Page 122 of Honeysuckle
“It’s pizza, Silas,” I said. “I’m starving.”
“I’ll call the guys for dinner,” Dean said, reading my mind; he left the living room without giving Silas a chance to fight back against the motion.
“We’retelling the team before they find out from anyone else,” I stared Silas down and stood my ground.
“You’re doing a very brave thing, Josh,” Sylwia said.
“It’s not brave,” I said. "It’s necessary.”
Everyone sat around the table eating, the chairs completely full except one that seemingly always remained empty. They chatted among themselves as Dean picked at his pepperoni, and I sat staring at Silas, waiting for him to start.
The room fell quiet when he stood from his chair. "I know it's unusual for us to have family dinners anymore, especially in the middle of the week, but…”
“Are you and Dad getting a divorce?” Cael asked, interrupting. The whole table groaned loudly.
“Cody, fuck off!” A crumpled paper towel soared across the table as people hollered at him. “Idiot!”
“Hey,” Arlo barked across the table, and everyone fell silent instantly. “Shut up and listen,” he warned, leaning against the door frame with pizza between his fingers.
“Some things are gonna hit the news in the next week or so about the Shores, and we wanted to get ahead of the rumors before you all get tangled up in it,” Silas said.
“We?” Van instantly questioned the plural use and looked around.
“My mother, myself and…” Silas inhaled.
“Me.” I stood at the other end of the table.
Everyone was silent with shock or amusement. Dean looked up at me from his seat, almost afraid to move. He was so still.
“Don’t.” I pointed to Cael. "I’m Silas’s half-brother, his dad is…” I swallowed tightly as Dean pushed his foot against mine beneath the table. “My dad, I know that sounds insane, but I’ve been living with it most of my life, and Silas just found out recently. It’s fresh, it’s fucking weird but it’s also now all of your problems.”
Everyone remained quiet as they listened intently. Arlo had pushed off the wall, surprisingly out of the loop. He stepped closer to the table behind Van, suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation.
“The press is going to come down hard on the Nest,” Silas explained. “Everyone is going to get questioned constantly for the next little while.”
“Why do they care?” Jensen asked, pulling his hat off and letting his messy hair free. “It doesn’t affect the game.”
“I’m the bastard son of the richest man in Harbor who just transferred in after being kicked off Lorette for a fight I didn’t start.” I cut Silas off and took the brunt of the shame that followed the explanation.
“An incident the press believeswashis fault, the problem is Josh was already a target in the eyes of the press. He came here under a cloud, and this is going to bring a storm down on our heads; we have to be ready.” Everyone turned to Silas, some of them tapped their chests in understanding, some of them looked like they had more questions.
“Do you think they’ll get that intense?” Arlo asked, his heavy brows pulling together.
“I do,” Silas said, his tone exhausted. “They didn’t pull a single punch with Dean, they never do. Our family is about to go through the ringer with this investigation, they’re going to want to know every detail of how Josh ended up at Harbor, no matter how gruesome.”
“And it’s gruesome.” I swallowed.
“Don’t answer their questions—deflect to gameplay. We wanted to tell you so you weren’t blindsided this week.” Silas leaned over the table.
“I wanted to tell you because you’re my teammates,” I corrected Silas, who sighed and gave a defeated nod. Dean tapped his foot against mine as a few more of them tapped their chests. It wasn’t a sentiment I shared, but I understood it a little more now. “And you don’t deserve to take the heat for this no matter how it looks.”
Cael’s head flicked back and forth between us, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What the fuck are you doing, Cody?” I finally asked.
“Trying to figure out how we all missed you being a Shore love child,” he said, his words mincing at the end as the laughter took over.
Before anyone could say anything, Coach Cody reached out and slapped the back of Cael’s head roughly. “Idiot,” he sighed as the rest of the table erupted in laughter.
TUCKER
