FEBRUARY 14TH 2002
AOIFE
FIFTY-EIGHT MINUTES.
That’s how long the shower motor hummed above me.
That’s how long it took for Joey to tame the beast.
Another ten minutes passed before he finally emerged from the bathroom.
Re-dressed in his school uniform, with his blond hair cocking up in forty different directions, and his cheeks noticeably flushed, he stepped into the kitchen, towel in hand. “Thanks.”
“Better?” I asked, unable to suppress the laugh that escaped me, as I flipped a piece of French toast in the pan. “Feeling relieved?”
“Funny,” Joey growled, but the reluctant smile on his face assured me that he wasn’t mad.
“Did it go down?”
“Eventually,” he admitted, with a wolfish smile. “I thought I was going to have to go to A&E for a while there.”
“Imagine if you had,” I snorted, switching off the hob and plating up the French toast. “We would have needed to hitch a trailer onto the taxi to cart that stallion between your legs.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”
“No, probably not,” I agreed, still laughing. “Here.” I handed him a plate stacked with my homemade goodness. “You need to replenish your life force.”
“You cooked all by yourself.” His brows rose in surprise. “I’m impressed.”
“I have a pretty decent home economics partner who taught me a thing or two,” I replied, moving to the table with my own plate. “He’s an asshole, but he knows his way around the kitchen.”
“So, this home economics partner,” Joey said, following me over to the table. “Is he your friend?”
My heart flipped in my chest. “He was.”
“Was?”
Nodding, I sank down on my chair and took a bite or toast. “He used to be my best friend.”
“What changed?”
“We had a fight.”
“Is that right?”
“Uh-huh. He broke my heart.”
Pain flicked in Joey’s eyes. “Molloy.”
“Joke.”
Relief flooded his features when he swallowed my lie. “Well, I hear this partner of yours feels shit about the fight the two of you had.”
“Does he now?”
“Yeah.” Joey nodded. “He misses his friend.”
My heart flipped. “He should miss her. She’s amazing.”
He smirked. “He wants her back.”
“She never left.” I swallowed deeply. “She just needed a time out.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Because if she did leave, he wouldn’t like it.”
“He wouldn’t?”
“No.” His green eyes locked on mine from across the table. “He wouldn’t.”
Exhaling a shaky breath, I reached across the table and laid my hand, palm up. “Nice moves.”
He stared at my hand for a long beat before slowly placing his hand on top of mine. “Nice everything.”
