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Sighing heavily, Darren turned to his sister. “You look beautiful, Shan.”
“Thanks, Dar,” she replied, offering him a small smile. “Are you doing anything for the night?”
“Nah, I’ll hang here with the boys,” he replied.
Don’t do it, Gerard mouthed from behind them, clearly knowing what I was about to say before I said.
“You can come to the party,” I blurted out and then laughed nervously when I was greeted with horrified looks from Johnny and Joey. Meanwhile, Gerard face-planted his hand. Oops. “I mean, it’s totally cool if you want to swing by for a boogie.” A boogie? What was I, forty? Jesus.
Thankfully, Ollie decided to save me by trotting into the kitchen with his sexy saint of a foster father in tow.
“Wow, Ols,” I grinned. “Fancy.”
“I’m a barrister,” he explained, dressed in a designer suit, with sunglasses perched on his nose. He even had his hair slicked back like one of those corporate lawyers in the movies. “Like my dad.”
The entire room went silent, and I held my breath, not having one single iota of a clue what to say in response to his innocent comment.
Was it good?
Was it bad?
I had no clue.
All I could do in this moment was eyeball Gerard, who was eyeballing me right back.
“Okay,” Edel broke the silence by saying. “Everybody, stand in together for a photo.” Her voice was thick with emotion, but she masked it well with an enthusiastic tone of voice and an even bigger smile. “And give me your best smiles. You too, Darren, love. I want this one for the wall.”
52
Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble
GIBSIE
The Halloween/eighteenth birthday party Sinead Biggs threw for her son turned out to be a roaring success. More people than I knew the names of were crammed into their three-story house, while the DJ she hired played a mixture of modern jams and Halloween classics. The drink was flying, the craic was ninety, and I was freaking the hell out.
Clammed up tighter than a duck’s ass with tension, I followed Claire around the party like she had an invisible collar and lead attached to my neck.
I didn’t know what else to do.
My mind was in a heap after our kiss, and while Claire found it effortless to socialize, mingle, and entertain the masses, I had been given no such instruction manual.
Did I hold her hand? Did I not?
Did I run for my life before I could fuck up our friendship? Or was it too late for running, and if so, should I apologize?
I honestly had no idea.
All I knew in this moment was that if the Viper didn’t stop throwing shade at me, I was going to lose my mind. Already, Lizzie had tossed half a dozen snippy comments, both directed at me and at my expense, and I was running low on patience.
“Ignore her,” Johnny instructed a little while later when he joined me outside. “She’s looking for a reaction, lad. Keep on not giving her one.”
“I’m trying,” I bit out, taking a deep drag of the cigarette I’d bummed from Joey. Unlike him, I was more of a social smoker and only smoked OPs—a.k.a. other people’s. “But she’s everywhere I turn.”
The words were no sooner out of my mouth than Lizzie stepped into the back garden. The minute her eyes landed on me, she released a furious growl. “Why do you always have to be everywhere I go?”
“I could say the same about you,” I snapped back, bristling.
Johnny placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. “You’re good, Gibs.”
