Page 106 of Honeysuckle
“It wasn’t your fault that day,” he said. "I know that you think Cael getting in that car, reaching that point, was something you did in your relationship. But he was a ticking time bomb.”
“Yeah, and I lit the fuse,” I scoffed.
“Maybe you did, maybe it was already lit… Josh is a different kind of doomsday clock Dean, just make sure that you’re ready for it when the time comes because Cael had everyone to fall back on. Josh has no one.” He looked at me, really wanting what he had just said to sink in.
“Josh has me,” I said without missing a beat.
A small smile crept over his lips, nodding once. “Alright, then we handle it.”
“Together,” I said.
Silas tapped his fingers to his chest gently.
“Two steps at a time.”
TUCKER
Athreegamesuspension,aweek of exhausting classes later, and lunch everyday that week with Riona had worn me out. She watched my every move and I hated every second of it but I’d been taking the time to get in one meal and she enjoyed watching old baseball tapes with me so it wasn’t awful. She never asked me invasive questions, she let me lead the conversation and I usually felt better after.
But the week had been a lot, and now Jensen was dragging me up the steps of Delta. “Man, I don't wanna be here.” I shook my head.
“Yeah, well, you’ve spent way,way, too much time in your bed lately, it’s time to have some fun.” He argued, slapping his hand against my shoulder.
It wasn’t the bed keeping me in my room, it was Josh.I wanted to say but kept my mouth shut. After the talk with Silas, I had been keeping him close. I didn’t care that I looked like a lost dog following him around. I didn’t want him out of my sight, not even for a second.
It had become increasingly apparent that my feelings for Josh were snowballing into something bigger. Every time I saw him, it bettered my mood. I had caught myself complaining that his sweaters were too small, I just wanted to tuck down inside and lose myself in the smell. The next morning, he left his bottle of cologne out in the open, clearly on purpose, and I sprayed my favorite sweater with it before tugging it on and leaving for class.
My feelings for Josh weren’t like the ones I’d had for Cael—those burned hot when we were together, but cooled easily when we were apart. Being apart from Josh felt like torture.
“Surprise!” Delta erupted into cheers and hollering as the lights flickered on and my eyes adjusted to the darkness.What the hell?
Everyone was standing in front of me in an assortment of jerseys, sweaters and t-shirts, their hats backwards on their heads and big smiles on their faces. Every single person in the room was dressed like…me.
“We wanted to congratulate you!” Zoey squealed. I should have known that she was behind the party. Anytime there was a theme to be had, Zoey made sure it happened.
“And the theme is?…” I looked around at everyone with an awkward smile on my face.
“You!” Ella laughed, she was tucked into Arlo’s side, wearing a home jersey to match his away one.
“Wow,” I looked around again, I couldn’t believe they had gone out of their way to do something so grand for me. My cheeks hurt from smiling as Zoey dragged me through the house toward the kitchen. Everyone convened around the island as Van lifted Zoey to the counter behind him.
Cael appeared on my left with Clementine—wearing my Halloween costume… I looked him up and down, scowling. “Is that my toga?”
“It’s a blanket and you left it in my room,” he shrugged. Clementine was wearing a sweater and sweats with her hair tucked behind her ears and a hat over her hair. She scrunched up her nose when I winked at her.
“Congratulations,” she whispered as Cael went to get her a drink. “You did good the other day, with the press. The whispers and gossip have subsided, at least in my neck of the woods.”
“Thank you for asking questions that didn’t involve my… well, you know,” I said at a loss for words.
“You didn’t need my help, Dean. You just need a little more faith in yourself, and pride… definitely more pride.” She took the glass from Cael as he returned, kissing her on the cheek in passing before he grabbed me by the face and kissed me without consent or warning.
“Cael, come on!” I shoved him off, laughing.
“Congrats, big boy.” He backed off, scooping Clem up in his arms and whispering something in her ear before setting her back on her feet. “Dancing, we should all be dancing!”
“How is it possible that you’re more obnoxious, sober?” Arlo groaned but conceded when Ella pouted.
“Two against one!” Cael pointed to Ella’s sad bottom lip with a wicked grin.
