Page 31 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

SARAH

M y body was still recovering from being sick but for the first time in a week, my lungs weren’t burning from taking a walk.

I pushed through the locker room doors to find most of the girls getting ready for the game.

Doechii blasted over the speakers in the corner as everyone pulled into their gear slowly.

At least it was nice out today, the rain had cleared up and the sun returned to dry up all the fields, restoring them to grass instead of the giant mud pits they previously were.

I tossed my duffle into my locker and stripped from my tights as Sunday plopped herself down between Rhea’s legs to get her hair done.

The scouts would be here today, they’d be here all week. But I was desperate to make a good impression. Rugby wasn’t just a sport, it was an outlet, a dream, a way of life for me.

I remember the day I saw the forms for the high school team sitting on the teachers desk in the gym office.

I had come off the field from track and a little feral voice told me to pick that form up.

I brought the form home, maybe hoping it would warrant a reaction, I didn’t really care what kind.

Maybe mom would flip out and tell me no or Dad would give me the talk about how dangerous it was.

But instead they floated around me and forgot to sign the forms the night before try outs so I forged their signatures and brought it in.

Coach Gunthry immediately created space for me, he was quick and attentive with every player on the field.

He worked hard to help foster our skills and there was never an instance where I felt left behind or forgotten.

My brothers made it to two games that year, and even less the following.

But even after graduation, the girls from my high school team attended every college game I played. They never missed one.

My parents never attended one.

Rugby wasn’t just a fun way to keep active. It was the family I never had, it was mine and no one else’s and it made me feel unstoppable. Kaia clicked her teeth beside me, “How are you feeling?”

“Better, I can’t believe no one else got sick.” I groaned, shoving my feet into my cleats.

“You just have a sweet baby immune system,” Kaia said, reaching out and pinching my cheek. I swatted her hand away and growled a warning. “Touchy,” she hissed. “I know it’s not your stupid brothers, the only thing that might rattle you is your parents. Are they here?”

“Hah,” I huffed. “Never. Mom would sooner be caught dead than sitting in the stands.”

It was true, even as I got better and started to get noticed for my talent, none of them cared. It was always fake enthusiasm and lack of interest, they were just too busy to pay attention and their lack of attentiveness only made me work harder.

“Okay, well.” She grumbled and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her. “If that scout is already under your skin, we’re going to lose today.”

“The scout is not under my skin,” I said to her, my eyes never leaving hers, “and we aren’t losing today.”

Kaia scanned my expression and when she determined I was confident in my response she nodded and loosened her grip on my face to tap my cheeks with her fingers.

“You hear that, girls?” She raised her voice, her eyes still on mine as a smile formed on her face, “We aren’t losing today!

” She surged from the bench and started jumping around the locker room to the music.

The scout was most definitely under my skin.

Today mattered more than any other day.

I rolled out my shoulders, following them out onto the field for warmups and scanned the crowd. It was one of the rare occasions that a Hornet’s game overlapped a Hillcats and my heart sank unexpectedly not seeing him in the stands but I couldn’t let it get to me. We had to win .

Our strengths lied in the fact that the Hurricanes would underestimate our abilities to keep them pinned down but Cosy and Rhea had been running new drills and we were more than ready to shut them down out there.

The logical preparations did ease the rampant anxiety that flowed through my chest as the stands rumbled loudly and the team talked amongst themselves.

“Do you see them?” Kaia asked, sinking to the grass beside me. I shook my head. “Okay, you looked once, that's enough. Keep your eyes on the field now, play like they aren’t here.”

“What if I don’t impress them, Kaia?” I asked her, stretching my arm over my chest.

“Why is that even an option in your mind?” She countered, following my motion.

“Because it’s an option rooted in reality.

There’s a chance that no matter how hard I play today, they just don’t care.

Maybe my style isn’t what they’re looking for…

” I could go on but my words died on my tongue.

I flipped over, pushing my hips into the ground to get them loose and Kaia mirrored my movement coming face to face with me.

“You’re the fastest girl on the field, Minty.” She said and I narrowed my eyes on her because Kaia Keegan would rather die than admit I was faster. She was being too nice. “I mean it, today I mean it. No teasing, or joking. It’s you, if anyone is going to get to the big leagues, it’s you .”

“You’re sugarcoating it to make me feel better,” I sighed.

“I’m being serious,” she responded with a sigh.

“You are exactly what they want. You’re trying to lower your standards so you aren’t disappointed and I get that, Addy, I do.

But you’ve worked so hard to get to this game and it would be a waste of all that time spent proving everyone wrong to give up now.

” Kaia stared at me with her mean, dark brown eyes and waited for the confidence to click back in place.

“This is the one place you aren’t invisible, you made sure of that. You wanted this attention, now own it.”

I inhaled and held my breath before letting it out again with a sharp nod.

“That’s my girl.”

It was a long game of back and forth. The second the whistle was blown to start, the Hurricane’s were all over us. We were and always would be a team of speed but it didn’t mean we weren’t prepared to defend ourselves when the time came.

Kaia and Rhea had taken back to back turns in the sin bin after Amber had found a spare second to take a cheap shot on Sunday.

Shortly after Amber was subbed out for another girl and the game went back to fair play but their blood was already boiling and both teams were more concerned on protecting then they were running.

We needed to refocus if we wanted to win this game.

“Watch for Kiely,” Cosy was out of breath as we pushed back to allow Sunday to kick the ball. We needed one more good drive and we’d win with a comfortable point gap but the Hurricanes were playing like the intense cardio wasn't affecting them and all of the Hillcats were running on steam.

Sunday looked to me as we clicked into place in unison and she kicked a high, hanging kick that floated through the air and gave me time to rush the field.

Rhea stayed on my tail and protected my body as I surged through the air to get the ball in my hands and regain possession before Kiely, the Hurricanes best back, charged to do the same.

When my toes hit the turf, she was there but Rhea was faster, blocking the lunge and taking the tackle to open the lane on my right.

I could hear two more Hurricane players narrowing in on either side of me from behind, barely a yard out and the sound of their cleats ripping into the earth fueled me faster.

I could see Kaia out of the corner of my eye, and passed the ball hard.

It hit her with a slap and she was able to avoid the tackle with precision before swinging back around and passing it backward into me.

The crowd was electric for the two of us, but we still had a little to go without getting caught up for the confusing play to be worth the trouble.

“Left,” Kaia yelled and I pushed off that foot chucking the ball to her.

She moved in a smooth one eighty just like we had run a hundred times and popped out on my right with a determined grin on her face.

She didn’t have to say a word, she hurled the ball toward me from the right and I extended my arms as it slammed into my stomach and I wrapped it up.

I didn’t stumble a single step as I took off, mere yards from the line and perfectly centered beneath the uprights.

I slid out of reach of the attacker and rolled until the ball was between me and the grass and the try was called fair.

A loud barrage of whistling and screaming came from behind me in the stands and I turned to see half the Hornet’s team, sweaty and red faced screaming in celebration.

My heart was racing, they must have come straight from their game to catch the tail end of ours.

Jensen was bear hugging an excited Van, his hair damp from a quick shower but his gaze snapped to mine and he gave me a wink as I backed away slamming into the chest of Rhea and Kaia who were ready to do celebrating of their own.

“You caught it!” Kaia screamed as Rhea hauled me up onto her shoulders. “You caught it from the right side, you beautiful bitch!” She slammed into Rhea who took the hit with grace and managed to keep me balanced as we traipsed to center field to shake hands.

She set me back on the ground for Cosy and Sunday to wrap me up. “Stunning,” Cosy hissed with a smile, “feels good to win this one.”

“Damn right it does, now let’s party.” I hollered and wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we filed into line.

We shook hands and as we made our way back to the tunnel a set of arms wrapped around my middle tightly.

Jensen's lips nuzzled against my sweaty neck as he lifted me off the ground against his chest.

“Hi Belle,” he purred, turning me around and lifting me off the ground until I was wrapped around his waist with my hands resting on his shoulders.

“Hi Lover,” I said with a whisper, before I grabbed his chin, angled his head to the side and kissed the lover tattoo behind his ear.

“You must have won, look at the smile on you,” I said, stealing a kiss from his lips, one hand wrapping around my middle his other finding its way up my back to my neck as he deepened it.

He smiled against my lips as he broke away with a tiny chuckle.

“By three runs,” he hummed. “You looked incredible out there.”

I scrunched my nose up, “Let’s hope it's enough to impress the scouts.” I blurted without thinking and watched as something flickered across his face that he hid well but not fast enough.

I hadn’t really thought about what I was losing if everything worked out the way I wanted, but I pushed aside the feeling and kissed Jensen again, distracting us both from the unknown.