Page 10 of Honeysuckle
“Toss them!” he ordered, and before he finished, I wrapped my arm around another body, throwing him backward off the dock and into the lake.
Josh was still fighting with Baker, who refused to back down to the newest team member with his fist raised. Cael wrapped him up and bulldozed him off the dock with a shocking blow that had them both in the water.
“Enough,” I barked as Josh pulled his arm back to hit me. “What the hell is wrong with you!”
“Fuck you! I was defending myself!” He argued and made to push past me, but I was bigger than him by a landslide and blocked his path. “Move, Tuck.”
“It’s Captain, andno,” I warned him, stepping into his space, my shoulders eclipsing his.
“I’m not getting in that lake,” he growled and took another step back, recreating the distance. His sweater hung loose around his throat, hat crooked from the scuffle, but it didn’t look like he’d actually taken any blows.
“It’s tradition, everyHornetin the lake,” I hissed at him.
“I’mnota Hornet.” He snapped back and shoved past me too quickly for me to stop him.
The sound of bats hitting balls was therapeutic. The sharp ding of metal echoed as the guys stretched and people chatted to themselves. I adjusted my sweats, making sure they were tied before shucking a Hornets tank over my head and tossing my hat.
I thought I would have to search for Josh, but he paraded into the dining hall for breakfast like nothing had happened at the lake. He confused the hell out of me. One moment, he was shaking with rage, eyes so dark they looked black, and the next, he was plastered with a smug grin, shoving eggs into his mouth.
He tossed a ball with Cael a few feet away, and part of me wanted to march over there and ask him what his problem was, but I knew it wouldn’t solve anything. And he wouldn’t confess anyway. He was a lockbox. I just couldn’t figure out what he was hiding.
Ella's words echoed in the back of my mind: “figure out what he needs.”
Easier said than done when the guy didn’t fucking talk. Even as he warmed up with Cael the two remained silent, Cael taking one for the team by pairing up with Josh. They both focused on the ball hitting their gloves as everyone glanced over with dirty looks that gave away their exact feelings.
Neither side was making this easy; both growing more volatile by the second.
“Alright, huddle up,” I called out as I walked to the pitcher’s mound. Everyone gathered around in a loose circle. Josh stood back from them with his arms crossed over his chest and a red Lorettes hat pulled down over his dark curls. “And get the new guy a better hat.” I scowled, but the sound of Ella giggling echoed from the dugout as she took off in a jog toward the office.
We were supposed to run regular drills that morning to warm everyone up and ease them into the routine, but something was eating at me. With Josh shaking everything up, we needed to think outside the box. Typical drills would keep us active but not unite us as a team.
“I want everyone to form a line,” I said with a clap, and they all looked at me like I was insane. “Now!”
Everyone scrambled into line with Josh at the very end, staring at me over Cael's shoulder, his dark eyes always on me.
“Shirt.” I snapped my fingers at Van and he nodded. "Skin.” I pointed to Jensen. They moved left and right as I went down the single-file line, half the team stripping their shirts until I got to Josh. “Skin.”
“No.” He shook his head at me, and I could tell it was about to be a fight. His jaw clenched, and his hands flexed at his side as he tilted his chin up at me.
“What is this—authority issues?” I asked him, turning my hat backward on my head and cocking it to the side.
“I just don’t have some sick obsession to get naked like the rest of you,” he grumbled.
“It’s a fucking scrimmage, Logan. It’s not a strip club.” I laughed. “You’re a skin.”
“No,” he repeated.
“Aye.” Cael stepped in, stripping his shirt off in one go. My eyes flickered to his toned chest. I forgot how hard the ridges of his stomach were when he was in shape, making my heart race. “I’ll switch with him,” he offered, and Josh shrugged.
“Pick your captains,” I said to the two teams. I could feel Arlo’s eyes on me, and as much as it made me nervous to step outside the box he had drawn for me, I had to do this my way.
Once the boys did as they were told, they stood in awkward huddles, waiting for their next instructions. I stared around at them and smiled. “Good, now even out and pick your positions.”
It was clear that they were confused by the way they looked around at each other. Van’s eyebrows scrunched together as he turned to Cael.
“Has he lost his mind?”He asked and Cael responded with a flat, “maybe.”It was another minute before they started to communicate. They grumbled around for a little while, but after a couple of minutes, they figured it out and returned to me.
“What the hell are you doing, Tucker?” Van asked, standing forward as the shirts’ captain.
