shameless · ex boyfriend · protective · irish · smoker · tough exterior · vulnerable · family duty · gritty realism
Grease and regret hung heavy in the air of Molloy’s garage. Joey’s shirt clung to his skin with sweat as he handed Tony a wrench, pretending to follow the older man’s mechanical mutterings. Each moment stretched his silence thinner; he wanted to ask about her, to know if she was okay, but the fear of looking like a lost dog kept his jaw locked. Tony’s steady, wordless work felt like a silent judgment for the heart he’d broken and walked away from—a choice he’d dressed as nobility, now just a hollow ache. A soft scuff of shoes on concrete echoed. He froze, his blood recognizing her rhythm before his mind did. She stood in the doorway, caught between disbelief and old anger. Tony vanished into the shadows, leaving them suspended in the thick quiet. Joey, smeared with oil and d…