Page 19 of Honeysuckle
“Sneakers on.” I clapped, moving out of my tent with my hoodie pulled around my jaw.
“You’re about to ruin our day aren’t you?” Jensen sat up on his elbows, bare chested, his tattoos on full display and bathing in the sun despite the frigid breeze.
“Only yours,” I grumbled. “We need to move our bodies. Hike time,” I said loudly, cutting off whatever was about to come out of Cael's mouth. “Most of you know the trails by heart but if you don’t, pair up with someone. I don’t want anyone getting lost.”
“I mean, there’s someone I can think of that can get lost,” Todd piped up, and everyone grumbled in unison before pairing up in groups and heading out.
”Good start.” Cael pushed off the ground and paired up with Van leaving Jensen with a hopeless look on his face without a partner. “Yee-haw, big boy. To Candy Mountain we go!” He hopped on Van’s back and the two of them disappeared down the trail.
Josh sat on his bed roll with his arms hanging over his curled up knees and his dark eyes on the opening to the hiking path.
”Get up and go on the hike.” I looked over at him and put my hands on my hips. “Don’t give them another reason to hate you.”
“I don't know the trails, Tuck,” he said in a low, tight tone that suggested he was angry but trying to control himself.
“It’s called the buddy system; but if you piss me off I’m leaving you to the wolves.” I nodded to the path.
Josh contemplated my offer for a split second too long and I started to walk away. I didn’t have to put up with his bullshit. It wasn’t in the captain rule book. If anything, I was allowed to show tough love even if the definition was loose. Arlo ruled with tough love, he was born to do it, but I just… couldn’t find my line, at least not yet, but with the way Josh challenged every decision, every comment; suddenly I found myself compelled to find it faster.
LOGAN
Heleftquicklybutslowed as I caught up. I approached from behind him on the path and he made space for me to walk beside him. The wind pushed his messy blond curls against his forehead beneath his oversized grey sweatshirt when he turned to look over at me as I matched his pace.
“I would have been fine at camp,” I said, clenching my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.
“Oh, I’m sure.” Dean laughed. “I wouldn’t leave my worst enemy to the bears.”
“Is that another term for teammates? Because they’re the only dangerous thing in these woods,” I snapped, and my eyes were drawn ahead of us to where a group of players were roughhousing as they barreled through the forest.
“They’re not all bad, Josh.” Dean shook his head. “You just need to open up more.”
“This isn’t therapy, Tuck, it’s a baseball team. Stop trying to drag me into your emotionally messed-up chosen family. You guys are weird. Just let me play baseball.” I sighed.
I was so sick of that being their line. Everyone, from Tucker to Cody, all wanted me to acclimate to their offputting, touchy-feely bullshit. I couldn’t do it, not even if it was tempting. It made me sick to my stomach. Families weren’t likethis. They were rough and mean, they were forgetting your kid at school pick-up to score drugs. They were sixteen different boyfriends because your mom couldn’t hold one down for more than a few months. It was hiding in your closet, praying that the screaming stopped in time for you to get some sleep so you didn’t pass out during your exams.
Family wasn’t some cotton candy fairytale they’d dreamed up. Family was the last people you’d choose to share blood with but the first people you’d drop everything for if they called for help.
“Van has two older siblings; a sister who runs an animal shelter and plays for the Harbor Hillcats,” Dean said, ignoring my hissy fit. “And a sister who works for the UN overseas. He’s the baby of the family and I’m positive that’s what will make him a good therapist. He was born listening to everyone talk around him like he wasn’t there. He hears everything, so don’t say anything stupid or damning around him.”
“Good for him. I’m sure the tree will make a great therapist,” I grumbled, ignoring the way it made me feel to know that his family was so selfless. I loathed this tactic Dean was playing. He was backing me into a corner by simply being himself and it was infuriating.
“Liam…uh Baker, he grew up in Ontario but got into school in Michigan and then was transferred to us last season. He’s a good guy, little weird and pronounces his O’s funny, he smokes like three packs a day so if you need one…” He said. "Jensen, he's like an otter. Unsuspectingly kind. He's up for anything, super social and funny. Unreal hands… he has like photographic memory or some shit, if you give him signals he'll remember every single one."
Jensen, he was the catcher. I remembered his name, only because he woke up with a smile on his face and it pissed me off. No one should be that awake at six am. I kept my head down as Dean went through more guys. “Silas is a saint,” he said, and my hands flexed at my sides.
If you only knew.
“Dude would give you the shirt off his back if you asked. We call him Doc, Cael calls him Gramps to get under his skin, but he’s not that old. He’s an only child. His mom is the sweetest woman in the world. His dad is a fucking tool though,” Dean said, and I turned to look at him for the first time since we started walking.
Wrong. It was all so wrong.
“What?” He asked when I stared. “You look offended…”
“Not offended, just surprised. I thought Silas was a daddy’s boy,” I huffed.
“Alright, that's a strange hill to die on,” Dean said, his brows furrowing. “Ok, well you know Arlo.”
“Legacy son with the world on his shoulders and perfect season.” My jaw tightened at the memory of all the news articles that were waved in my face as the season ended. Coach would have shoved them down my throat if he couldn’t get in trouble for it.
