Keeping 13: Boys of Tommen #2

"Well, I don't want easy, I want you," he cut me off by saying. "Just the way you are."

My breath hitched in my throat. "Really?"

"Really," he confirmed, not missing a beat. "Every part and every piece."

I grimaced. "Even the broken parts?"

He winked. "Especially the broken parts."

"I'm on your team," he added huskily. "Do you get that? I'm totally with you, Shannon Lynch. One call, that's all you need to make, and I'll come. I won't let you down, and I won't leave you alone in this. I promise."

"It's just weird for me because I've never had someone in my corner before." Shivering, I added, "Not someone like you."

"I'm not in your corner, Shannon," Johnny replied in a gruff tone. "I'm standing right beside you."

. "I meant it when I said I needed you for keeps."

"You remember saying that?"

He nodded slowly. "I remember."

The air left my lungs in a sudden rush. "Good."

"I'm going to keep you," he whispered and his hot breath fanned my face. "If that's okay?"

"That's definitely okay," I breathed, pressing my hand to his cheek. "I want you to keep me."

He smiled, dimples deepening. "Thank fuck for that."

Pressing a kiss to the curve of his swollen lips, I whispered, "I'll keep you, too."

She skipped ahead of me with my ball in her hands and my heart in her ass pocket. Christ, she had me hook, line, and sinker, as I trailed after her like she was holding a fishing rod with a line that was attached to something deep inside of me.

The way she held me, clung to me like I was her lifeline, well, that evoked emotions inside of me I wasn’t sure I was old enough to feel. And I didn’t mean sex. It was deeper. A chord of connection channeling deep inside of me and connecting to her. I hoped she never left me, because I was never going to get over this girl.

You have serious fucking issues with taking things that aren’t yours. You're like a kleptomaniac but with humans!"

"Shannon Lynch?" I called out, ignoring the rest of her fucked up family. "I love you back."

Sniffling, she lifted her chin from Joey's chest and looked at me all red-eyed and blotchy. "S-still?"

"Still." I nodded in confirmation. "Like a crazy fucking amount."

You are enough," I breathed, wrapping my hand around his neck. "Just as you are right now." Desperate to comfort him, I hitched a leg over his and scrambled onto his lap, knowing I shouldn't, he was still healing, but not having the self-control to stop. "You're so good," I told him, knotting my fingers in his hair and pulling him closer to me. "You're such a good person, Johnny Kavanagh, and you don't even know it. You don't see how little rugby has to do with how special you are. But I do. I see it, and I know."

"See?" He clamped his hands on my hips and exhaled shakily. "You say it and I believe you."

"Because it's true," I strangled out, breathing hard and fast. "I just…god, you have no idea how lovely you are."

"What do you need from me, Shannon?" he croaked out, voice thick and husky. "I'll give you anything you need, baby." Shaking his head, he groaned like he was in pain. "I just…I want to make you happy."

"You," I whispered. "All of you."

"I'm already yours," he groaned, before covering my lips with his.

"And I know what you're thinking," he added, sounding agitated. "You think I'm sticking around because of your Da. You think I feel sorry for you."

My breath hitched in my throat. "No."

"You little liar." Leaning closer, he cupped my cheek with his big hand and pressed his forehead to mine. "I can read you like a book."

"Yeah," I admitted. "Kind of."

"Well, you're wrong." His breath fanned my face as he spoke, making me feel lightheaded. "I want you because you drive me fucking crazy. And yeah, I'm not going to lie, I feel sorry for you," he added gruffly. "I'd be a cold-hearted bastard if I didn't, but that's got nothing to do with why I want to be with you. I'm sticking around because I need you."

My heart beat so fast I feared it would burst. "You need me?"

"You think it's the other way around, but it's not," he told me. "I need you, too, because you calm something inside of me. You make me feel good. Like I don't have to…" his voice trailed off for a moment as he clearly pondered what he was trying to say. "You make me feel like I'm enough as I am," he finally admitted. "Like if this is the furthest I go, if I don't make the squad, then it's okay."

, "And going back to your earlier question, I like you because you're you, Shannon. I've never met another girl like you."

I scrunched my nose up. "You mean another girl as screwed up as me."

"No, I mean a girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you," he countered gruffly. "And beautiful? Jesus Christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it's painful to look at you. I've never seen anything like you in my life."

I felt like melting into the couch. "Johnny –"

"No, no, just let me get this out before I lose my nerve, okay?" he hurried to say, sounding flustered.

I snapped my mouth shut and nodded.

Exhaling another shaky breath, Johnny continued, "It's like you see me – and I see you. Christ, I think you saw through me that very first day on the pitch at school, because I sure as hell haven't been the same since, Shannon. You don't give a shite about rugby. It never fazed you and that threw me because I'm not used to that. I'm not used to having someone want me for…well, for me – but you did. And you took the time to notice me. To see things that no one else was seeing – things I didn’t want to acknowledge to myself." He ran a hand through his hair and slumped, his broad shoulders bowing. "And I was scared, Shannon. I was so fucking afraid of how I felt for you. I still am. You scare the absolute shite out of me – for reasons I'm still not entirely sure of, because in all honesty, I don’t know what the fuck is happening here. My head is in pieces and I'm so far out of my comfort zone that I feel like I'm balancing on thin ice, but I know that there's no other person I would willingly put myself out there for like I have with you." He shrugged helplessly. "Like I'm doing right now."