Page 78 of Honey Pot

I stayed out there behind the Nest, soaking up whatever sunshine November had to offer, with my laptop propped on my legs, trying to figure out how to write this paper in a way that made sense. The air was starting to get chilly but it cleared my head and made it easier to think. The first four times I had started I made it seem like I was writing a human interest piece on Cael. The paper needed to be about all the Hornets, not just the handsome, cocky, irritating shortstop.

Cael’s words played back in my mind on repeat like a broken record.Why do you hate me?I had walked away from him, knowing that it didn’t solve anything but it had felt good to be the one that left for once. A power struggle I hadn’t realized I was fighting with had snapped that day.

But I missed him, and I hated that.

Seven years ago, I missed him.

But as the years went on, the urge to miss him faded. I was left in the dark without a word from him—no letters, no phone calls, no visits. Missing him had turned to resentment and bitterness.

All the while, I could never shake the feeling of his lips on my skin. I hated that it made me dizzy even remembering how I’d felt. I ran my finger over my wrist where the twisted, pale pink threads used to be and chewed on my lip.If you hate him so much, why are you so upset about that stupid bracelet?

I’m convinced this is what whiplash felt like.

“Daydreaming about me again, Plum?” His voice was soft as he lowered himself onto the deck beside me.

“No,” I lied.

He wore a hat turnedbackward over his shaggy hair and a dark shirt layered over another white one. He angled his head back, the veins in his throat rolling to the surface as he smiled at me with all his teeth.

“You’ve always been a terrible liar,” he hummed and shut his eyes as the sun tickled his skin.

“You keep saying that, and yet…” I trailed off. It was easier to keep secrets with my mouth shut, but Cael had a way of prying every single thought from me without even trying.

”You keep lying to my face, knowing I don’t believe you.” He laughed. “Who’s Julien?”

“No one,” I answered too quickly and received an eyebrow raised in response.

“That feels like a secret,” he said, and my heart skipped a beat.

He stared at me for a long time, maybe hoping I would give in, but he didn’t need information on Julien. It wasn’t worth the time it would take to explain that I had left my boyfriend-turned-fiancé in Texas because I couldn’t get the way Cael’s lips felt on mine out of my head.

“Clemmy is a cute nickname,” he teased, breaking the silence.

“God, don’t!” I groaned, covering my face as laughter filled my chest. For a split second, the air was lighter between us. “You know I hate when people call me that.”

“He sounds super nice.” Cael’s tone was soft as he rotated the ring on his pinky finger.

“You sound super jealous,” I teased.

“I am.”

All of the air was sucked from my lungs as he turned his head to look at me. There was no maliciousness in the statement, only misery. Those big, sad, blue eyes would be the end of me.

“What are you doing?” Cael asked the question as if I hadn’t left him standing there in the gym a few nights prior. As if I didn’t continue to shut down every attempt he made at rebuilding the bridge between us. He seemed so relaxed, at ease, even though I was most certainly fighting with my own inner monologue over him. Over what I should do.

“Working on the piece. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can leave.”

That struck a chord. His lips flickered downward into a deep pout as he stared out over the rolling back half of the property.

“Can you take a break?” He asked, as if the sentence didn’t bother him.

It bothered me though, how easily he brushed past things.

“Depends,” I said, but closed my laptop in preparation.

“I want to take you somewhere.” He hopped off the deck into the grass about three feet below with a graceful thud. “Come.” He held out his hands for me, rings sparkling in the sunlight as I slipped into them. He lowered me down beside him.

“That would be?” I asked as he linked his hand into mine like it belonged there. My heart flinched at how perfectly it did.

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