Page 38 of Dear Future Husband (The Dearly Written #1)

I peered back at Trey, who was still watching me. His dark-framed green eyes slipped down to my hands that sat folded on my lap. The old, healing scrapes on my palms burned with the attention.

He never should’ve caught me sneaking back into the apartment that morning. It was humiliating enough that I had eaten asphalt in front of a sweet old couple on their morning walk.

I tucked my hands under my legs.

The rest of dinner was spent with me explaining the job I had lined up working with Penny. Then Chelsea and I planned a shopping trip to get room decor, clothes, and other necessities I would need in my new apartment .

My heart was full to bursting as she and I schemed together.

Trey excused himself early from the table to shower while Chelsea and I made our way to the couch to watch a romcom she picked.

She didn’t stay long enough to finish the movie though. she had to change into her scrubs and leave for her shift at the hospital. Once she was gone, I retreated to my room and pulled my phone out. The phone only rang once before Penny picked up.

“Excuse me, where’ve you been? It was cruel making me wait for an update this long.”

“I’m sorry, Penn—But I have good news.”

Before I could explain the good news, she squealed a pitch that made my ear drums ring.

“Oh, my gosh, Belles! I’m so excited! This is going to be the best semester yet. Mark my words!”

She was practically screaming over the line, and I couldn’t help the giggling thrill that bubbled from me.

I had no doubt of that promise.

Knuckles rapping against my bedroom door cut our conversation short. Seeing as the football player and I were the only one’s home, I heaved a tight breath before I bid Penny goodnight.

“Come in,” I said, and Trey entered my room.

“You still on the phone?” he asked.

“I was talking to Penny, but we’re done.”

He ran a hand through his shower-damp curls, standing at the foot of my bed. His eyes remained forward while a muscle in his jaw ticked.

“Are you doing alright there, buddy?” I asked, but he didn’t look at me. Instead, he grabbed the journal from my desk and sat on my bed. He flipped opened the book to a random page near the end, skimming his gaze over the written words.

“Have you read it all?” he asked.

I sat up, tucking my legs underneath me and reclined my back against the wall with the three picture frames above me.

“No. I left off on an entry from late middle school about a summer camp trip that went awry.”

He lit up and in one movement, flipped open the journal to the exact page of said entry.

“That’s one of my favorites. I would pay money to see little Mayhem get so annoyed with a camp counselor she graffitied a cabin wall with a Sharpie. I can’t believe the counselor punished you by making you scrub the wall with your toothbrush. That’s just too damn funny.”

His hair bounced with his laughter as he pointed to a specific place on the page.

“And I quote,” he started, “ I scrubbed that wall for almost two hours. I don’t understand why Counselor Katy, aka, the wicked witch of the west, has such a problem with me.

But it was my responsibility to warn future campers that had the unfortunate luck to have her for a counselor with my artwork . ”

His grin was wide when he looked at me.

“I’m surprised you didn’t get sent home for drawing a giant depiction of her as a witch, riding a broomstick across that wall.”

He turned to another spot in the book.

I shrugged. “She must’ve been a witch of a woman. How else did they know my drawing was about her? I didn’t say anything in there about labeling the artwork. Or I’m just that good of an artist.”

Trey snickered without looking at me. “You might have a point with her being a witch but do our eyes a favor and leave art alone.”

I scoffed. “Please, I can’t be that bad.”

He slid me a look. “We had art class Junior year together. Even your stick figures are abominations.”

His eyes fell back on the book. I scooted closer to him, reading the passage over his shoulder .

Dear Future Husband,

I’ve made it to high school!

I thought I’d try out for the volleyball team. Don’t get me wrong, basketball is my sport, but I thought I would take a hit at volleyball since they had an opening, and I didn’t have anything going on until the winter season when basketball starts.

So here I am.

Tomorrow is our first game of the season, but it’s out of town. Seven hours out of town, to be precise, and to make matters worse…

The school is making us share a bus with the football players!

I know, regular girls would be flipping out to be hanging out with the football players all day, but me, well…

It just means I have to be in the same enclosed space as my brother, his loud teammates, and all the guys I really like aren’t on the football team.

They’re all the nerdy, sweet boys.

The football players are so full of themselves, and they are going to be very stinky on the way home after the games. I am cringing just thinking about it. Well, wish me luck, I have to get to bed, goodnight!

Love,

Maybelle Mason

Trey snorted while I grimaced as I finished reading the last line of the passage. Little Maybelle was trying a little too hard for the I’m not like other girls facade with that one.

“I’m trying not to take offense to how fourteen-year-old Maybelle felt about my kind, but it was pretty ruthless.”

Refusing to let on that, I agreed with him full-heartedly, I rested back, my shoulder brushing his. “Fourteen-year-old me was a smart girl. Football boys are loud, trouble and very stinky.”

He glared. “Take that back. ”

“Can’t,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, not missing the mischievous glint in his eyes.

He set the book off to the side, and I tensed with anticipation.

“Tell me, May.” He turned toward me, his broad chest taking up my view. His sweet, minty breath clouded my common sense. “Do the sweet, nerdy boys still do it for you?”

His tease was stupid and childish, but I still swallowed hard, losing all sense of self-preservation as I held his stare.

“Absolutely,” I croaked, the lie coming out as unsteady as I felt.

He shrugged, his grin skeptical as he pulled away, leaving me feeling cold with his absence. “You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.” He opened the book back up and was reading through another page when I finally gained my composure.

“Trey,” I began, but he didn’t look at me. “Are we good?”

His head cocked sideways. “Why? Whatever do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, Turner. I mean since last week. We haven’t talked, and I wanted to make sure we’re good.”

He reverently closed the journal and put it back in its place on the desk before turning to me. “If we’re going to talk about this, then I need to say a few things with no interruptions. Can you do that for me?”

I rolled my eyes but proceeded to nod and wait for him to continue. Satisfied, Trey straightened, locking eyes with me. “First off, my middle name is Tory.”

A strangled quiet fell between us, held together only by my tightly pressed lips, but I couldn’t contain it long.

I erupted with jeering laughter. “Excuse me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want.”

And that I did, shamelessly .

“Trey Tory Turner,” I said, testing the sound. “Yikes.”

He playfully shoved at me. “Now you know why that wasn’t the first piece of personal information I divulged to you.”

Yeah, I understood the hesitation.

He got a faraway look in his eye before he continued.

“It’s an old name. Mom said it was the name of a great uncle that served in some war.

I didn’t care to remember the specifics because I was too busy feeling betrayed when she signed me up for my first high school football season using my full name. ”

I slapped a hand over my mouth. “She didn’t.”

He tilted his head to me, brown waves falling over his green eyes.

“Oh, she did. My team got real kick out of it.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“They wouldn’t let me live down the shame—until Liam…

” his voice trailed off as he faced forward.

“Your brother gave me the nickname, Triple Threat. Said that even if my name was the cruelest joke he ever heard a parent play on their kid, it didn’t mean it had to be something I had to be ashamed of. ”

“That’s sweet,” I sputtered out lamely, a little lost in his eyes. “That’s what you needed to tell me without interruption?”

“No, but out of all the things you had to yell at me about last week, not knowing my middle name seemed to mean a lot to you.”

My lips pinched together again, holding in each of the racing thoughts of my mind. He didn’t let me stew for long though.

“What I need you to hear me say, without interruption is that what you saw last week between me and Juliette was nothing. It was actually a fucking crime, but that’s beside the point. If I had the choice, May, I never would’ve kissed her.”

He paused, letting that last part sink in while I bit down on my questions.

“I also think the friend thing you want between us is bull and I have no doubt that you know it too, but I’m willing to play along, for now.

You want to be friends? You want to get to know each other more?

Fine, but I’m not going to pretend my feelings for you aren’t more than friendship. ”

I went utterly still as Trey inhaled a deep breath and exhaled.

“I once told you that this, us, was end game for me and I meant it. I want you, May. I’ve been waiting for you to be ready.

I waited in high school. I waited through your coma, and now I’m willing to wait until you’re ready to accept it or remember that you want me too. ”

I had no words for the admission he just sacrificed before me. The silence that spilled between us was my only ally and I held to it as I gathered my thoughts.

One thought did itch at the forefront of my doubts and as much as I wished I could ignore it, I couldn’t.

“Can I ask you something?”

He nodded and I heaved a breath. “Are you going to that football banquet thing with Juliette?”

The silence engulfed us once again, except this time it was stifling. Trey’s eyes widened then closed as his head bowed.

That’s what I thought.

I did want him, and I had no doubt he wanted me too, but I was a clueless cannon ball that just blew up his reality. And I was planning on integrating myself into more of his life when I moved.

I wanted to get to know him more, create a real foundation for a friendship I could depend on, despite the memory loss. But more than anything, I wanted to learn more about myself, apart from my forgotten past. Without the fear of losing my only support system as I did so.

Trey offered a much-needed subject change as he reached for my hand, tracing the lines of my still healing palm. “I do have one request for when you move out there.”

“And that is?” I asked, wary of the way he studied the fading scrapes and bruises in my skin.

“No more walking or trying to run by yourself.”

I snorted and tried to pull my hand away, but he didn’t let go.

“Calm down. I’m not asking you to stop. I’m just asking that you stop going out alone. I will walk with you every day. Morning, night, rain or shine I’ll be there. Just, please, don’t go out alone anymore.”

“Hmm,” I hummed. “That’s a very friendly offer.”

He shrugged. “What can I say, I watch out for my friends.” The tension in the room dissipated as I laced my fingers with his.

“Fine. Deal.”