Page 111 of Honeysuckle
“You can say no to me.” She furrowed her brows and scoffed. "These idiots are cowards.”
“Hey!” A chorus of whines broke out among them, and Ella glared at them into silence.
“Now, of course, if you do say no, it just proves you are scared of me.” She was challenging me, seeing how far she could push before I caved to her. I enjoyed the fire that she provided, it was refreshing. She didn’t treat me like I was made of glass or like I was some irredeemable asshole.
“One punch,” I said, stepping up to the table. “You caught me off guard—I deserved it. But I’m not scared of you.”
“Prove it,” she hummed and leaned over the table at me.
“One game.” I nodded.
“One bet,” she added.
“Fine,” I said, and everyone groaned. I cursed and stared around at them. "What now?”
“Don’t make bets with Ella,” Dean muttered under his breath.
“You’re such a coward,” I said, sighing. “What’s the bet?”
“If you win, I’ll take your dinner chores for the next week,” she offered, and I agreed. "If I win, we’ll pull outSomebody to Love by Queen.” A sick, proud smile spread across her face as Dean lunged at the table.
“No!” He warned, and she nodded. "Absolutely not!”
“Don’t let him take that bet,” Jensen whined with a bottle to his lips.
Van started to laugh, and before Cael could catch on to what was happening I was agreeing to the bet. I had no idea what I was agreeing to, but the reaction from the players that hovered around the table was worth playing to find out.
“You have to win,” Dean warned. "You cannot let her pull out that CD.”
“What are you so worked up about?” I asked him and he swallowed tightly.
“Just win, please.” He looked over at Van, Jensen and Cael who also looked nervous.
I nodded my path to the other end of the table cleared as Dean walked in front of me and bodies moved out of his way. I cleared my throat. "What are the rules?” I asked Ella.
“No elbow over the table, bounce shots are two drinks but can be swatted, if you sink a ball, you get to throw again,” she said simply.
“I think I can handle that.”
The concept of it wasn’t hard to wrap my head around, it was more the reason why they found so much entertainment in it. They genuinely got more riled up about a silly party game then they did our baseball games most of the time and I just didn’t see the point.
“Virgins throw first.” Zoey chucked me the ball with a smile on her face.
“You wound me, Novak.” I offered her a smile back, one that wasn’t laced with malice or discontent. It was genuine, and Dean noticed because he huffed playfully beside me. “Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled under my breath. I lined up the cups in my sightline, gauging the weight of the ball in my hand and finding it held nothing. I arched my fingers and chucked the ball, sailing it into the front cup with ease.
Ella narrowed her eyes on me.
“Beginners' luck,” I said as Dean threw and missed. Zoey chugged back whatever was in the cups like she didn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet and chucked the cup into the grass.
Ella also didn’t miss when she threw back, and I wasn’t fast enough to catch the bounce as it skipped into one of the back cups. “Pay attention, Tuck,” I warned him.
He laughed, emptying one cup into the other and drinking it all down in one breath. I watched him in disgusted pride as he stomached the beer with a smile and set the cups at the base of the table.
“What?” he said, and I cursed the affectionate wave of warmth that threatened to carry me out to sea. The sight of him alone was enough to swallow down an unfamiliar urge, one that, surprisingly and for the first time in my entire life, wasn’t weighed down by the shackles of my trauma.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. "You’re disgusting,” I said instead and turned back to the game. Ella was competitive; that much was apparent, the way she played beer pong was like an Olympic athlete chasing the gold medal. Why? I couldn’t figure out, but it made it abundantly clear how she had wrapped Arlo around her finger.
The game continued, and Ella and I went cup for cup the entire time until only two remained on the table. Everyone at the party seemed to be on the grass surrounding us, Dean remained a barrier and seemed to grow impossibly large to keep people from creeping too close. Thoughts of thanking him later crept into my mind, causing unusual but welcome heat to swell at my fingertips around the ball.
