Keeping 13

by Chloe Walsh

  I snapped four pictures of them and then held the camera out for the girl to take back.

  "Thanks so much," she gushed, staring up at my boyfriend like he held the moon. "He's amazing."

  "Yeah." I forced a smile. "He is." And he's mine.

  "I'm sorry about that," Johnny said, tone low, as he waved them off and hurried back to me. "That was fucking embarrassing."

  "Don’t be sorry for people loving you," I told him.

  He shook his head and helped me back onto the railing. "They don’t love me, Shan."

  "They adore you," I corrected, pulling him closer to stand between my legs. "And that's okay."

  "Maybe," he conceded, clamping his hands down on my hips. "But they don’t love me."

  "Oh?" I arched a brow. "How are you so sure?"

  "Because I know what it feels like when someone loves me." He tipped my nose with his finger. "And that's not it."

  Heat crept up my neck. "Johnny –"

  "I know what I'm going to do, Shan," he whispered. "About the contract? I've made a decision."

  My heart hammered wildly in my chest. "Really?"

  He nodded slowly. "I have to do this for me," he whispered. "I need to. It's what's right for me, you know?"

  "I understand," I breathed, feeling the weight of the world settle down on my shoulders.

  "You'll love me no matter what?" A shudder rolled through him and he clenched his eyes shut. "No matter how hard it gets?"

  "No matter what," I forced the words out of my throat, knowing that I was agreeing to break my own heart in the process. "You sign and you shine."

  "And you'll be okay?" he pushed. "No matter what?"

  I forced a smile. "I'll be fine."

  "I'll marry you," he said then. "When we're older and everything settles down." Taking my hands in his, he placed them around his neck and leaned in close. "Just stand by me," he said in a voice thick with emotion. "Stay with me." His hand squeezed mine. "And I'll make you proud. I'll do right by you."

  My breath came out in a pained rush. "Johnny…"

  "We'll have a family," he continued to say. "One of our own, and I'll stand by you right back. In whatever you choose to do. No matter what."

  "This won't break us," I croaked, touching my brow to his.

  "Nothing can break us," he whispered. "I promise."

  82

  A New School Year

  Shannon

  It was September 1st 2005.

  A brand-new term, and my first day of fifth year. Deciding to take the leap year option with Lizzie and Claire, I walked through the doors of Tommen for my second to last year of secondary school, dressed in a brand spanking new uniform – ironed to perfection, courtesy of Mrs. Kavanagh – with my best friends at my side.

  Everything was different now. I wasn't the same girl from nine months ago. I was a completely different person, with a new home and a new family. All because I made the reckless decision to take a shortcut through a rugby pitch and crash into the boy who had changed my life. The boy who had saved my life.

  "This is going to be our best year yet, girls," Claire declared, looking her usual pristine self, with her hips swaying and her blonde curls bouncing as she walked. "I can feel it in my bones."

  "No. Just…no, Claire," Lizzie grumbled, trudging along beside her, looking like the angel of fury. "It's way too early for your demonic optimism."

  "Ladies," Ronan McGarry purred, stopping in front of us when we reached our lockers. "I heard you three took the gap year."

  "I hope you didn't," Lizzie shot back, releasing her glower on him.

  "I did." He smirked. "You'll be seeing a lot more of me." Turning his attention to me, he winked. "Hey, Shannon."

  "No." My lip curled up and I had to repress the urge to gag. "Just…no."

  Ronan's face reddened and he stalked away, clearly furious.

  "That was epic," Claire laughed, throwing her arm over my shoulder. "Johnny would be proud."

  "Yeah," Lizzie agreed, cracking an actual smile. "He would've loved to have seen you put that toe-rag back in his box."

  "Don't," I groaned, stomach twisting up in knots. "I don’t want conflict this year. I just want to get on with my life."

  "Aww," Claire squealed then, distracting us both. "Look at him."

  Swinging around to see who she was pointing at, I smirked when Tadhg stalked towards us, scowling.

  "Oh, that boy is going to break some serious hearts," she added, pressing a hand to her chest. "I want to eat him up."

  "Yeah, look at those baby first-year girls checking him out already," Lizzie chuckled, pointing to a group of young girls openly staring at my baby brother. "He's going to be the man."

  "No, he's not," I said, horrified. "He's not even thirteen yet."

  "Look at the cute first year!" Shelly and Helen said in unison as they rushed over to us. "He is so cute."

  "That's Shannon's brother," Claire explained. "And yes, we're aware that he is beyond adorable."

  "Hey, Tadhg," I said, giving him a bright smile when he approached. "How are you finding everything –"

  "Don't talk to me," he warned, giving me a horrified look. "Jesus Christ, you're my sister. You don't know me when we're here."

  "You're in the wrong area," I shot back, eyes narrowed. "The first-year locker area is downstairs."

  "Whatever." Rolling his eyes, he shouldered his bag and turned around, heading back towards the first-year common area, growling, "This school fucking sucks," before quickly backpedaling to us. "By the way, you can absolutely talk to me," he said, winking up at Claire, who was towering over him.

  "Uh, thanks?" Claire laughed, grinning down at him.

  "Anytime, blondie," Tadhg replied before sauntering off.

  "Oh, yeah," Claire snickered. "Give him a couple of years, and he's definitely going to be the man."

  "Who's the man?" Gibsie asked, sidling up to us with Hughie and Feely in tow. He waggled his brows at Claire and grinned. "Are you talking about me again, Claire-bear?"

  "Nope," Lizzie answered for her. "You have competition this year, Thor."

  "Oh, please." Gibsie made a pshhing sound and waved a hand in front of himself. "I'm the only competition around here." Looking thoughtful, he added, "I'm basically my own competition."

  "Hey, blondie?" Tadhg called out from down the corridor, causing all of us to turn and look at him. "Nice legs." Turning to Gibsie, he smirked. "You better up your game, lad. Because it's on."

  "Oh my god," Helen and Shelly giggled. "He's got spunk."

  "Too much of it," I muttered under my breath.

  "That little shit," Gibsie hissed, stepping around us to hunt after my little brother. "You better keep your pre-pubescent eyes off my baby mama, fucker. Or you won't have balls to drop!"

  "I have bigger balls than you, fatty," Tadhg called back, laughing his ass off. "Just ask your mother."

  "I'm not fat!" Gibsie roared. "And you leave my mother out of this!"

  "I'm coming for your girl, Gibs," Tadhg continued to taunt, thoroughly enjoying driving Gibsie crazy. "Fair warning."

  "I'm going to kick you all the way back to primary school," Gibsie snarled. "Fair warning."

  "Simmer down, Gibs," Feely laughed, dragging him back by the scruff of the neck. "He's a first year."

  My phone started to ring in my pocket, distracting me from Gibsie's comical outrage, and I hurried off to one-side to answer it. "Hello?"

  "Shannon like the river," Johnny's familiar voice purred down the line, setting my pulse racing. "How's my girl?"

  Grinning, I bit down on my lip and swallowed a moan at the sound of his husky voice. "Hi, Johnny."

  "Hi, Shannon." He chuckled softly down the line. "How's your first day going?"

  "Good, how's yours?"

  "Productive."

  I smirked. "Oh really?"

  "Yeah," he replied, and there was a teasing lilt to his voice. "See, I had this amazing dream last night about my sexy girlfriend."

&
nbsp; Leaning against the locker, I glanced around to make sure my friends weren't listening before whispering, "Keep talking."

  "She tiptoed into my room in the middle of the night," he continued. "And then she climbed under the covers…and when she took her clothes off, she started doing things to my body that made those pretty cheeks of hers turn pink."

  "Oh, wow." Squirming, I blew out a shaky breath. "That sounds like a great dream."

  "It was the best." A pair of arms came around me from behind, pulling me flush against a chest of hard muscle. "But it wasn't a dream, was it?"

  Grinning, I spun around and openly ogled my boyfriend in his Tommen uniform, looking like the best thing my eyes had ever seen. "No, it wasn't."

  "These late-night visits are getting out of hand, Shan," Johnny purred, stooping down to press a hot kiss to my lips. "I almost slept through my alarm for training, and Ma was watching me like a bleeding hawk when I came down for breakfast." Grinning, he added, "I think she might be onto us."

  "Oh, you think?" I laughed.

  "Hmm." Nodding, he leaned down and kissed me again. "We're going to have to get a little more inventive this year."

  Sighing in contentment, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, thanking god that he had made the decision to delay his signing for another year so he could finish off his leaving cert here at Tommen. With me. It gave us one more year together before the big decisions had to be made. It gave us breathing space. It kept us together for a little longer, and I was savoring every one of those minutes. I felt guilty for being so ecstatic that Johnny had decided to stay. I also felt a huge swell of guilt and responsibility for him making that decision. I had feared he was staying out of duty to me, or because he was scared I wouldn’t cope. When he explained that he wasn't ready, that he didn’t feel like he could walk away from his life yet, and that he had thought it through with his usual precision and attention to detail, I relaxed. He needed this year. Some more time to just grow up and live a little before he moved on to the pros. He was talented enough that he was in the position to make that kind of decision and still have the full support and backing of not only his trainers at The Academy, but the Irish coaches, too. Of course, his mother was beyond delighted to have him home for another school year, but I had a feeling her excitement was quickly wearing off considering she had upped her spy patrol on our relationship, roping Sean into the mix, too.

  "What's that for?" Johnny chuckled, dragging me from my thoughts.

  "I just missed you," I whispered, nuzzling my cheek against his chest.

  "You saw me this morning, Shan," he reminded me. "And at dinner yesterday evening." His voice turned huskier when he added, "And last night, when you had your lips –"

  "I remember," I choked out, blushing. "You don’t need to give me a verbal recap."

  "You need to control that ward of yours," Gibsie announced, drawing our attention to him. "I'm serious, Johnny," he added, still scowling. "He is getting right on my tits."

  "He's a kid, Gibs," Johnny drawled, arching a brow. "You can handle him."

  "Oh, I know I can," Gibsie replied, still glowering. "But my version of handling him is very different to yours, and will most likely land me in a prison cell. Therefore, it's a good thing you decided to stick around until June, Cap, because you're going to need to stop me from bulldozing this year."

  "By the way, Johnny, I saw your mother and father go into the office earlier," Helen said. She blushed and batted her eye lashes as she spoke to him. "I hope everything's okay."

  "Yeah," Shelly agreed, joining in on the eyelash batting. "I hope it's nothing serious."

  "Why are you two still here?" Lizzie asked in a flat tone.

  "Liz," Claire snickered. "Be nice."

  "I am being nice," Lizzie countered. "I could have said fuck off." She gave the girls a pointed look.

  "You should buy a muzzle for that one, Claire," Shelly huffed, glaring at Lizzie. "She has issues."

  "Big ones," Helen agreed before they stalked away together, arm in arm.

  "Was that necessary?" Claire asked, still laughing. "They're harmless."

  "They're annoying," Lizzie corrected. "And catty, and bitchy."

  "They are," Gibsie agreed. "And we only have room for one catty bitch in this group."

  "Thor, you better not start with me this morning," Lizzie warned. "I'm trying to be cordial here, but your face is just setting me off."

  "Oh, Jesus, come on, Shan," Johnny muttered with a shake of his head. "It's too early for their shite." Catching ahold of my hand, he tugged me down the hallway after him.

  "What do you think your parents are doing in the office?" I asked, hurrying along next to him.

  Johnny shrugged. "Sorting out your brother's enrolment, I suppose."

  "Yeah." I blew out a shaky breath, feeling nervous and anxious for him. "Do you think he'll be okay?" I asked. "Do you think he'll make friends and settle in here at Tommen?"

  "There's only one way to find out," Johnny mused, pulling me to a stop just outside the girls' bathroom. "Here we go," he added, tone light and full of humor, as he pointed to the front entrance.

  My breath hitched in my throat when my eyes landed on the boy standing in the doorway, dressed in the Tommen uniform, looking hard, and beautiful, and a little lost. A gear bag was slung over one shoulder, and a hurley was clutched in his other hand. His white shirt was untucked, his red tie was hanging loosely. His blonde hair was ruffled, and his expression was one of fuck the world and everyone in it. He looked thinner, darker, more haunted, but his green eyes were sharp and focused again.

  "Oh my god," Claire choked out, running up to us, clutching her chest. "Is that –"

  "Joey," I filled in with a small nod. "Yep."

  "When did he get out?"

  "Last week," Johnny told her.

  "But you guys never said," she replied, frowning.

  "We weren't sure what he was going to do," I explained, clutching Johnny's hand as I stared at my brother. "If he was going to take Johnny's parents up on their offer."

  "But he's here!"

  "Yep," Johnny and I both replied. "He's here."

  "Who is that?" Shelly squealed, joining us once more. "Sweet baby Jesus, I'm in love."

  "He's the new sixth year," Helen explained with a dreamy sigh. "The new boy of Tommen."

  "Well, shit," Gibsie mused, coming to join us. "This year is going to be eventful."

  "It's going to be something alright," Johnny replied.

  "Yeah," Gibsie laughed. "Let the madness begin."

  The End

  Thank you

  Thank you so much for reading Keeping 13.

  Johnny and Shannon's story has concluded but there will plenty more Boys of Tommen to discover, coming in 2019.

  For updates on release dates, check out chloewalshauthor.com.

  * * *

  Please consider leaving a review on the website you purchased this book from.

  * * *

  For a bonus scene of Johnny and Shannon, keep scrolling to the next page.

  Bonus Scene

  Making Good Decisions

  Johnny

  "You are the jammiest bastard I've ever met," Hughie said after school on Monday, in a tone of voice that sounded an awful lot like awe. "Honestly, I feel so fucking inferior right now." He exhaled heavily. "We're the same age, Cap, and I feel like I am running about ten miles behind you."

  "Be happy for him," Feely chuckled. "He's earned this."

  "I am happy for him," Hughie urged. "I'm also a little devastated that I don't possess a pussy." Sighing dramatically, he added, "I could have gone with him to the awards ceremony."

  "Yeah," Feely snickered. "Because he was going to take you over his actual girlfriend."

  Stifling a growl, I tossed my gear back into my bag and turned to look at my friends. We were just finished school training and I really didn’t want to talk about this here. "It's really not a big deal, lads."

  "It's a fuck
ing huge deal," Gibsie corrected, wandering out of the showers with a towel wrapped around his waist. "You've been nominated for the Young Player of the Year award, Johnny."

  "Exactly," Feely agreed. "It doesn’t get much bigger than that, Cap."

  "And you're going to win it," Hughie added. "Our buddy – Young Player of the Year. In the fucking country." He leaned back on the bench and shook his head. "We're in the twilight zone, lads."

  "Pack it in," I grumbled, embarrassed. "I haven't won anything yet."

  "You won't be saying that come Saturday night," Gibsie chuckled. "When you're walking out of that fancy-pants hotel with a shiny new trophy to add to the collection."

  "Kavanagh," Coach Mulcahy's voice broke through our conversation and I turned to find him standing in the doorway, holding a clipboard in his hands. "Good luck in Dublin at the weekend."

  "Thanks, Coach," I replied, giving him a stiff nod.

  "Bring it home, son," he added, giving me what I could only describe as a grimacing smile.

  "He will," Gibsie replied for me, clapping my shoulder.

  "And you." Coach's eyes narrowed on Gibsie. "You have trials coming up. Pack in the drink and the smoking."

  Now it was my turn to say, "he will," as I clapped Gibsie on his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Gibs?"

  "You're hurting me," Gibsie bit out, grimacing when I dug my fingers into his shoulder blade.

  "Oh, I know," I mused, squeezing tighter. "And I'll hurt you a lot harder if you don't get your shit together and stop wasting my time."

  "Noted," Gibsie groaned, breaking free from my hold. "For fuck's sake," he muttered, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm going to have a bruise after ya."

  "You're a flanker," Feely chuckled. "You're supposed to have bruises."

  "So, what time are you and your girlfriend heading up to Dublin?" Hughie asked, clearly still put out that I was taking Shannon with me and not him. "To bump shoulders with everyone I have idolized since birth."