Page 43 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

JENSEN

“ T here’s no way you do this every day before practice,” Cael whined.

“You’ve done one round of squats, Cody.” Kaia glared at him, her hair braided down in thick cords that hung off her shoulders while she barked orders. “You asked to do this today, if I had known you were a pussy, I wouldn’t have invited you.”

“I like pussy, I’m not a pussy,” Cael snapped his fingers at her. “Besides, Van hasn’t done a single circuit and you aren’t yelling at him.”

“Yell at Van Mitchell? That angel?” Kaia smiled, showing all her teeth as she squatted down across from Cael. “It’s okay if you can’t do it, the girls will understand. This is a hard routine and maybe you’re just too delicate?”

Cael set the weights down on either side of the bench he was perched on and leaned forward into her space with a matching smile and met her energy like a raw live wire sparking, just begging to be touched.

“You’re baiting me, Kaia Keegan and I don’t like it.” Cael gripped the bench.

“Am not, just trying to get a work out in and there are baseball players lying around whining in my way,” she was mocking him. Van scoffed as he lunged past them, his hair pushed back off his face with a bandana.

“I know all the tricks in the book so what do you want out of this? Us to cry, to tell you that you’re stronger than us?” Cael wasn’t phased by her and it was hilarious to watch their interaction as I spotted Adeline on the squat machine.

“I’m offended that you're more interested in that argument than you are my ass in these shorts,” Adeline said, her voice strained from the weight.

“I can multitask,” I whispered in her ear, stepping forward to help her find the hooks for the bar and wrapping my arm around her waist to pull her against me.

My fingers dipped into the front band against her hipbone and drew circles on her skin.

“And you can’t tell me that isn’t interesting.

It’s like watching a cat fight with itself in the mirror. ”

“I didn’t say that, I said pay attention to me instead.” She tilted her head back and I stole the opportunity to kiss a bead of sweat off her throat. She vibrated with delight and the feeling surged through me faster and hotter than any amount of pre-workout could.

“If I focus on your ass, I’ll never get anything done,” I groaned as she pouted up at me.

“Awe and here I thought I was your cardio,” she said with a smile on her face.

“You are, but if you want me to keep those back muscles you like to dig your nails into then I also have to do weights.” I kissed her nose. “Finish your circuit and maybe we can spend the afternoon setting a new cardio PR.”

“Deal,” she giggled, “One more?” She pressed to her toes and I obliged with a soft kiss. I smiled at her as she pulled away, memorizing every bright shade of her eyes. She’s leaving, stop pretending like she’s not.

Keep it easy, keep it uncomplicated.

“One more.” I whispered.

Kaia and Cael were still at each other's throats, both poised to attack but both having too much fun to end the verbal sparring.

“I want your shirt,” Kaia said after a few moments of heated deadlock.

Cael’s eyes darted down to the grey sleeveless fuckboy crop he always wore.

“No,” he laughed. I’d never seen true fear in Cael’s expression until then.

“One full circuit, you have to fail out on your PR and you have to complete every workout I do,” she said, “It shouldn’t be hard.”

“What’s with the shirt?” Adeline asked, walking around to the lat machine and settling on the bench with her arms in the air. I stepped behind her, changing the weight and pulling the handles into her grasp without a second thought.

“That scrap of fabric is Cael’s equivalent to a childhood teddy bear, or a ratty old blanket. It never leaves him, if it’s not on him. It’s in his backpack.” I said, leaning against the machine while she did her reps.

“That’s weird, but also not surprising. ”

“So you admit that you can’t hold up next to a girl in a silly little workout routine?” Kaia pushed with a wicked grin on her face.

“Legs suck, Kaia!” Cael groaned.

“You aren’t doing much to debunk the rumors that Harbor Hornets are pussies,” she said, standing up to her full height. Cael pushed from the bench, towering over her with a tight expression on his face.

“Fine,” he ground out, “one full circuit, if I can’t keep up. You get the shirt.”

“You sure? I don’t want to make you do anything you aren’t ready for…” Kaia teased and Cael took her outstretched hand in a rough handshake.

We continued our workout, moving around the gym as Kaia forced Cael through a grueling leg workout. Every machine was like a death trap to the guy who considered running bases his cardio for the week.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cael work out his legs,” I said to Adeline as she racked a few weights that had been left on the floor by them.

“Good thing you don’t have a game tomorrow, he’s going to be bedridden,” she noted, sitting down on the bench across from me.

I couldn’t have cared less about the competition happening on the other side of the gym, Adeline’s smile growing as everyone clapped for our friends after each rep. I was oddly at home and Cosy’s words settled against my chest in the silence.

You have to be there to see her, win or lose.

“I see you Adeline Sarah,” I whispered, wanting to make sure she knew.

She looked over at me like she always did, sweat running down her neck, cheeks flushed from working hard but today there was a softness in her eyes I hadn’t expected and it knocked the wind out of me.

“What Belle?” I asked her when she didn’t say anything, unsure if she heard the quiet omission, so much softer than the first time I had confessed to her.

“Nothing,” she whispered back, her smile crooked and gentle. I could tell she was happier than usual and it made me want to wrap her up and find a closet where I could enjoy the sweat and heat in private.

“You have to finish!” Kaia hollered, interrupting our moment.

She clapped her hands and cheered Cael on as he struggled with the squat machine.

He grunted hard, pushing his strength into the last motion and managed to click the weight into place before rolling off the machine to the floor.

“We’ve got one left, Cody! Don’t you give up on me! ”

“Fuck off, Keegan. I gotta reorganize my fucking guts after that,” he crawled across the floor to the wall breathlessly, and Kaia followed him with a bottle of water. “Thank you.”

She looked around the gym, her eyes scanning for something.

“What is she looking for?” I asked Adeline, who just smiled.

“Here we go,” she said as Kaia clapped her hands together. The pair were completely in sync with one another without a single word shared. I watched as she leaned forward on the bench in her tiny sports bra.

“Fuck, Adeline. Don’t .” A rumble left my chest at the side of her swollen breasts in the top. I shifted on the bench uncomfortably as my dick tensed in my workout shorts.

“What?” She smiled, looking down at her cleavage.

“Yeah,” I grunted, just trying to get through the last of my bicep curls as she teased me.

“Want to go for a ride?” Kaia called out to her and without hesitation, Adeline popped up from the bench turning her back to the rest of the gym so she could smile at me.

Her eyes scanned quickly, looking for someone but fell back on mine with a smug satisfaction as her fingers came up under the hem of the bra and lifted it free of her glorious tits.

I dropped the dumbbell short of my foot at her brazen behavior, “you’re a brat!” I called out just trying to control myself and my stupidly hard cock.

“Pay attention to my ass next time and I won’t resort to war tactics,” she laughed at me.

“You’re going to pay for that!” I said, still tempted to chase after her as she situated her breasts safely inside, mouthed a tiny I hope so at me and jogged over to Kaia. I’d be stuck to this bench for at least another ten minutes.

I waited until Cael had collected himself to push myself off the bench and abandon my workout to see what Kaia and Adeline were up to.

A crowd of Hornets and Hillcats had circled loosely around a bench in the university gym, watching the competition like it held higher stakes than a stinky old crop top .

“Add a ten,” Kaia said to Rhea, testing the weight out. She was positioned to do hip thrusts on the bench, her long legs stretched out a cushioned bar flat across her hips. Rhea did as she asked, popping a five plate onto each side of the bar. “That’s better,” she tested it again.

“What are you doing?” Cael asked, sinking down beside her on the floor like he couldn’t bear to stand any longer.

“Winning that shirt off your back by an unmistakable margin,” Kaia teased. “Save a horse, ride a cowboy,” she beamed up at Adeline, who had slipped off her shoes and was positioning herself over Kaia.

“What the fuck,” Cael groaned, knowing he was screwed. Sweat soaked his blonde hair and the back of the shirt was drenched down the back and sides, turning everything the darkest shade of grey.

Kaia waited as Adeline perched perfectly, giving her space to get the bar comfy before she started to lower her hips, rising back up with barely any struggle. It was as if Adeline didn’t weigh more than a feather.

“Four,” Adeline counted out, staying perfectly still as her best friend thrust up and down without so much as a grunt of effort.

“This is cruel,” Cael called out, “but I’m not a fucking quitter and you aren’t getting my fucking shirt!” He snapped, but his voice was playful as he pushed off the ground. “Jenny, wanna sit on my dick?”

“No,” I said in disbelief.

“Coward,” Cael scoffed, looking around the gym. “You’re the only one here that won’t kill me! You can’t actually expect me to thrust Van or Dean?”

“I’d add two hundred bucks to the pot just to see you try.” I crossed my arms over my chest and he pouted at me.

“If I hurt myself before the next game you can deal with my dad,” he threatened.

“Or you could just hand over the shirt and admit defeat,” Kaia said with a smile on her face as the count reached twelve.

“She can do this all day,” Sunday added, “we’ve seen her do it.”

“Are you even a human being?” Cael leaned over with his hands on his thighs, bringing his face closer to Kaia.

“Fifteen,” Adeline jabbed as Kaia continued to thrust. “Sixteen. ”

The count was pounding in Cael’s ears, it was written all over his face.

“Seventeen,” she sang out, pretending to yawn. The tiny movement shifted her balance and Kaia’s face scrunched a little to hold her form.

Cael watched them both, no doubt trying to figure out a way to win but came up short, grabbing his shirt with one hand over his back and pulling it over his head in a shift motion before throwing it on the floor at Kaia.

“You win.” He panted, completely spent by the activities.

Kaia didn’t stop though, she just kept going to prove a point. Reaching twenty five she slowed and allowed Adeline to carefully stand up as Van consoled Cael.

“You gotta stop making bets you know you can’t win,” I patted him on the shoulder in passing.