Page 83 of Honey Undone
“I love how when you tell that story you always make it sound like you were abandoned for a spur-of-the-moment romance or some garbage, it was for school. I was chasing my dreams.” Boone lifted the pop gun and sprayed it at Wren, who feebly blocked the explosion of water and sent it cascading around him, soaking everyone in the vicinity.
“I’m your dream, right here in Rhode Island,” Wren whined, taking the bottom of his shirt up into his hand and wiping off his face. I kept a smile on my face as my mind wandered to the corners where I kept the news about Adeline and California. She would tell me when she was ready, it stung that she hadn’t yet but I understood why. Every day I spent with her made it harder and harderto have a reasonable response to her moving across the country. I hadn’t exactly lied to Van about what we were and weren’t but now I was even more confused than before.
“Hey isn’t that your girl?” Wren cleared the water from his eye and nodded to the dance floor.
I broke free of the thoughts and turned to find Adeline staring up at some drunk guy that had invaded their dancing circle. Leaning against the bar as the guy continued his attempts to get her to dance, she wasn’t playing whatever game he was. She was two steps ahead of him and with a smile on her face she continued to reject his advances.
“Are you going to do something about that?” Wren asked, bringing a beer to his lips as Boone leaned over the bar between us.
“If she needs me,” I said, watching carefully. “She’ll tell me.”
Adeline inched away just for the guy to reach out, making the mistake of touching her without an invitation. Adeline smacked his hand away but still she was handling it, her fingers pressed against his chest as she moved him backward and Rhea filled the gap that he kept sneaking into.
“Hey that was the girl that gave me a red flag,” Wren said and Boone started to laugh between us. Rhea did in fact have a handful of toothpick sized red flags sticking out of the pocket of her leather shorts as she danced.
“He’s a determined fucker,” Boone noted as the guy circled back around them and grabbed Adeline’s hip from behind. I tensed slightly watching her as she turned in his arms and stomped on his foot,hard.His drink went flying, his body language instantly turned aggressive and his other hand still had a firm grip on her. She looked over her shoulder briefly, our eyes barely connecting, but I pushed from the bar.
Sliding easily through the crowd, I slipped in between her and Kaia, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her back against my chest. The smile on her face was wicked.
“Buddy back off,” the drunk stepped forward but I planted my feet as Adeline all but went back to dancing.
“Not a fight you want to pick,” I said over the music pumping through the speakers.
“I ain't scared of some scrawny punk,” he said, “I was here first.”
“It’s not me you should be worried about,” I told him and his face twisted with confusion for a split second, replacing the drunk anger raging in his eyes. Adeline didn’t need my help, that much was true as she drove her knee upward into the guy's groin and as he doubled over she poured what was left of her drink over his head. I gripped her tightly, spinning her back around to face Kaia and Rhea as the guy hit the ground fast.
Kissing her cheek I let go of her and turned back to the guy writhing on the floor. Kneeling down, I helped him off the ground, “I warned you,” I said with half a smile, “let’s get you a drink,” I patted him on the back, as he nodded and tried to walk off his bruised ego.
Boone and Wren were both in stitches when I returned to them, setting the drunk idiot on a stool to lick his wounds. The girls had gone back to dancing completely unbothered by the intrusion that had happened.
“I keep telling Brighton the girls are the best security we have,” Boone said, handing me a beer. “The drunks are more scared of them, than they are old Johnny,” he nodded to the old guy half asleep by the front entrance.
“Is that guy even alive?” Wren asked with serious concern, “Oh no, he moved…we’re good.”
“No one would have blamed you for hitting that guy,” Boone added, running a hand through his dark hair.
“And let him get out of this without a crippling blow to his confidence?” I said to them both, “You’ll never see him in here again after that.”
“Oh shit,” Wren said, “I recognize her now! That’s Adeline Sarah,” he said, slapping Boone in the chest with the back of his hand. “She’s like a big deal,” he added.
“It’s going to suck to watch the Hillcats lose her,” Boone said, and the comment wasn’t meant to be malicious, it was just conversation and one he didn’t know was still festering.
It was going to suck.
I inhaled deeply, trying to control how I felt about it all, and forced a smile onto my face as I joined back into the conversation.
JENSEN
Are you sure they’re okay with me coming?
Don’t be a coward.
It’ll be 5v1, Adeline.
Ishoved my messy hair under a hat and climbed from the car, grabbing the two bags from the back seat to haul inside Sunday’s townhouse. She lived in the new development on the north side of Harbor, where every house looked the same and the street wound together in confusing circles. I had left the nest almost an hour early to stop for snacks, and treats hoping that if I managed to find her house on time that I could buy their favor with food.
I knocked on the front door, holding the bags in one hand, and the gift bag in the other. If I was going to crash their one night of the week that boys were strictly forbidden at, I was going to do it properly.
