“I have to go back to work,” he said as he followed me down the stairs. “I’ll be home in time for dinner.”
“I’m not makin’ ye’ dinner,” I told him. “Ye’ can go to Branna if you’re hungry; she’ll feed ye’.”
Damien sighed. “You’d really let me starve?”
“Yes, I would. Now, don’t let the door hit ye’ in the arse on the way out.”
I jumped when he smacked my behind at the bottom of the stairs and glared at him over my shoulder as he left the house with a smirk on his face. When he was gone, I turned my attention to Alec and Keela who were arguing in the sitting room.
“I’m goin’ to start a gang,” Keela announced. “You’ll see, playboy. And it’ll be a terrifyin’ gang!”
“You said book club wrong.”
I found it ironic that Keela’s weapon of choice turned out to be a book as she flung it at Alec’s head at rapid speed. He tried to dodge it, bless him, but it clapped him in the centre of his chest.
“Harry Potter,” he rasped when he looked at the book’s cover. “Why does it always have to be Harry Potter?”
I know the answer, I thought merrily. They were the biggest books Keela owned and would do the most damage.
“I thought ye’ loved Harry Potter,” I commented as I leaned my shoulder against the doorway. “Isn’t that why ye’ became a banshee over that stupid cup?”
“How dare you call it stupid!” Alec shouted in outrage as he jumped to his feet and spun to face me. “It was perfect, and you broke it because you’re evil.”
I loved him so much that it wasn’t even funny. He was honestly my favourite person … but he wasn’t allowed to know that.
I looked at Keela. “Phone me if you go into labour. I’m goin’ over to Branna’s house for a bit to leave ye’ both … to whatever this is.”
“Sure,” Alec hollered as I left. “Have angry sex in our guest room with my baby brother, then up and leave. Rude ass!”
My cheeks burned with heat as I left the house and crossed the road to Branna and Ryder’s house. Ryder was backing out of his garden in his work truck with Damien in the passenger side. Three teenage boys wearing my old school’s uniform were walking by just as I stepped onto the path, and one of them looked at me and stopped dead in his tracks, causing his other two friends to slow down.
“Fuck me,” he said, his eyes wide. “You’re seriously good lookin’.”
I wished I could have disappeared into thin air.
My lips parted. “Uh, thank you.”
“Can I get a selfie with ye’?” he asked. “Our teacher gave us an assignment to pose with someone who we thought was beautiful, and that, missus, is you.”
I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t.
“Okay.”
I was like a fish out of water when this kid, who was taller than me, cosied up to my side, put his arm around my waist, and held his phone out. His friends didn’t seem at all bothered, like their friend stopping a stranger, complimenting them, and then asking for a picture was a regular part of their day.
“Smile.”
We both smiled as he took the picture.
“Seriously good lookin’,” he muttered to himself.
When he turned to look down at me, he looked over my head first and jumped back.
“Christ,” the kid yelped. “Ye’ scared the shite outta me, man.”
Before I could turn around, he said, “Is there a reason you were touching my girl, kid?”
Oh. Shite.
I turned to face him. “He is just bein’ nice, Dame.”
“Yeah, man,” the kid echoed me. “I wasn’t bein’ rude. I just told ‘er how good lookin’ she is.”
“What’s with the picture bullshit?”
“It’s a school assignment. We have to—”
“Try again.”
The kid’s friends snickered as he froze to the spot.
“Okay,” he said, nervously. “I have a bet on with a mate at school. We have to see which one of us can get the most pictures with hot women. We get bonus points if they kiss us.”
I gasped. “Ye’ little fecker.”
The kid looked at me and grinned. “Sorry, but ye’ are beautiful. That wasn’t a lie.”
“Get lost,” Damien growled, “before I put my foot up your ass.”
All three of the teens fled, and I was left staring after them with my lips parted.
“What just happened?”
“What just happened was you’re too trusting of people.”
I turned to Damien and frowned. “He just wanted a picture, and he called me beautiful.”
“How can you not see when guys lust over you?”
“Because he was a child who wasn’t lustin’ over me maybe?”
“I could sense his thoughts with just one glance at him,” Damien said. “He thought you were a hell of a lot more than beautiful.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Why did ye’ get out of the truck?”
“Because three teenagers stopped you and one was eye fucking you,” he replied with a raised brow. “You expect me to just let that happen?”