Page 117 of Honeysuckle
“I have an announcement,” I said loudly over the music and crowd downstairs. Van leaned against the pool table, and Zoey pressed herself against him as Ella tucked against Cael, pinching his sides and making him squirm.
“Dean Tucker get your ass off that table,” Josh spat.
“Full-named,” I whispered at him in shock, a tiny laugh falling from me as I gently kicked his grabbing hand and turned back to the group.
“Fuck sakes.” He pressed his hands through his hair.
“We’re listening,” Cael laughed, swatting Ella away.
Josh was a darker shade of red than my ears and I could feel the anxiety building from my toes to my throat as they all waited for me to speak again.
“Tucker!” Arlo barked, and I flinched into action.
“Josh is my boyfriend,” I blurted proudly, arms out at my sides with a helpless little shrug.
They all stared at me for a moment and suddenly I felt like I shouldn’t have said anything.
“I can’t believe it…” Cael and Van dug into their pockets and tossed money toward Arlo on the table.
“You too, Novak,” Arlo said, eyeing the tiny brunette.
Before Arlo could snag the money, Ella reached her hand across the table. "Sorry, that’s mine,” she said proudly and pocketed the money with a smile on her face.
“Blondie.” Arlo leaned across the shabby green fabric of the table on his forearms, trying to look intimidating, his voice low and commanding, but Ella just laughed at him. “I said before the gala,” he argued.
“And I told you it would be a spur-of-the-moment outburst.” She pointed to me without looking at me, her eyes trained on Arlos'. Josh sighed deeply and rubbed the tension out from between his eyebrows. “It was a good outburst, Dean.” She turned to look at me.
“What!” I hollered, stomping across the table and jumping down to the floor. “You guys were taking bets?”
“Cael collected them the day we got off the bus from camp,” Jensen said.
“You too?” I grumbled.
“Oh no, I didn’t think you had the guts,” he shrugged, and Arlo slapped his arm out from under him on the table, sending Jensen stumbling.
“It was only a matter of time,” Cael said, something unspoken passed between us that felt like someone cutting a wire. It snapped free and stung as it unraveled from our connected souls. I nodded, and he put a smile on his face that felt like a blessing even though we both knew I didn’t need one.
“Guess that means you have no choice?” I turned to Josh.
“I hate to ruin this bizarre Brady Bunch moment, but I don’t own a suit.” Josh leaned back against the booth like he had won because he didn’t have an outfit. Cael laughed loudly, and Zoey gave him a pathetic look of sympathy.
“Oh Josh,” she sighed. He had no fucking idea what he had just done.
TUCKER
Ihoppedoutofmyjeep and waited for Josh to follow as Van and Cael climbed out of the backseat, groaning and stretching.
“It’s a half-hour drive,” I shook my head at their whining.
“I’m six-foot-five, Tucker. I was just crammed into a sardine can of death for thirty minutes. If I wanna complain, I’m gonna complain.” Van rolled out his shoulders and pressed his hands to the sky in search of a good stretch.
“This is stupid,” Josh said as he came around the front and stood next to me. "I can just wear my dress clothes.”
“No, it's tradition,” I said to him. "Everyone gets new clothes for the Gala, you don’t get a choice.”
“I don’t have the money for this.” Josh didn’t mince his words; his voice was tight and low as Van and Cael started toward the small shop.
“How about you let me spoil you?” I turned, stepping backward into the quiet street and smiled at him. No favours, no deals, no exchanges. “Just once,” I said.
