Page 12 of Honey Undone
JENSEN
Iwas still riding the high of the home run from the night before and even more so the look on Adeline’s face in the crowd when she realized I knew she was there. I had been checking with Susanna, bribing her with pastries, to see if anyone used their Harbor Sports card to purchase tickets. It was a program that the Shores created to help the athletes support each other. We got discounted tickets to all the games, NCAA and professional, as long as they were home games.
Kaia Keegan had purchased two tickets that morning.
When I stepped out onto the field my eyes went directly to her but she was too busy shoving candy in her mouth and laughing with Kaia to even notice. It wasn’t until the home run hit that I made sure she knew that I saw her.
“Mom?” I closed the door behind me, calling out as I kicked off my shoes.
“We’re in here!” I heard Dad call from the kitchen. I rounded through the living room peeking at the puzzle they were in the middle of before sliding into the kitchen in my socks. “Hey kid,” Dad chucked a can of soda at me and I caught it mid air as Mom appeared from the pantry.
“Don’t throw soda in my house,” she grumbled and set a container of pasta on the counter.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out.
Unknown:
What are you wearing?
“Kai?” I looked up at the sound of her voice.
“Sorry, I think one of the guys gave my phone number out, I keep getting weird perverted texts…” I set my phone down, disappointed that it wasn’t Adeline.
“Is vodka sauce ok? We ran out of the other stuff you like,” she asked, holding up a jar of homemade sauce.
“I don’t care Mom, anything you make is delicious.” I looked over at Dad who was working on something on his laptop. “How many pieces is the new puzzle?” I asked.
“Ten thousand,” Mom answered, putting a pot on the stove. “It’s a picture of Niagara Falls your grandmother sent so every piece is just blue,” she grumbled.
Grandma lived in Ontario, which is where my Mom was from but they moved to the states when she was little and Grandma moved back after Grandpa died a few years ago.
“I swear she sends those just to piss you off,” I laughed and popped the tab on the can.
“Language,” Mom said and I rolled my eyes at her. “What was this about your number, do we need to get it switched?”
“No,” I said too fast and she looked over from the pot with her usually bright brown eyes narrowed on me with the token Mom glare.
“Out with it,” she demanded and put her hands on her hips. Her head cocked to the side and she looked at me. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Mom to read me like a book, but I felt like it might be a little soon for me to be discussing a crush with her.Is that weird?I paused, chewing the inside of my mouth when the smile crept up on her face. I know I’m in trouble. “What’s her name?”
“Huh?” I tried to play it off with a shrug.
“I know that look,” Mom crept forward.
“What look?”
“Every single crush you’ve ever confessed about has resulted in you turning a funny shade of pink and chewing a hole in your lip. What’s her name?” She asked me again with a soft smile on her face.She was too good.
“Adeline,” I said, leaning against the counter.
“That’s pretty,” Dad responded without looking up and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“You should invite her for dinner,” Mom said, going back to her sauce and that would be simple enough… If I could even get Adeline to agree to a first date.
“Uh,” I huffed as my phone rang again. I silenced the unknown number and set it back down. “Well…”
“Well?” She lowered her voice.
“I haven’t exactly taken her out on a date yet?” I confessed and the laughter that exploded from Dad turned my cheeks pink. “I’m trying okay, Dad you don’t have to mock me. I’m not exactly smooth, and she’s…” I blew out some air and smiled, “she’s everything.”
