Page 31 of Honey Undone
She covered her face with her hands to compose herself and backed away from the bench. “And Adeline?” I called out, before slipping my earbud back in. My breath caught in my throat as she turned back to look at me, I still hadn’t gotten used to her stealing it with such ease. “You’re the prettiest Hillcat,” I smiled at her and watched her cheeks turn red.
I heard Kaia whine, “you’re the prettiest hellcat.”And Adeline playfully pushed her over on the mat before scooping up the medicine ball and forcing them back to their workout.
JENSEN
Are you coming today?
Maybe, work is sort of insane right now.
Iwasn’t exactly used to feeling disappointment but for some reason the idea that Adeline wasn’t going to be here today ate at me. My only accomplishment that week was that I had only dreamed of her twice a night… every night.
I had started looking at apartments because waking up to Todd snoring with my dick hard was going to be the reason I snapped. On the team, in class… It wouldn’t matter. I just needed a release and Adeline was making sure I worked for it.
How am I supposed to win without you?
Show off for all the other girls.
I only wanna show off for you.
I sighed, trying to scrub my thoughts of her and focus on the game ahead of us. Winning was the goal, everyone was fighting hard to prove to the entire college circuit that we didn’t need Arlo King to win but it was harder than any of us expected.
We needed this series to stay in the playoffs and it was one of the hardest we had played in a long time, the firstsixgames went into extras. Both of our teamsplayed the best defense of our lives and every game clocked out with low scores and one win for each of us. Tonight was the tie breaker. It was now or never.
Maybe later, one thing at a time.
That maybe later was like a rocket had popped off in my chest. I could hear the way her voice hummed it in the back of my head and it made my mouth dry. We would win today's game and I would get Adeline Sarah back beneath me if it killed me.
“Are you planning on doing anything stupid today?” Van double-knotted his shoes and looked up at me with a glare.
“Define stupid?” I flashed him a smile and buttoned up the bottom of my jersey before shoving it in my loose pants. I did up the belt, turning to find him still staring at me with disapproval tight across his usually goofy face.
“You,” Van said, standing up to his full height and towering over me. “You’re the definition.”
“One more outburst and Coach is going to have a stroke,” Josh said from my left.
“That would mean, no more two-a-days for a while,” I offered and both of them shook their heads at me.
“Just behave for one game,” Van warned, holding up a finger, “earn some brownie points with Dean, maybe he’ll take you off the laundry early,” he teased.
The bunt had gotten me on eternal service. I’d been doing laundry since that game and I didn’t see the ending in sight but it was worth it. I’d clean every single piece of clothing in the Nest if it meant giving Adeline my number that day.
“There’s no way I’m letting him off laundry,” Dean grunted in passing, “I got yelled at by Coach for an hour after that game.”
I tried to hide the smile on my face as I brushed my hair under a hat, “I have nothing to lose,” I said to Van who was evidently very sick of my shit but very much interested in finding out what I’d do next.
I stopped him before everyone flooded from the locker room, “hey thanks for suggesting that shop.”
Van had brought me down to his favorite comic shop on the weekend and I had spent way too much on dice. I knew less about Dungeons and Dragons than I did about convincing Adeline to go on date with me, but once I started picking out sets… I couldn’t stop. The top drawer of my dresser at the nest made noise when I opened it and I had enough dice to give her a set once a week until our children put us in a retirement home.
“Yeah man,” he said with a smile, “did she love them?”
“I think so?” I shrugged. She hadn’t said anything, but I watched her confusion when she found the bag with a smile on my face. She seemed excited but if I knew her, she’d wait to bring it up at a time when she could use it against me. And oddly, I was okay with that, as long as she was using it againstme.
We packed into the concrete hallway shoulder to shoulder and Dean stood in the center of the team staring around at all of us. “There's no option today but a win. Tonight we prove to Harbor and the rest of the country that we will never be reduced to the skill set of a single player. We’re a team, we’re a family. Now let’s show them what the fuck that means to us.”
Everyone cheered and hollered, shoving wildly against each other until our hearts were racing and our blood was pumping through our veins. Dean gently tapped Josh against the jaw, who was standing clear of the physical contact against the wall, but still offered a few hearty cheers. With our adrenaline high and our eyes clear on the goal, we all took our spots in the lineup. Our cleats created a rumble of noise as we all stomped our feet and the stadium above us became a thunderous boom of applause.
“Put it together for your Harbor Hornets!”
