Page 13 of Honeysuckle
Dean filled the space and pointed at me. “Go to the cabins, now!” He ordered.
“You were the one that thought this was a good idea,” I snapped at him, throwing my Lorettes hat at his feet. “I don’t need this fucking team. I don’t need any of this bullshit!” I shoved off another set of hands, chest heaving in fury and stomped back to the cabins.
“Josh!” Cael’s voice chimed out as I reached the long line of cabins, but I ignored him and kept my path back to the safety of my bunk. I wanted to slam the door, pack my bags and leave this fucking camp.
I’d walk if I had to.
“Logan, stop and talk to me!” Cael barked. I could hear him with every quickened footstep and slammed the door behind me.
It opened again seconds later, and he stood out of breath in the doorway.
“What the hell was that?” He asked, tossing his hat to his bunk and putting his hands in the air. His jaw was already bruising—red giving way to purple and, soon enough, it would be an ugly purple color staining his skin.
“I’m—” I almost apologized but the anger was still fresh, adrenaline pumped through my veins, and the only thing I wanted to do was tell him to go fuck himself. “Just leave me alone, Cody.”
“No.” He stepped further into the cabin.
“I’m warning you.” I slammed my bag to the floor and squared up to him. One-on-one, the chances of me actually beating him were better.
“Cut the intimidation tactics out. It’s just you and me in here.” He rolled his eyes at me. “You fucking punched me.”
“You deserved it,” I countered.
“Man, you are wound up. Where’s the Logan from the diner? Calm, cool, and collected?” He asked.
“That’s a show, Cael,” I lied. “I gave you what you needed to recover. Now, get the hell out of my way. This team doesn’t want me. You don’t need me. Put some second-string wannabe on the mound. You’ll still win.”
“It’s not about that!” Cael argued. “We’re—”
“Let me guess—you’re about to preach some family bullshit, but you didn’t even tell any of them that we spent six months together? Not a single one of them knows I’m your sponsor! You don’t trust me either, Cody, so don’t. It’s all bullshit.”
“We decided together it was best no one knew!” He protested.
“I still expected you to tell King and his little girlfriend, or even Tucker!”
“Youasked me not to!” Cael growled, actually getting angry for once. “I don’t break promises! They didn’t need to know, and your little outburst isn’t about that!”
“Whatever the hell you psychos are doing here, it’s weird. You’re all running around with your mommy and daddy issues, diagnosing yourselves.” I raised my hands out at my sides. “You’re not a family—you’re a college baseball team!”
“Why are you fighting this so much?” Cael asked, his calm demeanor pissed me off.
I laughed in his face. “That’s what this is, it’s a cult.”
“Josh.” Cael laughed, shaking his head. “It’s not a cult. We just have each other's backs, and if you stop fighting it, we can have yours, too.”
“I don’tneedfriends, Cody,” I hissed.
“Everyone needs friends.” He smiled at me. It drove me insane how unbothered he was by everything.
“Cael, I just punched you in the face…” I scowled at him.
“Okay, so?” He shrugged. “You’ve got about thirteen more before you take the championship belt from Arlo for the amount of times he’s punched me.” Cael laughed.
“You guys are some of the most fucked up people I’ve ever been around.” I sighed.
“But you’ll stay?” Cael asked.
Would I?Logically, I needed them—I knew it, and I hated it.. But not in the way they all kept claiming. I needed my spot on the roster to fulfill my scholarship and finish school. Without the Hornets, I didn’t have the funds to pay tuition, so technically, I did have to stay.
