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“And you’re a greedy bitch keeping them both for yourself.”
I glared at her for a moment before blowing out a breath. “There was skin on show.”
Her blue eyes lit up with excitement. “Whose?”
“Joey’s.”
“Yes.” She pretended to bite her fist. “Give me more.”
“The coaches ripped his jersey trying to pull him off Paul,” I whispered, leaning in close so we weren’t overheard by any nosey bodies. “I’ve never seen anything like it, Case. It literally took three fully grown men to drag him away.”
“He’s a scary boy, Aoif,” she replied. “Sexy, yes, but downright terrifying.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Yes, he is,” she corrected, tone serious now. “You know I’m from Elk’s Terrace, too. I grew up on the other side of the estate from him. Hell, I even went to the same playschool as him. In fact, I specifically remember him being stood in the corner for fighting most days. I’ve seen him in action on way more occasions than you, babe, so trust me when I tell you that Joey Lynch is averyscary boy.”
“Not to me,” I heard myself whisper. “To me, he’s just Joey.”
“And Paul?”
“Paul is… Paul.”
“You’re playing with fire, Aoif,” she replied, eyes full of concern. “You need to cool this friendship with Joey or end it with Paul. This can’t continue.”
“I’mnotdoing anything with Joey. I care about him, okay. It’s okay tocareabout a person.”
“Maybe you’re not doing anything with him physically.”
“Physical is the line. I have not crossed the line, Case.”
“It’s supposed to be the line,” she agreed, tone uncertain.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you’re my best friend, and I don’t want to see you get hurt,” she said. “And messing around with Joey Lynch is going to get you hurt.”
“I’m not hurt—“
“You’re not hurtyet,” she interrupted. “But you will be, if you don’t start protecting that heart of yours.” She sighed heavily before whispering, “For what it’s worth, I don’t blame you for holding back with Paul. He’s not exactly a knight in shining armor but jumping from Paul’s ship to Joey’s is the equivalent of jumping out of the pan and into the fire. I know you care about him, Aoif. I get that, okay? But boys like that can’t be fixed. Not with friendship, or love, or anything else, because they are just not fixable.”
“I can’t walk away from him,” I admitted, voice torn. “I don’t know why, but I just can’t do it.”
“From who? From Paul?” Her gaze flicked to the desk behind us, and she winced before saying, “Or from Joey?”
Following her line of sight, I turned around in my seat just in time to get an eyeful of Neasa Murphy slipping her hand under the desk she was sharing with Joey.
Twisting sideways in her seat, she leaned in close and whispered something in his ear.
Whatever they were whispering to each other had Joey giving her a heated look, and Neasa rising from her seat and walking out of class.
Not missing a beat, Joey stood up and followed her out of the room, completely ignoring me when he passed our desk.
My heart sank.
Forget sinking; it shattered in my chest.
It didn’t take a genius to know where they were going, or what they planned to do when they got there.
