Page 30 of Dear Future Husband (The Dearly Written #1)

Maybelle

The weekend with Trey home was needed. I almost shed a tear when he had to leave me again for school.

Saturday morning, I woke up in his arms. His soft breathing puffed through my hair.

It was a beautifully surreal moment making me want, for the first time, to stay in bed. I could’ve stayed snuggled up in his massive arms, happy and warm for the rest of the weekend.

Later that morning, Trey and Chelsea did a quick brunch date while I stayed home, reading the book Trey got for me. After their date, they came home to grab me for a day at the beach.

We spent our time reading and sunbathing, which was heaven on earth for me.

The cherry on top: Trey was a shirtless, sculpted masterpiece I got to admire through sneaky glances over the pages of my book.

He laid himself out on a towel in front of me, a tanned muscular feast I got to sit and devour with my eyes.

He, unfortunately, didn’t sleep in my room that night. He fell asleep on the couch during a movie we’d been watching, after Chelsea left for work.

I wanted to cuddle up against his hard body, but I wasn’t eager to break my back trying to squeeze onto the small, stiff cushions. So, I went to bed, but not before draping a blanket over him and planting an innocent kiss on his cheek.

Sunday morning, I woke to sunlight forcing its way through my shutters. Thrilled to rise with the sun all on my own, I got up, put on a comfortable pair of what Chelsea called mom jeans and a swoop neck, long sleeve, black top before walking out to the living room to see Trey.

He was still sleeping on the couch, which made me puff with pride because this was the first time I was awake before him. The best part: I didn’t feel exhausted being up this early. I was well-rested, and my body felt energized for the new day.

I tip-toed into the kitchen, searched in the fridge for eggs, butter, and bacon. Then I got to work. Within a half hour I had breakfast cooked for two. Perfect timing because my handsome breakfast date rose from his sleep, caramel waves a pretty mess on his head.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. I made you breakfast,” I announced, beaming as I set the table.

“Wow, you didn’t have to do this,” he said, peering at the food I plated, stretching his arms above his head.

I filled him a glass of orange juice, then gestured for him to sit. “Hush, sit down and let me treat you.”

He sat down at the spot I had made out for him. I tried stepping away from his side of the table, but he was already pulling me back to him by the waistband of my pants. He tugged until I fell backwards onto his lap. My legs draped over one side, as his arms immediately caged me.

Smiling, I laced my arms around his neck.

This was the place I wanted to spend the rest of my quickly fading time with him. Right here on his lap, in his arms, was my new home.

“Seriously, May. Thank you. This all looks delicious. ”

I scoffed. “Well, don’t thank me until you try it first. It might be gross.”

My gaze cautiously landed back on the food in front of us. Trey chuckled. I hadn’t realized he moved one of his arms from around me until his fingers pinched my chin, turning my attention back to him.

His sensual green eyes flicked back and forth between my eyes and my lips.

He pulled my face into his, our lips meeting in a soft, inviting kiss. I could feel the fingers around my waist tangle to the denim loops of my pants, while his hand on my chin traced down my throat. His fingertips danced across the exposed skin of my neck and swooped back around to cup my nape.

Every one of his touches was so methodically placed and timed with the exploration of his tongue in my mouth.

Trey brought me in tighter, deepening the kiss for a brief second that teased and stole the breath from my lungs.

He slowly pulled back, gliding his tongue across the seam of my now slightly swollen lips.

When he broke the kiss, both of us lightly panting, he licked his lips and his smirking eyes met mine.

“You are delicious,” he whispered and placed another kiss to the hollow of my throat.

Wow .

Forget eggs and bacon. Breakfast was right here and now that I’d gotten a couple tastes, I was eager to take a bite—but I couldn’t, not yet. There was a little warning bell going off, some place deep in my subconscious, warning me, pulling me back with a message I felt in my bones.

Slow was good. Slow was safe.

It still took every ounce of my depleting self-restraint to stand from his lap and sit myself on the opposite side of the table. And by the look of his smug smile, he knew it .

“Your first game is this Friday, right?”

I stuffed a large bite of eggs into my mouth, noting that Trey’s intense gaze was still glued on my every move.

After a couple of beats, he finally answered, “Yeah, what about it?” He took a chunk out of one of his bacon pieces.

I swallowed. “Is it okay if I go? I was serious when I said I wanted to go, but I also don’t want to be a bother.”

I absolutely wanted to be a bother, but it was up to Trey and Chelsea to chauffeur me around.

He nodded as he finished up his bite. “Of course, I already talked to my mom about it. She’s going to drive you out after your last therapy session on Thursday. You’ll stay with me at my place Thursday and Friday night, then we’ll drive back here together on Saturday.”

Excitement bubbled in my belly; I was going to college for the weekend.

Not just college, a football game, maybe a party or two.

I tried to stifle my level of overwhelming exhilaration by pinching my lips together, but who was I kidding?

I could hide nothing from the boy who watched me like it was his job to.

Trey smiled back. “You excited?”

I nodded, plopping another bite of eggs into my mouth.

“Good, I’m excited for you to meet my friends.”

I was looking forward to that too.

The front door opening and closing had us twisting in our seats to see Chelsea entering the house.

“Hey mom,” Trey greeted at the same time I called out, “Morning, Chelsea.”

Even after a full night shift, Chelsea was stunning with her brown hair up in a tight pony and her eyes bright with her smile.

“Hey, kids.”

She entered the kitchen, placing her purse on the counter as she targeted Trey with a look. “You remember Mrs. Jacobs? ”

Nodding, he shoved another bite into his mouth. “The neighbor three doors down?”

“Yes,” she answered as she filled a cup of water from the fridge. “I thought she and her husband were visiting their son in Arizona for the next few months, but I think he came to visit them instead. I keep seeing the same man, about my age, hanging out in their driveway.”

“Oh,” Trey grunted around a mouthful of food as he shot me a look. “That’s interesting, Mom. If you want, I can go down and check on them?”

She shook her head. “No, no. I don’t want to bother their family time. I just thought it was strange. I also think I need some sleep. I’m always paranoid over the weirdest things when I’m tired.”

With that, Chelsea came up to Trey, placing a kiss in his curls. “I am going to bed, have a wonderful week and drive safe, please.”

“I will, Mom.”

Around midday, Trey left back for school and this time, both me and Chelsea got a text when he made it back safely.

***

“Chickadee, I am so proud of you. It’s only your third week of PT and you are killing it. By next month, I bet you’ll be running laps,” Annalise pronounced, elated, as we finished the session.

Dripping with sweat, I was feeling like a twisted pretzel.

I wiped my damp forehead with the back of my sleeve, then took a swig of water before responding, “Thanks, Anna. It’s all thanks to you and your lack of empathy for my weak, sleepy bones. I’ll have you know, there were days that I thought for sure you were going to break me in two.”

Her snorting laughter echoed through the Turner home as she packed up her equipment.

“Well, I couldn’t just let you sit around, being a lazy bag of bones, sleeping your life away now, could I?”

She gathered the remainder of her things, then placed them in a pile near the front door before she turned back to me, hands on her hips. The humor was gone from her mouth but still playing in her big brown eyes.

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling like I did something wrong.

Annalise approached a few steps, an accusatory finger pointing at me. “What have you been doing to get so good in a short amount of time? You couldn’t have gotten this good in just the little time I have to work with you, so, spill. What’s the secret?”

My mouth went a little dry, but I took a quick, inconspicuous glance around the room, down the hall and in the kitchen to make sure Chelsea was out of earshot.

“I’ve been going on walks. Not a big deal.”

The southern belle quirked a brow at me, urging me to continue.

I heaved a long-irritated sigh. “I’ve been walking the neighborhood at night after Chelsea goes to bed or to work. It’s really not a big deal, though. I’ve been walking great.”

She didn’t look convinced.

Instead, she grabbed my hand and sat with me on the small sofa against the wall.

“I noticed you wincing a bit more than usual today.”

I grimaced, remembering the spill I took the other night when I couldn’t catch my footing in time after tripping over a curb. My knees were all scuffed up and joints a little sore, but how was I going to get better if I didn’t push myself?

“I’m fine. I tripped over a curb. That’s all.”

Annalise shook her head, intensity filling her movements and eyes.

“No, no, sis. That’s not okay. You’re healing, you’re growing.

You cannot do this alone, especially out on the streets of San Francisco at night.

Do you have any self-preservation instincts?

What if you fell and hit your head? You’re not in the most peak condition to come out on top of an injury like that.

” She paused, took a deep breath. “You are incredible for pushing yourself so hard. I’m seriously impressed.

But there is a difference between pushing your limits and just being stupidly reckless. ”

I looked away. I wanted to throw my hands in the air and yell, but she didn’t deserve that.

“I won’t spend another second confined to a bed or house because I can’t function on my own, Anna.”

“I’m not expecting you to but give yourself time. If you don’t, you’ll end up doing something else that’s gonna take away all that progress you’ve worked so hard for, or worse. Take away the ability to ever do things on your own ever again.”

She rose from the cushions, slinging her bags of equipment over her shoulder. “Just be careful. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She left me alone, huffing and puffing. She didn’t understand. She had no comprehension of what this was like for me.

Nobody did.

I wasn’t going to sit by anymore, letting life run past me while I slept. I wanted to live, and that is what I would do.

I stood from the couch. I needed to change and get washed up but when I entered my bedroom to grab a change of clothes, I immediately halted at the sight of the small, black journal sitting on my desk.

It had been left untouched since the night I pulled it from that bag of items Trey collected for me.

I plucked up the book and laid myself out across my mattress, opening to a random page near the end .

Dear Future Husband,

Exciting news, I’m graduating from high school in a few months.

It will be nice to get out of here, start anew.

I created a facade for myself here at Harbor High that I don’t entirely enjoy.

I’m quiet, I’m lonely… I’m like a ghost that just sort of floats around, contributing nothing to the world around it.

Given, I did it to myself, but when we first showed up in San Francisco, I was happy to be a ghost. Just dust that fell through the cracks going unnoticed. With everything that happened before, I was happy to be invisible, but I miss what I used to be.

I miss sports. I miss people. I miss life. I don’t know how I will ever be able to change, though. I think I’m stuck no matter how much I wish that wasn’t true. I think my life is completely altered by the past and there is nothing I can do to change it.

Theatrics and my dramatic, depressing thoughts aside, I did start applying for a few colleges.

There aren’t any specific schools I want to attend, or anything I specifically want to learn, but I applied.

I was accepted by a few of my chosen. One of them being Liam’s school. Check the back of the book!

Love,

Maybelle Mason

Now seriously disappointed and depressed, I opened to the back of the book to find a few letters. A couple of them were from schools I didn’t recognize, but one I did.

An acceptance letter to SDU—Trey’s school.

Hmm… And the plot thickens .

I turned back to the sad page I just read.

Was I really like that?

Deep down, was I prone to giving up, always and forever, a ghost—alone?

I slammed the book closed. That may have been how the old me functioned, but not now.

I refused to allow it. Forget Annalise and forget just walking. I was going to run. I was going to sprint.