Dropping Like Spies - A Gallagher Girls Story

Chapter Fifteen

My head smacked the mat and for a moment, everything was black.  “Wee bit of revenge serves you right,” he said, not even offering a hand out to help me up.

I don’t know how Finn O’Reilly fights so well.  He shouldn’t be able to know where I’m going to hit next.  He shouldn’t be able to feel it coming, but he does and, more often than not, it ends with me getting knocked on my butt.

My ability to trash-talk, however, still remains in very good health.  “Come on, Finny,” I teased, wiping the blood from my fat lip.  “What’s that the Irish say?  All’s fair in love and war?”

“Americans say that too, idiot,” he said, looking straight ahead.  To his credit, he waited until I got back up before he started hitting me again—the truly honorable thing to do—but he didn’t hesitate once I was on my feet, taking another strike at me before my guard was up.

I blocked him, catching his wrist and twisting.  “You know what else we Americans say?”  I tried buckling his arm behind his back, but he spun on me, turning my own move against me until he hand be bent over backwards from my waist out.  I let out a yell and the words came out as a groan.  “Get the hell over it.”

“Has anyone ever told you how charming you are?”

Somewhere in between my cries of agony, I managed a laugh.  “I can honestly say that you’d be the first.”

He pulled back harder and I felt my shoulder stretching, dangerously close to popping.  “How’s that even possible?” he said.  “Someone like you.”

“I know,” I said through gritted teeth, trying and failing to gain the upper hand.  “Some might say it’s because of my abrasive”—yank.  Scream—“personality.”

“Wow,” Finn said, sounding honestly impressed.  “Alice was right about you.  I could actually pull your arm outta its socket and you’d still be running your mouth.”

“She said that?”

“She did.”

“How sweet—wait.  When were you talking to Alice?”

I turned against his hold, freeing myself for one, liberating second, but he was too fast.  It was like he knew what I would do before I did.  He tripped me and pinned me down on my stomach.  “Oh, you know.  Here and there.  Usually when she’s escorting me back to the vans after someone tries to kill me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you.”

“I was in the infirmary for two days!”  I rolled, trying to pin him down, but he saw it coming.  He fell where I wanted, but instead of letting himself get pinned, he stuck his feet under my gut and shoved me, sending me flying through the air until I landed yards away, every breath leaving my body.

I didn’t catch my breath again until he was there, standing above me.  He stuck his hand out to me and continued with his failing guilt trip.  “You know, the doc said you could’ve blinded me.”

I took his hand, but instead of letting him pull me up, I tried to take him down.  He fell with a graceful roll and before I knew it, I was back on my back, shoulders stuck to the mat.  “What a tragedy that would have been,” I managed.

“Don’t know what I would’ve done.”

Will cut off our fight with a single call.  “Alright guys,” he said, acting like the leader he was supposed to be.  “Let’s call it a night—and remember, Hughes gets back tonight, so we’ll have practice like normal next week.”

The words probably could have brought upon world peace.  As soon as he said them, boys unlocked arms and froze mid-hit.  All of a sudden boys were smiling again, helping their brothers up from the ground.  Finn helped me up and this time I didn’t pull him down, no matter how much I wanted to.