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She rolled her eyes and cackled. “Oh, don’t be so cranky.”
“Joey!” a chorus of young voices echoed out, and I watched as my younger brothers, Ollie and Tadhg, came thundering towards me.
“You were class, lad.”
“Yeah, you were the bestest,” Ollie agreed, wrapping arms around my waist. “Good job, Joe.”
“Thanks, lads.” Patting Ollie’s small shoulder, I let go of the hold I had on my hurley so Tadhg could snatch it up to inspect for cracks or damage – something he did after every game.
“Who are these little mini-images of you?” Molloy asked, curious green eyes locked on my brothers. “Don’t tell me you’ve been hiding a secret wife and family from me.”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re my brothers, genius.”
“I’m Ollie,” my little brother piped up before I had a chance to answer. “And that’s Tadhg,” he added, pointing to where Tadhg was messing around with my hurley. “This is Joe. He’s our big brother.” Arching his head back, he asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Aoife,” she replied with a little laugh. “And, yeah, I already know your big brother. He’s in my class at school.”
“Is she your friend, Joe?” Ollie asked, looking back to me. “She’s pretty.”
“I sure am his friend, Ollie. And aren’t you just adorable to call me pretty.” Her gaze flicked to me, and she winked. “Joey thinks I’m pretty, too.”
“Pretty fucking annoying,” I muttered under my breath.
“That’s ‘cause it’s true,” Ollie with a lopsided grin. “Whoa, she’s reallyreallypretty, Joe.”
“Settle down, stud,” I grumbled, reaching into the front pocket of my gear bag for the emergency tenner I always kept in there. “Here,” I said, thrusting it into his hand, trying to buy myself a minute’s peace. “Go up to the shop and get yourself and Tadhg a bar of chocolate.”
“Whoa, thanks, Joe – hey, Tadhg!” Ollie roared, running off in the direction of our other brother, who was pucking a sliotar against the wall further up. “Joey gave us a tenner!”
“Sweet,” I heard Tadhg say, hurley forgotten, as he and Ollie ran off in the direction of the pavilion tuck-shop.
“I want my change back,” I called after them.
“They’re adorable,” she said, drawing my attention back to her. “They didn’t come here on their own, did they?”
“They’re something alright,” I muttered, as my eyes searched the dispersing crowd, while the familiar feeling of impending doom settled deep in my stomach. “And no, they came with our father.”
“Is your dad the big guy I see you talking to after games sometimes?”
“That would be him.”
“Babe?” I heard Ricey call out, and we both turned our heads in unison to find him standing outside the changing room, with a mutinous look about him. “Are you coming or what?”
“Yeah, give me a sec,” she called back, jumping down from the wall, and landing far too fucking close to me for comfort.
“You sure you don’t want to come?”
“Yeah, Molloy, I’m sure.”
“I want you to.”
I want you, too…“Not interested.”
“Fair enough, Joe.” Sighing heavily, she patted my shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you then.”
Frowning, I stared after her as she skipped off in the direction I’d just come from.
