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"Toonna break it in at least three places," O’Connell shouted down froloves

"Fuck off, O’Connell" He sood humour "She’s totally intoO’Connell’s chain, but both O’Connell and Kieran stopped, stock still, and turned to face To when he’d threatened Tommy, and from the speed at which he uys I was only kidding" He turned and gave me a quick peck on the cheek as he said, "I’ll co it to the locker roo about that when you spar later, aren’t you?" Kieran questioned O’Connell, as he finished tightening hisgloves

"Oh, yeah," O’Connell s the canvas before the night is over"

I wasn’t worried about Toh that he’d find a way out of a beating later Besides, none of these guys seemed to need an excuse to whale on each other I was still standing there like an idiot, when Kieran cli and walked over to o and say hello to your ht, and he fights badly when he’s in a temper"

"He’s not my man, Kieran," I pointed out

"Well, Eonna be

I looked back at O’Connell shadow boxing in the ring, and I could see that Kieran was right He was always full of energy, wired alht soier and darker than usual, like he was boxing to kill, not hurt Not knowing if I was entering the lion’s den, I walked tentatively up the steps to the ring and rested my arms on the top ropes As soon as he saw ht

"Hey, sunshine," he said, "you okay?"

"I’?"

"I’ed his gloves together, and I had the strongest urge to run h his hair, like you’d do to comfort a small child

"You know a problehten things up a little

"Thanks" He ss you into it Tell me about your day; that will help"

I hated that he was clearly upset I wanted hiile to push it too far, so I struggled to think back over ave ot an A on my spot test, so it wasn’t all bad"

He wasn’t better, but I’d et a smile out of him, at least

"Well, I’ off to the office to work?"

I noddedht, so Kieran’s gonna walk you home later, but I’ll see you toe to kiss hi But I didn’t Of course I didn’t Because guys like hiave him a small nod and walked down the steps toward the office Just as I reached the door, I stopped and turned Only part of the ring was visible, but it was all I needed to see He rolled his shoulders and looked up toward Shane In that instant, all trace of sadness and vulnerability was gone, and in its place was pure, unadulterated rage The bell rang out and O’Connell’s wrath was unleashed He bounced up and down on the canvas like he had tooas he did, with a stealth that belied his size He eyed Shane like a predator sizing up his kill, and as Shane ed left and slaht hook I’d taken a few right hooks in my life, so by all accounts; this show of violence fro ht My heart was beating so loudly that I couldn’t hear anything else Everything just faded into white noise Shane was clearly winded and dodged around the canvas, trying to recover his breath Seeing the weakness, O’Connell went in with a co, he wasn’t pulling any punches The sweat beading around his forehead trickled down his cheek and splashed onto his chest, and dained the feel of those tight, sweaty abs beneathshorts, encasing all that hard le part of le part of his, and the more he lost control of himself, the more I lost control with hiht hook, I was a mess

"For fuck’s sake O’Connell, you’re supposed to be fucking sparring, not knocking hiot to fucking stop"

Danny was going ballistic, and O’Connell, still breathing hard, dropped his hands to his sides while he tried to control hiht in the head to be this turned on when he’d just knocked aas hard as he was, as thoughwe could rein in He turned and caughtHis uessed he orried that he’d scared me with his performance Before he decided to come over, I turned and shut myself in the office I couldn’t deal with O’Connell when I was in this state Christ, even being a foot taller than ainst the door the second ere in a confined space What I needed right noas to pull ether

By time I was ready to leave, O’Connell was nowhere to be seen Kieran aiting outside for ht He would know exactly where O’Connell was and hoas doing, but I was too gutless to satisfy my curiosity He filled the uncomfortable silence with his usual cheerful banter, but it oefully one sided asof one man