Page 89 of Honey Pot

“Stop fucking flirting with my girlfriend, Cody,” Van growled from his stool and threw a straw at me.

“One day,” I teased and blew Zoey a kiss, narrowly avoiding the fork Van threw next. “Best two out of three,” I said, turning my focus back to Clementine and raising my hand.

She wins the first one with paper.

“Ready?” I asked, but she was already saying the words. “Hah!” I yelled, “Rock beats scissors.” I playfully crush her hand with my rock.

When we go the next time, I pause as she claims rock and split my fingers into makeshift scissors, letting her win. She smiles, biting down on her bottom lip, and looks up at me with excitement swimming around in her eyes.

“You let me win, Loverboy,” she cooed.

“I would never, Plum,” I mocked, outraged and clutched my chest, backing away from her.

MATTHEWS

“You got this.” Ella instructed me through the break and, surprisingly, I did a really good job. I lined up for my second shot, aiming for any ball I could sink, when Ella stopped me.

“Wait,” she said with mischief flickering across her face. “The dare is covered, but each ball sank is a truth you have to answer.”

“Oh come on, El!” Dean groaned and leaned over on the table like he was in physical pain. “You didn’t say this was truth or dare, you just made a bet!”

I watched Cael staring at Ella, something passing between them. Whatever game Ella was playing beyond the pool table wascerebral; she was playing a mind game. She was more subtle than Arlo, who played with his ears pinned back. There was no secret that Cael’s faux-older brother was a protective doberman-type alpha male but seeing the look in his eyes today. Something had shifted.

He stiffened his shoulders in the loose gray t-shirt and shook his head, admitting a silent defeat.

“Fine, each ball sank is a truth answered.”

“Why do you play these stupid games with her? She always wins!” Dean groaned and paced in a loose circle as Zoey laughed.

“Less complaining, more…pool shark-doing.” Cael waved his hands around at Dean, who responded with a strained and terrified, “you think I’m a pool shark? We’re screwed!”

I laughed and Ella leaned close to me. “Take that pocket, really slow, inhale, and shoot.”

Her voice was so calm and I followed her every word, watching the orange ball bounce off the left pocket. Ella didn’t flinch. She was calm as Cael leaned over the table and sunk the first ball he laid eyes on. As he straightened out his eyes met mine, sparkling like they were made of ocean waves.

“Favorite color?” He asked me.

“Juvenile,” Dean scoffed.

“Spell that.” Cael laughed at him, attention breaking just for a moment, but Dean just shrugged. “Don’t use words you can’t spell, Tucker.”

“Green.”

It was purple, but I wasn’t going to give Cael an inch of satisfaction. No matter how simple things had become between us, the urge to remind him how horrible it could be lingered.

Cael looked back at me and smiled because he understood the game. Without breaking eye contact, he sank another ball.

“Is there a surface in the Nest you prefer, Ella?” He turned his head slowly to her.

Arlo lost it laughing, wild and loud, breaking the hardened persona for a brief second to enjoy that teasing. It was a hard feeling to swallow, standing on the outside of their circle, watching them laugh and treat each other like family. I had Bobbi, and in moments like that, witnessing the magical entanglement of an unbreakable thread that strung the Hornets together, I missed her.

“It’s at least twelve inches long.” She laughed and winked at Arlo, whose laughter stopped, and a blush spread across his cheeks.

“Is that medically safe?” Zoey asked, her eyes bouncing between Ella and Arlo’s crotch with a horrified look on her face. Van scoffed like she had personally insulted his penis. “Aw. Baby, you’re perfect,” she cooed at him. “I don’t need twelve inches.”

Arlo lost it laughing again, this time Silas joined him in a chorus of taunts that faded out as Cael lined up to take his next shot but missed. He watched me from across the table as he handed the pool cue to Dean.

Ella wasted no time taking her shot and landed a double ball in the far right pocket.

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