Page 51 of Honey Pot

“Chatting?” Cael laughed. “What did she say to you?”

“The usual. She talked about how big your head was, how bad your jokes were, and then complained that if you were only a few inches taller—”

“Okay, okay!” Cael put both hands in the air, still laughing.

“She just wants a moment alone with you,” I said, forcing a smile to my face. “I guess she couldn’t break through the wall of cheerleaders to get her hands on you, so she sent reinforcements.”

“You are the cutest wingman a best friend could ask for.” He wrapped my face in both his hands and kissed my forehead. “Are you sure you’re having fun?”

I nodded. “She just wanted me to put in a good word for her, so I did.”

Cael’s eyes narrowed on me. “Why would you do that?”

Because she would literally never let it goif I didn’t.

“She’s pretty.” I shrugged. “She kind of looks like that actress you love.”

“Sophia Bush?” Cael asked, turning around in a circle slowly until his eyes landed on Andrea across the deck. A small smile formed on his face when he caught her gaze, and she wiggled her long fingers in his direction.

“You sure, you're sure you’re okay?” He asked me again, looking back before he walked away.

I nodded.

The reality of the situation was I wished he would search a crowd like that for me. I wanted Cael Cody to scan the faces until he found mine and watch his heart explode as a smile spread across his face. But I was always the one pointing out the girl he was searching for, never the one he found.

MATTHEWS

Ifound a group of players, including Cael and Dean, in the living room watching a university hockey game. They were strung around the furniture with bored looks on their faces. Van was hanging upside down on the living room chair with a camera over his face and clicked the trigger as I came into view.

“Who’s playing?” I asked.

“St. Louis and Pittsburgh,” Cael groaned, not looking over from the TV. Pittsburgh were up by three goals in the third period and it didn’t look promising for the other team.

I shrugged and leaned against the archway with my arms crossed. “Is this what you guys do during off season? Lay around and watch hockey?”

“Pretty much.” Dean shrugged. He had a binder open in his lap and he was scribbling notes from a textbook beside him on the floor. “Were you expecting grand parties every night?” He asked, looking up at me with his lips pressed into a thin line.

“No,” I said,but absolutely.“Isn’t that what university is about? Parties, drinking, girls.”

Van snorted. “Cael’s sober, I’m committed, both Todd and Jensen are on probation with Coach, and Dean has slept through most of the male sports teams.”

Dean growled at Van and kicked his foot against the bar that controlled the foot rest of the chair he was sprawled across. The motion sent Van tumbling downward onto the floor, protecting his camera with lanky arms as he hit the ground.

“Ow,” he grumbled and shoved a leg against Dean’s binder.

The two of them lunged at each other on the living room floor rolling around in a ball of strong limbs and curse words as they wrestled. The rest of the boys either kept their eyes on the game or egged them on.

“Is there anything fun to do in Harbor other than hockey games and amateur wrestling?” I asked as Cael jabbed Van in the ribcage to give Dean the advantage. Seeing the opening, he flipped Van on his back and hooked his arm around his face, squeezing it between his forearm and bicep.

“Tap,” Dean grunted as Van wiggled to get free. “Just tap, Mitchell,” he said again when Van tried to pinch his way out of the hold, but Dean used his other hand to swat him away.

“I tap,” Van coughed out and pushed away from the floor. “We could take her down to the stadium…” Van looked over at Cael as he straightened himself out. “You know…” He wiggled his eyebrows at him and Dean let his head fall backwards to stare at Cael upside down.

“Oh please,Caely,” he whined. “It'll be so much fun and we haven’t done it in so long.”

“Caely?” I mocked and Dean gave me a dirty look.

Cael sighed, looking around at all of us. “Get Ella. If we do it without her she’ll kill us.”

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