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“Yeah.” Sighing heavily, Johnny released my face and stood up. “It’ll probably be safer if I drive.” Reaching for my hand, he pulled me to my feet. “At least we’ll get there in one piece.”

“I haven’t killed you yet, have I?” Gibsie huffed.

Johnny arched a brow. “‘Yet’ being the appropriate word, lad.”

“Now you’re just being ungrateful,” Gibsie countered. “I drove your ass around for weeks when you broke your dick—and I kept you alive!”

“Thank you so much for driving me and my broken dick around and keeping us both alive, Gerard,” Johnny said, rolling his eyes. “How can I ever repay you?”

“You’re more than welcome, Jonathan,” Gibsie replied with a grin. “And you can repay me by not ejaculating on me again.”

“What?” Claire and I both laughed in unison.

Johnny narrowed his eyes. “You’re so fucking dead.”

“It’s a long story, girls,” Gibsie snickered, diving for the door. “I’ll tell you all about it in the car.”

51

Mannequins and Movies

Johnny

I was going to kill my best friend, and after enduring seven years of his antics, I was positive there wasn’t a jury in the country that would convict me. Not after his latest stunt.

“Get out of the window before the girls come back from the bathroom,” I growled for the fifth fucking time. It was no use, though. My words were falling on deaf ears. Gibsie didn’t even blink in response as he stood, still as a statue, in the display window of Debenhams department store in Mahon Point shopping center, with his hands on his hips in a Superman pose, his jeans around his ankles, and a scantily clad mannequin’s faceless head positioned against his dick.

“There are kids around,” I hissed when a lady with two small children cut me a dirty look as she hurried past. “Come on, lad,” I pleaded, spotting Shannon and Claire heading in our direction. “Just come out and I’ll buy you a combo.”

“I want the extra-large combo—withMinstrels,” he stated before turning to stone once more.

“Fine,” I agreed, flustered, waving back at Shannon. “No problem—just get out of the window before you get us lifted by security.”

Grinning widely, Gibsie pulled up his jeans and climbed out of the window, laughing to himself. “Lad, you’re so easy to get a rise out of.”

“Just get out of the shop,” I growled, repressing the urge to strangle him.

“What are you two doing?” Claire asked, eyeing us suspiciously. “Were you shopping?”

“Maybe,” Gibsie teased. “Do you want me to have been shopping?”

“Definitely not,” I muttered, making a beeline for my girlfriend, grateful to have her here so I didn’t have to sit next to that gobshite for an entire film. “You all set?”

“Yeah.” Smiling brightly, Shannon nodded and tucked into my side. “I’m ready when you are.” I slung an arm over her shoulder, and we strolled into the lobby of the cinema complex to queue up for our tickets.

I’d been to the cinema countless times with Gibsie and Claire down through the years and was more than prepared for the argument that ensued when I asked the dreaded “What are we going to watch?” question. It was the same fight they had before every bleeding film. Like an old married couple, they threw down right there in front of the ticket booth.

“You’re wrong, Gerard,” Claire growled, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m telling you, we need to go seeThe Wedding Date.”

“I’m not listening to you,” he declared, glaring right back at her. “Not afterThe Notebookescapade.”

“That was agreatmovie,” she choked out, clutching her chest. “You have no taste.”

“You cried!” he spat out. “For days!”

“So did you!” she shot back. “Louder than me.”

“Exactly,” Gibsie ground out. “Which is why I’m not listening to you again.”

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