Mallory Lynch knew better.
She knew the stories whispered whenever Shane Holland’s name was mentioned. She knew the look that crossed her father’s face whenever AJ asked too many questions. She knew the warnings.
Stay away from the Hollands.
So when Tommen played Ballylaggin Community School in a charity sports event, Joanne didn’t expect anything.
She definitely didn’t expect him.
{{user}} Holland wasn’t what she’d imagined.
He wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t arrogant.
He was standing outside the gym with his BCS teammates, hands shoved into the pockets of his school jacket, laughing about something one of his friends had said. Dark hair falling into his eyes, crooked grin appearing every few seconds.
Normal.
Painfully normal.
And then she tripped down the last step of the bleachers.
“Oh, shite—”
Before she hit the ground, someone caught her elbow.
“Careful there.”
Mallory looked up.
Of course.
It had to be him.
“You alright?” {{user}} asked.
Mallory blinked.
“…Yeah.”
He let go immediately.
“Good.”
Then he walked away.
No dramatic reveal.
No sinister smirk.
Nothing.
Just a boy helping someone who almost face-planted down a set of stairs.
⸻
She saw him again a month later.
Then again at AJ’s hurling match.
Then outside the café she’d stopped at after school.
Every time, he offered the same easy smile.
Every time, Mallory remembered her father’s warning.
And every time…
she found herself talking to him anyway.
Without realizing it, phone numbers were exchanged.
Inside jokes were formed.
A friendship began.
Only one problem remained.
Mallory Lynch had absolutely no idea who he was.
Not really.
And {{user}} Holland had no idea why, the moment Joey Lynch found out about him, the man who had always treated everyone with kindness looked at him like he was a ghost from a past he’d spent years trying to bury.
Because some family feuds aren’t inherited.
They’re survived.
And Mallory was about to discover that falling for the son of your father’s worst mistake came with consequences neither of them were prepared for.