Page 111 of Honey Undone
“Arlo King can do the waltz?” She gasped and looked around for him as her fingers dug into the open buttons on my dress shirt.
“And the foxtrot,” I added just to hear the strangled giggle that left her. She almost slipped from my grip with a wiggle but I caught her gently, the fabric tangling between my fingers. “Get it together before you ruin this dress,” I teased her and she turned back to look at me with mischief in her eyes.
“I bought it to be ruined, Jensen.” She challenged.
“I’ll remember that,” I said, bracing her and dipping her low to steal a kiss from her collarbone and then the top of her breast. I could tell something had been bugging her all day but I wasn’t sure how to approach it without ruining the evening. The words she had said that morning in the gym played on repeat in the back of my mind,I think I love you too.
My heart had been racing uncomfortably in my chest ever since.
“Do you think Arlo will dance with me?” She broke through the wall of thoughts and my grip tightened on her subconsciously. “Whoa possessive, I was only joking.” Her face scrunched together in the cutest way as I stared down at her. “What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Nothing, sorry…” I shook free of the crippling anxiety, a feeling I wasn’t used to having… There was just so much going on outside of my control and it all suddenly revolved around losing the one thing I never expected to need.
Adeline’s grip on my heart was tightening.
“You haven’t lied to me once since I met you, Jensen. Why are you lying to me right now?” She poked my chest as I spun her out of my arms and back in. The music slowly died down and I could hear Silas chatting away on the mic but my main focus was the confused stare on Adeline’s face.
“Tonight’s perfect,” I controlled the tone in my voice but I could see that she wasn’t satisfied with the answer. “You’re perfect.”
“Flattery is not honesty,” she said. “Is it because of this morning?”
Yes.
“No,” I shook my head.
“Are you scared?” She asked me.
“Terrified,” I answered, and the hazel in her eyes darkened.
“Of what?” She asked gently. “This?Us?”
“The end,” I said, giving her the honesty she requested. “I’ve never had my heart broken, Adeline Sarah. I don’t want to know what it feels like, but the dread is setting in that I’m going to find out no matter how tightly I hold on to you.”
She stared at me for a moment, her jaw tightening.
“Jensen,” she chewed her lip, aiming to say more but out of the corner of my eye I saw something soaring through the air, my hand lifted and caught something soft and lacy without a second thought.
“Nice catch, Jenny!” Cael whistled from the other side of the lawn.
I held up the garter on my ring finger and stared down at her.
“It’s really hard to be mad at you for saying stupid shit when you immediately do something hot.” She groaned and pressed her forehead against my chest.
Adeline spun around on the dance floor with Dean, her smile bright as the fabric of her long blue dress whipped around her bare feet. The party was dying down but most of the team was still hanging out drinking and dancing. I couldn’t help myself when I pulled my phone out and took a few photos of them, tucking them away for later.
“Here,” Van handed me a beer as he lowered into his seat. His dress shirt was unbuttoned to the middle and his hair was sweaty from dancing all night.
“Where’s Zo?” I asked, looking around.
“She fell asleep an hour ago, it might have been the two nights of going hard in a row. She’s not used to it anymore.” Van laughed, lifting his own bottle to his mouth. “Addy had fun this weekend?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “We talked about it…”
“Cali?” Van asked, leaning forward on his elbows to look at me but my eyes were still on her. Singing loudly in Dean’s face as the music shifted into a song I didn’t recognize but loved the way it dripped from her pretty mouth.
“It’s her dream, Mitchell. But…” the words refused to come out.
“You’re sad?” Van finished.
