Page 28 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

SHORE

“ A cat?” Drew looked from Red, curled up in a ball in August’s arms to me with a terrified expression on her face. “You got him a cat?”

“He wanted a cat,” I said, deciding that honesty was the best policy.

“So you just…got him a cat?” Drew asked, her shock still rampant. “How old is that thing?” She gaped at it.

“Cosy says it’s eleven, roughly…” I cleared my throat as Drew moved toward her son and gave the cat a chance to smell her before curling her fingers into the hair between his ears. Right, why wouldn’t the evil cat love her? Why do you hate me? I glared at the mangy thing.

“You bought my son a senior cat without talking to me?” Drew’s voice sounded a little less strained that time, like she was coming around and no longer mad at me… hopefully. “Why?”

“We were at the stadium yesterday-”

“You were at the stadium yesterday?” She looked at August who just shrugged. I could hear the concern in her voice over the fact that I was parading around her son without her knowledge and behind her back.

“He was home alone, said you were working at Hilly’s…” I raised an eyebrow at her, you were supposed to quit. “Him and Van’s sister were talking about cats, one thing led to another. If it’s any consolation, I tried to get him to go with a kitten but he wanted that…thing.”

Red’s entire body vibrated with a low growl.

“Is it rabid?” Drew asked after the interaction.

“No, Red just hates him,” August teased, a string of light hearted laughter falling from him.

Drew snorted, and it was the first I’d heard that laughter in days. I leaned into the sound, my heart rate slowing from the light tone in her voice. Her bright green eyes met mine and I held my breath, the sparkle was bright and a defeated smirk formed on her face.

I adored the way she looked at me and even worse I enjoyed how warm my apartment felt with them in it, in my life. It was the most reckless chance I’d ever taken but one so worth it that I couldn’t remember how it felt to be alone.

I would do anything to make her see that.

That much was decided.

Smiling with pride I took her in, leaning over her son and the cat. She was wearing the pajama’s I bought her, and I could smell the body wash from her shower rolling off her skin. It was all making it very hard to control myself. I wanted a repeat of my birthday, a hundred repeats.

Drew Courtney was under my skin and I liked the way she rested there.

“I can’t believe you got him a cat,” she sighed under her breath but I could tell that August being happy did the same thing for her. She rubbed her hand into the back of his unruly hair and watched him faun over the cat gently.

“What are your plans for the day?” I asked, changing the conversation as I wandered to the fridge.

“I have a day off,” she smiled at me, “probably laundry.”

“Screw laundry,” I said, “I have tickets to the game this afternoon. It’s a playoff game, it should be really good.”

Drew looked apprehensive, “I don’t know anything about baseball, it would be a waste of a ticket.”

“You don’t have to know the rules to enjoy the sunshine,” I said, the meaning behind my words doubled. I just wanted to enjoy her sunshine, rules be damned.

“I don’t know,” she chewed her lip.

“I’m down,” August piped up. “Will Daisy be there?” he asked, unknowingly walking me into another oops conversation with his mother.

“Maybe,” I said, I wasn’t sure.

“Who’s Daisy?” Drew asked, her tone sweet but her eyes locked on mine.

“One of the daughters of a woman that works at the stadium, she was at the game yesterday…” I said, glaring at August for being a snitch but he only smirked at me and retreated to his room.

The minute his door closed Drew glared at me. “You got Auggie a cat? What is wrong with you?!” She said it like it was meant to be serious but her little smile and the way she swatted the air in front of me was so adorable there wasn’t a chance in hell I was taking her seriously.

“I got us a cat,” I said, and she froze. “There’s no point in arguing it. Red hates me and even I want him here. It makes Auggie happy.”

That stopped whatever argument she wanted to make and she gave me a small nod. “Okay,” she conceded. “It was ridiculous though, and probably expensive,” she added.

“ Yeah, the shelter cat really put me out.” I grinned at her. “Do you think you can cover my rent this month?” I teased her and she sighed, but a smile cracked on her lips. “Go get ready.”

When they reappeared I chucked a jersey at August who held it with a confused look on his face, “Cody?” he said.

“Trust me, it’ll earn you some brownie points.

” I handed another to Drew, who was wearing jeans and a tank top that showed off her pale skin, covered in freckles I didn’t get to admire in the darkness of that night.

I stepped closer, unable to help myself as my eyes ran over her skin, taking in each bundle of beauty.

“Here,” I said. “That’s a relic, don’t get mustard on it. ”

“Shore,” she said, holding it up to show off the massive seventeen on the back.

“Go grab your hat from upstairs, you left it on the island,” Drew said, her tone shifting into mother and away from her own.

August slipped into his jersey and bounded from the apartment into the main part of the Nest. “I can’t wear this to the stadium if I’m going with Auggie,” she held out the ring and I nodded, taking it in my hand and hooking it onto the ring that held my keys.

I opened my mouth to say something and closed it again. Not wanting to ruin how well the morning had been going but needing to say it to her. I knew that if it was eating at me after a long week, it was surely tearing her apart.

“Hey, I need you to know you did nothing wrong that night,” I said, the words roughly bucking from my throat.

“Then why send me home, alone?” She asked and I expected her to.

“Because I didn’t want to subject you to that type of conversation any longer, I didn’t bring you there to be a pin cushion for a bunch of rich old men who still haven’t figured out how to buy manners,” I said. “You did nothing wrong.” I repeated, driving home each word.

I watched the words hit her like a ton of bricks, unable to tell if they helped or only made things worse but she forced a smile to her face. I just wanted her to tell me what the hell was going on in her head but every time I thought I was getting somewhere with her, she shut the door in my face.

She’s worth it.

Drew slipped into the jersey and I stepped forward, taking the chance that she would let me help and when her hands dropped to her side so I could do the buttons my heart seized. Maybe we were making progress after all.

“Beautiful,” I whispered and the color flushed to her cheeks.

“Say those in front of an audience, otherwise I might start believing you mean them,” she said to me as I finished the last one. I wanted to tell her they weren’t for anyone but her but I kept it to myself and offered her a soft laugh in place of a confession.

“Today isn’t about work, it’s about you having a fun day with Auggie. We should probably go before he hot wires one of the cars in the garage to see his new crush,” I teased and the light returned to her darkening eyes.

“A cat and a girlfriend,” she grumbled. “You’re a bad influence.”

“God, I hope so.” I looked at her over my shoulder and winked.

The stadium was packed by the time we got there and I led them to their seats. They were sitting in the front row behind the cage next to Cosy and some of her friends. I waved to them before making sure Drew was comfortable and handing August twenty dollars for snacks.

“I’ll meet you in the front office after the game, okay?” I asked them both and Drew nodded with a smile.

The dugout was alive with playoff energy and the longer I stood in it the less I focused on her. Arlo kept giving me side eyes like he wanted to have a heart to heart about my stupidity but I kept three players apart from him at all times.

I didn’t want to have a conversation, I wanted to be left alone to be stupid about all of my decisions. Especially the ones that involved the pretty redhead, laughing in the stands with her son as he tried to shove a whole hot dog in his mouth.

I was too far gone and I liked the way it felt to be lost.

Lorette was pushing the pace for the game and if Logan didn’t start throwing outs Ryan was going to lose his shit by the end of the next inning.

The boys were doing okay with runs, in fact it was the only thing keeping them alive.

I watched as Cael stepped to the box, digging his toe into the clay and looking up to the sky before he steadied his breathing and readied his bat for the pitch.

His jaw twitched from the movement. Something was wrong.

I stepped forward and with me Ella moved, she saw the same flicker of pain in his eyes. He was hiding an injury. I wanted to call it out, to tell Ryan to pull him off the field but I opened my mouth too late and Cael swung.

It was like watching the muscle tear in slow motion. Arlo held his breath beside me as the bat connected with the ball and soared over the infield wide of center and past the barriers. The team erupted loudly but the three of us didn’t move an inch, knowing exactly what he had just done.

A home run but at the worst cost.

Shit .

“Silas,” Ella’s voice broke as Cael’s entire left side went limp.

“I know, don’t move, let him do his circle,” I said quietly, putting my hand up and wrapping it around the bannister as we all watched Cael run the bases without contest and a huge smile on his face.

He was putting on a show. “Get the bag, we’re going to have to force him out of the dugout,” I whispered to Ella as the team cheered loudly for their shortstop.