‘No,’ she said. ‘I’ve never thought of that. And this? You seen this?’

She redirected his attention to her face and the graze on her chin.

‘That her too?’

‘Hit me with a currycomb.’

‘What, Claire Milo? Girl’s a mouse. Saint Claire, the lads call her. Good as gold and scared of her own fucking shadow.’

‘I’m telling you, she did it.’

‘You’re after Josh Flynn.’

‘What if I am?’ Shauna propped herself up on one elbow and stared into his eyes. ‘That won’t alter nothing, Jeb. There’ll still be you and me. You know it. Ain’t we always been there for each other?’

‘Yeah.’ Jeb’s eyes narrowed. ‘You been there for Ciaran too. Rowan told me. And you done Rowan. You even done Dad – Rowan told me he saw the pair of you at it out in the yard, Dad with his pants round his ankles. Poor old cunt musta thought it was his fucking birthday.’

Shauna lay back down. Sneaky bloody Rowan. He ought to keep his fat mouth shut.

‘Actually, I think it was your dad’s birthday,’ she said.

Jeb’s head turned and he looked at her. Suddenly, he started laughing. Shauna joined in. Then Jeb grew serious. He clutched at her chin, hurting the scratches there. He stared into her eyes.

‘But I got first dibs on you, right? I got first call. That’s not going to change, OK? Not ever.’ She pulled her chin free of his grip and nodded. ‘All right, you can have Josh fucking Flynn all week and twice on Sundays, but you and me, that’s for keeps, you got that?’

‘That’s not going to change,’ said Shauna. First thing she could, she was going to kick every one of these fucking hillbilly Cleavers to the kerb. She had a plan. A big one. But for now, she needed them. She needed them to do something special, something important.

‘Jeb . . .’ she started, her voice wheedling. ‘Will you do something for me?’

‘Yeah, but first . . .’ he said, pointing down his body to indicate that he was ready for action again.

Shauna sighed and reached for a fresh condom, ripping it open with her teeth. She snapped it on, pushing it down over his erection. Then she climbed aboard, slipping his cock inside her oily wetness and riding him like a bucking bronco, making plenty of noise because he liked that. And she dreamed, dreamed, dreamed . . . of Josh Flynn.

Then, when Jeb was finished, she told him what she wanted done.

5

5

‘Oh my God! Oh my baby!’ cried Eva, clutching a hankie to her streaming eyes as she stared at the vision standing before her.