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“Waiting for him?” Lizzie shook her head. “You need to start living your life, Claire.”
“I live,” I started to defend myself when the door of the common room flew inward, and a familiar face stalked inside.
“Speaking of another good egg who doesn’t buy into the patriarchy,” Lizzie acknowledged when Joey Lynch walked in, deep in conversation with two of his siblings—one of whom he was physically steering into the room by the scruff of the neck.
“What did I tell ya, kid?” he was growling. “Steer clear from Twomey.”
“Exactly,” Shannon added, hurrying along beside her brothers. “Don’t give him another reason to suspend you.”
“Listen, it’s not my fault that prick’s on our radar, Joe.” Looking like an incensed baby lion cub in the clutches of his alpha father, Tadhg broke free of his big brother’s hold and scowled up at him. “He’s clearly got it in for us.”
“That’s the cost of our last name, kid,” Joey shot back. “Get used to it.”
“It’s true,” Shannon agreed, nodding eagerly. “It’s not fair, but it’s the way life is for us at this school.”
“Not just at this school,” Joey offered evenly. “His name is going to follow you everywhere, kid, so you can either make peace with it, or do something about it.”
“And when he says do something about it, he doesn’t mean using your fists to do it,” Shannon added, worrying on her lip. “Fighting solves nothing, Tadhg.”
“Fighting solves nothing.” Bristling with barely concealed tension, Tadhg stalked over to the couches and sank down on the one next to me. “Don’t fucking patronize me.”
“Morning, Lynch family. How’s my favorite sibling trio?” I chirped with a grin. Digging Tadhg’s side with my elbow, I winked at him. “How’s your day going, troublemaker?”
Tadhg grinned back at me. “A lot better for seeing you, blondie.”
“Sorry about bringing him in here, guys, but we didn’t have a choice.” Worrying her lip, Shannon rounded the couches and flopped down next to her brother. “Apparently, trouble follows him like a magnet.”
“Sounds familiar,” Lizzie drawled. “How’s it going, Joe?”
“Morning,” Joey acknowledged. Chewing on a hard-boiled sweet like a madman, he dropped his bag down on the couch next to Shannon before making a beeline for the kitchen area.
I didn’t have to look over to know what Joey was doing. He’d performed the same routine every morning since he arrived at Tommen. Boiling the kettle, he prepped his morning fix of coffee, adding three huge spoons full of instant granules to a mug right along with half a bag of sugar. No milk. No cream.
Returning to the couch with his mug, he sank down on it next to Lizzie and stirred his coffee with a ferocity that assured the rest of us that he was privately battling another craving.
It wasn’t nice to know that Joey ached so badly on the inside, to witness him battling the demon of addiction that almost destroyed him, but it was incredibly fortifying to see him kicking said demon’s ass daily and coming out on top.
I’d quickly learned that when it came to addiction, the future was never set in stone, but Joey was winning the war against his mind one day at a time, and that’s all anyone could hope for.
“I’d be a lot better if I didn’t have to constantly watch that hothead’s back.”
“Oh, please,” Tadhg snorted. “Like you’re in any position to judge me.”
“It’s because of my position I can judge you,” Joey countered evenly. “Don’t be me, kid. Be better.”
That seemed to quiet Mister Attitude because instead of tossing back a sharp comeback, Tadhg folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the floor, clearly deep in thought.
“How’s the fam, Joe?” I asked, steering the conversation to safer waters, while offering Shannon’s superhot brother a bright smile.
“All good.”
“Any new pics of the main man?”
“Oh, I have loads,” Shannon blurted out and then thrust her fancy-pants phone into my face. “See his little smile in this one?” she gushed, pointing to an angelic-looking cherub with a huge gummy smile. “Isn’t he the most beautiful creation your eyes have ever seen?”
“Definitely,” I agreed eagerly.
“He clearly gets it from his mam,” Lizzie drawled.
