Page 113 of Honey Undone
“Are you sure I shouldn’t have worn something… I don’t know, nicer?” I asked Adeline, opening the car door. I was in a black shirt, with a dark jean jacket and a pair of nice pants.
“It’s the Hollow, it’s not like we’re having dinner at a five-star restaurant,” she said, pushing up on her toes to fix my hair. “And you’ve already met them.”
“I met one,” I said nervously, “and it was a chaotic night. This is like having to hold an actual conversation with your two very intelligent older brothers.”
“Ew,” she laughed. “They aren’t that smart, or that tough. Besides, if they try to fight you, Boone is working tonight and he has a boy crush on you so he’ll probably back you up.” She patted my chest.
“Probably?” I stilled, “What do you mean,probably?!” I called after her as she wandered into the Hollow’s front doors. “Adeline!” The door closed in my face and I yanked it open to follow her inside. Taylor and Zane sat at a table near the back of the bar, intimidating as ever, both of them glaring at me.
I looked over at Boone who dropped the towel he was using to dry cups with to give me a thumbs up.Super encouraging.
Adeline was already ordering some drinks from the blonde kid I had met the other night, Wren maybe? He was dressed in a uniform tonight and looked less than impressed about it but was still managing to flirt with my girlfriend.
I slid into the stool separating the two of them, and he took his leave to get our drinks. Adeline eyed me with a tiny smile, knowing all too well that I was too nervous and wound up to be dealing with her shenanigans. I leaned in, kissing her cheek and ignoring the fact that both her brothers were watching us, waiting for me to say hello.
Adeline first.
Adeline, always.
“Jensen, right?” Taylor said as I straightened out. "We met at the pop up."
“Taylor, and Zane,” I acknowledged them respectfully. Seeing them all together was weird. They looked similar, in a way most siblings did. All sharing certain traits but clearly there was a significant age gap between her and them. She had mentioned once or twice about how she had come along, she called herself a‘fix it all’baby. Claiming she was the one they had to fix the marriage but that was never the case.
“I thought dad was coming?” Adeline said, her voice sounding disappointed but not surprised.
“Stuck in Osaka,” Taylor said. “I warned you not to get your hopes up.”
I looked over at her and her jaw ticked like she was holding on to her emotions by a thread so I weaved my fingers into hers beneath the table in her lap.
“Maybe we can make the trip for Christmas this year,” Zane offered.
“There’s too much going on for that and I’m not wasting money to go visit a man who never puts in an effort,” Taylor abolished the idea before Adeline could voice her opinion.
“Whatever, Tay. Get the stick out of your ass,” Zane groaned.
“I don’t have time to babysit either of your feelings about Dad, just… grow up.” Taylor rolled his eyes. “He’s always going to be flaky and this isn’t something we need to be discussing in front of Adeline's flavor of the month.”
“Boyfriend,” Adeline snapped, finding her voice with a vengeance. “And Zane’s right, what is wrong with you today?”
“It was just a long day at work…” Her tone seemed to curb his attitude a little as he sipped on his beer and went quiet.
“You’re the son of that hotel millionaire,” Zane snapped his fingers and Adeline groaned. “I knew I recognized your name. My husband and I stayed in your hotels last spring when we travelled to Italy.”
“The locations there are by far the nicest,” I tried to hold a steady conversation as Adeline’s finger dug into my hand beneath the table.
“Quit being weird,” she said to Zane with a tiny huff.
“So why are you playing baseball if your career is basically a shoo-in?” Taylor asked, the tone in his voice accusatory like he was trying to make me seem less than what I was.
I shifted on my stool. “Because I’m good at baseball,” I answered easily. “Really good.”
“Yeah but if you haven’t gotten drafted yet the chances are low you go pro.” He challenged.
“Not necessarily, I’ve had offers but I wanted to play with the Hornets.” I explained.
“Why?” Taylor asked and I heard Adeline huff but I just rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand. He was trying to rile me up and I knew it was the right of her older brothers to do so. Ask questions that might be uncomfortable or weird and even with quiet being my default setting I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind, or stand up for something I had faith in.
I smiled at him, collecting my thoughts.
