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“I’m going to go inside now,” Katie whispered, clearly unnerved by his words, as she hopped down and practically legged it towards her front door. “Night, Aoif.”
“Was that necessary?” I asked when my friend had hurried inside. “You scared her off.”
He shrugged noncommittally and steered the conversation towards my attire. “Nice housecoat, grandma.”
“Nice face, Rocky,” I shot back, tightening the knot on my robe.
A faint trace of a smile teased his lips. “Shouldn’t you be inside catching up on all of your soaps?”
“Nah,” I replied breezily. “Nothing on Fair City could ever be as entertaining as your earlier spectacle.”
“Happy to oblige.”
“So, what are you doing hanging around with Shane Holland and the rest of those dopes?”
“What’s it to you?”
I shrugged. “Call me curious.”
“You know what happened to the curious kitty,” he replied coolly, giving me his best mind-your-own-business glower.
“Don’t even bother with those scare tactics,” I countered, feeling a flash of heat below my navel. “I’m not my friend. I don’t scare easily.”
“Good for you,” Joey muttered. Taking one final drag from his smoke, he exhaled a cloudy puff of sickly-sweet smelling smoke before tossing the butt away. Shoving his hands into his front pocket, he retreated a few steps. “Don’t tell your father about tonight.”
“Fine,” I agreed, jumping down from the wall, partially because my ass was numb from the cold concrete, but mostly because I wanted to stop him from leaving. “What are you going to do for me in return?”
Pausing, he turned back to face me. “What do you want?”
Your attention, I thought to myself, as I closed the space between us, only stopping when I was standing right in front of him.
He was a lot taller than me now that I had lost my wall advantage.
“I’m not sure yet.”
Tilting his head to one side, Joey stared down at me for the longest time.
Mistrust, wariness, and reluctant curiosity were all emotions evident on his face when he asked, “What are you doing, Molloy?”
I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure.
On the one hand, I had a boyfriend, who, aside from suffering from the rare case of loose lips, treated me well enough. But on the other hand, I found myself drawn to this boy much more than was good for me.
I had felt it, the weird invisible pull, the very first day he walked into my world, and it hadn’t let up since.
“My friend thinks you’re dangerous,” I told him with a smile. “She thinks I need to steer clear of you.” Tilting my head to one side, I added, “She’s thinks that messing around with boys like you will get a girl like me hurt.”
“Wise friend,” he replied coolly. “You should listen to her.”
“That’s the thing about me, Joe,” I pushed back and said, “I don’t like being told what to do.”
I watched him watch me, his gaze trailing down my body.
When his eyes locked on mine, I swear I saw something shift inside of him. “Then I guess we have something in common after all.”
“Yeah,” I blew out a shaky breath. “I guess we do.”
With a dark look etched on his beautifully bruised face, he took a step towards me, and I desperately attempted to feign nonchalance as a shiver racked through me. “But that still doesn’t make us friends.”
