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“I’ll come anywhere you want if you just show me that thong,” Gibsie pleaded, dropping his hands to her waist. “I’ll clean all the pots. I’ll do anything. Just one peek. That’s all I’m asking.”

“You’ll come anyway,” she huffed, catching ahold of his school tie and dragging him out of her room.

“You’ve got that right,” he agreed, trailing after her like a puppy dog on a lead. “Is your bra red, too?”

“I’m not wearing one.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

Gibsie pulled the door closed, leaving me and Johnny alone in Claire’s bubble-gum pink bedroom.

“There’s, ah… That’s a lot of pink.” Shifting awkwardly, Johnny dragged one hand out of his pocket and waved his hand around aimlessly. “Never seen so many teddy bears and dolls in my life.”

“She doesn’t play with them anymore,” I explained, stifling a laugh at the sight of his confused expression. “She just collects them.” Feeling at a loss, I grabbed the huge white polar bear from the top of her bed and held it out to him. “Gibsie bought this one for her thirteenth birthday and demanded she name it after him,” I said. “She compromised and called it Gerry.”

“I remember.” Johnny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Bleeding thing cost him eighty quid. He was cutting grass for the entire summer to pay for it.”

My eyes widened. “Eighty euro for a teddy bear?”

Johnny shrugged. “That’s the one she wanted.”

“Oh,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

“Are we okay?” he asked then, remaining exactly where he was. “You and me?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

Johnny blew out a harsh breath and moved toward me. “I know I fucked up, okay?” he blurted out, not stopping until he was sitting on the edge of Claire’s bed, eyes locked on mine. “I overreacted. But I just saw him with his hands on you and Ipanicked.” He shook his head and reached for my hand. “I fucking saw red, Shan. I couldn’t think clearly and jumped to conclusions.”

“I get it,” I whispered, shifting closer to him. “I’m not mad at you.”

“But I’ve just made things worse for you.” He groaned, pulling my hand onto his lap, and looked at me, expression forlorn. “I fucked it, baby.”

Baby?

Oh god.

“And now you’re going to have to go home and deal with more of their shite,” he continued to say, sounding pained. “All because I couldn’t get a handle of myself—”

“Johnny?” I squeezed out, heart skittering around wildly.

He exhaled a sigh and looked at me with a wary expression like he was trying to gauge my emotions. “Yeah, Shan?”

“I love you.” I had no idea why I felt the need to tell him that, but the words seemed to clamber up my throat every time I laid eyes on him.

The blue in his eyes blazed with heat. “I love you, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I don’t know who moved first after that. There was a blur of flailing limbs, but when I lunged for Johnny, he was already halfway down on me. Our lips crashed together at the same time I collapsed onto my back, with his big body landing heavily on top of me.

Frazzled, I tightened my hold on his neck and let my legs fall apart, causing him to settle between them roughly. The contact caused us both to moan loudly.

Knotting my fingers in his hair, I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him back with a need that bordered on insanity. Squeezing my thighs, I rocked my hips upward and pulled down hard on his hair, wanting nothing more than to immerse myself in this boy. Plunging my tongue into his mouth, I kissed him hard, unable to get close enough. Johnny rewarded the move with a deep, rumbling growl of approval. The sound was sosexy.

I could feel him, hard as steel between my legs, rubbing and grinding against my most private of areas and I moaned, shifting closer, wanting more than anything for him to just pressharder.

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