Page 84 of Honey Undone
Sunday opened the door, her blonde hair framing her cute little face and she narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously until I held up a bag full of candy and junk food.
“I come with gifts?” I said, just hoping that she’d let me in.
“What’s in that one?” She pointed to the gift bag in my other hand and looked back up at me.
“Why don’t you find out.” I handed it to her and watched her scurry back into her house leaving me to wander inside without her invitation. I laughed, looking around at the entrance, the wall covered in framed photos of her, thegirls and her family. All of their shoes were piled around the front door so I kicked off my own and followed the sound of their voices through the house. Everything was exactly how I expected her house to be. It was covered in photos and art, bright-colored blankets and furniture that I’d never thought to put together but somehow it worked and made everything feel cozy. There was a small, well lit living room off the front entrance and a set of stairs on the other side of the hallway that led me back into a big kitchen and dining room area.
The dining table was covered in game pieces, notebooks and other knick-knacks, but the girls were hovering over the bag at the counter taking turns pulling out little packages each with their own bow and tag.
“Bribery is wild,” Rhea said, perched on the counter with a wicked smile on her face and her little gift in her palm. “I like you Jensen,” she said as she started to tear into the tissue paper.
Adeline gave me a little scrunch of approval before she gave Cosy the package marked for her. Cosy was not as sure about any of it as the rest of the girls, her signature scowl never faltering ever as she rolled the present out into her palm. A set of baby blue dice, inlaid with flowers and sparkles. They were the exact opposite of Rhea’s dark grey dice with bright teal accents and tiny moons.
“Thanks Fuckboy,” Kaia giggled, ripping into hers, muddy dice with pink flowers that resembled cherry blossoms. Sunday was next, her package filled with yellow dice that contained bright blue jellyfish and plenty of glitter.
“We aren’t going to go easy on you just because you brought us presents,” Cosy said, but there was a new lightness to her voice that wasn’t there before.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said with a smile on my face. Adeline rolled her dark green set in her palm, a soft smile on her face that she extended to me as the other girls found their places at the tables with drinks in their hands.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered, curling her hand around the set and looking over at me.
“It’s just dice,” I said quietly, completely lost in her delicate expression, “totally worth the stress of picking the perfect set for each of them to see that pretty smile.”
“Suck up,” she giggled and gravitated toward me. “Come on.” She led me over to the table and I found a place in the empty chair between her andSunday. While the other girls chatted, Adeline tossed open her well loved leather notebook to a page near the back. “This is you,” she said proudly. I looked down at the little sketch she drew, surprised at how good it was and back at her. “I know you asked for help but I couldn’t sleep the other day and I got a little carried away…” she said.
“What’s his name?” I asked her.
“I was going to let you pick,” she smiled at me but I shook my head.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” I said.
“Okay good, cause I already picked one out,” she beamed with pride, “Venali Elsk.”
I could tell by the look on her face that there was a double meaning to that name, much like the tattoo that painted her thigh, that my fingers were constantly itchy to touch. She had ingrained something in the Dungeons and Dragons character that went beyond just casual. I’d Google it later and probably end up in knots when I remember that she’s leaving.
“It’s amazing,” I cleared my throat, watching the gold in her hazel eyes light up. “Is he an elf?” I asked, brushing my finger over the sketched pointed ears.
“Well kinda, half-elf…” she explained. “Rogue, he’s sneaky and disarming. But in a Robin Hood kind of way,” she trailed off with a little laugh. “I even wrote down that he’s got magpie tendencies and likes to bring gifts to his friends…”
I laughed, turning the page to see what else she wrote down, “you know too much about me Adeline Sarah, it’s getting scary.” I whispered under my breath as I continued to read and her hand snaked up the back of my shirt.
“It’s an optimal min/max build so you can just have fun and not get lost today,” she explained, her wavy hair falling over her shoulders as she tipped her head to catch my eye. “Is it okay?”
“Adeline, it’s fucking incredible,” I praised, “I didn’t even know it could be this involved, it’s cool.” I watched as her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink and if I wasn’t sitting in a room full of her best friends I would have made sure that blush crept to every corner of her body with my lips.
“Here,” Cosy interrupted, “it’s a notebook, I wrote a few things in it on how you’re going to stumble across the group.”
I flipped it open and read what she wrote, “Really?” I laughed at her and all she did was nod. “Alright, I can do this. I took theatre in high school.”
“Did you really?” Kaia questioned from the other side of the table, bringing what looked like a daiquiri to her lips.
“I was Puck in the senior play,” I boasted.
“Like Shakespeare's, a Midsummer Night's Dream?” Rhea asked curiously.
“Yeah, and I was Soda-Pop Curtis in a production two years ago at Harbor U.” I confessed, mostly because the look on their faces was hilarious.
“The jock is a theatre nerd,” Cosy scoffed.
