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“More than sort of,” I corrected with a shiver. ”But it’s more than that.” Chewing on my bottom lip, I tried to find the words to explain my feelings. “There’s just something about him that intrigues me. I don’t know what it is, but from the first day I saw him, I was just, sort of…curious?”
“Of course you are,” Katie laughed. “It’s the age-old trope. There’s always a reason why the good girl lusts after the chemically dependent bad boy.”
I smirked. “Funny.”
“Well, intriguing or not, messing around with a guy like that is a recipe for disaster,” she added. “Seriously, Aoif, he looks dangerous. You should steer clear of him if you don’t want to end up getting hurt.”
And just like that, his head turned in our direction; green eyes meeting mine.
And just like every time I felt his eyes on me, my heart, the traitorous bitch, thundered violently in my chest.
He didn’t look happy to see me.
He never did.
He stood on the corner of my street, unmoving, eyes never leaving mine.
Nostrils flaring, he continued to stare at me boldly.
With what I knewwasn’ta cigarette now balancing between his lips, he tilted his head to one-side, eyes glazed over, but still sharp and full of mistrust. “You got a staring problem, Molloy?”
Okay, so we were back to throwing insults.
I arched a brow. “No worse than your attitude problem.”
His brows narrowed. “Enjoying the show?”
“More like a shit show,” I taunted back. “And hey, looks like you snagged yourself one of the leading roles. Congrats. Stellar performance.”
“What are youdoing, Aoife?” Katie whisper-hissed, digging me in the ribs with her skinny elbow. “Don’ttalkto him. I thought we established that he’s bad news – oh great, he’s coming over.”
I knew he was trouble, or maybe just troubled.
Either way, I knew he wasn’t going to be anyone’s knight in shining armor.
Casey always joked that Joey Lynch would never reach his twenty-fifth birthday. His latest antics only stacked the odds even further against him. It should have been a warning enough. And still, something about the boy made me want to jump off the ledge.
With my stomach doing somersaults, I watched as Joey crossed the road, closing the space between us.
His lips were puffy and swollen. Whether that was a natural attribute or from constantly fighting, I couldn’t tell, but those lips were almost too pretty to belong to a boy.
And so damn tempting…
“You’re out late,” he said, coming to stand in front of me. Because of my height advantage from sitting on the wall, he had to look up at me, and when he did, I swear I felt the air whoosh from my lungs.
Not because he was insanely sexy – something he very much was – but because the left side of his face was a dark shade of purple, with his left eye swollen almost entirely shut.
“Your face,” Katie gasped, voicing my thoughts aloud. “What happened to you?” Her eyes drifted to his hand. “Oh my god, are you smoking a—”
“I asked too many questions,” he interrupted, giving my friend a menacingly cold glare. “Do you do that, too?”
I could feel Katie wilt beside me.
“No,” she croaked out. “It’s just that the Gards are around and I don’t want to be seen with…drugs.”
“Drugs?” Joey stared at her like she had two heads. “It’s a joint, not a line. Relax, will ya?”
“Hey.” I narrowed my eyes in warning. “Don’t be a dick.”
