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“Didn’t I tell you? I’m awesome.”
They both started laughing.
“How was your Friday night?” Molly asked, changing the subject.
June told her what she did, what book she read and the hot chocolate she had. Molly knew she was always awake early to start working in the bakery. “Oh, Trey decided to stop by. He was drunk out of his face and all that. I don’t really know why he even bothered. The guy was one mean person back then.”
“Trey’s a good guy, but I remember what he was like also. I’m sorry you had to put up with the meanness and bullying.”
The alarm in the back went off letting June know something had finished baking. She excused herself and went to see what was done. Her thoughts were not her own. June kept trying to think of something else or someone else other than Trey.
She hated him. The guy was a bully.
After she finished stocking up the breads and topping the cupcakes with the whipped cream, she went and sat with Molly’s two children. They were so sweet and caring.
A bruise had formed around Sasha’s eye from the fight the other day. She tried to draw the young girl into a conversation, but nothing was happening. Sasha was as quiet as her mother. June knew all about keeping stuff buried deep inside. Her biggest shame was having a crush on the sexiest guy she’d ever known, only to have him bully her. Yeah, she hated her own weakness when it came to Trey Hunt.
Chapter Four
Waking up to a pounding headache was not something Trey enjoyed. He didn’t think he’d drunk that much, but from the pounding he was taking, it was clearly not the case. Getting out of bed did not seem like a good idea either. Pressing his palms to his eyes, Trey groaned.
He needed aspirin, and he needed it now.
Stumbling out of bed he went straight to the bathroom where a tub of aspirin lay. Swilling out the glass beside the sink, he filled it with fresh water and took the pills. Once he was done, he started running a shower. A clear head would be good right about now. Saturdays were always slow days for him. His first client wasn’t until one.
After he’d showered, brushed his teeth, and finally started to feel like a human being, he headed downstairs. The building had three stories. The main floor was where his tattoo parlor lay. The second floor was living and dining room area with the top floor being his sleeping and washing space. He loved it.
When he woke up he could go into his shop without any of the travelling time. It was the main reason why he wanted to buy the shop from Elliot Armstrong. He was saving as much as he could, but he’d not even approached the other man with a price. Since June had come back to Winters Fall, he was more nervous about asking for the price.
His door was being banged on as he made his way down to the kitchen. The side of the building had some backstairs, which led to the house.
Dale stood outside, shivering his ass off.
“What are you doing here?” Trey asked, letting him inside.
“Max is fucking all three of the women, and I’m tired of hearing the giggling. I’m telling you, listening to your mate come is the worst sound in the world.”
Trey laughed and headed back to cooking himself some breakfast. “Is there anything you want?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
Nodding, Trey looked through his fridge getting out all the leftovers and then some bacon. He ate everything with bacon.
“It’s fucking freezing out there.”
“Did you take a chick home last night?” Trey asked.
“Nope. I went home alone, and then I spent most of the night listening to Max and the three women he brought home with him. I need to get a new place. Sharing a house was great when we were younger, but it’s wearing a little thin right now.”
There was a time when all three of them would be around the table eating food and talking about the chick they’d just banged.
“Trey, can I be honest with you about something?” Dale asked.
“Sure.”
“Do you know Molly’s two kids?”
He started laughing. “Of course I know them. I was accused of being the father to the first one, Sasha. I never touched her at all.”
Turning to look at his friend he saw the pale face staring back at him.
“What is it?” Trey asked.
“I’ve never told another living soul this, and I want you to keep it to yourself.”
“What?”
“I’m the father of those two kids.” Dale gave him a shaky smile.
Trey was confused. “What? How?”
“The usual way. We were fooling around when we were younger. No one knew we had a thing together.”
“Dude, that’s so uncool. She’s raising those babies all by herself. Why don’t you own up to them? They’re good kids. Fuck me, they’re great kids.”
If he’d knocked up any of the women he’d fucked he’d have stood by them. They’d be the mother of his kids.
“I proposed to her when she told me,” Dale said.
Serving up the breakfast, Trey took the seat opposite him, waiting for all the details.
“In high-school, we were both eighteen, and she told me outside of the girls’ bathroom. The halls were clear, it was deadly silent, and I got down on one knee and I asked her to marry me.”
There was no point asking what she said. Molly was an unwed mother.
“She told me no, and she didn’t want anyone knowing I was the father. I hated that. I was more than happy to marry her, and I didn’t push her, Trey. I got angry and told her to get an abortion. If she wasn’t going to own up to me then I didn’t want her having my kid.” Dale stopped, blowing out a breath. “She stormed off. We never spoke for a long time. She avoided me in the hallways, and I slept with other girls. It was over. For the next nine months I watched her get bigger and her stomach more rounded.” Dale looked lost in his own little world. “I couldn’t stop the wanting. I wanted more than anything to touch her stomach. It’s sick, right? I was eighteen, almost nineteen, and I just wanted to touch my baby. I put it inside her. It was mine. Molly was mine. The other women stopped after that.”
Trey listened to him, knowing he needed to get this off his chest.
“When she gave birth she let me hold Sasha for a couple of hours. I asked her again to marry me, and she refused.”
“Is Luke your boy as well?”
“Yeah, I slept with her after she refused my proposal. I must have proposed to that woman over a hundred times, and she still says no. Fuck if I know why.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Trey asked.
“Because I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I’m twenty-four years old, and I’m tired of hearing my roommate fuck countless women. I’ve not touched another woman in over three years. Molly has been the woman for me for a long time. I was too fucking stupid to see it.”
“What about all those tales you used to tell of your women?”
“Lies. I told stories. I support Molly as much as I can. I make sure she has plenty to eat and the bills are paid for. She doesn’t want anything from me, but I don’t know how much longer I can go on watching my kids grow up without me.”
It was so much to take in. the pain on Dale’s face was heartbreaking to see.
“Why did you tell me and not Max?”
“He can’t keep his mouth shut. I love him like a brother, but he doesn’t know when to stop.”
Trey understood that. Out of the three of them, Max was the most social, the most exciting. Trey knew he was starting to grow tired of the party scene. There had to be more to life than fucking countless women.
Fuck, when had he become such a pussy?
“If we’re being open and honest about shit then I may as well tell you that for as long as I can remember I’ve been into June Armstrong.”
He let the words settle between them. Never once had he said them out loud, not even to himself.
“You’ve got a thing for June? The woman across the street? The girl you used to bully along with Dale and me?”
/>
Throughout all the questions Dale asked, Trey nodded.
“Fuck, man, you’re in for some tough loving. There’s no way she’s going to fall for you. You’re like her biggest enemy.”
Trey told him everything that happened last night. “She told me if I was a doctor trying to save her life, she wouldn’t let me near her.”
“It seems we’ve both got problems,” Dale said. “At least you can try to fix yours and show June you’re a different guy than the ass you were to her.”
“Why can’t you fix your problem as well?” Trey asked.
“I’ve got to get past Molly’s defenses. She’s turned me down all this time. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get her to let me back on her team. You knew what you did wrong. I’ve not got a clue what I did wrong with Molly.”
Raising his cup of coffee to his lips, he took a sip.
“Then I guess we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“I feel sorry for you. I’ve never hurt Molly, but you’ve got a good five years of pain on June. She might never get past that.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve got to do something.”
“I’m here for you, buddy.”
Trey smiled. He was under no illusions that this was going to be easy. In fact he knew it was going to be downright difficult to draw June out.
****
For most of the morning June sat with Sasha and Luke in between her baking commitments. Saturdays were always slow days, which she was thankful for. After this morning with Trey she wasn’t ready to handle a rush. Molly stopped by to talk with her. From the look on the other woman’s face, Molly was glad of the peace while someone else looked after her kids.
June fed the kids at lunchtime and then decided she needed to get some work done otherwise she’d feel like a lazy person. June stayed in the back and began to clean the machines. Unlike through the week where she’d be making more breads and cakes, on Saturday she did the initial bake off, and then when the food was gone, it was gone.
“June, there’s someone here to see you,” Molly said, collecting her from the back.
Wiping her hands on a towel she followed her out to the front of the shop. Trey stood with a bouquet of red roses. She stopped and stared at them.
