Extended Scene
Tender Hearts…and Chicken
Shannon
He came back to me.
Finally.
After almost two months apart, Johnny was home .
The moment I saw him, I wanted to climb onto his lap and stay there forever. I didn’t care about the logistics of it all, or my basic human needs, I physically craved Johnny Kavanagh to the point where I wanted crawl into him and stay there forever. That was how intense my feelings for him had grown. How uncontrollably in love I was.
Even now, as I sat in the passenger seat of his car on the way to town, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t seem to get close enough. The very real worry of his possible departure at the start of the school year was enough to send me spiraling into a panic attack, but I forced my fears back. I pushed through my anxiety, determined to live in the moment with the only boy I’d ever loved. Determined not to hold my boyfriend back from his dreams. After all, I owed him so much more than my life. I owed him my dreams. Because I was beginning to have those now. Actual dreams of my own.
“So, I know that I said I wanted us to have dinner together, but I have a feeling that’s not going to happen,” Johnny announced when we pulled up outside Spizzico’s restaurant on Main Street and he killed the engine. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he blew out a frustrated breath before gesturing to the familiar silver Ford Focus parked two cars up. “Bleeding Gibs.”
I laughed because in all honesty, what else could I do? “He really missed you this summer, Johnny.”
“Yeah.” Johnny sighed heavily again. “And I really missed him, but I really need time with you, Shannon. Time on our own. Without my ma or one of your brothers lurking around the corner.”
“We’ll have time,” I coaxed, reaching across the seat to place my hand on his jean-clad thigh. “All the time in the world.”
My words seemed to settle something inside of Johnny because when he looked at me again, there was a boyish smile in place. “All the time in the world, huh?”
I squirmed in my seat, feeling both shy and aroused in one breath. “You tell me.”
“Oh yeah,” he agreed, tone taking on a husky note as he unfastened his seat belt and leaned across the seat. “We’ll have it all and more.” His fingers brushed my chin for the briefest of moments, tilting my face upward, and then his lips were on mine, searing me with the kind of heat and affection that I would never recover from.
Falling into his kiss, I could do nothing but unfasten my seat belt and scramble onto his lap, fingers knotting in the fabric of his crisp white shirt as our lips collided.
“Hi, Shannon,” he groaned in approval against my lips as his hands snaked out to clamp down on my hips.
“Hi, Johnny,” I breathed, peppering him with kisses. He smelled so good , felt so strong , touched me so right . He was everything to me. “I love you.”
“I love you more” came his grunted response when my tongue swept over his neck to taste him. “You look incredible tonight… Hmm, fuck… Did I tell you that, baby?”
Yeah, he already told me that.
At least five times.
Warmth crept over my skin when his hands moved from my hips to graze my bare thighs. “You’re so beautiful,” I whispered, lips trailing from his neck to the curve of his shaved jaw. “You make me so happy.”
“Ah, Jaysus, Shan, you really need to stop saying these words to me.” He groaned, hips flexing beneath me. “If you don’t, we’re never going to make it to dinner.”
“And my baby’s on a feeding schedule,” I cooed teasingly, pressing one last kiss to his lips before pulling back to grin at his flushed expression. “Don’t worry, Mister Rugby, I would never keep you from dinner.” Grinning, I added, “After all, your stomach has been complaining since we left the house.”
He offered me a wolfish grin in response. “They do serve a fucking fantastic chicken, Shan.”
“Uh-huh.” Rolling my eyes, I climbed off his lap and laughed. “You and your chicken.”
* * *
When we made it inside the restaurant and were shown to our table, it wasn’t just Gibsie we found had highjacked our date night. Our entire friendship circle had decided to attend. And contrary to his earlier protests, Johnny was thrilled to be reunited with his friends—and most importantly, his other half.
With his arm slung over my chair, and his thumb trailing over my bare shoulder, Johnny snickered into his glass of water at whatever Gibsie, who was sitting on the other side of him, was whispering animatedly in his ear.
Feeling more content than I had in weeks, I looked around the table at our friends and smiled to myself.
Claire was gushing about what a wonderful father Gerard was to their litter of furball babies to Katie, Hughie, and Feely, who were sitting opposite us.
Katie and Feely looked thoroughly amused by her antics, while a despondent looking Hughie slumped forward with his head in his hands, eyes locked on his untouched food.
“Hugh, you are their uncle,” Claire declared when her brother offered no response to her suggestion of a naming ceremony for their kittens. “You have to be there.”
“Claire, if you don’t pack it in, I’m going to stab myself in the eye with this fork,” her brother grumbled, looking entirely unhappy about the whole ordeal. “Seriously. I can’t take another fucking second of this.”
“Well, I think it’s a great idea.” Katie chuckled, digging her boyfriend in the ribs with her elbow. “Of course we’ll attend the naming ceremony for your kittens, Claire.”
“ Thank you, Katie.” Claire beamed back at her. “I’m thinking about holding it the Sunday before we go back to school. I’ll bake some scones for afterward, and Gerard makes the most amazing—”
“Don’t tell me you’re encouraging it,” Lizzie chimed in when she returned from the bathroom, tone dripping with sarcasm as she slumped down on the chair next to Hughie. “Claire, they’re cats. Cats don’t need baptismal ceremonies.”
“It’s not a baptismal ceremony,” Claire defended, cheeks reddening. “It’s a naming ceremony.”
Lizzie cocked a brow. “There’s a difference?”
“Yes,” Claire and Gibsie chimed in unison.
“Kill me now,” Hughie grumbled, still staring down at his plate.
“It’s weird and it’s stupid.”
“Listen here,” Gibsie interjected, turning his attention on Lizzie. “Be a bitch to me all you want, but not to her.”
Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “Did I say you could speak to me, Thor ?”
Gibsie narrowed his eyes right back. “Did I ask for permission, Viper ?”
Johnny shook his head, and Katie sighed heavily. Meanwhile, Feely continued to eat his meal. “Don’t fight, guys,” I began to protest, but it was too late.
The gloves were off.
Like the habit of a lifetime, the pair broke into a full-blown argument, where Lizzie tore proverbial strips out of Gibsie, and he tossed back sarcastic remarks that only seemed to incite her rage further.
“I’m not doing this again,” Hughie announced, surprising everyone. “I’m not.” Shoving his chair back, he stood abruptly. “It’s bullshit and I’m done.”
Having said that, he reached into his wallet and tossed a wad of notes on the table before walking out.
Wordlessly, Katie rose from her chair and hurried out of the restaurant after her boyfriend.
Hughie’s storming out seemed to do the trick because it stunned Lizzie into silence, giving Gibsie ample opportunity to poke his tongue out at her and give her both middle fingers from under the table, while he mouthed an impressive array of obscenities at his favorite nemesis.
“Well, that was a slight overreaction,” Claire declared, drumming her nails on the white linen tablecloth. “Moody much?”
“What’s up there?” Johnny asked, directing his question to Gibsie.
“No fucking clue, Cap,” Gibsie replied, reaching across the table to snatch up Hughie’s untouched plate of chicken wings. “He’s been like that all summer.”
“Gerard’s right,” Claire chimed in, snagging a chicken wing off her brother’s plate that Gibsie set down between them. “Seriously, Johnny, it’s been mood-swing central at my house since we got back from your birthday camping trip.”
“Shite,” Johnny muttered, rubbing his jaw. “I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” Feely offered in a good-natured tone. “You were busy setting the rugby world ablaze all summer.”
* * *
Johnny
“I love this song,” Shannon declared later that night when we parked out at the house, as “This Year’s Love” from David Gray drifted from the stereo.
“So, what’s the story with Hugh?”
“Honestly?” She turned in her seat to give me her full attention. “I have no idea.”
“That was fairly strange, though, yeah?” I thought back to the night’s events. “I’ve never known Hughie to storm off like that.” My brow furrowed as I racked my brain for the cause. “You’re sure he’s not on the outs with Katie? They barely spoke to each other all through dinner.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.” Shannon shook her head, expression guilty. “I know I should be paying more attention, but honestly, I’ve spent most of my summer either watching you on the television, waiting for you to come home, or worrying about Joey.” She chewed on her bottom lip before adding, “I know that probably makes me a terrible friend, but I honestly don’t have any more room, Johnny.”
“Any more room for what, baby?”
“Pain,” she whispered, blue eyes locked on mine. “Sadness.”
My chest squeezed tight at her words. “Shan.”
“I’m happy,” she hurried to say, her words a breathy rush. “I’m so happy, Johnny. For the first time in my life. I feel safe . I feel alive , good , and I just… I don’t… I want to stay in my happy place. Just for a little bit. Is that really bad of me?”
“No, Shan, that’s not bad.” I shook my head and smiled. “There’s no one else on this planet who deserves a reprieve from pain more than you, baby.”
Her eyes searched mine for a long moment before she exhaled what sounded like a relieved breath. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For understanding.” Unfastening her seat belt, she crawled onto my lap. “For being the kind of boy who doesn’t storm out of dinner and leave me behind.”
“To be fair, I have been known to storm out on occasion,” I offered with a chuckle. “But I would never leave you behind, Shannon like the river .”
“I believe you,” she whispered, snuggling into my chest. “I really believe you, Johnny Kavanagh.”
“Good,” I replied gruffly, tightening my hold on her small frame. “Because when it comes to you, Shannon Lynch, I’m all in.”
“Me too.”
“Where you go, I go.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”