AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh, yeah, here,” I mumbled as I pulled the scrap of gray fabric from the waistband of my shorts and held it out for her mother. “I, uh, broke that, too.”
Her mother snatched the skirt from me, and I took a safe step back.
“Let me get this straight,” her mother demanded, her gaze flickering between Shannon and me. Recognition flashed in her pale-blue eyes, of what I had no fucking idea because I was feeling clueless right about now. “He knocked you over, tore your clothes off, and then he put his jersey on you?”
I muttered a string of curses and ran a hand through my hair.
It sounded so fucking bad when she said it like that. “I didn’t—”
“He helped me, Mam,” Shannon snapped.
She moved to stand up, and like the asshole I was, I moved to help her, catching a narrowing glare from her mother.
I went to her anyway.
Fuck them all.
I’d seen this girl half-mindless an hour ago. I wasn’t taking any chances with her.
“Mam.” Shannon sighed. “He was football training and the ball hit me—”
“Rugby,” Mr. Twomey interjected proudly. “Our Johnny’s the finest rugby player Tommen College has seen in fifty years.”
I rolled my eyes.
This was not the time to be talking me up—or the company.
“It was an honest mistake,” I added with a helpless shrug. “And I’ll pay for her uniform.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” her mother demanded.
I frowned.
“It means I’ll pay for her uniform,” I repeated slowly. “Her skirt—”
“And tights,” Shannon interjected.
“And her tights.” I flashed her an indulgent smile, then quickly sobered my features when I was met with a death glare from her mother. “I’ll replace everything.”
“Because we have no money?” Mrs. Lynch barked. “Because I can’t afford to clothe my own child?”
“No,” I said slowly, confused as fuck by the human incubator declaring silent war on me. “Because it’s my fault they’re ruined.”
“Well, no, thank you, Johnny,” she huffed. “My daughter is not a charity case.”
Christ.
This woman was something else.
I tried again, “I never said she was, Mrs. Lynch—”
“Stop, Mam,” Shannon groaned, cheeks burning red. “He’s only trying to be nice.”
“The nice thing to do would have been to not assault you on your first day,” Mrs. Lynch huffed.
I stifled a groan.
I wasn’t going to be winning any popularity contests with this woman, that was for sure.
