Page 105 of True Honey
I clumsily pushed away from the wall and sank into the pillows away from the mess we had made. Silas followed, crawling up my body and wrapping around me. He nuzzled into my neck, pressing soft kisses to my shoulder and collarbone. His eyes were heavy with satisfaction as his arm tightened around my waist possessively.
“Let’s test out that tub.” He kissed my jaw and dragged me backward off the bed.
SHORE
Istood in the dugout listening to the stadium explode as Van crushed a ball to the right field. Perfectly sending it out of play and bringing Josh and Louis home. I should have been elated but all I could think about was Drew.
Under me, over me. The thought of her was consuming.
I had almost told her that I loved her.
I couldn’t figure out when it happened or why, but the words had been on the tip of my tongue that night at the hotel. Only silenced by my fear of her running if I said them.
“Si!” A voice barked at me and I looked up to see Dean shoving a Portland player on his ass. I rushed out after Arlo, who was trying to keep anyone from throwing a punch but Van is too fast and his fist connects with Keller's jaw. They’re shoving and screaming without reason over a misstep and a shove. Louis was trying to reason with Otis who played catcher for Portland and had his meaty hands tangled into the front of his jersey.
Collected from more than one source of hollered insults it seemed the fight had started because Louis ran over Otis at third.
“Put him down, Otis!” I cracked, stepping between them. Louis scrambled backward. “You were on the bag, what did you expect!?” I shoved him backward, “get back to your dugout.”
“Fuck you, Shore!” He stepped forward but Van had gotten loose of the ump and Ryan. Jensen grabbed the back of Otis’s jersey, Van dropped his shoulder and knocked him into the dirt with a massive thud.
“Get Mitchell off the field now!” The Ump barked.
“Jensen don’t you dare!” Ryan’s voice boomed as he went to block Van’s body from another Portland player. Jensen, the idiot that he was, didn’t listen and before he could be stopped, he drove his knee into the players stomach. “Get off the fucking field!” Ryan snapped and Jensen rose both hands in the air with a wicked, flushed grin on his face.
I hauled on the back of Van’s jersey, ripping it at the shoulder but not doing anything to keep him from pounding Otis into the clay. It took both Ryan and I to get him on his feet and backward enough for him to listen to orders.
The jersey hung from his massive frame and he pointed across my shoulder with a hate-filled expression. “You’re twice his fucking size Otis, that was a dirty fucking play!” He spat at him and Otis flipped him off.
“Hey!” I scrambled to get control as Van surged forward, “go before you get suspended.”
Van’s eyes never left Otis as he allowed me to walk him backward. Everyone in the stands was standing and watching the sudden blow up. The tension between the two teams was too high; they weren’t going to make it through two more games. Not if they kept on going into them so aggressively.
I followed the three ejected players through the tunnel back to the locker room as Ryan figured out how to finish the game short of his best players.
Van tried to argue, ripping the shreds of his jersey off and throwing it in the garbage with a thud. “It’s bullshit!” He whirled on me and I put my hands up, staring at him until he got control of himself. “Sorry, Doc.” He inhaled slowly and I watched as his shoulders relaxed. “They do that to Lou all the time,” he said, “and they always get away with it because he can’t explain himself!”
“Louis is fine because he has you guys, but starting fights this late in the season over something so trivial is pointless and it’s going to screw the whole team. If you get suspended, even one game.” I looked around at the three of them, “that puts Keith in left field and that’s a massive pocket.” I warned him with an even tone. It would be much nicer than how Ryan would deal with him later. It was a stupid explosion but Van couldn’t help it, the entire team was a powder keg.
Jensen was nursing a set of bruised knuckles next to Dean.
“You’re a dumbass, you’re acting more like Arlo everyday.” I pointed at him.
“That team is out of line,” Dean snapped back and I glared at him. On any other day he’d be cowering but he squared up and it only infuriated me more.
“Settle down, Tucker,” I snarled. “I am not in the mood for your confidence.”
“Whatever Doc, we’re going to win this series and never have to see their faces again, I don’t regret hitting anyone.” He argued.
“Of course you don’t because you don’t see the consequences of your meathead actions. You think Keith in left is bad? Imagine Matheson on first!” I snapped. “Do you want to lose this series over a bench brawl? Smarten up!”
That was it, I couldn’t take them anymore. I took off down the hallway toward the front offices and grabbed my keys. Ella could handle the last inning on her own, I needed to get out of here before I said something I didn’t mean to a bunch of stressed out kids.
I guess I’m more like Charles than expected.
I had three missed calls by the time I slipped off my bike in the Nest drive way but I didn’t care. It rang again while I was holding it in my palm and Harbor Correctional flashed across the screen. “Speak of the devil,” I swore and shoved my phone away and went in search of the one person I knew could make it at least a little better. She was sitting at the counter on her phone, her hair falling over her face and I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arm around her and pressed my face between her shoulder blades just to be able to breathe.
“Oh,” she squeaked, wrapping her arms around mine. “There’s still an inning, why are you here?” She whispered.
