Page 69 of Keeping 13

“The food will be here in half an hour,” Johnny announced when his phone call had ended.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I whispered, mortified. “Buy me food, I mean.”

Johnny stared at me for a long moment before blowing out a breath. “Yeah, we’re not doing this anymore.”

“Huh?” I stared at him, wide-eyed and petrified. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“I’m going to buy you dinner, Shannon.” Closing the space between us, he lowered himself down on the couch and turned to face me. “Sometimes we’ll eat here and sometimes we’ll go out, but it’s going to be a regular occurrence, so don’t overthink it, okay?”

I had no clue how to respond to that so I just nodded. “Okay.”

“Tonight, it’s a shitty pizza,” he said. “Because I can’t drive and all the good spots in town are closed early on Mondays, but I’ll do better next time.”

“I don’t need better,” I said softly. “I like pizza.”But Iloveyou.

“Maybe not, but you deserve better,” he said quietly.

“I can’t give you anything back,” I blurted out, feeling heat creep up my neck. “I can’t buy you dinner or pay for the cinema,” I added, thinking back to the film he took me to see. “I want to.” I dropped my head, too exposed in this moment to keep his gaze. “But I just can’t.”

“If you had a million quid in your arse pocket, I wouldn’t have you pay for me,” Johnny interrupted, tipping my chin up with his fingers. His blue eyes bored holes in mine as he spoke. “And you can call that a sexist or an old-fashioned way of thinking, but in all honesty, I don’t give a shite. If we’re eating together, I’m feeding you.”

“It is, a bit,” I offered quietly. “Old-fashioned, I mean.”

“Yeah?” Johnny shrugged. “Then you can blame my ma for that.”

“I’d say she did a pretty good job,” I said, shivering when he stroked my chin with his thumb.

“Yeah?” He smiled and leaned closer. “How good of a job, would you say?”

“I’d give her full marks,” I whispered. “Definitely ten of ten.”

His eyes blazed. “And I’d giveyoufull marks.”

“Me?”

“Always you,” he whispered, eyes flicking to my mouth. “I love this.” His thumb traced the tiny dimple in my chin. “It’s fucking adorable.” His gaze flicked back to my mouth and he dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, biting down hard before releasing it on a groan and leaning back.

I stifled a groan of my own, devastated to lose his touch.

Tearing his gaze from mine, Johnny turned his attention to the television mounted above the fireplace. “Love, Actually?” A ghost of a smile crept over his face. “Really?”

“That was the first film I found,” I said, flapping my hands around nervously. “You can change it if you want.” Tucking my hair behind my ears, I bunched up my sleeves only to watch in dismay when they rolled back down. “I won’t mind.”

“No, it’s grand.” He chuckled, settling back on the couch. “Have you seen it?”

“No.” I shook my head and followed his lead, settling back on the seat. “Have you?”

Johnny nodded, still smirking. “Gibsie made me go see this with him at the cinema back when it first came out.”

This time I smiled. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly. We looked like two spanners sitting in the cinema surrounded by couples.” Reaching behind us, he pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over my legs. “He was going through his Keira Knightley phase at the time and was so pissed when he realized how little she appears in this.” He laughed softly, clearly thinking about something amusing. “He got so into it that he fucking wept during the part with the necklace—” He stopped himself before he could finish. “Sorry.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “I almost gave the plot away.”

“Why did you go with him?” Smiling back at him, I slipped my hands under the woolen blanket and snuggled deeper into the couch. “If you’re not into these kinds of films?”

“Because he’s my best friend,” he replied, chuckling to himself as he stretched his legs out on the coffee table. “And he’s done worse for me.”

“Like what?”

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