Page 85 of Honey Undone
“I just likedoingstuff.” I corrected her, “If it’s cool, I’m in.”
“Alright dork,” Kaia nodded, and I could see that the thought of going easy on me had gone out the window with my confession, “game on.”
It took me a minute to grasp what was happening, between all the new names, powers and the confusion of starting in the middle of a story they had been running for only god knows how long. But after about four too many daiquiris and more than enough explanation, I was getting it.
Rhea was a half-orc named Evantha, who had doubled down on her class to make sure she could protect her squishy spell casting friends not only with her strength but with her intelligence as well. It was hilarious to watch her interact with Adeline, who was playing as a fairy she had named Sky Mapledash; a name that made me chuckle any time Cosy introduced her.
Adeline's notes were intense, it was like every time the group stumbled across a puzzle she was the first to have it figured out. Watching her put together the clues without hesitation was a testament to how smart my girl was and I beamed with pride.
“I’m pretty sure my first crush was Tinkerbell, you know,” I brushed my lips against her ear, teasing her while she tried to roll. “That little skirt and bad attitude.”
“Pay attention, fuckboy,” Kaia’s voice cut through my flirting. She moved her intricately painted figure across the board to a rooftop. She had explained to me exactly what she was but in reality whatever a Tabaxi was looked like a panther and it absolutely suited Kaia.
“You can’t move that far!” Adeline pointed out, breaking off from my grip.
“Fastest in the west, precious Mapledash, I can move wherever the hell I want…”
“You aren’t the fastest,” Adeline’s eyes narrowed.
“I am in this room” Kaia flashed a smile.
Sunday piped up, “Cosy got quiet she’s going to jump us.” She was at the end of the table chewing on the end of her pen as she waited for Adeline and Kaia to stop bickering. I think she said she was a Changeling with a ukulele? A bard maybe. I was losing track of my notes, my eyes running over what I had written down for Sunday. Mirage! That was her name.
“Be quiet,” Rhea warned her. “You always give her ideas.”
“If you’re all finished?” Cosy looked over the panel at the map, her eyes bright with mischief and for a second I could see Van there. Her usual grumpy demeanor shed for enjoyment and at home in her element.
Cosy rolled a D20 across the mat and everyone held their breath as it tipped to twenty.
“Fuck,” they all swore in unison.
“No, that's good, right?” I pointed to it. “She rolled twenty!”
“It’s good for her, bad for us,” Rhea explained.
And damn was she right, Cosy went on to almost kill every single one of us with a trap she had laid, triggered by our arguing the only way we would have survived it was if she had rolled lower than a twelve.Maybe I wasn’t getting it after all.
Rhea had saved all our asses with a lucky roll and some hearty damage but she was in rough shape by the end of the game and Sunday was practically asleep in her lap.
“You’re not bad at this,” Cosy said as I helped her put away all the map pieces and Rhea carried Sunday to her bed. “Jensen,” she said quietly as Adeline and Kaia giggled while washing dishes in the sink. “Adeline isn’t the kind of girl you let go of,” she said and I swallowed tightly, ignoring the way the liquor raised my temperature. “For the sake of you both, figure out if you're serious because she’s never played better in her life. She’s relaxed, she’s happy… she’s giggling,” Cosy scoffed. “Just be gentle. She grew up being overlooked.”
“She’s on the news every Friday night,” I said, trying not to sound like an asshole. “She’s the darling of Harbor, the center of attention when she’s winning games.”
“She can’t always win.” Cosy’s glare was quiet but deadly. “You have to be there to see her win or lose.”
“I promise.” The word came out of my mouth and I wasn’t even sure what I was promising. Whether it be to take care of Adeline the way she deserved or some backwards threat tangled with approval from Cosy Mitchell, both options terrified me.
JENSEN
“Here,” I held the door open for Adeline and let her slip into the dark stadium. The only lights in the concrete tunnel are the ones above the exit signs at the end of the hallway.
“You didn’t bring me down here to fulfill some weird stalker fetish, did you?” She asked, her smile bright as she turned to walk backwards and talk to me at the same time. I locked the door and shoved the master keys into my pocket. I had to bribe Susanna for them with a week's worth of lunch, but it would be worth it.
“And what if I did?” I shrugged, mirroring her smile as I closed the gap between us and snaked my arm around her. She was wearing a tiny little shirt that was cut around the hem and showed off just a little bit of her stomach above the tight maroon gym shorts she had tugged on in a rush as I shooed her out the door.
She had been sulking.
Which wasn’t something I was used to her doing. But the scouts had gotten in her head and it was affecting her game. She was missing passes, stepping clumsily, it was like her ability to play rugby like it was breathing had become clouded, and it was turning her sour.
