Page 15 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

COURTNEY

“ T here’s leftover pasta and some fruit in there,” I said as he shoved the paper bag into his backpack. I tried to be one of those moms who left cute sticky note messages, but always chickened out last minute.

For the first time in a while August looked like he’d actually slept.

He’d showered too, his hair was brushed back off his handsome face and he wasn’t blocking me out with his music.

I hadn’t slept, I just couldn’t find a comfortable spot in the bed so I’d gotten up and done laundry and unpacked the only box I kept of my own belongings.

“I’ll be okay Mom,” he said with a small smile.

“Have a better day,” I said and he nodded before climbing from the car.

I was halfway to Hilly’s for the day shift when my phone rang and the screen lit up with Silas’s name.

“Hello,” I said, shoving it between my shoulder and ear as I pulled over onto the side of the road.

“ Hey, can you meet me at the stadium? ” He asked, I could hear the chaos on the other end of the receiver as he shuffled around.

“I have work at Hilly’s today.” I put the car in park and waited.

“ I thought you quit that job? ” He asked, his voice muffled as the phone slipped.

“No…” I said quietly, I was secretly hoping to hang on to it. Since Kayla hadn’t fired me and the tips were decent, given most of the town was University students. And if I screwed up with Silas who knows how long the part time gig with the stadium would last. I needed a back up.

“ Quit ,” he said. He wasn’t exactly making it easy to take Ella’s advice and trust that he’d do what was best for both of us .

“I need those hours,” I said to him, knowing that his head was half in our conversation, half in another. I heard him mumble under his breath something about convincing me later before a door slammed in the background and the noise died out.

“ Call in sick today ,” he said, “ I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important that we go into the city and today is the best day for me to get away from the stadium. ”

I opened my mouth and then shut it again, it was part of the deal…

I needed to be willing to help him out with his family stuff to keep the apartment space.

I could see August’s rested face and relaxed demeanor that morning and chewed on my lip.

I couldn’t screw this up, I needed to make it work for August.

“I’ll be there soon,” I said, hanging up the phone to call Kayla with my best fake cough.

She didn’t seem too impressed but lately she was pretty over me, between breaking a plate of glasses, cutting myself and having the world's worst schedule. She couldn’t be bothered in making my experience at Hilly’s fun and I didn’t blame her.

I was a wet blanket even when I bothered to show up and do my job.

When I arrived at the stadium, Silas was in the parking lot pacing with his concentration on a very loud conversation he was having with someone.

He wore a gray dress shirt, buttoned to the top, soaked down the back from the sun.

But the moment he spotted me, his demeanor changed, a bright smile was pushed on his face and he shoved the phone into his pocket.

“Hey,” he said as I climbed from my car.

“Everything alright?” I asked, trying to force myself into the Drew he had met that day at the bar.

Funny, intelligent, sassy Drew with a hint of defiance.

I had read about masking on my phone during the nights when I spent more time scrolling on my phone than sleeping.

Realizing very quickly that it was something I had become good at without even trying to be.

“Yeah, fine…I’m just going to change and then we can go,” he said, pointing to his bike.

Silas started to unbutton the shirt and hauled it over his shoulders.

I tried to look somewhere else but he gave me very little time to try as he exposed the flexed muscles of his arms and torso.

I hadn’t given much thought to what was under all those dress shirts, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to be all that toned muscle and sun-kissed skin.

For a doctor he sure got a lot of sun.

His eyes met mine and he let go of a tiny chuckle as a smirk formed on his lips and I could feel the heat rising up the back of my neck.

He had caught me staring and I looked like a total idiot.

He tossed the shirt over the seat of his bike and pulled a clean t-shirt out of the bag at his feet, pulling it down over his head before he quickly fixed his hair with his hands.

“Come on,” he said, reaching around his bike and extending a helmet to me.

“Oh, you want me to get on that?” I pointed to the bike and shook my head. “Not a chance.”

“I promise it’s safe, I’ve been riding it my entire life,” Silas said. I could see the assurance in his eyes but it still felt like a questionable decision.

“We can take my car,” I suggested.

“No offence but your car looks more like a death trap than my bike,” he said, his grin widening.

“Don’t insult my car,” I said quietly, tucking down into my hoodie and he laughed, putting both hands in the air.

“I’ll admit it’s because I’m not very good at being a passenger,” he said.

“You a control freak? No… ” I teased, not even sure where the statement had bubbled from but trying to hold on to the confidence that came with it.

“Unfortunately,” he said, wetting his bottom lip.

“Those things terrify me,” I confessed.

He stepped forward, a small smile on his face and nodded, “I think that’s the first honest thing you’ve told me about yourself other than your name.”

“Does it get me out of riding your death rocket?” I asked, swallowing tightly as he approached.

“No,” he laughed. “Everyone is scared at first,” he said, holding out the sleek black helmet in his hands. “But then the rush hits,” his tone dropped an octave as he brushed the hair back off my shoulders gently tucking it back so it wouldn’t get caught.

I was focusing too hard on holding my breath to protest.

“We have to be back by three so I can get Auggie,” I warned.

“I promise I’ll be safe and will return you to Harbor before three in one piece,” he said before he helped me into the helmet.

I peered up at him through the open visor and tried to seem a little more relaxed but the reality was my heart was racing a million miles an hour and I was so scared I could feel the fear in the back of my throat.

Silas tapped my helmet with his hand and smiled knowing he had gotten his way.

“One second,” he laughed, backing away and scooping his backpack off the ground.

He tossed it lazily into the window of a nearby mustang, reaching in to pop the trunk.

He dug around in it for a second before finding a second helmet with a little grunt of pride and returned to throw his leg over the shiny black bike with ease.

Holding his hand out to me, I swallowed down the bile that rose in the back of my throat and climbed onto the back of the bike as he pulled on his own helmet.

“Make sure you lean with me, follow my body,” he said.

“Now there are instructions?” I said nervously, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

“You have to hang on,” he called over his shoulder, lifting his elbow and letting his fingers dangle, calling out to mine. “I don’t bite, Drew,” he added, sensing my hesitation.

I reached forward and he hooked his fingers into mine pulling me closer against his back and tucking my hand flat to his stomach. I mimicked the motion with the other hand and interlocked them as the bike rumbled to life.

“Hold on,” he said over the sound of the engine. “ Tighter .” He warned.

He didn’t have to worry about that, the second the bike jolted forward my grip tightened around him and I pressed my helmet between his shoulder blades, screwing my eyes shut in fear.

I could feel the soft laughter that shook his stomach.

The wind whipped around us, filling the helmet with loud, white noise that was almost calming after I got over the initial stomach churning panic.

When I finally found the courage to lift my head we were coming down through the rush hour traffic that led into Lorette.

The vibrations of the bike between my legs masked the shaking in my hands and I could feel myself relaxing enough to enjoy the drive.

Silas was quick, but he was cautious and it showed in how smoothly he rode between cars.

Once we broke from the grid locked traffic he parked the bike and killed the engine. He slid off, pulling off his helmet and setting it on the seat in front of me.

“Give yourself a second. First rides can make your legs feel like rubber,” he said, fixing the rogue pieces of hair that were messed up by the helmet.

I slowly got off, feeling the ground beneath my feet but he was right, my legs were still racked with the after vibrations and it took me a moment to get myself together enough to pull my helmet off.

Silas laughed as my hair came out even worse than his.

“Here,” he said, stepping forward to take the helmet as I tried to comb out the helmet hair.

Once I got it to lay flat, I readjusted in my sweater and tried to calm down from the exciting start to the morning. The store he had parked in front of wasn’t a clothing store but a jewellery store.

“No, we can tell people that it’s getting sized,” I stepped back from him.

“Absolutely not,” he said, his jaw ticking. “You’re going to go pick one out and we’re going to tell everyone that will listen that I just know you so well that it was exactly what you wanted.”

“That’s a big lie, Silas. Weren’t we trying to keep things simple?”

I said, trying not to hyperventilate from the added pressure. If you lose a ring like that… “What if I lose it?”

“You’re not going to lose it,” he said without hesitation. “And after this is done you can pawn it if you want, keep the cash.”

That made me scowl.

“Or don’t,” he said, “I’m just trying to show you that the ring, the money, doesn't matter. I’m willing to sacrifice everything to make this work,” he lowered his voice. “I need this to work.”

“Fine,” I said but only because the desperation in his voice was evident and it had an effortless way of sliding through the gaps in the wall that I had built around myself.

He looked elated that I had agreed to the ridiculous notion of a ring and he backed up toward the store. “This first, then shopping,” he said, too excited about it for his own good.

The store was smaller and smelled overwhelming of polish. There was an older gentleman behind the counter who looked suspiciously happy to see Silas as he pulled out a box of rings from behind the counter.

“Mr. Shore,” he said as we approached the counter and I shot Silas a nervous glare.

He had planned this right down to having the man pick out a few rings I might like.

There were three rows that contained five rings each ranging from large to larger and on to so ridiculous that I had to contain my overwhelmed laughter just seeing them.

“These are all too big,” I whispered, turning my head into his shoulder so as not to offend the clerk. “What about something small, simple…”

Unexpectedly, Silas agreed and asked the gentleman to collect some other choices. When he disappeared down the glass display Silas turned his chin down to meet my eyes.

“Pick the one that suits you,” he said gently. I opened my mouth to protest. “Do not pick one because you think it’s cheap or costs less because it’s small.” His tone was stern but low and encouraging all at once. “I’ll know.”

When the man returned the rings he brought were much more reasonable in size. I stepped away from Silas who hadn’t moved despite my sudden closeness and pressed against the glass display case.

The top row featured gold bands with simple, variously cut diamonds that were all similar in size but there was one in the center row that caught my eye.

It was smaller than the rest in its row, a teardrop shape and shiny against the golden band.

But it had two small diamonds inlaid resting against the thinner end of the teardrop.

A trio of diamonds, perfectly welded together.

“That one,” I said to Silas and he smiled, picking up the ring and holding it in his palm, probably just happy that I had chosen one that actually had some weight to it.

Silas lifted it to my hand and slipped it over my finger while I desperately fought against the nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“What are the chances?” He asked when the ring fit perfectly. His eyes trained on my hand as I wiggled my finger around to test if it was loose but much to my surprise it wasn’t.

Silas looked up at me and didn’t say anything but I could feel him wanting to confirm that I was sure about my choice. It’s just a lie Drew, everything is constructed for show… A business deal. If this was just business, why was my throat dry and my heart trying to break free from my chest?

I nodded and Silas took that as confirmation, leaving the ring on my finger, he turned and convinced the clerk to sell him the show piece instead of waiting two weeks for a brand new one. I couldn’t tell the difference, it looked perfect to me.

I flexed my left hand and inhaled slowly, trying to steady my thoughts.

If you screw this up… I cleared my throat and shoved down the bile coming back into myself as Silas paid, not only for the ring but what sounded like other expensive pieces of jewelry I didn’t need.

He thanked the clerk and wrote down instructions of where to send the purchases before shuffling me back into the sun.