Page 58 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

JENSEN

J osh stood in front of me on the pitchers mound, dripping in sweat from the lights after four hard-fought innings. “Harris is fucking killing us,” he rolled the ball in his glove.

“How’s your elbow?” I asked him and earned a death glare. “Doc told me to keep an eye on you, answer the question.”

“It’s fine,” Josh snapped. “I don’t know how to beat him on the mound,” he said, his eyes darting around as he tried to come up with a solution.

“Your best pitch is a cutter,” I offered, “Use it.”

“I haven’t thrown one in months,” he huffed. Because it hurts to do it. I stared at him for a long second. We were running out of options.

“I thought your elbow was fine?” I poked.

“It is.” His eyes narrowed on mine, the lights of the stadium buzzing brightly above us as a reminder that we were constantly being watched.

“Then throw the cutter,” I said quietly, backing off the mound and pulling my cage down over my head.

Harris approached the box and swung out his shoulders with his bat as Josh set up on the mound.

I watched Josh, the same way I watched him every game.

Counting his every breath, waiting for each finger to tap the stitching around the ball, check left, check left and right.

Always more confident in his shortstop than his second baseman.

But the right had been checked twice lately. His faith was breaking.

I stood up calling a time out and the ump gave me a dirty look as I said it again louder that time. Coach was quick to follow, storming the field as I bombarded Josh .

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Josh snarled as we both approached and Coach’s face told me he had a similar question.

“It’s not your elbow,” I said.

“Yeah I fucking know that, Jensen!” Josh got louder, only for Coach to put a hand out.

“We don’t have time for cryptic,” he warned me.

“He’s looking for Cael,” I said in a quiet hiss.

“No I’m not,” Josh scowled but his jaw ticked uncomfortably and I knew I was right.

“Four breaths, five fingers, check left twice, right once. Pitch.” I repeated the actions back to him. “It’s what you’ve done all season, until Cael got hurt. Now you check right twice. It’s making you unbalanced.”

Coach stared at me and then at Josh, his mind turning.

Without a word, he waved down our third base coach, Peter. “I need you not to argue with me right now, but give your jacket to Cael and put him out on the line.”

“What?” Peter scoffed.

“Just do it.” Coach barked and Peter took off toward the dugout, stripping from his jacket and handing it over to a confused Cael. Josh stared at me, his anger rolling off him in waves.

“Now pitch.” I jabbed and for a second I thought that Josh might hit me but he only looked over his right shoulder to find Cael.

“Fuck you, Jensen,” Josh said, but a small smirk formed on his lips.

He hated it but it worked, Harris wasn’t a match for the three balls that came at him. Josh had struck him out.

“There we fucking go!” I yelled across the gap and Josh just shook his head.

He managed to cold snap the entire inning, not a single run went out. Only two hits and both were flies.

“How did you know that would work?” Dean asked me as I stripped from my mask.

“I didn’t,” I said, with a shrug. “We’re all creatures of habit, Josh more than anyone. He just felt off balance without Cody behind him.”

“Good call.” He slapped me on the back and went up to hit .

Two fights and six runs later, we were exhausted, just dragging our feet to finish the game on a high note. Portland had two bases full, and if we shut them down here, it would all be over. The championship would be ours.

I turned around and looked back at the stands, Zoey, Adeline, Drew and August all sat with nervous faces watching on. There was a pack of empty cola bottles in her lap and she was stress eating her way through the second one.

She saw me looking at her and scowled, “ pay attention ,” she mouthed before blowing me a kiss and leaning over to listen to what Zoey was saying.

Win or lose, my life was pretty fucking great.

I turned back to Josh, his dark eyes determined.

However, I didn’t want to lose. I wanted to win, for me, for Josh. For all of us.

I waited, watching Josh go through his motions, and when he threw that final pitch, I knew it was over before it even slapped into the back of my glove.

My palm stung, flickers of painful fireworks exploding across my muscle as I shot from the ground in celebration.

Gloves flew off in every direction, and the entire stadium roared to life the second the out was called.

The entire team surged toward the middle of the field, but I put on the brakes before grabbing Josh and offered him a wicked grin instead.

“Damn good job,” I said before being lifted off the ground by Van and spun around in the air over his shoulder. I ruffled my hand through his hair, screaming alongside him as the rest of the team began to celebrate in the infield.

Josh turned, waiting for Dean who shoved into and out of a few sloppy hugs before wrapping his hands around Josh’s face and kissing him hard. The team erupted in cheers as the two of them flashed across the massive LED screens around the stadium.

Cael whistled loudly while being jostled, his face plastered with the biggest smile we’d seen from him in a long time. Confetti exploded above us, dripping over the stadium in blue and gold snowflakes.

“I can’t believe that fucking worked!” Cael said to me as Van finally dropped me in favor of Zoey. She ran across the field and crashed into him as he lifted her to his chest .

“Me either,” I yelled back over the noise. “Who knew he liked you enough to have it affect his game,” I joked and Cael started to laugh.

“I’m going to miss you, man,” Cael said, his smile a little shaky.

“What, you don’t know how to use the phone?” I teased, understanding his cagey behavior around people leaving. He laughed, shaking his head. “Idiot, come here.” I held out my arms to him, and he wrapped me up in a tight hug, kissing my cheek roughly as I messed up his hair.

“That’s my cue,” he huffed, letting go of me and spinning me around to see Adeline standing a few feet away in the chaos. The jersey hung off her body, showing off every loveable curve and her hair was pulled back into two loose, messy ribbon adorned braids.

“Did it hurt?” I said to her and she shook her head.

“That’s Kaia’s line,” she laughed.

“Answer the question.” I stepped forward, narrowly getting tangled up by the dog pile that started to my left. “When you fell from heaven, did it hurt?”

She shook her head gently at my teasing, “Do I know you?” She smiled so hard it created lines around her eyes.

“I could have sworn we’ve met before,” I whispered as I surged forward and wrapped her up in my arms. She yelped as her feet left the ground and she buried her face in my neck, peppering my sweaty skin with light kisses. “I’d know those pretty little noises anywhere.”

“You know, I think I figured it out,” Adeline said, leaning back in my arms with her hands flat to my shoulders.

“Figured what out?” I grumbled playfully, stealing the sweat from her jaw with a tiny kiss and nip.

“What do you love more than chicken wings? You said ‘ ask me later .’ But it’s baseball, it’s this.” She said so confidently I almost didn’t want to tell her she was wrong.

I shook my head softly, and her brows knitted together angrily.

“What else could it be? You’re just being obtuse.” Adeline scowled.

“ You. ” I said without hesitation, kissing her pouty bottom lip.

“Me? That was months ago,” she shook her head in disbelief.

“That’s why I told you to ask me later. ”

“I didn’t mean—you know what, never mind, shut up and kiss me.”

She raked her hands over my head and tangled her fingers into the messy hair at my nape, pulling me closer and taking what she wanted without waiting. I squeezed her tightly against me, my fingers digging into her thighs as she swiped her tongue into my mouth and deepened our connection.

“There’s a party at Delta!” Dean yelled in passing, throwing championship hats at everyone who looked at him.

“Meet at home first,” Arlo barked, his arm flung over Ella’s shoulder. “Do your press, shower. One hour.” He ordered.

We found ourselves laying around the deck with drinks talking over the game. Once we had gone through the round of questions from every reporter on this side of the country, we showered and did as we were told.

Arlo was late and Dean had already started to get restless about it.

“What do you think he wants?” He asked. “He can’t possibly want to go over the game already? We have all summer.”

“Sit down,” Josh reached for him, as he paced on the deck.

Like clockwork, the moment his ass was on the bench, Arlo came around the side of the house with Silas in tow. Both were smiling as they took the steps up to stand on the deck in the middle of all of us.

Ella sat with Zoey against the opposite wall, her head resting on her shoulder as she watched Arlo with so much love in her eyes and it only made me turn my attention back to Adeline.

She looked up at me, stars glimmering in her eyes, seated between my legs on the ground and raised her eyebrows in question only for me to shrug.

“You’re going to let me get through this or no one is going to Delta but I have something I need to say,” Arlo said roughly, causing Silas to chuckle. “What?” He scowled .

“You could have started with hello or a good job,” Silas just shook his head gently.

“Good job…” The words sounded painful.

“Alright Buddy, A for effort…” Silas patted his back.

Arlo shifted uncomfortably, he never had been good at the whole speech thing but still managed to pump one out every game night for the last five years. The guys all watched on quietly as he worked himself up to it.

“Silas and I were here when the Nest went up, just two idiot kids running around a giant mud pit looking for trouble anywhere we could find it. We watched them frame every wall, lay every tile, paint every wall. We were there when Mrs. Shore picked out the furniture, and there, when she had to pick out a new couch because Cael pissed on it.”

“More than once,” Silas grumbled and as Cael and I started laughing.

“We grew into men here and watched all of you do the same. From Cael’s high school graduation, to Van’s appendix exploding, and even Zoey’s first time being black out drunk.” Arlo said.

“The bathroom never smelled the same,” Van noted and the rest of us agreed.

“It hasn’t always been easy, we all suffered our fair share of heartbreak and loss but we always did it together,” he said, smiling at Cael. “We slipped up, we fought, we shared bruises and cruel words.”

Cael stared at him, his jaw ticked at the thought of his mom.

“But, the Nest was never quiet, and that could be annoying but the sound of family filling the halls was all I ever craved as a kid. So before you all run off and start your own families and I’m left to raise a new era of fucking idiots, I just wanted to say thank you,” Arlo said.

Cael rose from where he was sitting, untangling himself from Clementine, and paraded his long legs across the deck.

Arlo didn’t even flinch when contact was made, he just let Cael hug him.

Van laughed, pushing from his spot and joined wrapping his arms around Silas to pull him against the other two.

One by one we all joined and soon we were just one big huddle of arms and laughter.

“You guys, this team, for years to come... will always be the heart of the Hornets.”