that I didn’t love Bonnie and Cupcake. I adored them, but those dogs gave Gibsie and Claire a run for their money in the boisterous stakes—and that was an impressive feat.
The minute I closed the door of my brother’s glorified apartment, I heard a huge thud on the other side of it.
“Did one of those dopes crash into the door again?” Joey called down from upstairs.
“Yeah,” I snickered, and then clamped my hand over my mouth, feeling bad for laughing at the poor thing’s lack of coordination. After all, I didn’t have room to talk. “I think it was Cupcake.”
“Something seriously fucking wrong with that one,” he called back. “Why can’t they be like the good one?”
I grinned to myself. My brother was referring to my boyfriend’s number one girl.
