Chapter 10

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Shannon had been on another date with Donnie and even she couldn't play it off as friends just getting together, however she felt a little apprehensive. She couldn't deny he was attractive, and she enjoyed his company but she wasn't certain it could go any further.

'So are you taking a date to Joe's wedding?' Donnie asked as he drove them towards her apartment.

'Good lord, I haven't thought that far ahead,' she said laughing but that was a lie, she'd thought about the wedding many times. She hadn't officially received her invitation, and she held onto the hope that when Katherine and Joe came to the final numbers she wouldn't make the cut.

Donnie raised his eyebrow. 'You really haven't thought that far ahead?'

She grimaced, he knew her too well. 'Do you wanna come up for a nightcap?' she asked instead. If he'd been any old date she wouldn't have offered but he was a friend, so it seemed rude not to ask.

'Yeah sure,' he said parking up and cutting the engine.

'You know I can't actually believe Joey is getting married,' Shannon said as they entered her apartment. She made her way to the kitchen, instantly locating a bottle of wine and two glasses.

'Why's that?' Donnie asked taking a rather large glass of wine from her.

'I don't know,' she murmured 'I probably still see him as the teenage boy who was almost scared of girls.'

Donnie chucked. 'Nah he was just scared of you.'

'Yeah he was, wasn't he?' she said her words starting to slur. 'You know I had to make all the moves to get him to you know what, cos he was like this good Catholic boy.'

'To get him to 'you know what'?' Donnie laughed. 'How old are you Shan?'

She cocked her head to one side. 'I'm not crude like you Donnie.'

'No? Well maybe you should be,' he said grabbing her around the waist and pulling her closer to him.

'Donnie...' she said uncertainly, knowing he was about to kiss her. She stood frozen in his arms as his lips met hers, and she braced herself for a crushing kiss. However, he kissed her softly until she found herself responding, wrapping her arms around his neck. When they broke apart she looked at him almost nervously.

'Joe was a fool for letting you go,' he said.

'Donnie I...' She hesitated not knowing what she wanted to say.

'It's ok, I know you don't want to rush into anything,' Donnie said and she felt some of the tension leave her.

'It's not cos of Joey, it's just my ex, things ended badly...'

'Shannon you can tell me when you're ready to, if you want, right now I'm just enjoying your company,' Donnie said sounding heartfelt.

'Wow when did you get all mature,' she said with a small laugh, relief flooding through her.

'I've got a few years on you remember.'

'Yes but if you recalculate your man years to my woman years I bet I'm twice as old,' she said with a giggle.

'Well I did say I wanted a cougar,' he joked and she slapped him playfully. They took their drinks and went into the sitting room.

'You can stay on the sofa tonight if you want,' she offered. He was her friend and she wasn't going to turf him out, especially when he'd been drinking and was in no state to drive. However, she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't up for a one night stand either.

'Thanks,' he said picking up on what she wasn't telling him. 'I do like you Shan, but I won't push it.' She smiled at him almost hoping that she would fall for him.

'You know part of me would like to just throw caution to the wind,' she admitted toying with her glass.

'It's ok, you don't have to explain,' he said taking a sip of his drink. 'Hypothetically if we did get involved, there would be some fallout.'

She nodded, glad that he understood. He clearly knew the stakes were high and it would be dumb to start something unless they were really sure about it.

~~~~

Joe was at the gym with Katherine but whilst she was doing cardio he was working out with the weights.

'So how'd your date go?' he asked Donnie trying to keep his interest casual.

'Yeah great,' Donnie said as he struggled to lift a heavier weight.

'I've told you, you need to do more reps at a lower weight,' Joe advised. Joe tended to be on the skinny side and worked hard to build any muscle, whereas Donnie put on muscle easily but also the pounds.

'Yeah and you need to lift more, I bet Kat can snap you like a twig,' Donnie joked.

'Yeah probably,' Joe said not rising to the bait. 'So you and Shannon really hit it off?'

'Well if letting me stay the night is hitting it off I guess we did,' Donnie said with a sly wink. Joe felt his stomach sink, his best friend and his ex? He couldn't believe it and yet he'd known this would happen from the moment Donnie first mentioned his interest. Despite his flaws, of which they were many, Donnie had a gift for getting the girls. Joe had hoped their shared history would put Shannon off at least, and he felt a bit disappointed in her.

'You're a fast mover Don,' he said keeping his tone light. He picked up a heavier weight and threw the force of his anger into it before he moved on. When a reasonable amount of time had passed he went back to the changing room and grabbed his phone. He knew he was acting like a jealous schoolboy but instantly he was calling Shannon.

'Joey?' she said questioningly, no doubt wondering why he'd call.

'Hi Shannon, I just thought I'd touch base with you.' He cringed at his words, he sounded like a sleaze.

'Oh hi. That's great, how are you?' she said sounding pleased to hear from him.

He smiled sadly to himself. 'Yeah I'm good, just working up a sweat at the gym. What are you doing?'

'To be honest, not a lot. I'm watching reality TV,' she said with a laugh.

He smiled indulgently although she couldn't see. 'I forgot how you used to love those shows.'

'Yeah I still do, it's my guilty pleasure.'

Amongst other things, he thought sourly.

'There's nothing wrong with that,' he said. 'I used to give you such a hard time about it but to be honest I used to enjoy watching them with you.'

'Yeah I know you did, you're not that hard to read Joseph Cooper,' she laughed.

Actually, I am or you'd know why I'm calling you now.

'Yeah, I was a bit of an idiot acting all snobby about that sort of thing,' he said trying to keep his tone light. 'I was a total fool.'

'Are you ok Joey?' she asked after a pause.

'Yeah course, I heard you had a date with Donnie?'

So much for the subtle approach.

'Yeah, I think that's what it was. I'm not sure,' she confessed and he imagined her biting her lip. 'I mean I like him but I don't know that I want to get involved.'

'Why not?' He was desperate for her answer.

There was a long pause again. 'I don't know Joey. You, me, Donnie, it feels sorta incestuous,' she finally said.

'That's the only reason?'

'I'm not long out of a relationship.....actually that's a lie, it's been a year but there's been a lot of stuff I need to get my head around.'

Now Joe was silent. 'Do you wanna talk about it?' he asked uncertainly. 'As friends I mean. I can maybe give you a bit of outside perspective since I know you and Donnie.'

'Since you know us both I think it would be inside perspective,' she said with a small laugh. 'But yeah, it'd be good to get a second opinion.'

'Great, when are you free?'

They made plans to meet the following Friday since it was her regular day off. Joe knew he was kidding himself. No way did he want to advise her about a potential relationship with Donnie, but he didn't know quite what he wanted from her either...

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