“I’m not talking to you,” Shannon declared when I came and slid into the seat next to her.
“Aw, come on. You loved it,” I nudged her shoulder with mine.
“I did not love being called up to the stage to sing,” she pointed out. “Plus, you know I’m a terrible singer. I would’ve ruined a perfectly serviceable performance.”
“Serviceable?” I feigned outrage. “I have three Grammys.Three!”
“My God, did you really just say that?” Kami asked with a laugh as she came and joined us. Elias and Angus were right behind her, taking the last two empty seats. I noticed Shannon tense slightly, and I thought it was because the last time she’d seen Angus he was pointing fingers at her being the catfish. But then I saw it was Elias she was staring at, a concerned frown tugging at her lips. Unsure of what was bugging her, I shifted closer, pressing my thigh against hers in an effort to soothe her tension.
“Hey, Shannon,” Angus began, and I glared at him because if he was about to be a dick to her again, I wasn’t having it. Instead he surprised me by saying, “I’m really sorry about last week at Jay and Matilda’s house. What I said was rude and uncalled for.”
“That’s okay, Angus. I get that it was a stressful situation.”
“Well, I feel shit about it, so yeah, just wanted to say sorry.” His gaze met mine briefly, and I could see he was making an effort. After our heart to heart, he knew how much Shannon still meant to me.
“I appreciate that,” Shannon said. “I think that’s the nicest you’ve ever been to me.”
Elias let out a chuckle, and Kami grinned. “She’s not wrong.”
Angus shook his head, suppressing a smile, and then my mother came over to get some pictures of us all together. She’d been going around all night snapping shots, especially of Fran since it was her big night. Without thinking, I threw my arm around Shannon’s shoulders while Mam took pictures, and for a second, it was like going back in time. Her familiar scent in my nose, the warmth of her body. Mam moved on to take more pictures of the others, and I felt Shannon lean in, her breath on my neck.
“What time are we collecting Zara from Roan’s?”
I checked my watch. “Soon, actually, we should get going.”
“Okay.”
We quickly said goodbye to everyone, and then we were alone in my car. Like usual, I was sober, but Shannon had put away a couple glasses of wine at her friend’s apartment, plus she’d mentioned that she’d slept terribly all week. She was exhausted, so it was no surprise that she was fast asleep only moments after she’d settled into the passenger seat.
It had been a stressful few days.
I still felt unknown levels of anger when I thought about that car swerving towards her. If anything had happened to her, I would’ve burned the world down to find the culprit. The fact that we were still completely in the dark about who was behind the attack was even more infuriating.
My dad’s Garda friend had managed to get some CCTV footage from a newsagent at the end of Shannon’s street, but it only showed the car speeding by, not the occupant. Not that we could determine much since they’d obscured their face anyway. They’d tried seeing if any of the neighbours had doorbell or security cameras, but there was none at the angle we needed. It was almost like they’d scoped out the street and determined where they could park without being caught on camera. I hadn’t told Shannon any of this yet because I felt like such a failure.This person had tried to harm her, and they were still out there, living their life. Free to try again when we least expected it. To add to this, I had Cai’s memorial to attend tomorrow, which was an emotional rollercoaster all on its own. The last time I’d spoken to his parents was years ago, and at the time, they’d hated me, considered me the reason their son was dead.
“Mammy’s asleep, so we need to be quiet,” I told Zara, holding her hand as I led her out of Roan’s place.
“Oh, she must’ve had a big night,” Zara said, peering into the back of the car as I strapped on her seatbelt.
“She did.”On top of a week looking over her shoulder every time she left the house.“We better get her home to bed.”
When we arrived back, I carried Shannon in while Zara ran ahead to open the front door. Settling Shannon on the couch with a pillow under head—so fucking pretty—I went upstairs to help Zara get ready for bed. By the time I returned to check on Shannon, she was awake, sitting up on the couch and rubbing at her temples.
“Did I fall asleep in the car? I have this awful headache.”
“Poor baby, come here,” I murmured, lowering next to her and pulling her fingers from her temples, replacing them with my own. My heart pounded when she practically melted into me, her back to my front. Every day I longed to be close to her like this, but we weren’t there yet.
“I didn’t know you could do Indian head massage,” Shannon commented tiredly as I ran my fingertips along her scalp.
“I took a lesson once at a retreat I stayed at during my rehabilitation.”
“Oh?”
“You can do it to yourself, but it’s not as enjoyable as having someone else do it,” I explained, and Shannon emitted a quiet chuckle. “I’ll say.”
“Now I know this must be a really bad headache. Lucid Shannon would never make a double entendre in my presence.”
“That’s because lucid Shannon has to keep her wits about her around you,” she replied candidly, and I smirked.
