Page 30 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

SHORE

S unday morning came quick but I was determined to set everything back on the proper path.

I woke up early and got August set up with the boys as they went down into the city for the annual Harbor U walk for Cancer.

They weren’t going to go, they were all too wound up about Cael.

And I didn’t blame them but they needed the distraction and Cael had organized their appearance with the town. He'd be upset if they didn’t show.

Knowing the hospital was the final stop helped; they could show up for the town and visit Cael if he felt up for it.

If anyone, Cael would want Dean’s company for a moment.

I was unable to sleep at all, waiting for news from Ryan but he was too pissed off to speak to me.

When my phone rang at four am, I fully expected an earful, but it was Riona.

Her soft voice as she told me that Cael was going to need more than one surgery nearly broke my heart but at least someone had called.

So I got up, my bed empty of Drew and cold.

She had left after I fell asleep and it stung.

But I would focus on what I could control.

First getting the boys out the door to the walk and then I spent the next two hours in the gym sweating out the guilt before getting breakfast made and knocking on Drew’s door.

“Auggie?” She called out, her voice sleepy.

“No, Silas.” I braced for her to tell me to fuck off, but instead there was a long silence, a little shuffling and then the door creaked open. “Breakfast, coffee?”

“Oh,” her lips formed a perfect circle as her eyes drifted down to the plate of scrambled eggs and mug. Something was wrong, I could tell in the way her jaw tightened and her expression changed.

“You don’t eat eggs do you?” I assumed.

“No no…” she shook her head looking up at me. “I only drink coffee if it’s basically dessert; cream, sugar, the works…”

I glanced at the black coffee and smiled. “Eat,” I said, handing her the plate. “We have plans today and you aren’t doing it on an empty stomach.”

She took the plate, eyeing me as her fingers brushed mine for the fork.

I backed away from the door and wandered back into the kitchen to check the fridge, which was empty of what she needed.

I looked up at the list that she had left on the outside of it, stuck to the freezer door with a Hornets magnet that had seen better days.

The list was all August’s handwriting—nothing for Drew.

“Mmm,” I grumbled, shutting the fridge before taking the stairs to the main floor and raiding Jensen’s coffee creamer collection in the fridge. I swiped both the regular cream and the caramel that he hid in the back of the fridge. Bringing them both back downstairs for Drew.

She’s sitting at the island in a hoodie and jeans when I return, her hair pulled back in a lazy bun and her eyes drifting to the two bottles.

“Why didn’t you write it on the grocery list?” I asked her, setting them on the counter to retrieve her abandoned cup of coffee. She pointed to the caramel when I held them up to her.

“Because I can buy myself cream for my coffee, Silas,” she said after a bite of food. “Do you know where August is?”

“Dean picked him up for the Cancer Walk in the city… I hope that’s alright—”

“That girl, Daisy. Is she nice?” Drew asked, pushing around her breakfast with her fork.

“I don’t have an educated opinion?” I said, raising my eyebrow at her. “Her mom is Cael’s Aunt, she's a sweet kid. Quiet. Her parents aren’t together anymore either,” I explained and Drew nodded. “So maybe her and Auggie found some common ground.”

“He’s spending a lot of time at the baseball stadium for a boy that hates sports,” she said.

“I grew up in that stadium,” I defended gently, “it’s a safe place for him to find his footing in Harbor. I promise”

“You’re being awfully welcoming for a man working under contract,” she noted, her smile brightening as she took another bite of food.

I held back what I wanted to say to her about the contract. That I was going to do everything in my power to make her want to destroy it.

“We’ve been out of sync and before we do any more dinners or events I would like to get us back on the right path,” I said instead, skirting around the fact that my path looked very different from hers.

“Out of sync?” She stood from the stool, walking around me to clean her plate and I took it from her before she could.

“One thing I learned from growing up in the sport is that if a team isn’t on the same page, they can’t win the game. Right now,” I paused, making sure she understood the next part wasn’t her fault. “I’m distracted, I need a break. A reset.”

“Fair enough,” she said, clearly still a little confused by my remark.

“I wanted to take you somewhere today, to give us both a chance to do that?” I asked her, both my hands were fucking sweaty and I felt like an idiot. Asking her on a date like we were in high school made me feel juvenile and nervous. “Just the two of us.”

“Oh,” she said, pausing to look at me. “Maybe we shouldn’t… the last time we did something just the two of us—”

“Just trust me?” I asked her and her brows furrowed. Trust was in short supply these days and that was alright because I had a plan to earn hers back.

It took her a moment but she nodded. “Alright.”

Even her smallest yes felt like fireworks beneath my skin.

I changed quickly, throwing on a hat and grabbing the keys to my bike as Drew waited for me in the kitchen. Her eyes trailed over me from bottom to top, stopping on the head with a curious expression.

“What?” I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt.

“You look…” She paused and smiled, “normal.”

“Normal?” I barked out a short laugh and strode toward her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with the laughter still on my tongue.

She chuckled, inhaling slowly as I invaded her personal space. “You have two outfits, a suit and a Hornets polo. I’ve just never seen you so… relaxed.”

“That’s the point of today,” I told her, “now move your butt, I need to get you on the back of my bike before you change your mind about today and break my heart.”

Drew’s green eyes sparkled with something other than sadness for a split second and I’d remember that sight, keeping it in my back pocket to remind myself that the woman she wanted to be was somewhere deep inside of her. Buried beneath all that survival.

There was no protesting about the bike that time, she just pulled the helmet over her head and curled around my body as I backed us from the garage.

I took the back roads and let the speed climb on the empty concrete until the wind ripped away every ounce of tension in my muscles.

The fresh air, the speed, Drew wrapped around me it was good.

It felt fucking good. For a second I was able to forget about all the nagging responsibilities that waited for me at the Nest, at the stadium, the courthouse, the hospital and with my grandfather.

The list felt endless but at that moment it was nothing but paper.

Out here I didn’t have to worry about a single one of those.

“What is this place?” Drew asked as she slid off her helmet and handed it to me. The building looked sketchy from the outside, a big concrete box that used to be a carwash had only two windows and was framed against the blue sky by a circle of junk and scraps.

“Keep trusting me?” I held my hand out to her, hoping that she’d go along with it.

She looked nervous but clapped her hand into mine and let me lead her into the conspicuous building. Inside there was a front desk. And a small brunette girl that looked maybe fifteen in a pair of coveralls and a big smile on her face.

“Silas!” She hooted.

“What’s up tiny terror, where’s your brother?” I asked her, leaning over the counter to see what she was working on in her journal. “What’s that?”

“A poem about the sun killing frogs,” she said confidently and I just shrugged. “He’ll be back in a second, he went to go help a group of girls…” she said. “They were going to hurt themselves. ”

Drew cleared her throat nervously beside me, reminding me that she was there. I was so used to coming down here alone I had completely forgotten that I brought a guest.

“Drew this is Lyla,” I introduced them.

“You’re pretty… she’s pretty Silas. Is this your girlfriend?” Lyla asked, her manners elsewhere making me laugh.

“Yeah,” I answered confidently and felt Drew stiffen under my touch.

“It’s been a while.” A dark voice came from the hallway and I turned to watch Mercer pull off his gloves before handing me a dirty hand to shake. “Si,” he nodded, shoving that same hand through a thick head of long, loose dark waves.

“How's the off season going?” I asked, knowing how much he hated small talk.

“Busy,” he shrugged, chucking his phone on the counter by the register.

“Drew,” Lyla cooed when Mercer’s eyes scanned the room.

“Nice to meet you,” he said politely, turning away from her and wandering around the counter. I looked over at Drew trying to figure out if she was making the connection only to realize that she wasn’t a sports girl. She had no clue who she was standing in front of.

It was almost endearing to watch as Mercer grumbled, his famous face going completely unrecognized by Drew. Lyla on the other hand thought it was hilarious. When Mercer North wasn’t keeping one of his family's four businesses running, he was on the ice as one of the NHL’s roughest enforcers.

“That’s cool,” Lyla snorted, noticing the lack of recognition and how much it bugged her older brother before she went back to her writing.

“Is the usual room open?” I asked, trying my best not to take the jab at him over it. Mercer nodded, shifting behind the counter in a pair of brown overalls that had seen better days.

“There’s some crates in the back room, if you need more you know where to get it,” he said as I dropped a few hundred on the counter. Mercer chucked a pair of keys at me without looking up from what he was reading behind the desk.

“Go get yourself and Lyla lunch, she’s the hardest working employee you have.

” I caught the keys effortlessly, backing away from the counter as Mercer’s mean stare turned on me.

I pulled gently on Drew and led her back through the building, the sounds of laughter and screaming echoing through the heavy walls loudly.

“What is this place?” Drew asked as I popped open the last door on the left.

Inside was shabby, the walls had seen better days and were covered in paint and chips. In the center of the room sat a couple pairs of overalls and glasses. Along with a large garbage can full of well loved tools.

“A rage room,” I said to her, closing the door behind us before she could turn and run.

I knew the thought of it would scare her, hence the surprise. I had run through my speech to her about a hundred times before waking her up that morning preparing for this exact moment.

“Silas,” her voice broke on my name.

“I haven’t lied to you once since we met,” I said to her, stepping forward to block her path to the door.

Her eyes looked around the room and her heart was pounding so loud I could hear it echoing off the walls as she started to panic.

“So I’m not going to start, I’m sorry that I yelled at you yesterday.

I was overwhelmed, stressed out and distracted but it wasn’t your fault and the glass breaking was bad timing. August told me…”

“Told you what?” I watched as she froze.

“He told me about your ex, breaking dishes…yelling.”

“Bradley never hit me, I’m not some—” Drew started but I cut her off.

“I didn’t ask,” I said calmly, seeing the fear in her eyes.

I wanted to. I wanted to know just how bad it was under some stupid pretense that maybe I could fix it for her.

Fix everything. But for now, I’d try to just fix this.

“I just wanted to apologize for making you feel so small. It wasn’t my intention and I promise I’ll be more careful going forward. ”

“I’m not some broken doll,” Drew argued but there was no fight to her voice.

“Alright spitfire, listen,” I said with a smirk on my face. “I brought you here because I wanted to show you it’s possible to break the cycle.”

She watched me carefully, surprisingly letting me continue as she processed everything she had heard so far. I could tell she was internally losing her mind but she was trying to hide herself behind walls she assumed I couldn’t tear down.

“I grew up walking on eggshells,” I said and she raised her brow. “Oh I know what’s going on in there.” I tapped my temple with one finger.

“ Boo hoo , the handsome rich doctor had a mean dad. I was and will always be a business tool to my family, maybe not my mother. But I was never a child, and I’ve heard the sound of shattering glass more than you know.”

Her eyes softened at my confession.

“I’ve watched my best friend attend baseball games covered in bruises, watched his mother shield her sons until the day she died.

I’ve watched my own parade around like she was invincible even in the face of every man in her life trying to tear her down.

” I inhaled slowly, people had no idea. “Found out I had a brother whose life was…” I swallowed hard.

“Watched a man lose his wife and a team of young boys lose a woman so special to them they’re still mourning her death.

They’ve gone through hell, we all have.” I said quietly.

“Before you throw that rock, know my house is made of glass too.”

“So you’re a hypocrite?” Drew asked when I went quiet, but it wasn’t malicious.

“Sure, something like that. I judge people too quickly based on assumptions, and I’m sorry that I scared you yesterday.

But this, this is how you get over that sound.

It’s how I did. It’s the only place I could just come and let everything out that I had been holding on to.

All that anger, all the grief, all the fear of not being good enough. ”

Drew wet her bottom lip as she thought about what I said. I don’t know if I got through to her or if I was totally off base but I held my breath and waited.

“Give me the bat.” Her voice was shaky, quiet—but her hand was steady and that was all I needed.