AOIFE
BACK IN THE early days of our relationship, the only hatred I had felt towards any member of the Lynch family was Joey’s father.
However, as the months rolled into years, and Joey opened up further, giving me exclusive access to his life behind closed doors, not only had I found my disdain for Teddy reach extraordinary heights, but the animosity I felt towards Marie had shot off the charts.
Joey’s mother made me feel stabby, which frustrated me on a number of levels, because I had been raised to show compassion to the less fortunate.
And in truth, Marie Lynch deserved to be pitied.
Problem was, the way she treated her second born, the disgusting way she favored Shannon and the younger boys above him, had slowly caused any ounce of compassion I had for the woman to disintegrate.
I was in love with her son.
Joey was, in my biased opinion, the best thing to come out of Teddy and Marie Lynch’s fucked-up marriage, and the fact that his own mother couldn’t see beyond his jagged edges, made me furious.
Because if she only took the time to peel back the layers, she would see what an incredible human being she had brought into the world.
Sure, he was reckless and brash, stubborn and short-tempered, but he was also selfless and thoughtful, determined and dedicated.
He was loyal to a fault, and even though he tried his very best to hide it from the world, my god did he have a heart the size of the moon.
My boyfriend’s biggest mistake, and I included his drug abuse in this statement because I was a firm believer that both were significantly connected, was that he offered unconditional love and fealty to a woman who would never deserve it.
I had no doubt that, given half a chance, Joey would have zero qualms about throwing his father under the bus – both physically and proverbially – and then take the greatest of pleasure in pissing on his grave.
Teddy Lynch was a scumbag, rat-bastard, without a single redeemable bone in his body, but he wasn’t the parent that Joey couldn’t walk away from.
Marie was the only one with access to that particular pedestal, and instead of doing the right thing for Joey – for all of her children – she kept him chained to this house.
Teddy was the house in which they were stuck inside, and Marie was the key that refused to the turn in the lock and free them.
Because, despite his shortcomings, Joey Lynch held the morals of a good man.
His morals would never allow him to leave his siblings, and his loyalty would never allow him to leave her.
Therefore, when it came to feeling sympathy for Marie Lynch, I was the Sahara Desert.
Bone dry.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I slapped on my brightest smile, and followed Joey into the kitchen, in awe of the mammoth effort I knew it had taken him to let me through the door. The atmosphere inside his house was always malignant and void of happiness. Unease settled heavily on my shoulders every time I stepped over the threshold, but it was important to me that Joey knew that I accepted every part of him. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and he never needed to hide a thing from me.
His family were sitting around the kitchen table when I walked into the room, and the coldness I usually received from his parents felt particularly arctic tonight.
“Hey, Aoife,” Tadhg and Ollie both chimed, while Shannon offered me a timid wave before quickly bowing her head, eyes trained on the table. Poor little Sean didn’t say a word, but his wide-eyed expression assured me that he felt incredibly confused. And frightened.
“Hey boys,” I replied, forcing myself to smile and keep my feelings in check, as I kept my back to the fridge, and my eyes trained on the table. “Hey, Shan.”
“H-hi,” she whisper-croaked, hiding her face behind a mountain of brown hair.
“Aoife,” Marie acknowledged with a small nod, her anxious gaze flicking from me, to Joey, before settling on her husband, who was heading up the table and making no secret of his obvious ogling of my body. I had a full-length coat on, but I may as well have been naked for all the good it did me around this man. “I didn’t know you were coming over this evening.”
“I invited her,” Joey was quick to intercept the conversation and say, thumb smoothing over my knuckles before he released my hand and moved towards the oven. “She’s staying over tonight.”
“It would have been nice to be told that we were having a visitor,” his mother said quietly.
“I pay my way in this house,” was my boyfriend’s cool response.
“Your father and I were hoping to make this a family night.”
If she was trying to make me uncomfortable enough to offer to leave, then it wouldn’t work. I had no intentions of going anywhere without her son.
“That sounds nice,” I replied, giving her a false smile. “We’re having a date night.”
“Date night,” his father scoffed. “And you’re cooking dinner for her.” He shook his head in disgust. “Are ya completely pussy-whipped by this one, boy?”
“As opposed to just plain whipping her?” Removing a tray of lasagna from the oven with a tea towel, he quickly set to work on plating it up. “And as for Aoife staying over, I wasn’t aware I needed to ask your permission for shit.”
“Don’t get lippy, boy,” his father warned, never taking his beady eyes off my legs. “This isn’t a whore-house.”
“It’s not?” Joey drawled, tone dripping with cynicism, as he handed me a plate of food and a fork. Reaching around me, he grabbed a couple of cans of coke from the fridge and slid one into each pocket of his sweats. “Well, shit, you could’ve fooled me, considering it produces just as many unwanted pregnancies.”
“Joey!” his mother snapped, looking mortified, while I bit down on my lip to stop the smile from spreading across my face. While my heart cheered go on, baby, you tell those bastards.
Tadhg made the mistake of laughing, which earned him a, “don’t fucking start, boy,” warning snarl from their father, as he slammed his fist down on the kitchen table, and extended his power.
Like dominos, I watched as five heads dropped in submission.
Or fear.
Not my one, though.
Not my Lynch.
Like a lone wolf standing on the outskirts of his family pack, Joey refused to bend or cower to the alpha.
“Don’t start getting too big for your boots, boy,” Teddy warned, glaring daggers at my boyfriend. “I have no problem knocking you back down to size.”
“You want to throw down, old man?” Setting his plate down, Joey gestured for him to go for it. “Then fucking try it. I’m right here.”
“Joey,” Marie tried again, tone admonishing. “Stop trying to provoke trouble.”
“Save your breath, Marie,” Teddy said, eyes still locked on his son, but making no move to leave the table. “That little cunt isn’t worth the energy.”
“Thought not,” Joey replied hotly. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to me. “Come on, Aoif.” He gestured to the door. “Let’s leave them to their family night.”
I knew that Joey would erupt the minute we were alone, so it came as no surprise that, as soon as his bedroom door was closed behind us, he kicked it twice, released a pained roar, and then gave it a further four kicks before tossing his plate and our cokes on his dresser and running his hands through his hair.
After abusing his bedroom door, the same door he regularly fucked me against, he yanked it open and stalked out, returning a few minutes later with my overnight bag, a jar of mayonnaise, and a regenerated thirst for pummeling his door.
Smiling when he handed me the mayo, I padded over to his bed and sank down, letting him do his thing and process, while I occupied myself by scoffing down every morsel of food on my plate.
When his knuckles were aching, his breathing was ragged, and his anger was spent, only then he did he slump down on the bed beside me, with his plate on his lap, and a dejected look on his face.
When he made no move to eat, I stabbed a piece of his lasagna with my fork and held it up to his mouth.
He stared at it for the longest time before finally accepting my offering and taking a bite.
I repeated the move another seven or eight times, feeding him when he wouldn’t, until he shook his head, shoulders slumping in defeat.
Setting our plates on the windowsill next to his bed, I shifted closer until our shoulders were touching and leaned my cheek on his shoulder.
After a long beat, he exhaled a resigned breath and rested his head on top on mine. “This is the part where I go out and lose my mind.”
Taking his hand in mine, I entwined our fingers and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “I know.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take,” he admitted quietly, head bowed, gaze trained on our joined hands. “How much more he can push me until I snap and throw it all away.”
“You’ve got another night in you,” I told him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “You can hold on for one more night.”
“Can I?”
“You’ve got this, Joey Lynch.” I reached up and cupped his chin between my fingers and thumb, forcing him to look at me.
The lonesome look in his eyes almost broke me, but I forced myself to remain strong, allowing him to absorb all of the comfort, strength, and whatever else he needed from me. Because, God knows, the bastards downstairs would never give it to him.
“You’ve got this,” I repeated, imploring him with my eyes to both hear me and believe in himself. “And I’ve got you.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
His lips were on mine then, hands pulling at the opening of my coat and tearing the fabric from my body, as he chased the physical connection he needed to ground himself in this moment.
Breathing hard, he tossed my coat on his bedroom floor and quickly reached for his t-shirt, whipping it over his head in one swift move.
Trembling with feelings and anticipation, I lay back on his bed, giving him unlimited access to my body.
When his big body came crashing down on me, pushing me deeper into the mattress, I felt myself slip deeper into his world, as I drowned in the love I felt for him, and he drowned in the physical affection that he had spent a lifetime being deprived of.
“Roll onto your back.”
“Hm?”
“I didn’t get all dolled up to be hidden in the sheets.” I pushed at his chest. “I want you to see me.”
Complying without objection, he rolled us over until he was underneath, with me perched on his lap. I grinned down at him and trailed my freshly painted red nails down his bare stomach. “Hey, stud.”
His fingers flexed on my waist. “Hey, queen.”
“Do you want to know a secret?”
He laughed. “I don’t know, Molloy, do I?”
“I think you do.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Tell me.”
I crooked a finger. “You need to come closer.”
He pulled up on his elbows. “Well?”
“Closer.”
“How close do you need me?”
“This is perfect,” I said approvingly, wrapping my arms around his neck when he sat straight up, with his chest flush against mine. “First, give me a kiss.”
“Jesus, Molloy, just tell me already—”
“Ah-ah-ah. I want a kiss.”
“Pain in my hole,” he grumbled, hands moving to cup my ass, as he leaned in and pressed a drugging kiss to my lips.
“Mm.” Pulling back before I lost myself in his lips, I used my thumb to wipe my smeared lipstick from his lips and smiled. “I have a peephole.”
“A peephole.”
“Uh-huh.”
“This is your big secret?”
Grinning, I nodded. “You want to see?”
Joey stared at me for a long moment before blowing out a breath and shrugging. “Yeah, fuck it. I want to see.”
“It’s down here.” Taking his hand, I placed it between my thighs and laughed when his fingers grazed me there. “Feel it?”
“That’s not a peephole, Molloy,” Joey muttered, pulling back to get a better look. “There’s nothing there.”
“I know.” Clapping with delight, I lifted up on my knees to give him a proper look. “Crotchless knickers, Joe. What an incredibly useful invention, huh?”
“You know, sometimes I don’t know if you use me as a soundboard for the crazy shit that goes on in your head or an accomplice,” he admitted, thoroughly investigating my ensemble. “I’m down for either, by the way.”
Thrilled that I had managed to coax him out of his bad mood, I took my chance and capitalized. “Want to know something else?”
“Hm?”
“You’re a diamond, Joey Lynch.” Cupping his face between my hands, I leaned in and kissed him tenderly. “You’re one in a million.”
“Oh Jesus,” he chuckled against my lips, as he reached up and knotted his hand in my hair. “Should I be worried about where this is leading?”
“Nope.” Shaking my head, I exhaled a contented sigh and pushed on his shoulders until he flopped down on his back. “Just wanted you to know that you’re someone’s favorite person in the world.”
“Don’t get soft on me, Molloy,” he teased, but I could hear the emotion he was trying to hide in his voice.
Smiling, I leaned in close and kissed him again. This time, I wholeheartedly let myself get caught up in the moment, in the feel of his lips on mine, his hands on my body, skin on skin.
“You’re someone’s favorite person, too,” he whispered a little while later, when he rolled me onto my back and settled between my legs.
“Oh really?”
He nodded. “Don’t want to do this whole life gig without you, Molloy.”
“You won’t ever have to,” I replied, reaching between our bodies to free his erection. “You’ll always have me, Joe.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” he whispered, pushing deep inside of me.
