Page 1 of Honeysuckle
TUCKER
“No,”Isaid,lookingJosh over. “That’s really funny, you guys.”
The trees seemed to rustle in protest around us as the wind picked up. I shifted in the gravel beside the running bus and chalked it up to a hallucination from the exhaust fumes. No one moved; their eyes roamed over Joshua Logan like he was a wild animal, and they were trying to process how to make it out alive. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Coach thought this was a smart decision.
Joshua Logan, the irate asshole and former pitcher of the Lorettes, joining our team?
No.
“Sorry, Tuck, it’s not a joke,” Josh snapped. He watched me carefully with fire behind his dark brown eyes. His smile said‘glad to be here,’but his eyes held a pitch to them so dark that there was no telling what was going on behind them.
“Don’t call me that.” My voice was steady, but my fists curled at my sides. A few of the guys headed for the bus, sensing the inevitable storm, but Van and Cael lingered—watchdogs in case things got out of hand.
“I don’t want to be here anymore than you do,” Josh said.
“Then why are you here?” Van asked before I could get the words up and out.
“Lorette didn’t need me anymore.” He turned to look at Van, the smug smile never leaving his face. “You needed a pitcher,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice that grated against my skin.
“We don’t need you,” I said, and Cael huffed but put a smile on his face as he stepped between the two of us. His hand was going to rest on Josh’s chest to push us apart.
“Don’t touch me, Cody,” Josh snarled, and the adrenaline spiked in my chest. I pushed forward, but Cael blocked my advance to keep me from the fight.
“Watch your tone,” I warned him, my hands balling into fists at my side.
“I thought you were the soft one, Tuck?” Josh jabbed.
I hated that fucking nickname.
“You wanna test that theory, Logan?” I lashed out, surging forward, causing Cael to shuffle his feet to gain control. Van stepped into the space, ready to assist in breaking up whatever started.
“Alright, boys, we can set up a pudding pool at camp and you can work this out there, but for now… we have a bus to catch,” Cael said, his eyes flickering from Josh to me. “And I don’t make the rules but you have to promise to do the pool shirtless and no headshots.You’reboth too pretty for that.” He tapped two fingers to my chest, drawing my attention downward.
“That’s right, Tuck. Listen to your boyfriend and get on the bus. Tail between your legs,” Josh sniped, and part of me wanted to lose my mind, but Cael stared at me, begging me to remember who I was now.Captain, Captain, Captain.It loudly rang through my head.
Van interjected with a smile, and the wind blew around his shaggy sheared mullet. “You know, Josh, this isn’t the best way to start Spring Camp; out in the woods without anyone to hear you scream.”
“You’re annoyingly tall,” Josh noted, gauging Van’s size. “I can take care of myself, Mitchell. Thanks for the advice though.”
That was the problem. Joshua Logan didn’t know how to belong to a team; he liked to win, and he preferred to do it alone.
Cael pushed me back two steps.
“Get on the bus, Dean,” he said quietly, “You can kick his ass in training, come on.”
“Catch you later, Tuck.” Josh smiled at me.
“It’s Captain to you.” I looked him up and down before climbing onto the bus in a huff.
“Take a beat before Arlo comes back here and kicks both our asses,” Cael said to me as we found our seats.
“Is Coach serious?” I shoved my backpack between my legs and stripped from my sweater beside him. Cael, who looked mostly unbothered by the situation,shrugged.
“Have you ever heard my Dad tell a joke?”
Cael shrugged at me.
“Areyoufucking serious right now?” I hissed at him.
