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“Speaking of normal,” Claire injected, thankfully changing the subject. “Are you going to be normal in here?” she asked Lizzie. Yanking open the glass door, she gestured to us to file in. “No arguments, okay?” We walked inside and Claire hurried in after us. “No bitching at Gerard or any of the boys.”

Lizzie shrugged noncommittally, striding off in the direction of the lunch hall. “If Thor and his gang steer clear of our table, we won’t have a problem.”

“Hey, my brother’s in that gang of gimps,” Claire huffed.

“You know what they say, Claire—if you lie with dogs, you get fleas.”

“Then you must be riddled with them,” Claire shot back. “Since all you seem to be doing lately is lyingunderPierce O’Neill.” Lizzie’s cheeks turned pink and Claire arched a perfectly shaped brow. “Nothing to say? Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.”

“Guys, don’t fight,” I puffed out as I hurried to keep up with their long strides, only to freeze when we reached the archway. My heart jackknifed in my chest when my eyes landed on Johnny.

He was sitting at his usual spot at the end of the banquet-like table with his back to me. He had his feet propped up on a chair and his arms folded behind his head. His hair was all mussed up, looking like he’d spent the morning dragging his hands through it.

Several of the girls sitting at nearby tables were all staring at him with the same hungry expression I’d seen him provoke from girls in the hallways.

The same hungry expression he provoked from me…

He wasn’t paying an ounce of attention to the girls, or anyone else for that matter. He was staring straight ahead, attention glued to the table I usually sat at with my friends.

“Uh...” I cleared my throat, feeling nervous. “I have something to tell you.” Catching ahold of their sleeves, I tugged the girls away from the archway, feeling my heart race at a million miles an hour as my gaze soaked him in. “It’s about Johnny,” I added, tearing my gaze away from him. “And me.”

“Oh god.” Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “What did you do with Captain Fantastic?”

“Yes?” Claire’s eyes widened in excitement. “What did you do?”

“I…” I could feel my cheeks turning red. “Well, see, he’s my…and I’m his…” Flustered, I broke off and pressed a hand to my forehead. “He asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes.”

“Shut the front door!” Claire squealed, clapping and bouncing excitedly. “Oh my god! Oh my god!”

I gave her a weak smile. “Yeah.”

“You’re his girlfriend?” Lizzie frowned in confusion. “But he doesn’t do the whole girlfriend thing.”

“Well, he does now,” Claire hooted, still bouncing like a playful kitten. “I swear, this is the best day!”

“You know, I don’t even know why I’m surprised,” Lizzie grumbled. “This has been brewing for months.”

“It really has,” Claire replied, still grinning as she nodded in agreement. “Months and months.”

“It literally just happened today,” I told them.

“Yeah, sure, because Johnny Kavanagh blows a head gasket for every girl in this school,” Lizzie shot back sarcastically. “I knew that day before Easter break, when you ran out of school and he went all batshit in the courtyard, that something was going on between you. Hell, even before that, he was always watching you like a creeper.”

“They werekissing,” Claire chimed in. “In his bedroom.”

“Claire!” I hissed.

“And in Dublin.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Thanks for that.”

“Well, you were.” She laughed. “Because he looooves you.”

“Stop it.” I blushed bright red.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Lizzie asked then, watching me carefully. “You really want this, Shan?”

“I’m sure that I want him,” I admitted with a wistful sigh. “Badly.”

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