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“Oh, the joys of boys and dating.” Chelsea cooed.
They stayed wrapped up in one another for a long bout as Maybelle regained her stability she desperately needed and appreciated. Chelsea always made everything so much better.
Chelsea brushed at Maybelle’s hair, combing at her frizzy curls, “So why him?”
Maybelle stiffened, feeling like she was reliving that night outside the party with Trey, the obvious hurt in his eyes as he asked her the same thing. Maybelle didn’t have an answer this time. She sighed into Chelsea’s embrace.
“I don’t know. He’s nice, he was there, I guess, and he was new. A relationship I created myself. Not someone from my forgotten past or a random person befriending me just out of loyalty for Liam but a boy who was interested in me for me.”
Maybelle slumped with the admission and Chelsea squeezed tighter.
“I get it. But sweetheart, no one here is friends with you solely because of Liam or your mom. That may be what brought us all together at first, but we all love you for you. You created these relationships yourself, no one else did that for you.”
Chelsea pulled back, inspecting Maybelle’s face as she tucked a few rebellious curls behind her ear.
“And a few of us, me included, love you more than most.” She said, a meaningful glint in her eye that Maybelle wasn’t expecting.
Chelsea continued, “I am proud of you, and I want you to keep making friends. And if Sam is something you want to continue to explore, I will support you full-heartedly. But excuse my boldness when I say I have and will always be Team Turner.” Chelsea punctuated her statement with a wink that had Maybelle on the verge of panic.
She stepped back, wide-eyed.
“Oh Chelsea, Trey and I are just friends.” She rushed out, her palms clammy, her knees trembling.
Chelsea’s smile was full of genuine love as she shook her head, her focus landing on something over Maybelle’s shoulder, “Sweetie, friends don’t look at each other like that.”
Maybelle followed her gaze to Trey, who had a small crowd surrounding him. Each individual stared up at him,laughing and congratulating him on a good game but his attention wasn’t on them, it was on Maybelle.
His mouth curved into a gentle smile, his eyes soft but unyielding and when he saw her looking, he slowly lifted one hand to wave at her. It was one of the cutest things she had ever seen Trey Turner do, it made her belly erupt into a flutter of feelings she couldn’t name.
Chelsea moved to her side, hooking an arm around Maybelle as she said, “Just know, no matter what happens you’re my girl, Maybelle. Whether that means you come home to me with Trey or another man you will always be my girl.”
Maybelle laid in bed that night staring up at the ceiling, replaying Chelsea’s words over and over and over again.
Could she do it?
Be with Trey Turner?
Stop pretending and justbe?
Her stomach clenched and her body shook with anticipation as she realized her previous fear of losing the Turners if things were to go badly between them held no weight.
But she still didn’t know him— well, didn’t she?
Trey was good, he was kind, patient, he took care of his people and even after everything, he continued to take care of her.
Yeah, she didn’t know every detail about Trey, but she did know that she could not stop thinking about him, that he was the magnet her very being was drawn to.
Her heart longed for him, her skin craved him and she lo—likedhim.
Maybe.
Maybe her and Trey could be it. The whole thing was still incredibly intimidating of course but the idea of her andTrey together was no longer a definite no but a maybe, a possibility.
Maybelle wrapped herself up tightly in her blankets feeling like for the first time in weeks she could hope. Hope for a future where she and Trey won out in the end.
32 Hearsay and Breakups
Earlier that Saturday morning, the walk with Maybelle had been quiet. Too quiet.
