Page 56 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

JENSEN

“ A re you sure I shouldn’t have worn something… I don’t know, nicer?” I asked Adeline, opening the car door. I was in a black shirt, with a dark jean jacket and a pair of nice pants.

“It’s the Hollow, it’s not like we’re having dinner at a five-star restaurant,” she said, pushing up on her toes to fix my hair. “And you’ve already met them.”

“I met one,” I said nervously, “and it was a chaotic night. This is like having to hold an actual conversation with your two very intelligent older brothers.”

“Ew,” she laughed. “They aren’t that smart, or that tough. Besides, if they try to fight you, Boone is working tonight and he has a boy crush on you so he’ll probably back you up.” She patted my chest.

“Probably?” I stilled, “What do you mean, probably?! ” I called after her as she wandered into the Hollow’s front doors.

“Adeline!” The door closed in my face and I yanked it open to follow her inside.

Taylor and Zane sat at a table near the back of the bar, intimidating as ever, both of them glaring at me.

I looked over at Boone who dropped the towel he was using to dry cups with to give me a thumbs up. Super encouraging.

Adeline was already ordering some drinks from the blonde kid I had met the other night, Wren maybe? He was dressed in a uniform tonight and looked less than impressed about it but was still managing to flirt with my girlfriend.

I slid into the stool separating the two of them, and he took his leave to get our drinks.

Adeline eyed me with a tiny smile, knowing all too well that I was too nervous and wound up to be dealing with her shenanigans.

I leaned in, kissing her cheek and ignoring the fact that both her brothers were watching us, waiting for me to say hello .

Adeline first.

Adeline, always.

“Jensen, right?” Taylor said as I straightened out. "We met at the pop up."

“Taylor, and Zane,” I acknowledged them respectfully.

Seeing them all together was weird. They looked similar, in a way most siblings did.

All sharing certain traits but clearly there was a significant age gap between her and them.

She had mentioned once or twice about how she had come along, she called herself a ‘fix it all’ baby.

Claiming she was the one they had to fix the marriage but that was never the case.

“I thought dad was coming?” Adeline said, her voice sounding disappointed but not surprised.

“Stuck in Osaka,” Taylor said. “I warned you not to get your hopes up.”

I looked over at her and her jaw ticked like she was holding on to her emotions by a thread so I weaved my fingers into hers beneath the table in her lap.

“Maybe we can make the trip for Christmas this year,” Zane offered.

“There’s too much going on for that and I’m not wasting money to go visit a man who never puts in an effort,” Taylor abolished the idea before Adeline could voice her opinion.

“Whatever, Tay. Get the stick out of your ass,” Zane groaned.

“I don’t have time to babysit either of your feelings about Dad, just… grow up.” Taylor rolled his eyes. “He’s always going to be flaky and this isn’t something we need to be discussing in front of Adeline's flavor of the month.”

“ Boyfriend ,” Adeline snapped, finding her voice with a vengeance. “And Zane’s right, what is wrong with you today?”

“It was just a long day at work…” Her tone seemed to curb his attitude a little as he sipped on his beer and went quiet.

“You’re the son of that hotel millionaire,” Zane snapped his fingers and Adeline groaned. “I knew I recognized your name. My husband and I stayed in your hotels last spring when we travelled to Italy.”

“The locations there are by far the nicest,” I tried to hold a steady conversation as Adeline’s finger dug into my hand beneath the table.

“Quit being weird,” she said to Zane with a tiny huff .

“So why are you playing baseball if your career is basically a shoo-in?” Taylor asked, the tone in his voice accusatory like he was trying to make me seem less than what I was.

I shifted on my stool. “Because I’m good at baseball,” I answered easily. “Really good.”

“Yeah but if you haven’t gotten drafted yet the chances are low you go pro.” He challenged.

“Not necessarily, I’ve had offers but I wanted to play with the Hornets.” I explained.

“Why?” Taylor asked and I heard Adeline huff but I just rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand.

He was trying to rile me up and I knew it was the right of her older brothers to do so.

Ask questions that might be uncomfortable or weird and even with quiet being my default setting I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind, or stand up for something I had faith in.

I smiled at him, collecting my thoughts.

“Because I wanted to get the most of my time with my family, with my friends. I'm young, my life is just starting and yes I’m entitled to my parents fortune, but it doesn’t make me entitled .

I value hard work and loyalty. My team has one game left to play and to most of the guys on that field.

This championship means everything, so I’m going to put my best in and I’m not going to leave them until they say it’s okay to go.

Because I don’t take my privilege for granted, I use it to my advantage. ”

Zane clapped his hands leaning back in his chair as Taylor eyed me for a long time. “He’s good,” Zane laughed, “I like him.”

“Didn’t need your approval,” Adeline groaned, taking her drink straight from Wren’s hand as he circled around.

“Wouldn't have asked us to dinner if you didn’t want it,” Zane mimicked in a similar voice and it was clear who was closer in age. Taylor’s jaw was still clenched tightly as I drank but it wasn’t a harsh glare anymore, it had softened into a mild annoyance. I’d take that.

The rest of dinner was spent fielding questions from the both of them.

What my life looked like before Adeline, what my family was like, who my friends were, what classes I was taking.

They barely spoke to her, every once and while Zane would make an off handed comment and the two of them would start bickering back and forth until Taylor put an end to the fight by clearing his throat.

By the time I had grasped the full scope of their family dynamic both brothers were excusing themselves from dinner to get back home.

“You survived!” Boone slammed two shots down on the table. Adeline jumped from the sound, a giggle dripping from her that made me wanna melt into her completely.

“What is that?” I stared at the amber liquid.

“Peach schnapps and Fireball.” Boone looked at the overfilled shot glass proudly.

“That sounds incredible,” I said at the same time that Adeline warned not to drink it. I tapped mine against his and lifted it to my lips with instant regret. Whatever was in the shot glass was not either of those things, but pure homebrewed cinnamon moonshine.

I gagged but swallowed it down as Boone slammed his empty shot glass on the table laughing. “They never learn,” he scoffed, scooping my empty glass in his fingers and patting me on the back as he went back to the bar. “Good job tonight, kid!” He hollered as he went.

“Take me home?” Adeline asked after I got the brutal coughing out of my system.

“You drive, whatever was in that just put me well over the legal limit of being alive,” I coughed again, the threat of a vomit very real. Adeline giggled, pulling the keys from my back pocket.

“Thanks for putting up with them tonight,” Adeline said, stripping from her shirt in front of the bed.

Her reflection in the mirror behind her was glorious.

Her perfect ass hugged tightly in a pair of dark lace underwear and bathed in what moonlight was pouring through her massive apartment windows .

“Don’t move,” I said to her, laying across the bed in my shorts as she undressed.

“What are you doing?” she asked, crossing her arm over her bare chest and tilting her head to the side. In that moment she looked unreasonably soft, but not fragile, never that. Adeline was carved from marble.

“Committing you to memory.”

Her playful expression softened and she let her arms drop to her side with a tiny exhale. I stared at her in awe, she was so beautiful it radiated across my chest in bursts of warmth.

“Give me my phone,” she wiggled her fingers toward the bed where she had thrown it when we came into the apartment. I reached across, grabbing for it with a confused look on my face as she unlocked it.

When she turned away from me I swallowed tightly to muffle the whine that threatened to leave my throat. I wanted to trace my hand down the soft curve of her spine and connect all the freckles along her back until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

I moved on the bed to rest on my elbows and watch as she positioned herself in front of the mirror taking photos with her phone. I tangled my hands into the sheets trying to be patient as she took them but all I wanted to do was touch her.

There was a peaceful haze that settled over me and even though tomorrow would be the hardest game we’d ever play, I wasn’t worried.

If every single thing went wrong and we came out the other end short of the championship, I’d be okay.

I had found another place to store my soul, staring up at her in the moonlight. I knew she was it.

Adeline was where I felt at home.

“There,” she said, setting the phone back on the bed. My phone vibrated next to my hand and I looked over at it to see a message from her.

You earned some new ones.

I smiled down at the phone, flipping through the few she sent, knowing they were just for me. Chucking it aside, I leaned forward, wrapping my hand around her thigh and pulling her onto the bed. She collapsed in a soft puddle of skin against my chest with a sad smile on her face.

“Which one is your favorite?” She asked, just like she had before.

“Mine,” I replied without hesitation, only that time I wasn’t talking about the photos. I brushed the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip and gently kissed her, soaking up all the sadness in her bones.

“I officially signed the deal this morning,” she whispered when I pulled away.

I stared at her, swallowing down the fear trying to tell me that it was the wrong decision.

That maybe I was moving too fast, holding on too tight but my heart raced every time I saw her, and whether I liked it or not Adeline had brought the strings to our relationships and had been tying the knots since the day I met her.

Ones I had no intention of untangling.

“When do we leave?” I asked her, holding my breath when her eyes widened and her body tensed.

“I’ll probably go meet the—”

“No, when does the season start?” I rephrase my question for her.

“What?” Adeline pulled back from me, placing her hand on my chest but I grabbed her wrist, pressing it to my lips and tugged her body back flush with mine.

“When do we need to be in California, Adeline?” I asked her, giving her palm a kiss.

“August fifteenth.” She said, her brows still pinched together tightly.

“Alright that gives us some time after the season is done to get moved, I think we should skip an apartment and go straight to a house and before you argue you should see my bank account—”

“Jensen!” Adeline snapped.

“What, baby ?” I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up from me at her sudden outburst. “A house is more practical and has better investments. We’ll be there for a little while and I’d rather own…” I rambled until she stopped me.

“What are you talking about?” She sounded like she was on the verge of tears when I grabbed her face and squeezed.

“I’m coming with you,” I said .

“You can’t just—” I kissed her hard to silence her argument.

“Contrary to popular belief, I can. ” I said when I pulled back, “I made the decision a while ago. It’s my last season with Harbor, and there’s a new hotel going up in San Francisco.”

“Harbor is your home, Jensen. You shouldn’t sacrifice that to watch me chase my dreams,” she said softly, her throat bobbing to keep from crying.

“No, no. Harbor will always be my home, and I have spent my entire life trying everything once in search of that feeling but I never had a dream, Adeline.” I kissed her nose, my thumb brushing over her cheek, “not until I met you.”

Her lips parted to argue, and again I stole the air from her, not willing to listen to whatever dull argument she was ready to start. “I’m not going back to text messages and rain checks,” I said to her. “I want early mornings, late nights, gym dates, and long baths with you.”

She sighed and I shook my head at her.

“I want every rough touch, every hard kiss, and to talk shit with you face to face, Adeline Sarah.” Her face lit up at the words, it was exactly how we loved one another. "No long distance."

“Touch rough,” Adeline said, threading her fingers into my hair with a tug.

“Kiss hard,” she reminded just how so with a crushing kiss that melted her to me in a pile of rampant nerves that neither of us could control.

“Talk shit,” she pulled back breathlessly and scowled at me with tears in her eyes, “you’re fucking insane.”

“Only about you.” I whispered and I meant it.

“Are you serious about this?” She questioned carefully. Scared that I wasn’t.

“Yeah, Adeline. You’re where I belong.”