Page 1 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

SARAH

“ A ddy!” My name was called through the thick crowd of people that flooded the concourse, but Cosy’s voice traveled through the noise and carried me toward them.

Kaia was waving a piece of licorice in Sunday’s face, laughing as it hit her in the nose.

Her brown hair was cut short around her jaw, and her smile was infectious as Sunday tried to swipe the candy out of the air with only her teeth.

She was wearing a Hornet’s jersey under her jean jacket and her long dirty blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and through her baseball cap.

“Look who showed up,” Sunday said, her head turning to look at me as I approached them. Cosy scowled at her and threw her arm around me. Her dark red hair brushed against my cheek as she pulled me in for the hug.

The stadium was buzzing with playoff energy as we wandered down through the sea of bodies to our seats. It wasn’t often that we got our hands on spare tickets so when Cosy’s brother Van offered them up it was rare we passed on them.

“We’re here.” She pointed at the four seats that were sandwiched between the Hornet’s dugout and the fence.

The view of the in-field from this position was insane but I always preferred our normal seats further back.

I liked to see all the action, from here all we would see was the batter's box and the pitchers mound.

Even the view of the third was obscured.

“So excited to stare at the catcher's ass for three hours,” I said, sinking down into my seat between Cosy and Kaia.

“Are you complaining about baseball pants right now?” Kaia scoffed. “We come here to objectify men, Addy. It’s the main reason. ”

“I come to cheer for my brother.” Cosy shook her head, but the smile on her face gave away the amusement.

“And your brother,” Kaia said, a wicked grin building on her face. “Has a top ten Hornet ass.”

“You have a list?” I asked.

Kaia was the kind of pretty that made me envy every inch of her.

From her high cheekbones and bright smile, to her dark almond eyes and thick brown hair that complemented her golden skin.

Even worse, she was a boy's worst nightmare, wild and unchained.

She said what she meant and always meant exactly what she said.

“Of course I do,” she said, reaching down between us as she grabbed the roster card that was shoved between the sheets. “Do you have a pen?” She turned to Sunday, who dug one out of her small purse with a tiny giggle.

“Colton Todd, flat, needs to do more squats. Dougie, too white there's nothing there. Mattheson, Hamilton and Reyes… shameful. Louis...” She tapped the paper and then pointed to second base. For a moment, I thought we might have gotten to the good stuff. “Cute ass but not a good shape.” She moved her hands in a loose circle and pouted, “There’s no grab-ability.”

“That’s not a word,” I said but continued to listen.

“It is now,” Sunday said, ripping open her bag of M&Ms and dropping the lot of them into her popcorn.

“Now, top five, Cael Cody, shortstop, fifth place. Do you want to know why?” She asked me with a serious tone in her voice.

“You’re going to tell me anyway,” I guessed.

“Correct,” she said, booping my nose with the pen, “he’s got a great ass, but it doesn’t hold up in sweatpants. That’s a waste.”

“Does he know this?” I laughed.

“Van Mitchell,” she continued, and Cosy pretended to gag.

“Fourth place, really nice but he’s just too tall. No offense,” she said to Cosy.

“None taken, you aren’t ogling my ass,” she huffed.

“I have before, you’re top three Hillcats,” Kaia said to her.

“Awe, really?” Cosy cooed, suddenly a little more into the conversation .

“Yeah right behind Rhea and this fat ass.” She winked at me. “Thighs for days,” she added with a smile when I stared at her. “Back to the list, Dean ‘Golden Boy’ Tucker,” she emphasized. “That man is built like a brick wall and his ass is proof that a higher power exists.”

“The first baseman?” Sunday asked, and Kaia nodded before continuing.

“Then there’s Arlo,” she sighed wistfully.

“Isn’t he retired?” I asked and Kaia shrugged.

“The list is timeless, and his ass is Harbor legend in baseball pants. The calendar tells no lies and memorializes it for all of eternity,” she said.

“So who’s number one then?” I asked.

“Jensen.” Kaia’s smile widened as her head turned to the field. The pen slipped between her teeth, and she sighed as her eyes found a player standing with his helmet under his arm chatting with the Hornets' Coach. “ That’s an ass.”

She wasn’t wrong. His other hand was on his hip as he looked at whatever was on the clipboard. He had insanely strong legs that pushed the boundaries of his ball pants in every way possible, leading up to the conversation piece at hand.

“Okay, yeah. That is a really nice ass,” I said, swallowing tightly as he turned to look out to the field where the Coach pointed.

His dark hair was messy and sticking off the front of his head in damp peaks that moved every time he nodded.

The sun bathed across his olive skin and his jaw tightened as he squinted into the bright light with a focused expression on his face.

I leaned forward in my seat to admire the way his nose swooped and how his brows pinched together.

He pointed in the same direction and his tattooed-covered arm flexed tightly. I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my lips or the heat that crept up my neck at the sight of his bicep and strong forearm. It wasn’t just his ass that he had going for him.

He was everything.

“Oh, we’re leaning?” Kaia sat back from me with a smile on her face, “do you think Jensen is cute?” she lowered her voice like he was in ear shot and I laughed at her, pushing her shoulder playful.

“No,” I said, shaking my head yes.

Very much so .

“You shook your head yes and you’ve glossed over like that time we did LSD,” Sunday said, her head tilting sideways.

“Oh she absolutely has the hots for the Catcher,” Kaia said, louder this time and I reached over to pinch her.

“Shut up,” I warned her and she just laughed, turning back in her seat as the game started.

“Jensen is one of the older players,” Cosy said as Kaia became distracted with cheering. “He’s kind of a floater, but Van always has good things to say about him. I guess he’s never had a serious girlfriend. Four years of college. I don’t know if he’s a serial booty call or what.”

“Really?” I asked, watching as he sank low behind the batter's box. He focused on the pitcher, their silent communication was fun to watch as they readied to throw the first pitch. I looked over at Cosy again, “that feels so weird. Aren’t Catchers supposed to be playboys?”

“Yeah. Van is always trying to set him up with girls and he never takes the bait,” Cosy popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth. “He’s so polite though, he came to our house for Easter last year, he did all the dishes after dinner.”

I looked back to the field as the Ump called the strike. Jensen stood to his full height and I heard Kaia sigh as her head cocked to the side to admire his ass.

Cosy’s insight did nothing to quell the butterflies in my chest. It had been a long time since the mere sight of a man had any effect but there was an air about him that acted like a magnet.

Two whole innings went by and still every time he came out it was like something had come over me.

When he took off his mask to wave to people in the crowd we were greeted by a smile that could cut glass.

Sharp and bright, it was perfectly lopsided and did unspeakable things to my nerves.

I stuffed it down and chalked up the lightness in my chest to nausea.

“I’m going to go get something to eat,” I declared as the third inning started.

The Hornets gave up two runs in the second but the kid at the concessions counter promised me that it was a strategy and they’d come back in the third.

He handed me the bag of gummy cola bottles and a bottle of water with a huge smile on his brace filled face.

When I finally sank back into my seat the Hornets were up to bat in the bottom of the third .

“What happened?” I asked Kaia.

“They went down one,” she said, “but you got back just in time.” She nudged me with her elbow. “Have you ever seen a real life angel?” She asked as I caught sight of who she was talking about.

Jensen was free of his catcher gear.

“Wow,” I huffed quietly, pausing, I held a piece of candy between my teeth as he rolled out his shoulders. We were granted peeks of more tattoos as his jersey stretched and shifted over his chest and biceps with the stretches.

He came up to the box and gave his bat another swing.

“Hey, twelve! Did it hurt?” Kaia stood up in her seat and yelled.

Jensen turned and it felt like everything was moving in slow motion when his eyes landed on mine. His expression shifted from focused to what might have been marvel. “Huh?” he said from his spot in the dirt, dropping his bat but never his gaze.

There was no way he didn’t hear her.

“When you fell from heaven, did it hurt?” Kaia asked him loudly enough for the Ump to shush her. “Oh buzz off,” she stuck her tongue out.

“Number twelve,” the Ump warned and Jensen’s attention shifted but his goofy smile remained as he turned on the base.

As the pitcher threw the ball he turned around again, the ball whizzing by his head into the catcher's mitt.

“Jensen!” The Coach barked from the dugout, “what the fu—”

His curse was drowned out by the Ump calling the strike.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” He asked me over the sound of everyone screaming.

I shook my head, a small amused smile forming on my lips.

His brows pinched together and he looked like he wanted to ask another question but he slowly fixed his position as the pitcher readied for another throw. Jensen dropped his bat at the last moment and spun around again.

“Are you sure? You were at Delta last weekend, weren’t you?” He pointed it at me and I shook my head again.

“Hey dipshit! Stop fucking around!” Dean Tucker yelled from the dugout, his body leaning over the banister to scream at Jensen on the plate .

Jensen looked more confused than ever but also like he was enjoying it?

“He’s losing his shit,” Kaia laughed at my side.

“Him and everyone else,” Cosy said over the sound of the stadium growing restless.

Jensen missed his third swing, completely striking out. He turned to look at me as he walked backward off the plate. For a man that just cost his team a run in the playoffs he didn’t look like it bothered him for a second. He was smiling like an idiot.

“Is he drunk?” Sunday asked, her confusion palpable.

He was accosted the second he stepped down into the dugout and disappeared under the covering but the screaming could be heard even over the fans. When they came back out on the field in the fourth, the team had recouped and were up by three.

“What’s your name?” Jensen asked, pulling my focus to him from the scoreboard.

“Why do you need my name?” I asked back.

He inhaled like he had been holding his breath and that stupid grin returned.

“Cause I swear I know you,” he said. His coach was barking at him again and he looked over his shoulder quickly before looking back at me. “And if I don’t, I want a proper introduction.”

“You should probably worry about the game,” I suggested and sat back in my chair.

I could see the thoughts turning behind his eyes as he pulled the cage over his face and got ready for the inning.

“You’re going to get us kicked out,” Kaia huffed with a pride-filled smile and it only made me laugh.

“Can they do that?” I asked, looking at Cosy who just shrugged.

The batter struck out twice before he repositioned and hit a ball into the outfield and took second. The second the play was dead Jensen turned and ripped off his mask.

“How can I take you on a date if I don’t know your name?” He yelled up to me and I swear the entire Hornets dug out hollered as a collective.

He pulled his cage back down and returned to the game .

“You’d think he’d be frustrated?” Kaia smiled down at him.

“I think… it’s turning him on…” Sunday added with a burst of laughter.

It definitely was. It was vibrating off him with every play, like he was itching to get back to being a flirt.

I shifted in my seat and chewed on the candy to settle my nerves.

It was getting harder and harder to deny him.

His smile and impressive willpower seemingly ate away at my resolve with every turn, glance, question.

I was a goner.

But I had gotten a taste for driving him insane and the way it made me feel was like a rush of adrenaline.

I wasn't quite ready to give up just yet.

The inning went by fast, the defense shut them down hard and the opposing team only brought in two runs before they were switching out.

Every inning got harder to watch as the teams traded runs and the sun dropped in the sky.

The last inning came around and as the lights in the stadium flickered on with a resounding buzz the Hornets were up for their last bat.

It was hard fought and by the time Jensen came out to bat, the bases were loaded, and Harbor needed every single run to win the game.

He didn’t even bother to set up on the plate that time, he walked toward the fence and stared across the distance at me.

His hair was sweaty and stuck up in messy brown peaks as he curled his fingers into the cage.

“Let me take you on a date,” he pleaded instead of being phased by the rowdy crowd and even more pissed off teammates. “You say we’ve never met, prove it, let me take you on a date!”

“Jensen, I will bench you!” His coach hollered from the dugout.

“You aren’t a very good baseball player,” I said with a smile.

“Ouch,” he said in a lower tone that stirred an unknown heat in the pit of my stomach as his brows furrowed together and a smirk formed on that unreasonably handsome face. “Give me one chance,” he said, that same husky tone carrying through all the noise.

“Fine.” I looked out at the bases, ignoring the desperate pleas for Jensen to play the game before he got fined or kicked off the plate.

“Yeah?” he smiled, his body pressing against the cage.

“I’ll go on a date with you if you bring everyone home,” I challenged him, and he looked behind him at the bases .

“Child’s play,” he said, his cheeky smile growing confident.

“With a bunt,” I added, leaning on the railing that separated us. “And I get to pick the date!”

“Get in the box, Number Twelve or you can leave the game and give your team an out,” the Ump ordered but Jensen just stared me down with that dumb look on his face.

“Deal.”