Page 26

ARI

I plant myself on a bench while Trey drops his duffel bag onto the ground. Then he joins me on my right, sitting as far away as possible. I’m not sure if it’s because he wants to have distance between us or if he thinks it’s what I want.

To say my heart is working in overdrive is to say the least. It’s pounding so hard, I can practically hear it. Neither of us says anything as we stare at the parking lot, where Liz and Javina just drove out. I have so many things I want to ask him; however, I’m not sure if I should ask them.

Trey sucks in a deep breath through his nose, then slowly lets it out through his mouth.

Then he does it again.

And again.

I should probably say something before he passes out. “That was an impressive home run you hit.”

He flashes me a warm smile that contradicts the gloom in his eyes. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t know you knew how to play softball.”

His attention drops to his hands in his lap. “That’s because you don’t really know much about me at all.”

He’s right, and he’s wrong. I know some things about him. Probably not as much as Alterella knows.

“I played baseball with my—” He blows out a ragged breath. “I played baseball when I was a kid. Softball is similar enough. Don’t be too impressed though. That’s the first time I’ve ever hit a ball that far. It’ll probably never happen again, so I hope the camera guys got a good shot of it.”

“Grant!” a man in Trey’s crew calls as he heads toward a black SUV. “That was one hell of a homer!”

Trey plasters a fake smile onto his face. I know it’s fake because it looks different from the genuine ones I’ve been seeing in my dreams. “Thanks, man.”

The SUV’s headlights brighten as the crew member unlocks his car, then gets in and takes off.

I run my fingers through my hair before pulling all my loose waves to one shoulder. “I’m glad I came. I had a lot of fun.”

“Can I assume that Javina dragged you here without telling you why?”

“That’s exactly what happened.” I chuckle and flash him a small smile, hoping he’ll return it.

He doesn’t.

A silent moment sits between us before I ask, “When did you move back to LA?”

“I didn’t. I fly in every Thursday to do band stuff and leave on Sundays.”

If he has to fly, that means he’s living somewhere pretty far. “Where do you live now?”

“New York City.”

That’s the biggest city in the states that’s as far away from me as possible. Is that why he chose it? “Living in New York sounds expensive.”

“It is. Especially since I live in a penthouse I never wanted.”

“That sounds fancy. I bet all the dates you bring home are impressed by that.”

He shrugs a shoulder as he stares at his dirty shoes. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never brought home a date.”

“Oh. Are you one of those guys who keeps all his dates outside the home?”

“No, I’m just a guy who doesn’t go on dates.”

I tilt my head to the side with an oh, come on smile. “With a face like yours in a big city like New York, do you really expect me to believe you have a hard time finding a date?”

He shrugs one shoulder again. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t tried. The only girl who’s ever been inside my apartment is Liz. And the first time she ever saw it, she was not impressed.”

“Why? Do you have a bad view?”

“The view is fine. It was the lack of any furniture whatsoever.”

“Why didn’t you have any furniture?”

He plays with his hands in his lap. “I had just moved in the day before—but don’t tell her that. She thinks I’d already been living there for two weeks.”

I’m about to ask why he would lie about something like that, but the question I actually want to ask comes out instead. “So you and Liz finally got together, huh?”

That makes him tear his eyes from his hands and look at me with furrowed brows. “What?”

“You and Liz. I’m happy for you,” I say as convincingly as I can. “Friends-to-lovers is one of the best romantic relationships you can have because you guys already know each other so well.”

I picture them together and try not to feel jealous. I have no reason to feel jealous, but I do.

“Wait,” Trey says. “I’m confused. What makes you think I’m with Liz?”

Now it’s my turn to stare at my hands. “I, um, I was waiting for Javina outside the bathrooms when I overheard you telling those two women that you’re seeing someone. I heard them say they saw you and Liz kissing.”

“Did you also overhear me tell ’em I’m not seeing Liz like that?”

“Yeah, but I thought you lied because you want to keep your relationship with her private.”

“I lied to those girls about seeing someone because I recently figured out if I tell people I’m taken, they’ll leave me alone faster than if I tell them no . Liz is just my best friend. Nothing more.”

I side-eye him. “Best friends who kiss?”

“Not on the lips. Now that would be weird.” He makes a genuine ick face that makes me almost believe him.

“Javina said she saw something online about how you two live together now. Is that true?”

“Kind of. I stay at Liz’s place whenever I’m in LA.”

If he’s in LA every Thursday and doesn’t leave until Sundays, that means he lives with Liz for half the week. That’s living together, if you ask me. “What happened to your house?”

“I sold it to Marcus and Emmy, our drummer and pianist. They were looking for a place together, and I was looking to get rid of mine, so I sold it to them for almost nothing, furniture and everything else included. The only things I took back were my clothes and some other personal belongings, which are now in a storage tub at Liz’s house. ”

If his house is the one I keep seeing in my dreams, then... “Wow. That sounds like an amazing deal.”

“It was a win for both sides. They needed a house, and I couldn’t step foot into mine anymore without—” His face falls as he circles his thumbs around each other.

“Anyway, I was happy to give it to them straight up, but they insisted on paying something for it. Kevin did the same with my car. I wanted to just give it to him, but he insisted on paying something .”

That was nice of Trey to sell his house and car to his friends for a low price. “So if you aren’t seeing anyone and you’re not going on any dates, then what have you been up to for the past year and a half?”

He takes a moment to think before he says, “When I first moved to New York, I spent the first six months being a bum until Liz convinced me to get my shit together. She said I needed to do three things: come back to the band, get some hobbies, and see a therapist regularly. So I guess that’s what I’ve been doing.

“My band finished our second original album, and we just got back from tour last month. Now we’re working on filming new content for our YouTube channel. At the end of July, we’ll go back to playing our regular weekend shows at the Soul House.”

“It sounds like you’re staying busy,” I say. “How do you have any time for your hobbies?”

“I have more than enough time. I go to the gym Mondays through Wednesdays. I read while I’m on the plane.

When I stay over at Liz’s, we watch movies.

We’re currently going through all the Disney canon films in order.

She thought it was weird that the only Disney movie I’d ever seen was The Lion King.

Mulan was last week. Tarzan is tonight.”

“So those are the hobbies you chose? Working out, reading, and Disney movies?”

“I guess so.” He kicks a small rock, and it skips across the ground. “Do you have any suggestions for something else I could be doing?”

“What are your interests?” I ask, even though I feel like that’s something I should already know about him.

“Making music,” he says without hesitation. “That’s about it.”

“What part of the music-making process do you enjoy the most?”

“Probably the writing and producing part.”

“Maybe you could write and produce for other artists?”

He stares off into the distance and slowly nods. “Yeah. Maybe I could.”

I pull my leg up onto the bench and turn to face him more. “Do you like it in New York?”

“It’s all right.”

“What made you pick New York?”

He goes quiet as he ponders that. His eyes stay glued to the ground as he says, “I’m not sure if I picked New York. I think New York picked me.”

“Does that mean you’ve found your place in the world ?”

He doesn’t waste a second to say, “No.”

“But you’ve been living there for over a year.”

“That doesn’t mean I feel like I belong there.”

A group of Trey’s crew members leave the softball field and wave at him as they get into their cars and leave. Now the only car left in the lot is Javina’s, with the hood still up.

Trey keeps his eyes on the little rocks at his feet like they’re the most mesmerizing things in sight.

Why is it so hard for him to look at me while I feel like I can’t take my eyes off him?

I notice everything he does and doesn’t do.

Like the way his hands fidget like he’s itching to touch me.

The way he steals glances at me whenever I’m not looking directly at him.

It’s like he doesn’t want me to see all that sadness in his eyes.

I’ve even noticed the way he’s purposely speaking softly as if he’s trying not to scare me away.

Little does he know, I’ve been anticipating the day we’d meet again.

There’s a question I’ve been dying to ask him.

“I never got your postcard.” That didn’t come out as a question the way I intended it to. Still, I hope this will open up the conversation about the one thing that’s been running laps through my mind since he disappeared from my life.

Trey doesn’t respond. Instead, his face falls. Even from the side, I don’t miss the way his eyes turn more gray than blue.

“Did you forget my address?”

“No,” he says somberly.

“Did you not have a stamp?”

“No.”

“Could you not find any postcards?”

He still doesn’t look at me. “I bought a few for you. I even wrote a message.”

He actually wrote a card for me? Why didn’t I receive it? I made sure to check the mail every day before Caleb could. “Maybe it got lost in the mail.”