Page 49 of Dear Future Husband (The Dearly Written #1)

Maybelle

The banquet was beautiful.

It was held in an event center. Large tables and chairs scattered about the place. At the front was a stage where the head coach and other important members of the team gave speeches. They expressed their appreciations, reminders about the fundraiser and goals to make this the best season yet.

Larson, as the captain of the team, got up to speak. He’d been so nervous about his speech. To my surprise, He showed up, out of the blue, earlier that day at my apartment asking for help.

After running through the speech with me a few times, and some words of encouragement from me, Larson felt ready. Who would’ve thought the smooth, sweet-talking Larson would be nervous about anything?

Now, we ate the dinner provided of grilled chicken, filet salmon, roasted vegetables, salads and yummy cream puffs. Sam and I hadn’t spoken much. Not because he wasn’t talking. No, Sam wouldn’t shut up about some current political dispute happening on the opposite side of the world .

The problem was, I didn’t have the motivation to return his same energy tonight. I was still bitter about the whole girlfriend fiasco. I planned to confront him about it. Not until after the banquet, though, so he could focus on enjoying his time with his team.

Another thing that had me biting my tongue in silence was sitting across the table from me. She clutched Trey’s arm like one would a pool noodle in the middle of a turbulent sea.

My Trey.

Juliette was a whole new kind of irritating tonight and my head pounded because of it. Especially since Trey wasn’t doing anything to deter her. It was almost like he welcomed her incessant touches and never-ending interruptions. Which had my blood broiling.

One small saving grace was that I was at a table seating people I mostly knew.

While Sam was to my right, Bear was sitting to my left, a quiet, comforting presence.

To Bear’s left sat a girl who rivaled Penny in fun, outspoken, excited behavior.

She was short, had bobbed chestnut brown hair, deep brown eyes and a darling round face.

Her name was Gracie, and I adored her.

Bear’s date had the attention of everyone at the table. She told hilarious jokes and stories that almost had me shooting my water out of my nose.

Williams was also at the table, across from me, next to Trey.

His date was a beautiful girl with dirty-blonde hair, round glasses perched on her nose that she adjusted each time she was addressed.

I hadn’t yet caught her name, but with the way she and Noah shared stolen looks and shy smiles, I already loved her.

“No way!” Williams shouted across the table, bringing me back to the conversation at hand. “You’re telling me you actually lived in Egypt?” I followed his line of sight to see his question was directed at Gracie, who beamed .

“I swear it’s true,” she insisted. She opened her mouth to explain more but Sam interrupted by clearing his throat.

“You know Egypt was ruled by a monarchy until 1953, but was officially recognized as the Republic of Egypt until 1958, when—”

“Nobody cares, Sam,” Juliette snipped in over Sam’s already uncomfortable interruption.

Sam shrank. More like melted away in his spot while everyone else looked ready to scurry under the table. I honestly wouldn’t be too far behind them.

Against instinct, I twisted in my seat to face Sam as I put a hand on his shoulder. “I care, Sam. You can tell me all about Egypt, but first I’m very curious to hear what brought Gracie and her family there.”

I let my hand sweep reassurance across his back, and he sat up straighter with my support.

The tension at the table loosened as Gracie smiled. “My dad’s a skilled cardiologist and took up a position there for a few years,” she explained.

I nodded, making vile eye contact with Juliette.

Williams helped pick up the conversation where they left off. He turned to Bear, adoration on his face. “How did a quiet guy like you find such a cool girl?”

I leaned over, detaching myself from the silent war happening between me and Juliette. I wanted a good view of Bear’s upturned features, framed by his now combed and well-trimmed facial hair.

He slanted Gracie a sidelong glance that had her giggling. “She asked if she could try braiding my beard at a party.”

Williams almost spit out the drink he was chugging. “Come again?” he asked through choked breaths.

My eyes jumped to Trey’s. His intentional smirk told me he remembered that night, too.

Hadn’t that only been a week ago?

Gracie was laughing uncontrollably at Williams’s reaction while Bear smiled. His shaking shoulders were the only testament of his mirth.

Bear and Gracie. They were together. A week wasn’t long enough to know every bit and piece of a person, and yet here they were—together.

And by the way, Bear’s large arm was slung over the back of Gracie’s chair, the way she smiled longingly up at him, or the way his hand found hers under the table... They weren’t playing friends or being cautious of what they didn’t know yet.

They were just together.

At the thought, I realized I hadn’t looked away from Trey and he was still staring at me.

The eye contact had drawn on far longer than what could be considered a platonic glance between two friends. Now it was nearing a point of seeing inside. Peering through the very depths of who we were, and I was under no inclination to turn away.

I wanted to see everything those green eyes offered. I wanted to know every good and charred part of this man’s soul. I would—I had to. And I wanted him to see me.

All of me.

I didn’t look away, and neither did Trey.

“So, Marybelle,” Juliette’s voice broke in, shattering the trance. But my eyes remained on Trey’s. I refused to let her pilfer this moment fully. Or allow my gaze to follow the pattern her finger drew along his bicep. “How did you meet everyone here?”

I tore my eyes from Trey, mourning the lost connection as I looked at Juliette through lowered lashes.

“It’s Maybelle,” I corrected, filling my tight-lipped smile with all the sour sweetness I could bear. “Trey, Noah, and I went to high school together. Then I lived with Trey and his mom for a few weeks before I got settled here.”

She didn’t deserve the whole sob story. So that was where I stopped, but by the sneer in her eyes, that wasn’t where she planned to stop.

“Really?” she exclaimed. “You lucky girl. I’d give anything to sleep in the same house as Trey,” she drawled as her finger trailed up his shoulder.

I felt a twinge of satisfaction at the way he bristled with the exploring touch.

“I bet you would,” I quipped, coolly grabbing my cup of water and taking a sip.

Williams cut in then. Trying to steer the conversation away from me, which I appreciated. Something about football or what not. I didn’t listen.

I retained eye contact with the girl across the table as I lifted a fork full of salad to my lips. Juliette followed my movements. A feline smile grew on her red painted lips.

“Is it true that you started a year late because you were in a coma, practically brain dead?” Her voice was slicing. Loud enough to obliterate any further conversation.

The whole table shut down, but all eyes rested on me. My brows furrowed as I looked at Trey. He watched me intensely, jaw ticking. I returned my focus to Juliette, whose face was too smug.

I put my fork down with the salad still clinging to the prongs and folded my hands in front of me. “Coma, yes. Brain dead, obviously not. Just a bit of memory loss,” I said, letting a slight smile play at my lips.

In my peripheral, I couldn’t help but notice Williams’s date put a hand to her mouth. Her eyes were wide with disbelief.

“Wow, what a conversation starter,” Juliette mused, her tone drenched in sarcasm. “And didn’t your family die? Pretty sure I heard in the news it was a car accident, drunk driver, I believe.”

Wow, real classy, this one.

“Juliette—” Trey started, but I cut him off.

“God, you really should come with a warning label,” I sighed as I took the napkin I had splayed out on my lap and thrusted it onto the table. “Thank you, Juliette. We can always count on you to molest the fun out of everything. Especially our poor football boys, from what I hear.”

Thankfully, my voice was steady, bemused even. But a hurricane of emotions roiled under my skin and only got worse when Juliette’s smile widened. She got the rise she wanted out of me. My stomach clenched as I caught sight of judgmental glances from members of neighboring tables.

They glared at me with disgust. Probably having only heard the part of the conversation that would damn me and not the cheerleader princess.

I turned to my date. Sam’s eyes were wide, but he didn’t speak. Of course, now he shuts up .

Really sick of tonight and not caring to change the narrative where I looked like the bad guy, I twisted back to Juliette. I was ready to bark out something truly despicable, but I was stopped by Bear, who towered over the table.

He was focused on Juliette and only Juliette.

“Enough,” his one-word command was gruff and had Juliette shrinking back. “I think it’s a good time for us all to take to the dance floor.”

I hadn’t noticed the crowd that gathered in the open area of the event center, nor the music that rose in volume. Lights dimmed, and couples waltzed out to the floor hand in hand.

Bear extended a hand to Gracie, who accepted his gesture with a smile and followed him out to the floor.

I was ready to hightail it. I liked dancing, but the last thing I wanted to do was head out there with Sam. Listen to him ramble while Trey and Juliette swayed together for me to watch.

“Maybelle.”

My attention tore from the cluster of dancing couples up to Trey, who stood up from the table and waited. His hand was outstretched to me.

“Dance with me.”

The confusion on Juliette’s face was priceless. I almost took my phone out to capture the memorable moment.